The Knife Junkie Podcast is the place for knife newbies and knife junkies to learn about knives and knife collecting. Twice per week Bob DeMarco talks knives. Call the Listener Line at 724-466-4487; Visit https://theknifejunkie.com.
©2023, Bob DeMarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
https://theknifejunkie.com

Transcript

[0:00] Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast, the place for blade lovers to learn about knives, and hear from the makers, manufacturers and reviewers that make the knife world go round.
I'm Bob DeMarco and coming up, Blade Show 2023.

[0:16] Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast, your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting.
Here's your host, Bob the Knife Junkie DeMarco.
Welcome back to the show.
I'm doing this show from Atlanta Hotel, as you can tell.
This beautiful abstract artwork behind me. And this is the final day of Blade Show.
It's Sunday morning, and I am excited to see a little bit more of the last day of Blade Show here.
I've never done the last day of Blade Show, and I won't have all day, but I am looking forward to it.
It has been an amazing year, just so many people, a lot of people, a lot of exhibitors, and I got exposed to a lot of new makers that I'm very excited about.
I'll be bringing you throughout the year. I made a lot of plans with a lot of people to bring you some really, really interesting content, some great knives, and some really interesting personalities.
So yeah, it is true. It's a cliche. They say it every year, as do I.
Blade show is about knives, yes, but it is so much about the people.
You might hear a little rasp in my voice. That's because I was at the pit last night talking.
The whole week has been, the whole weekend has been spent talking.

[1:33] So I'll do a little bit more here and then maybe I'll quiet down for a while.
But let me show you, before I do...

[1:38] What I brought to Blade Show. So this year is my third year coming here and my second year flying here. First time I came I drove and so I piled my car full, packed it full of knives thinking that you know, hey if I see Rick Hinderer I'll show him my Rick Hinderer knife and hey if I see so-and-so I'll show him that knife and it doesn't work like that for me. I don't like walking around with a million knives at Blade Show because I want to get more knives at Blade Show. So this year, just in case because I know the TSA you know who knows temptation sticky fingers you never know I didn't want to bring anything valuable in the bag down here so I brought the KUBI flash I was talking about it last week which one will I bring to blade show and indeed I brought the flash this thing is awesome, I really do like this knife KUBI makes great knives and and this one is inexpensive yet durable and stylish and it's got that long four-inch blade which I love so much. So I brought the Kubi Flash and then Matt Chase convinced me to bring my Nova 1. I wasn't planning on bringing the Nova 1 because I was afraid, afraid that it you know it'd get stolen or something but he said look I'm bringing all my stuff in my bag so and I took that as a hint that I should bring this and I did and it was great I got a chance to show it off to a lot of people.

[3:07] And pump up Matt Chase, pump up my my design here and Nova 1 and you know get people excited about this because there will be a Nova 2 there will be future knives.

[3:20] Matt and I are considering making this one of his full-time models somewhere down the line because he brought a prototype and so many people loved it.
This table is beautiful.
So I brought these two knives, the Nova 1 and the KUBI Flash.
I will be going back with a number of new knives of my own and then a loaner and I'm very excited. I'll be showing those off to you down the road a bit.
But I want to tell you about a pretty interesting thing that happened to me outside of Blade Show after Saturday.
I was wandering around trying to figure out, do I walk back to my hotel, which is a mile away? I'm not going to pay $17 for an Uber.
Do I walk back now and then come back to the pit?
Or do I find somewhere to eat or find a group to hook up with and get dinner with them?

[4:10] And as I'm kind of milling around outside, I see Luc LaFontaine.
Luc LaFontaine, the Hollywood blades, blade master and stunt coordinator and such. He's been on the show on the knife junkie podcast. And so I went up to him and started talking to him and, realized as I'm talking to him in my peripheral vision is Lynn Thompson and Lynn Thompson has he's festooned with large cold steel knives. And he's got his cold steel. What do you call a sword cane. And I'm talking to Luke LaFontaine, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Lin like, what am I chop liver? And, he's, he's kind of moving in on me. And then I realized, oh, it's Lin Thompson, be cool about it. And I keep talking to Luke.
And he interrupts, he says, Hi, I'm Lin Thompson. I'm like, Oh, hi, Lin. Like I didn't notice him. I shake his hand. And I, you know, I started talking to him, tell him what a big fan I am of his work. And, you know, since the late 80s. And, you I've been around for the whole for the whole ride, pretty much.
And so he invited himself on the knife junkie podcast. I cannot wait to interview this guy. And just a warning to you and to Jim, it's gonna be a long one because, wow, the man can talk and the man has stories. So I'm really looking forward to that Lynn Thompson. What a cool guy. We took two pictures. Well, it's the same picture, basically. But we took a picture he gave me. He.

[5:39] He gave me an XL Vaquero to hold.
He pulled that out of somewhere, and then he pulled out his XL Espada, and we both held them up and took a picture. And it's a prized possession, man.
I gotta say, I've always loved Cold Steel, as you know.
I've always wanted to meet Lynn Thompson, and I finally have.
And I look forward to chewing the fat with the man, because he's got some stories to tell.

[6:05] All right, coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast, we're going to take a look at the knives I've acquired here. And then after that, we will show you some interviews. I got some quick, soundbites from a number of people. And it was great to catch up with them. If you want to help support all this and want to help support reportage from blade show, please check us out on Patreon. You can scan the QR code on your screen and you can go to knifejunkie.com slash Patreon and check out the various tiers of support that you can enjoy and that we can enjoy and check out the things you get in return. A lot of exclusive content and you get in the running to win a knife every month. So do check it out if you're interested. If not, we just love that you come and you watch or you listen. All right, coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast, the state of the collection. Stand by. If you're a knife junkie, you're always in the market for a new knife and we've got you covered. For the latest weekly knife deals be sure to visit theknifejunkie.com slash knives. Through our special affiliate relationships we bring you weekly knife specials on your favorite knives. Help, support the show and save money on a new knife. Shop at theknifejunkie.com slash knives. That's theknifejunkie.com slash knives. So one of the first people I wanted to check in with when I got to blade was Dirk Pinkerton. Dirk and I I made plans to hang out, go out to dinner and stuff.

