Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
Anyone else going? I'll be there Friday afternoon and probably Saturday as well.
Blade Show West
- Thread starter Sean Jones
- Start date
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
Will do!
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
Sorry you can't make it. And yes, here is their website Blade Show West
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
You got it. I just got home from there. I'll write it up either later tonight or tomorrow.
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
Had some delays today. I've started on the report but I won't have it done tonight. Looking to tomorrow to finish it up
Stay Tuned
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
As requested
Blade Show West – trip report.
Being local to Salt Lake City I was glad to see Blade Show West here this year. And this being my first experience with a knife show of this magnitude it was somewhat overwhelming.
The turn out for both days was solid. I arrived early afternoon on Friday, and I was absolutely overwhelmed with the choices and beauty of knives, axes, swords and all things sharp. Also wood, metal and knife making accessories were available.
Friday
I picked up a no-name piece of wood (Manzanita?) as my first purchase. Bad choice maybe. I'll have to experiment with it. And then I also picked up a couple pieces of Desert Ironwood, a really nice piece of stablize Bog Oak, and some Redwood Burl.
The Desert Ironwood vendor had probably close to a thousand pieces available and at ten dollars a piece they were a steal. Not premium burl stuff, but still good quality. I wish I'd bought more.
On Friday I attended a seminar by Neels Van Den Berg on making daggers. A very informative and educational experience. He is an excellent speaker and makes beautiful daggers. and showed some methods of making dagger projects easier (at least to him). In particular the design elements.
There were two other seminars on Friday; One demonstrating a companies newest tool for sharpening and another demonstrating the use of 3D printer technology for canister Damascus.
After that, Black Rifle Coffee Company hosted the Awards for Blade Show West 2022 at their post show party. However due to time limits, I was unable to attend.
Saturday
I arrived at the show around noon and it was very crowded. It did start to clear out some around 2 ish, but not a lot.
I also heard a rumor that Blade Show West will return to Salt Lake City next year. Seeing the turn out, I think that's probably true. (But not confirmed)
I do believe the beautiful fall weather we've been having played a role in local people coming to the show.
When I was asked to do a write up on the show I realized I had only taken one photo that was actually at the show
.
This was taken at the Seminar on Daggers that I attended. Neels Van Den Berg ABS Mastersmith giving his presentation
I was so engrossed in picking up knives, soaking in the experience, etc., that it just didn't sink in that this was a very good opportunity for photos. My only excuse is lack of sleep.
However Neels Van Den Berg took a very comprehensive video tour on Instagram which you can find here. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjeBuPEKfwP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
It's 42 minutes long. However the last twelve he spends at one table picking out Koa. So you can probably stop there. And that only covered half of the tables. He has a second video that covers the rest of the show. However I haven't been able to find it. If I do, I'll post a link.
In watching the video myself earlier I realized I missed a lot. This is a show that to really dig in and see everything is definitely a two day event; maybe even three.
Most, but not all, major knife vendors were here. In some cases I do believe inclement weather, ie Hurrican Ian, played a factor. Or other previous obligations. The ones of note that I spent time at their booths were Spyderco, Evenheat, Blade HQ, Emerson Knives, White River Knife and Tool, etc. Too many to mention here.
And there were over 200 individual knife-makers present. All offering stellar knives. The one's that I found personally impressive were Murray Carters Table, Neels Van Den Berg (gorgeous daggers) and many others. Swords, daggers, kitchen knives, etc. If it was knife related, it was there.
===================
Edited to add:
I almost forgot about the 3rd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships. In the vernacular of the younger generation, this is a totally awesome event. With mostly young knife lovers showing their skills at flipping Balisongs. I was elsewhere during the Championships, but I did see some of the contestants practicing. It's an interesting skill set. Requiring a lot dexterity and eye-hand coordination. Very cool to watch.
Caveat: I've never heard of twitch.tv before so click at your own risk. However my security settings are quite high and I didn't have a problem
Give aways
Both Friday and Saturday Blade HQ gave away several knives. I didn't have any luck either day, but it was still fun to participate.
