Everyone is a zombie this morning, myself included. The Blade Show closes at 2pm, and will be long empty by the time you read this. Many of the vendors from overseas have left to make connecting flights. Some of the American vendors have packed up and are about to hit the road. Pro-Tech and several others have completely sold out. Several, like Benchmade, have made the decision not to bring stock, but to sell on the internet. Their tear-down is easy.
Smoky Mountain Knife Works has spread out their remaining
knives to suggest they still have plenty, but you can find the empty spots on
their, and just about everyone’s, display.
Some custom knife makers sell out in hours on the first day. Others go home with most of what they made. The Blade Show is a crap shoot. Roll the dice and take your best shot, but I
suspect the odds are in your favor.
There will always be someone who likes your work and style.
I’m pretty tired and I wish I could unscrew my feet and
stick them in the freezer for a couple of hours. But despite that, I’m sorry to be heading
home. Walk around the show and you will
see some of the best new and collectible knives in the world. Say what you want about only buying American
products, but the world produces amazing knives. I stopped by Condor Knife. They are in El Salvador and their products have
taken a major step up. I’ll be buying
some of their products. I went by
Artisan Cutlery, QSP, and so many others and marveled at their knives. It was exciting.
But in a day or so I’ll return to that provincial mindset of
people who look only at the country of origin and when told the price of knives
made in Japan, China, and other places, grunt, “I think these foreign knives are
cheap.” The Blade Show is like overseas
travel. It opens your eyes and challenges
your concepts.
We left around noon and saw two young men buying a day pass
for the remaining two hours of the show.
I’m not sure what they paid, but considering the stripped tables and
shelves, they paid too much!
Here are a couple of pictures, but frankly, nobody was doing
anything interesting.
 |
| The engraving art |
 |
| Medford Knife and Tool's Marauder full size with S35VN steel $1160 |