[7:29] And, you know, the man knows where his bread is buttered and he knows that I am a junkie for his knives.
And so I came over to say hi to him and we were talking for a while and I was looking at everything on his table.
And he had half of the table were the designs that he has produced by the, you know, the folders that he has produced by various production companies.
And then the other side were all of his handmade custom knives And I knew I was gonna buy one of his handmade customs.

[7:55] I was just in such a quandary as to which one to get, because they were all cool, and I loved them all for various reasons.
But I could not resist the thought of a triple-edged wharncliffe.
Now this is my second triple-edged wharncliffe, along with my TKEL knives wharncliffe.
This thing is wicked. This is the fire ant.
And he did a little folding version of the fire ant. Try and get this in the light since it's kind of dark in here.
And it was a little wharncliffe just like this. And so this is a fixed version of it.
That's D2 blade steel.
And this is some, I think it's fat carbon. I think it says fat carbon.
Really nice blue and black carbon fiber. Obviously an excellent self-defense knife.
You get the back cut. you get a forward edge and then you get that incredible point and that long cutting edge.

[8:56] We got into a little conversation as to whether he calls this a reverse tanto or not. He said he has in the past because he finds it sells. So yeah, I will relent and call this a reverse wharncliffe triple edge. I mean a reverse tanto triple edge, but we all know it's a wharncliffe.

[9:16] So beautiful fire and of course I'll show this in close-up with better lighting and everything in the weeks to come so be sure to check it out and of course an awesome sheep.
Got to put a discreet carry clip on this and she's ready to go. Okay, next up, wandering around some of my favorite, I will say my favorite part of the blade show floor is this, I don't know how many acres of tables of independent makers and smaller companies. You see some of the most amazing, amazing work there. And I was talking to a man from this place, a man and woman from a place called Fudo Forge. And they had some incredibly beautiful forge knives way out of my range for what I wanted to spend. Because I went with a mission to get a push dagger. So I was still looking around for that. And but they did have these little scrap knives, little scalpels on the table for 30 bucks. And.

[10:12] After talking to them, and then looking at this little thing, I couldn't resist. You know, it's the $30 piece of sharpened steel from a guy and from an outfit that makes really incredible knives. I just thought this was a cool little thing. I think I might wrap the handle in jute cord, make it a little easier to hold on to. I'll probably make a little kydex drop pocket sheath with a little hook so I can put it in there. No one knows I can pull it out, have the hook keep the sheath in the pocket. And I just noticed this, I guess they, that's either a hole that was there from the scrap or that maybe in a lanyard hole but so cool little scalpel from Fudo, F-U-D-O, Forge.

[10:57] There you go. Okay, next up. This one. I was very excited to get I had a pretty good idea. I was going to get something from auxiliary manufacturing when I got there. Michael Jarvis was recently on Thursday Night Knives and then he was on the interview show a couple months back, great guy making really awesome stuff out of Reno, Nevada. And I knew I wanted one of his daggers. So I got the pocket rocket. I think this is the medium sized dagger. I know there are smaller and I know there are larger. But I'm not sure where this fits in the full lineup. But look at this beauty. This is 1095 blade steel. I think that's, I'm not sure what that coating is, but it's 1095 blade steel, double edged, super wicked sharp. And it's got this really nice geometric handle that I remember commenting on when I was speaking to him on the show that it looked comfortable, and it is. I'm here to tell you, auxiliary manufacturing.

[12:02] Makes a comfortable handle. And beautiful, beautiful knives over there at his table.
Not just defensive knives, they had a lot of sort of straight up EDC knives, all fixed.
And then kitchen knives, beautiful kitchen knives. So this will be one of my EDC fixed blades, fits nicely in the waistband, you better be careful, and comes in a great sheath with multiple lashing options. You can fit any sort of clip on those half-inch spaced grommets. Michael Jarvis, auxiliary manufacturing, pocket rocket dagger. Look, I'm trying to get some good light on it. There we go. So, very nice knife.

[12:48] Okay, so, second day was Saturday and that's the day I found what I came for.
You'd be surprised, there is a dearth of push daggers at Blade Show this year, and I'm also seeing the Pakal star wane.
Not as many Pakals as last year and the year before. It's interesting to see how trends change.
Push daggers, I sort of get why they're not terrifically illegal in too many places.
But I got mine from Stroop Knives. Now Stroop Knives just announced this recently, like right before Blade Show, and I had forgotten about it until I came in the second day and I saw Chris.
I kind of did one half of the room one day and then the other half the next day, and saw Chris on that side of the room and we chatted a little bit and this is the one I got.
Now he has some customs, but the handles are thicker, And since I intend to carry this, I wanted a thinner handle.
But they do some really fancy, nice handles besides this G10.

[13:54] G10, but it's nice and thin. Okay, so here it is. Stroopknives Push Dagger. And it's an asymmetrical handle, which I like, so it comes out between your forefinger and your swear word finger, instead of in the very middle like this. I'm not so crazy about this. So having it right here, you can slash, you can thrust, and there is no chance that anyone is going to take this out. The only way you're going to let go of this is if you drop it yourself, because there's nothing to grab onto handle-wise, and if you grab on that blade to try and disarm someone, you know, you're going to wish you hadn't.
Stroop knives, such a beautiful, beautiful knife, and they also had a killer table just full of amazing knives, I don't know, let's, there we go.
So I now, I feel for my guests when they don't know exactly how to hold a knife to their, to their phone camera.
But there she is, this is what I came for, and it's chisel ground.

[14:55] Benefit of the chisel grind, you get a stouter blade that's not going to break, and you make a bigger hole in that which you are making a hole in.
Kydex sheath comes with a, um, what's that called, okay you're all yelling at your screens right now, you know what that's called, it comes with one of these clips.
So yeah, check that out. They have a bunch of them online now, and that is fully released.
Next up, I went over to, you're gonna see a little interview with Michael Martin of American Blade Works.
I was talking to him and his lovely family. I'd see them every year now, and his wife is really cool, and the kids are always there too.