Final Take away
Having never been to such a show before I was quite impressed. And many of the people I talked to felt the same. Some makers sold out completely. And I do believe almost all sold at least something.
A very fun and informative event. Well worth attending.
I'll be there next year!
Blade Show West – trip report.
Being local to Salt Lake City I was glad to see Blade Show West here this year. And this being my first experience with a knife show of this magnitude it was somewhat overwhelming.
The turn out for both days was solid. I arrived early afternoon on Friday, and I was absolutely overwhelmed with the choices and beauty of knives, axes, swords and all things sharp. Also wood, metal and knife making accessories were available.
Friday
I picked up a no-name piece of wood (Manzanita?) as my first purchase. Bad choice maybe. I'll have to experiment with it. And then I also picked up a couple pieces of Desert Ironwood, a really nice piece of stablize Bog Oak, and some Redwood Burl.
The Desert Ironwood vendor had probably close to a thousand pieces available and at ten dollars a piece they were a steal. Not premium burl stuff, but still good quality. I wish I'd bought more.
On Friday I attended a seminar by Neels Van Den Berg on making daggers. A very informative and educational experience. He is an excellent speaker and makes beautiful daggers. and showed some methods of making dagger projects easier (at least to him). In particular the design elements.
There were two other seminars on Friday; One demonstrating a companies newest tool for sharpening and another demonstrating the use of 3D printer technology for canister Damascus.
After that, Black Rifle Coffee Company hosted the Awards for Blade Show West 2022 at their post show party. However due to time limits, I was unable to attend.
Saturday
I arrived at the show around noon and it was very crowded. It did start to clear out some around 2 ish, but not a lot.
I also heard a rumor that Blade Show West will return to Salt Lake City next year. Seeing the turn out, I think that's probably true. (But not confirmed)
I do believe the beautiful fall weather we've been having played a role in local people coming to the show.
When I was asked to do a write up on the show I realized I had only taken one photo that was actually at the show
.This was taken at the Seminar on Daggers that I attended. Neels Van Den Berg ABS Mastersmith giving his presentation
I was so engrossed in picking up knives, soaking in the experience, etc., that it just didn't sink in that this was a very good opportunity for photos. My only excuse is lack of sleep.
However Neels Van Den Berg took a very comprehensive video tour on Instagram which you can find here. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjeBuPEKfwP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
It's 42 minutes long. However the last twelve he spends at one table picking out Koa. So you can probably stop there. And that only covered half of the tables. He has a second video that covers the rest of the show. However I haven't been able to find it. If I do, I'll post a link.
In watching the video myself earlier I realized I missed a lot. This is a show that to really dig in and see everything is definitely a two day event; maybe even three.
Most, but not all, major knife vendors were here. In some cases I do believe inclement weather, ie Hurrican Ian, played a factor. Or other previous obligations. The ones of note that I spent time at their booths were Spyderco, Evenheat, Blade HQ, Emerson Knives, White River Knife and Tool, etc. Too many to mention here.
And there were over 200 individual knife-makers present. All offering stellar knives. The one's that I found personally impressive were Murray Carters Table, Neels Van Den Berg (gorgeous daggers) and many others. Swords, daggers, kitchen knives, etc. If it was knife related, it was there.
===================
Edited to add:
I almost forgot about the 3rd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships. In the vernacular of the younger generation, this is a totally awesome event. With mostly young knife lovers showing their skills at flipping Balisongs. I was elsewhere during the Championships, but I did see some of the contestants practicing. It's an interesting skill set. Requiring a lot dexterity and eye-hand coordination. Very cool to watch.
Caveat: I've never heard of twitch.tv before so click at your own risk. However my security settings are quite high and I didn't have a problem
Give aways
Both Friday and Saturday Blade HQ gave away several knives. I didn't have any luck either day, but it was still fun to participate.
Final Take away
Having never been to such a show before I was quite impressed. And many of the people I talked to felt the same. Some makers sold out completely. And I do believe almost all sold at least something.
A very fun and informative event. Well worth attending.
I'll be there next year!
Last edited:
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
Thanks
Good to meet you as well!