BLADE Magazine

 The Second American Bladesmith Society “Battle of the Bladesmiths” was conducted on the evening of March 4th, at the Great Smoky Mountain Bladesmithing Symposium and was won by Master Smith Burt Foster. The hard fought contest was conducted before an enthusiastic crowd at Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina. The contestants included American Bladesmith Society Master Smiths Joe Keeslar, Jason Knight, Jim Rodebaugh, and Burt Foster.

The Great Smoky Mountain Bladesmithing Symposium began on Friday and will continue through Sunday, March 6th. ABS Store Manager Cindy Sheely emailed the results of the contest and the below photos.

Go to the ABS Forum for more news about the events at the Great Smoky Mountain Symposium.

Click: ABS Forum                                                            Burt Foster and BR Hughes
                     The contest knives..Clockwise starting lower right: Keeslar, Foster, Knight, and Rodebaugh

Larry Bailey, vice-president and one of the founders of the Custom Knife Collectors Association (CKCA), passed away March 2.

According to an e-mail circulated to CKCA members by CKCA president Kevin Jones, “This is a sad day for the CKCA and the custom knife community in general. Larry loved custom knives and I can’t think of a collector who has spent so much effort for so many years moving our community forward.

“Larry was an ambassador for custom knives, always preferring to work behind the scenes, shying away from getting credit. My heart and condolences go out to the family and Larry’s many, many friends. I/we are going to miss this fine man so much.”

There is no word on funeral arrangements at this time.

For the month of March, enter for a chance to win a Kershaw Energ2 knife, courtesy of BLADE magazine and Kershaw. It’s free to enter. Click here.

Here are some specs about the knife:

– Uses Kershaw’s Flipper opening system
– Sandvik 14c28n stainless steel 3 1/2-inch blade with DLC coating
– Textured G-10 handle
– Measures 4 3/4 inches closed
– Weighs 4.9 ounces

Click here to enter the sweepstakes.

Bob Glassman, aka the man behind The Custom Knife Gallery of Colorado, is the winner of the BLADE/Kershaw Whiplash sweepstakes.

Here’s a closer look at the Whiplash:

Here are the specs:

– Built-in parachute cord wraps into handle
– Fixed 4.5-inch blade of 8CR13MOV stainless steel
– Titanium carbo-nitride coating
– Glass-filled nylon scales
– Overall length: 9 inches
– Weight: 6.4 ounces

If you’re interested in learning more about this knife, click here to visit its official Kershaw page.

Stay tuned for another chance to win a terrific Kershaw knife from BLADE in the next sweepstakes.