[15:37] And we were looking at the Model 2, and he gave this to me on loan.
I shouldn't say give.
He loaned this to me to take home and check out and make a review of.
And I didn't even ask and I thought that was really, really nice of him.
So this is a MagnaCut Sheep's Foot Blade. Just beautiful action on this.
Titanium.
Of course, he's a one-man band working out of his shop.

[16:08] I say one man band, but you know that his wife helps on the business end of things.
But look at this beauty. I like how you can see the striations of the milling in the blade there.
It's nice and thin. Oh, I didn't even realize how thin it is till right now. This is going to be a beautiful cutter. It's a titanium liner lock, and I am loving liner locks, titanium liner locks, because you're not dealing with any of the pressure on the lock bar. You're not dealing with any sort of arresting motion when you do that so...
Oh Shane Gables was given one of these to give away so I don't know if I won that one but hopefully I did.
All right American Blade Works model number two and by the way if you like the model number one which is awesome you've seen me show that off a bunch of times he has put a wharncliffe on that blade an actual wharncliffe So it's like a gentle slope to a pointier tip on the Model 2.
So check that out.

[17:13] All right, next up, my wife, I was talking to my wife, you know, saying, calling in the morning to say hi to the wife and the kids and check in before I went to the blade show on the second day. And she said, Oh, remember father's day is coming up.
Just get yourself something.
And I said, okay, um, I'll make sure it's not $500. And she said, Oh, yeah, make sure it's not anywhere near that.
So I was walking through the one knife that I know I've wanted ever since I got a chance, to check it out when it was loaned to me, is the...

[17:47] Tempest Knives Microburst. Yes, Tempest Knives by our good friend KC Spirion of, the Knives Fast Channel, who has started this awesome company, Tempest Knives, making beautiful blades. And this one right here is a monster for cardboard. He loaned one to me and it was one of the few loaners I've ever used. Kind of, I don't want to say hard, but I put it through its paces because the knife just compelled me to do so. I was begging for it. It's got sort of a perfect ergonomic setup and that broad blade, which comes to a very high height flat grind, is super thin, and really nice for cutting things like cardboard, things that are going to give you some resistance.
It slips right through. I was very indecisive about which one because this comes also with a black blade that is stunning in the handle. And the black is a nice sort of flat coating.

[18:47] What is it? Cerakote, I think. And it is just so nice. Looks nice. But for some reason, I kept coming back to this because I like seeing the sweats. I like seeing the lines.
And it doesn't pop out as much on the black blade. And I don't need it to do night ops.
So, not a big deal. So this is my Father's Day present for Father's Day 2023, and after this it's going right back in its box and I'm handing it over to the family so they can wrap it, and so I can pretend to be surprised on Father's Day. Incredible action on this.
Oh, also, KC's got a new one that's going to be...
It's in prototype form right now. It's going to be out, I think in August he said, but wow, it is awesome.
It's a titanium liner lock with 154CM, a beautiful blade, and a slight departure aesthetically from some of his other stuff.
And it is gorgeous. So I'm looking forward to that. Keep your eyes peeled on Tempest knives.
Okay, I went over to Devo Knives, you know, lefty EDC and lefty, you know, Kev's and Colin Maison Pierre's company, Devo Knives.
I went over and was checking out their stuff and talking with them, they're great guys, and I bought the Growler.

[20:12] So this is their, they have some, they have sort of graduated tiers of fanciness or finish.
And so I got the sort of field grade model and then I have some like really nice prototypes of this in different materials and stuff.
I just love this. They loaned one to me a while back and it was another one that I just loved.
It's like another knife from our reviewer designer friends that's just killing it, knocking it out of the park. So I bought this.
So happy to get this super high, super thin, flat ground blade with that clip point.
To me, this is a bit of a, this is also a tactical knife.
I guess every knife is a tactical knife to me, but I know that this knife can take some serious abuse.
I haven't put it through its faces, but I've seen other people do so.
And it's just a performer and you know, I like aesthetics. It's beautiful to me and sounds cool when you open it.
So when I bought this, Kev was so generous.
He's just like, here, take one of these. And he gave me a pony stout.

[21:24] This thing is as cool as you might think. It is as awesome as it looks.
I have not used it yet. I have used the stout, the larger size knife, but this Pony Stout, which just came out to a lot of fanfare, people loving this because of that super deep hollow grind, the beautiful looks, the ergonomics.
And the small size compared to the other stout. So this pony stout, black and black, so cool.

[21:54] Was a gift and I will cherish it. Really, really nice knife and really, really great people. I mean they didn't come to give away stuff, they came to sell stuff and to get their name out there.
And yet they were generous enough to give me this and I really appreciate that. Now speaking of The generosity, last knife I have to show you here, was also given to me by David Kam of Orion Knives.
And again, I'm blown away by the generosity. I mean, I'm not a babe in the woods.
I know he knows that I'm going to do a video on it and talk about it and get it out there.
But really, I've already done that because he's loaned this to me. So what a nice gift.
And he said, Bob, G10 or wood?
I said wood and he said oh uh-oh what's becoming more popular I guess he's given a number of these away and everyone wanted the wood and I can see why how, beautiful that is I'm not sure the type of wood but I do know that it looks fantastic with the black hardware black frame and black blade this is called the Cetus the Orion knives Cetus and to me it's like a pocket gununting. You know what I mean? Because it's got that curved down blade, it's got a.

[23:14] Sort of a sheep's foot down there, and it's a straight edge. But the angle of the straight, of the blade to that curved, already curved handle makes it an effective power cutter, especially at the tip. And that's why it reminds me of the gununting sword from the Philippines.
So this was a gift and I just heard something interesting. A gift should be unexpected, pertinent, and small. And this is all three things. Unexpected, pertinent.

