I’ve always been a fan of Ek Commando knives. They have a certain look that distinguishes them as their own entity, and now KA-BAR, a knife giant in and of itself, announces the acquisition of the Ek Commando Knife Brand.
Ek Commando Knife was created in 1941 by John Ek in Hamden, Connecticut. During World War II, Ek Commando Knives were restricted to military personnel. The knives featured serial numbers that were recorded and kept for tracking and identification. Luminaries ranging from Gen. George Patton, President Franklin Roosevelt and actor-turned-soldier Clark Gable owned Ek Knives during the Second World War.
Ek Commando Knives have served our military in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless other hotspots around the globe. Today, Ek continues to be a staple of the United States military.
Knives and knife people go wall-to-wall at BLADE Show ’24.
Wall-to-wall attendance, dynamite knife sales, sensational award knives and much more made BLADE Show 2024 June 7-9 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta one for the record books. However, it took custom knife purveyor Dave Ellis of exquisiteknives.com to put things into proper perspective.
The long-time BLADE Show exhibitor of Vista, California, sold out of knives and had yet another whiz-bang show, but he said it’s the intangibles that make the BLADE Show the dynamic event it is year in and year out.
“It was a great show and the sales were fantastic, but the main thing about the BLADE Show is the camaraderie, the old friends you see and talk to that make the show so special,” he said. “It’s really rewarding, and though the sales are great, the people are better.”
Argentina’s Javier Vogt and Belgium’s Veronique Laurent represented two of the 35 countries providing exhibitors for BLADE Show ’24. The knife is one of Veronique’s art daggers.
Speaking of people, ABS master smith Harvey Dean said it was one of the best if not the best attended BLADE Shows he’s ever seen. “At past shows there would be dead times when the crowd would thin out a little bit before increasing again,” he noted. “This show seemed crowded the whole time.”
The factory section enjoyed heavy traffic as well and patrons seemed to be buying knives.
“The BLADE Show was fantastic,” said Curtis Iovito of Spartan Blades, whose company won its first-ever BLADE Magazine Overall Knife Of The Year® with the Bill-Harsey-designed Clandestina. “Sales were the highest we have ever seen.”
Charlie Ellis (left foreground) was one of the guest makers providing BLADE University instruction in the AmeriBrade grinding seminar.
As usual, Saturday was the busiest day, though Friday was very good for three members of the South Texas Slipjoint Cartel in particular, with Luke Swenson selling out in the first hour and Toby Hill, who brought nine knives, selling out in the first two hours. Another Cartel alum, Enrique Pena, sold out as well. Along with Javier Garcia and Jared Oeser, Enrique also won Best Collaboration in the custom knife judging competition.
Brazilian ABS master smith Dionatam Franco de Souza said the show was very good for him, as he brought four knives and sold three, all in the high-dollar range. He also won Best Utility Hunter in the custom knife judging competition.
As with all shows, other reviews were mixed. One purveyor said some exhibitors said the crowd seemed down this year. On a scale of one to 10, ABS master smith Jordan LaMothe gave show attendance a five. He brought 14 knives and sold only three, all in the three and low-four-figure range, with two going to regular clients and one going to a new one. He said 20 percent of those who visited his table seemed to be buyers. Meanwhile, Jordan won yet another custom knife judging award, this time for Best Kitchen Knife.
Makers entered their knives in the custom knife judging competition Friday afternoon.
If sales were down for some, part of the reason may be what one purveyor said is a slowdown in the sale of damascus knives. He attributed the slowdown to a “burning out” of demand due to a glut of the pattern-welded knives. While many current examples of damascus are outstanding, there’s just too many knives made from it and supply is outpacing demand, the purveyor observed. Replacing the damascus knives in demand are straight carbon steel knives with nice hamons, he added. How long the trend will last is anybody’s guess.
BLADE Show 2024 Highlights
To kick things off, a stout soul replete in Scottish kilt and playing the bagpipes led an energetic throng of patrons into the show hall Friday morning. Thousands of patrons were about to descend on the almost 1,000 exhibitors from 35 countries in the main show hall and Baller Room in the coming three days.