[23:50] And small. Like physically small. And you know in terms of grandiosity small. So I'm really appreciative of everything everyone has done for me and how many people came up to me and introduced themselves to me and how many, you know, new buddies I made and how many old friends from here on the internet, from here in the YouTube nice thing to do that I got a chance to see and hang out with.
Highlight of the year, you know. So there it is, the Orion Cetus, a gift from the great and powerful David Kam.
Okay, coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast, we're gonna check in with eight or nine of our good friends from the knife world.
Coming up right here on the Knife Junkie podcast.
You know you're a Knife Junkie if you plan your vacation around Blade Show.
Well, as I mentioned, I was lurking at KC's booth quite a bit of Tempest Knives, and so I got a little interview with him to check out all of his new stuff and see how the show was going.
And also, that's where you'll see the prototype, and he'll reveal the name, I can't remember right now. So, check it out. Here's KC.
I'm here with KC of Knives Fast, but really, Tempest Knives.
How you doing, KC? Doing good. Doing good. A little slow so far, but it'll pick up.

[25:09] Well the show started less than an hour ago. So this is your first time having a table here at Blade Show. Tell me what you got here and what you're looking forward to. Will do. So let's start over here. We got pinions available. We have the two standard variations, the blue and the jade.
And then we've got these kind of custom ones we did where we have an acid stonewash blade and, dyed scales, both purple and Knives Fast Blue of course. Yeah, check that one out.
Yeah, so Jeremy did the Acid Stonewash and the edge on them. Freak Show EDC. Nice, nice work.
Really, really nice. Yeah. Yeah, I love the purple too. Yeah. And then we have the Microburst, which are just hitting people's mailbox from the pre-order. We have the Stonewash version and the black wash version and they will be also available on my website next, Friday or so as soon as I'm ready and then prototypes have got the Jetstream, this thing is amazing tell us about this. So Kubi made again went with a titanium, contoured scale you have a inset liner on this side no liner on this side.

[26:27] Spear point blade and so far I'm thinking I'm going to do it in this reverse tux and then the blue and stun wash that you see there here again just, a chunkier there you go chunkier one a little bit just wanted to do something a, little bit different we have a low-profile flipper tab it's chunky but, it's thin and light you know yeah it's especially for the size I call it broad, It's got a really, it feels like it'll be slender in pocket.
Feels great in the hand.
And I kind of departed from normal KC stuff and went with a milled titanium clip this time.
We'll see what people think of that.
You know, I've always done the wire clips, but I decided to try something different.

[27:15] And see what people thought, so. Do you think this design kind of merits a titanium clip instead? I do.
I mean, obviously you do, but. I felt like if we're gonna go a little more premium, we had to look a little more premium.
Plus, I don't, personally, when you have a wire clip on a titanium knife, it has more, it's more apt to scratch your scale.
And if you decide you don't want the scale, you wanna flip it around, then you get this big ugly scratch.
So I prefer this on a titanium knife. That's kind of where I'm at.
It seems to make it feel a little bit more premium, like you said, and it is.
And what Jeremy and I were talking about, it has more customability.
So if somebody wanted to anodize the scale, I mean, the clip on this one, and you know, anodized, the hardware's all titanium, like I always do.
Titanium backspacer, so you can anodize this stuff anything you want.
Got your signature pivot, I love it. Yes sir, yes sir, gotta have it.
So, they did a really good job with them.
There's literally about one thing on my list of things to change on it, so.
Well, let me ask you this, without, I'm sure a lot of people are gonna be asking, and I don't wanna like, put pressure on you, when do you think this might be ready to go? Mid to late summer is what I'm shooting for.

[28:28] I'm leaning towards pre-order which would probably be more like in the next month or so. I do the pre-order and then they deliver late summer if that makes sense. I was talking to a couple dealers, I don't know, I just keep going back and forth on if I'm going to do things that way or if I'm going to just keep doing pre-orders for now. So thankfully it's a small, it would be a smaller order and I think these are going to be either CM or 14 C 28 and they'll be in the 130 to 150 range so very affordable for a, titanium a chunky titanium knife. Everyone loves 14 C and I love 154 and who doesn't want a titanium liner lock designed by you?
Very nicely done sir. Thank you very much I appreciate it. Have a great show. Is there anything else you want to say?
Come by and see us but I'm glad you're here and then if people do come by.

[29:22] They can come see my daughter's custom bunnies here that we're giving away. I know the bunnies.
Oh my goodness, hello. Have a good one. Yeah, absolutely. Nicely done.
Wandering around on the booth side of things, where all the big companies are, or many of the big companies, I came across Touch Knives.
Now, Touch Knives, I follow them because I'm so impressed by the artfulness, and the beauty of their work.
But I got a chance to see it in real life and oh my gosh, it is stunning.
You will be surprised. Even the inside of the knife looks better than the outside of many of the knives that I saw there.
Eric Touch with his father started this company, or I guess his father started it and he jumped in and it is unbelievable what this father-son duo make.
Check it out.
I'm here with Eric Touch of Touch Knives. Eric, this work is beautiful.
I've seen it on Instagram, but I've never seen it in person.
It's different in person, right? Yeah. Tell me about your work.
Well, we're an all-handmade shop. My dad started with Butch Valadin, so he learned the ropes in the automatic game, and then he learned from Tim Herman and got into the art knife world.
I came to the shop about 10 years ago.
I learned all the things that he knows, and it's just a father-son business.
Our logo features him and I when I was, it's actually this photo right here.

[30:48] Yeah, so lately we've been known for our dual action scale release switch blades.
Yeah, let's see this.
The mechanism is, the scale release has been done before, but the mechanism is actually, re-engineered to the point that we have a patch for this.

[31:02] All mother of pearl, everything's fit by hand, there's no CNC or pantograph.
You said there's no CNC or pantograph? No CNC or pantograph.
Okay, so let's look at...
100% handmade, so you can open it regularly, and you can also release the spring by sliding, that scale over. It's that little moment. Beautiful. Now, what are some of these materials?
You've got very exotic steel there. This is a Damocord. It's about the most expensive, material you can get. My dad actually came up with a new formula to etch it, and it brings, out different colors. Now there's three tones rather than two. It's got some beautiful mother of pearl inlay. It's all fit by hand, like, longitude. The pocket clip there. So that, pocket clip those those inserts done by hand all done by hand no lathe even, it's done on a manual mill and then here we got my model the coho this one has no, spring in it but it's still pretty beautiful knife tell me what you're doing with this beautiful knife so I'm actually giving this knife away along, with $5,000 you're giving the knife away giving this knife away giving away $5,000 yeah so it's about a $10,000 prize and all you got to do to, enter is just buy a t-shirt, sweatshirt, hat, whatever, off our website.
Every dollar you spend is an entry into winning the grand prize.
That's our latest venture.

[32:25] Mike Norris Damascus, gold, mother of pearl throughout it. And the pack spacer, the thumb sub, the pivot, everything's done 100% by hand.
It's got vintage Bakelite scales, Ike Norris design.

[32:39] Rick, thank you so much for talking to us, and I look forward to having you on the show.
Thanks for coming by. All right, thank you.
The second room, the smaller room at Blade Show, is actually, some of my favorite stuff is in there.
Some of the newer makers come up through there, and you see a lot of exciting, innovative, interesting stuff in there.
And that's where I bumped into Luft Concepts, and Jake Wright, it was great to see Jake.
Bearded Gear, he doesn't produce as much content bearded gear anymore because he's producing knife content. He's creating, I mean he's producing actual knives and there's some amazing stuff there especially their new model. It is a knockout. Check it out right here.
I'm here with Jake of Luft Concepts. Jake, how's it going, sir?
I'm doing well. We're at Blade Show.
Yeah, we're in this crowded second room. This has become my favorite part of Blade Show right in here.
It's where the action seems to be happening. So tell me about the new knives.
The new knives? Yeah, so on the table we have prototypes of a model called the RWB.
You can see it here in a couple of flavors. These are prototypes so production may not be exactly like these but basically we've created a.

[33:50] That's simple and restrained but also complex and fun. So we've got an S90V blade, this one in particular is acid etched, you see a couple of finishes, on the table.
Zerk collars around a titanium pivot, this one's featuring a brass scale with our milling pattern.
And then we've got Zerk clip, Zerk collar on this side as well.
And a lot of internal milling, this one's still heavy because it's brass, but you pick, up the carbon and it kind of feels like it's going to float away.
So yeah, we've got a single opening method, if you will, just the whole no flipper on, this design, a departure from our first design, and it's designed to middle finger flick.

[34:28] So that makes it pretty fun, if you're into that sort of thing.
It'll thumb flick as well, but it's designed to middle finger flick.
So this blade here, I'm going to hold this one up, this blade is beautifully compound ground. Tell me about why you went with that.
Yeah, so I mean, compounds partially are just fun, because they look really visually eye eye-catching that you've got different angles happening but it's also there is some utility to it in the sense you get a nice thin cutting edge in that flat so for slicing like through cardboard things like that but then you retain some strength at the tip by going to a flat grind instead of the hollow you have behind it so on a clip point it just seems like the right functionality for the shape of the blade to us and it's what we want in our pockets so, we're running with it. Another standout to me in this design is that really cool, pivot. Yeah, tell me about the inspiration behind that. Yeah, so we like captive pivots, I find that it's more fun to disassemble and reassemble a knife if it's not spinning on both sides. So we just kind of got funky with it and realized it doesn't have to be around it can be any shape. And so we just created a shape that we thought aesthetically looked, good was fun. And then you had a collar around it that makes even more of a pop more dimension, and, We call it the shark tooth affectionately, but it's not really anything. It's just a shape. We thought fit well with the 9th and, Aesthetically works. That's not going to pivot when you're taking it apart. No, it will not it'll stay in place.

[35:57] The ABNT, Yeah, so these are our last few builds from this run we're plan to not leave blade show with any. We've got just a couple of titanium's.

[36:14] Left and a couple of carbons. What's up Brian? Good to see you buddy. So yeah we're just about done, with that batch. It's the last stragglers so we brought them to blade to let them go here. Next we have what's going to be coming after it. This is a rough proto, so bear that in mind but this is a US produced version we call it the Mark II.
So these are being built for us in Ohio by RecMan USA.
We're in prototyping right now, so this is a proto that's getting there.
We're not totally done.
Some changes will be made for production, but we're encouraged that now we've got a physical, tangible working model.
These are hand ground and aren't fully machined like the production ones will be, but this, is what's coming for the AVMT.
It'll be transitioning into the Mark II and be built into the US, frame lock instead of, liner lock, some difference in the lines, doesn't come to a point in the back anymore, where we flattened this edge.
There's a lot that's different about it, but it's still an ABNT unit.

[37:17] Congratulations on finding a US OEM. I know that was a big deal for you.
We've been working on it for years.
Well, thank you very much, Jake. Thanks, Bob.
In the second room again, man, it was such a pleasure to see and bump into Finch Knives on their very first blade show, at their very first blade show.
It was great, and I caught up with Spencer. We had a great chat. What a great guy.
Awesome outfit, Spencer and Steven. But Steven was off helping someone else.
So I bent Spencer's ear and then Steve jumped in at the end.
But you have to see these prototypes for 2024. They're gonna show everything that's gonna be released for the rest of 2023.
And then you see what they have coming in 2024. And it's amazing.
I can't believe how many designs these guys produce.
Just awesome stuff.
Here's Spencer. All right, I know you recognize that knife, and now you recognize this face.
I'm here with Spencer of Finch Knives, and he's got some really crazy cool stuff here, but before you, tell me about that.

[38:23] Tell me about that. Okay, so this is the Runtley XL. We actually launched our knife brand with the Runtley.
It's a smaller version. It was all G10, real lightweight and sporty, inspired by our love for fishing and vintage fishing movers.
Everyone said we'd love it, but we need one bigger.
And so we debated over a couple years and decided it's time for the Runtly XL.
We added the titanium bolster just to dress it up a little bit, keep the weight down.
We're gonna upgrade the steel to an M390.
Everything else was done in 154CM.
And we decided it was time to just go with a bigger, little nicer version of our sporty version.