Meanwhile, BLADE University classes, which started the day before at 4 p.m. and earlier Friday morning, continued throughout the day and into Saturday. Friday afternoon witnessed the custom knife judging competition, with winners selected in 16 categories. The Knifemakers’ Guild announced its best knives of the BLADE Show and also named BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® member and BLADE editor Steve Shackleford winner of the Nate Posner Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding service in the promotion of handcrafted cutlery. The American Bladesmith Society held its awards ceremony after show closing Friday, including presenting Fabio Barros with his ABS master smith stamp and announcing 14 new journeyman smith awardees (for the names of all the new smiths, visit americanbladesmith.org, click on ABS News and Events and scroll to Congratulations to Our New Rated Smiths).
South African ABS master smith Neels van den Berg presented his BLADE University class, Symmetrical Quillon Dagger 101.
Saturday started early with the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame breakfast/induction ceremony, with Ted Dowell, Don Fogg and Bill Harsey being formally inducted in the Kennesaw Room of the Renaissance Waverly Hotel. The 8th Annual Battle for Bali-Champion conducted by Blade HQ commenced at noon in a new venue—the second floor of the Renaissance—before a packed house, with Steven Ash taking the title followed by Corbin Lovins in second place and Seiji Brown in third.
Capping off Saturday was the BLADE Magazine Awards Presentation. Held at 8 p.m. in a new venue—also on the second floor of the Renaissance—the ceremony officially recognized the BLADE Magazine 2024 Knife-of-the-Year Awards® and the BLADE Show custom knife judging award winners.
On Sunday morning, the winners of the knife collection display judging were named. Gene Merritt won Best in Show for his David Yellowhorse First 25 Years display. Judges Awards went to Dale Eichberg for his display, Preproduction Buck Knives, and Brian Hugh for Buck Tactical Knives. The Youth Award went to Caleb Lindsey for Custom Knives by David Yellowhorse.
Upcoming Shows
Next up on the BLADE Show calendar is BLADE Show West, Oct. 4-5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, visit bladeshowwest.com. After that will be BLADE Show Texas, March 7-8, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas (bladeshowtexas.com).
Patrons enjoy the 8th Annual Battle for Bali-Champion conducted by Blade HQ in the event’s new venue on the second floor of the Renaissance Waverly Hotel.
As for next year’s BLADE Show, it returns to the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta June 6-8. See you there!
KA-BAR announces an exciting project to manufacture and release a limited edition of 350 iconic E.W. Stone WW II theater knives. E.W. Stone, Jr., Stone’s son, has collaborated with KA-BAR to use his father’s original handle casts of what has now become legendary to WW II knife collectors—skull and cobra grips. The grips will anchor 350 KA-BAR USMC Fighting/Utility knives with blued blades.
The climate and the nature of combat in the South Pacific led to the creation of the Stone Knife. The leather handle of the KA-BAR USMC Fighting/Utility knife often fell prey to the humidity, rainfall and combat conditions of the Pacific campaign. Though the blade remained intact, the handles occasionally suffered from jungle rot. In a display of resourcefulness, E.W. Stone, Sr., who worked in the foundry of the USS Holland, cast new handles onto the KA-BAR blades. Stone salvaged material from downed Japanese aircraft to make his signature handle. Approximately 250-300 E.W. Stone theater knives were made during World War II, and according to his son in a video (see video at end of story), about 95 percent of the cast handles were on KA-BAR knife blades.
The modern KA-BAR E.W. Stone Knife features a JRE semi-custom sheath, a golden oak Gerstner display case, an informational booklet and DVD, and a certificate of authenticity signed by KA-BAR President John Stitt and E.W. Stone, Jr.
The KA-BAR E.W. Stone Knife can be purchased only at KA-BAR.com, or by calling KA-BAR at 800-282-0130. The cost of the E.W. Stone is $1,000. The E.W. Stone Knife is sold on a first come first serve basis and is limited to five per customer.
Make sure to watch this fascinating video interview with E.W. Stone, Jr.:
Here’s a look at an infomercial for a knife from the 1950s. The segment was called “Delicious Dishes” and it played in movie theaters before features. If you showed up at the theater every week for 12 weeks, you got a knife or other kitchen tool. Can you imagine a theater doing that nowadays?
Although that’s changed, the key techniques for selling a knife is basically the same as today. Even in the 1950s, the paper test was the primary way to show off a sharp knife.
Note: The sound isn’t quite lined up with the image.