[39:04] And so that's what we came up with. And these will be available in probably late fall.
We're hoping September, it might be a little bit later.
I noticed that you kept the signature nail neck on that. Yeah, we debated on taking that off.
It is gonna be on both sides.
And some people love just to flick it open with the finger. And it's kind of part of our traditional route too.
We love traditional pocket jewelry.

[39:29] And so it's not going anywhere. It's staying on this one. I think it is part of the blade design.
It absolutely is. And this has been, like I said, the baby version was our best seller.
We launched a brand with this.
So we're not calling this an anniversary edition. It'll probably be here for a while, but we are going to do a small run of these available this fall.
And we're really excited for this one.

[39:55] So tell me about some of the other things you have. So we're gonna finish the year out, with these two other versions here. This is the little Stinger.
It's available in a saw cut ox bone. We're gonna have it in yellow pattern or yellow color.
And then this is our first go with ebony wood. And this is gonna be available probably late summer.
Two different versions. Again, available with our dealers and then we'll also jump over, we'll sell a little bit direct.
Most of our stuff goes to our dealers. We do like to keep a few for ourselves and our customers.
The last one is the Shiv and this is inspired by the state of Kansas has a federal penitentiary called in Leavenworth Kansas so this is kind of a prison inspired flipper knife and it's going to be available in this exact version with the black coat and the translucent g10 which is one of our favorite materials then we'll also do a little dress it up a little bit with the wood version and these will be our next release available to dealers in probably about four weeks. So when I saw that my first impression was oh they're doing a swayback. Yep. And then I looked at the handle. Nope. And I thought oh that would actually go really well with that reversal. Yeah. So the inspiration that was there was the, prison. How do we, the guys that were incredibly resourceful and knew how, to build things, like how do we translate that over? Because the prison system in.

[41:20] Kansas is um, the Leavenworth Penitentiary really looks like a monument. And granted, we're not endorsing criminal activity, but there was some inspiration there that we just fell in love with.
And then let's take a quick, quick look over here. Yep, this is our 2024 lineup.
This is the nocturnal. It's one of our lightweight, sporty versions.
It does not have the bolster, so super lightweight.
We're doing a mirror polish on the blade, which is our first attempt at that, which we just love.
Then the next guy down is the Mudbug.
And then we have the Outhouse.
We have the Banzai Pipeline for inspiration for surfing and the Banzai Pipeline.
Then we have Hellfire, kind of our urban tactical, how do we dress up urban tactical?
Then we have the Barrelback, which is inspired by vintage racing boats.
So that'll be available in this finish.
And we're also thinking this has to be a wood finishes or a wood version as well.
Then the last guy is the little frog leg. And so probably the colors and materials we see here, will turn over to our production runs and we'll keep those pretty limited.
And so this is the 2024 lineup. We might sprinkle in some old designs that have done well for us.
We haven't decided yet.

[42:45] Before we cut here. Jump in Steve. Steve was in one of the podcasts, but was not in the first one. So that's exactly, right. It's really nice to meet you guys both in person. I think, what you're doing is awesome. Thank you so much. And we appreciate all the support you guys have given us because we can't do without you guys. It's been fabulous. All right.
Thanks.
As I mentioned before, Michael Martin of American Blade Works loaned me this beautiful Model 2. Here's our conversation at his booth, checking out all of the newer Model 1s, and then of course, this beauty. Here's Michael.
I'm here with Michael Martin of American Blade Works. Michael, how's it going?
Doing great, having a great show. So I see three, at least three new things since.

[43:36] Last we spoke out here in front of me. Tell us what's going on with American, blade works? Yeah, we're staying very busy and I have the, I've added a all-new Wharncliffe to the model one. We've also did some some Ultem this year.
This is a hot product this year. Yep. How is it working with that material? It's great.
It does really well. And then we've also debuting a brand new fixed blade in and Magna Cut.

[44:16] Got really nice thick liners, nice micarta. I like that you have your logo engraved in there.
Beautiful all-purpose fixed blade knife love that, so these are the wharncliffe model boards and then and then this has been a long time coming i made, 12 model twos four years ago and so i've now started the production of the.

[44:46] Of the mcgee and so and these are in magnica and so very excited about so this is a different, Bill talk me through what this is comprised of. Originally the Model 2 was a frame lock and so I actually changed it to a liner lock that way people can buy the scales separate and do separate scales, they can do GTN, Micartas, I'll be making some carbon fibers. It's smart making modular. Yep.
And you've got another wharncliffe on this one, or a sheep's foot, or whatever it is.
Yep. So what do you like about the straight-edge blades? I like it a lot. It's the wide belly. It slices very, very well. So it's a really good slicer.
So how is it working with titanium handles as opposed to the micarta frame locks and that kind of thing?
Well, the Makartas and the GTNs machine a whole lot easier than the titanium, but the titanium ain't that bad. It's really nice to work with.

[45:53] Well, you know, there have been a number of titanium frame locks that have come out on the market the past couple of years, and people love the, I'm sorry, liner lock. People People love titanium liner locks, it's refreshing from the frame lock, so I'm excited you made, this one.

[46:23] So, what are you looking forward to this weekend here at Blade besides selling lots of knives?
Oh yeah, well that's what it's all about, selling knives, but I think it's great getting, out and talking to other makers and seeing what everybody's got and getting new ideas.
Great, well thank you so much Michael. Thank you.
Well, no Blade Show would be Blade Show without Ben Belkin and Jack Wolf Knives, and they have a nice big booth this year and a whole bunch of product. I'm so impressed with Ben.
I mean, he's a great guy and I'm impressed by his the quality of his character. I'm also really impressed by his business sense. This man had a plan and he followed the plan and he's knocking it out of the park. But I was really there to check out the new gunslinger which is on the way to me. I cannot wait. This thing is unreal. The Gunslinger. Check this out.
I'm here with Ben Belkin of Jack Wolf Knives at Blade Show 2023. Ben, such a pleasure to see you, man. How are you doing? Great to see you too, Bob. I'm doing great. We're having a good time.

[47:33] So if you could see the picture I'm seeing, your wolf is right behind you with the arms coming around you. It looks very cool. A very nice setup. So tell me what you got new here right today.
Well, we are excited to introduce our first modern folder and like all jack wolf knives, you will see a traditional knife inspiration in the design.
So let's look here.
This is the gunslinger jack.
It's a scaled up version of the Sharpshooter.

[48:03] From this angle you'll see it looks like a slip joint with a couple interesting changes such as, a thumb flipper tab and a fuller. On the back side you'll notice a anodized titanium pocket clip and, a bolster lock and an ambidextrous fuller for the lefty middle finger flick. We have a full length anodized backspacer, matches the clip, resembles the spring of a slip joint, and a few different ways to open it. Middle finger flick, and a nice slow thumb roll. Has a beautiful sound to it, nice ting, amazing action. What was it like, designing a modern locking folder as opposed to a slip joint, must have been a, learning curve. There was a learning curve for sure. This has been in, development since the last blade show and the first phase of development was me learning the inner workings of these knives. I took a bunch of them apart, studied how guys were doing it, then had a designer friend of mine walk me through the geometry and how to appropriately lay the parts out to get, the desired action. So when do these drop? These are dropping June 16th at all our, authorized dealers. We have a few for sale here at the show. I wanted to show.

[49:28] Off the pocket clip delete feature if we could. So you can take the knife apart and remove the pocket clip. There's a screw and there's, an included titanium plug that you can put in place of the pocket clip, screw it in and reassemble the knife. This will allow you to utilize a leather slip. We're going, to have these custom Northwoods Leatherworks slips on our website and there's a lot of makers who'd be happy to make you a, beautiful. I love the flip or delete, I mean the clip delete option and the fact, that you add a plug in there that is the same anodized color. Right, no stone left unturned. That is super sweet. So do you know of anyone else who's doing anything quite like this? Well certainly Enrique Pena has a similar form factor and it was, important for me to differentiate my product from his. So I'm bigger than most of his line. His clipper tab is different and he doesn't have a clip delete. You, can unscrew his clip and then you see a screw head. And I'm doing the full-length anodized backspacer. And also you can middle finger flick.

[50:43] These guys. So you know I tried to make this special.
All right, before we sign off, I just want to ask you about the most recent release before, that, the Feel Good Jack.
Tell me a little bit about the Feel Good Jack. So I'm really happy with the Feel Good Jack.
I took the traditional doctor's knife, which is usually two implements, a long spear point, blade or kind of California clip point blade, and a spatula, looks like a tongue depressor.
And while those are interesting and fun for collectors, they're a little quirky.
So I deleted the spatula and replaced the long spear, which I don't particularly like, the aesthetics of, with this wicked sheep's foot, aka ram's foot blade.
Same hollow grime we're known for, unbelievably pointy at the tip.
This thing will cut you, there's no forgiveness. And a nice stiff spring, really nice walk and talk.

[51:40] Kind of looks like a cousin to the Midnight Jack, but nice and slender. slender, Love it. Well Ben, thank you so much. I hope you have an awesome show and you're just killing it. I'm very happy about that. Thank you, Bob.
So thanks for hosting us. I appreciate you.
My pleasure. All right. Keneson knives are stunning. They're almost blindingly beautiful on Instagram.
Well, you should see them in person. And I did for the first time ever.
I saw and held and fondled all of the Keneson knives that were there for lottery.
Lottery. You know, keenison makes very few knives because they labor over them. Each one is its own art, piece of art knife. And so they can't pump out too many of them. So you go and you see five or six of them out. And each one is a lotto.
And that's not a lottery like you win it. You win the right to buy it. That's how a lot of those were at blade show. I learned that the hard way the first year. So it's not a winning. It's a you're winning the right to buy it. So check, out some of these amazing keenness and knives.
I'm here with Brian Montalvo keenness and knives. Brian, how's it going, sir? Good, sir. How are you? I'm doing great. So how's the show going for you? Wonderful. A lot of good people, a lot of big crowd. It's been a lot of good night people, a lot of good night conversations. Everything Blake shows should.

[53:00] Be. So tell me what did you bring here? And what are people getting a chance to check out? What did we bring a little bit, everything. So right in front of you here is our Basset Hound. This is one of our new models this year of our Kinesin Hound series. This one is done in Shipwreck carbon fiber from Camo Carbon.
It's one of the first, the first knife made with that. It's a copper and teal carbon fiber with with a copper backplate.

[53:28] It's been force patina and then of course the Mike Norris Fireclone II blade which is just amazing.
Mike is one of the best. Put that one together so copper and carbon fiber with some stainless.
We got our new Max series. This is a lot of people are excited about this guy.

[53:49] This is a collaboration with HMC Nods, Jim Vanderveldt. So this is a CMC version of our, stray model we call the stray 2.0 Jim does all the all the machining on the scales pocket clip gets our blade for us and then we do our grind our lockup and detent and our classic stray action on there so this is the first prototype of, that we're really excited about this people are loving that yes the Fido so, this is a Fido this is our first production night with Riat this one's done in brass carbon fiber from Fat Carbon, black PVD coated blade, brass back spacer, and pivot collars.
Let's check out that flipper tab. Yeah, what flipper tab?
It's got the little nub lid on there. It is easy to flip.
So you were saying a lot of people don't know what to do with it when they pick it up.
Yeah, you kind of pick it up and they act like it's a slip joint or something and they, start pulling it out until they find that little nub on the back.
It's been fun to watch people interact with it, everyone's kind of skeptical about it, and then they pick it up and flip it and it really puts a smile on their face which is It was fun to watch.
So I'm standing here, I'm looking at what you brought, and you have a great day.

[55:04] A limited model of super custom amazing knives like you guys do, how are you selling these?
We do what's called a right to buy lottos, so you come get a rabble ticket, drop the rabble ticket in which bag you'd like here, depending on which model you want in for.
If your number gets drawn, you get the right to purchase that knife for the table value that's posted.
That's a very exclusive way of doing it, but your knives are very exclusive because they're labored over. It is, and we like to keep them on the table so that we can show people throughout the show.
You know, if somebody came in and bought them all, we'd be standing here with nothing to show, so it's a nice way to get everybody involved and get a chance to win something fun.

[55:45] So of everything you have out here on the table, what are you, what would you like to have? What are you most proud of yourself?
I will tell you, it's this E.T. This is our Bull Terrier model.
Bull Terrier is my favorite design that we've done. We have a lot of iconic designs, with the Bull Terrier is just one of my favorites. I love the grip, kind of a three-finger it there, like a straight razor. It's got a great profile closed. Of course, the Spidey hold, it's licensed, the Spyderco hold, but I love this material too. This is, you know, it's very classy. This is a, prototype Westinghouse Micarta rear section, and then a black linen Micarta on the front, also Westinghouse. I'm a big fan of bronze, so bronze accents, and I just love the action on this knife.

[56:34] So when you say Westinghouse, when people refer to Westinghouse, is it always old, or do they still make? No, it's always old. Westinghouse stopped making textiles a long time ago, and you know, for whatever reason, we don't make materials that way anymore, probably because, it's not very good for us but it's beautiful stuff and it behaves a lot a, A lot different than a lot of the newer Micardos on the market.
It's good for our lives, that's for sure. It is, it is.
So, I want to thank you for talking to me here, having an awesome show.
Anything you're looking forward to yourself, maybe picking up?
Uh, I got my favorite. I came for a Microtech Ultim here.

[57:15] That's what I got with the MagnaCut blade. That's my take home for Blade Show 2023.
That's right. You love the Alcapone. I love the Alcapone.
Well, Brian, thank you so much. Hey, thank you, buddy. Appreciate it. Good to see you.
I have a giant, shamefully large collection of knives. I've spent a shameful amount of money on them over the years.
But the most used knives are my kitchen knives. And they're, you know, they were wedding gifts 16 years ago.
They've been hobbling along, like, why did it take me so long to get a custom kitchen knife?
Well, it took Steve Calari changing his career and starting to make his own kitchen knives to get me to get me to get one.
And so I have the two that you've seen the eight inch chef's knife, and the paring knife.
Well, this was obviously, since he just started this past year, this was Steve's first year exhibiting at Blade Show, and he sold out pretty much immediately.
And he is, he's heading up into the stratosphere.
So watch this quick post pit interview post pit. So keep that in mind.
I'm here with Steve Killari. You know him as Super Steel Steve or Steve Killari Custom Knives.
Steve, you've had a bang-up show, man.
Tell me how it's been. It's kind of surreal. It kind of hasn't settled in yet.

[58:37] You came here with 16 knives. 15 knives. I miscounted because I was so tired.
I came with 15 knives. I came with 15 knives, and end of day one, they were gone.
End of day one, they were gone. End of day one, they were gone.
So what do you think the appeal is? Besides people knowing you, what's the appeal?
I have no clue. All right, I'll tell you what it is.
What do you think about geometry? It's everything. Geometry cuts.

[59:04] All right, well, I have two of your knives. They're our daily drivers in our house, and I love them so much.
Tell me what you think really makes a great chef's knife.
High hardness and thin geometry. It's everything.
I think that's what gets people giddy about my knives is, I tell people all the time, it kind of messes with your brain a little bit.
Your brain is expecting one thing and you get another. You hit the board before you feel the onion or the potato and it makes people laugh, it makes people happy.
It's fun, you know? And that's why I had that demo board out there and had people test it.
I think that's what it is. I think it's that and I think people can feel how much I care about it.
No doubt. No doubt about that and I have used your knives to the point of dullness and they still come, Like, better than my sharp other kitchen knives.
That's the point. So today you talked to a couple of dealers, anything happen with that?
Yeah, yeah I talked to four different distributors, one's for sure, North Carolina, there's three others that I got to talk to tomorrow, they're looking like it's gonna happen. Yeah, I don't even want to say, I was just stoked to be here, I was stoked to come here, I'm stoked that I had the knives to show and then day one I'm walking out, talking to four dealers and all the knives are gone. So I'm just beyond grateful. I'm beyond happy.
I don't know. I don't even know how to express it to be honest with you.

[1:00:34] All right. One last thought and that is that last year when I was here with you, you were, here as someone just checking out Blade Show and buying and here you are the next year making amazing knives and selling them. How does it feel?

[1:00:48] It's fucking wild, man. I don't know how to say it. It's like it's... I just... I'm still, like a regular guy, like a customer, you know what I mean, like coming here to see it. I'm still a fan of all these guys, so it's like, I don't know, it's almost not set in. It's.

[1:01:02] Like I'm, I looked at my wife today, I was like, well I guess I'm, I guess I'm a real knife maker now, you know what I mean, like I guess I'm a real knife maker now. If the, knives weren't evidence. Yeah, I guess, like I kind of, I guess I feel like, yeah, like I'm a real knife maker now. Well Steve, congratulations on your success so far. Thank you very much.
Thanks for your awesome knives, man. Thank you very much, bro. You got it. And of course, at last, no blade show would be complete. No knife, anything would be complete without the power couple needs knives, knife power couple needs knives were all over the place. I saw them running around Kara with the camera, and Jared talking to the camera and assessing knives from all over the place. And I got some time to hang out with them socially and a great, great, great time. But here's a quick interview sitting at Steve Kalari's totally empty table. I wanted to get their lowdown of blade show and find out what they thought were most interesting because they've seen the most knives of anyone I know I think and I was excited to see what they had to say. So why don't you take a look?
All right, I'm here with knife power couple, Jared and Karen Neve. Guys, how's it going? I see you running around hustling.
What's going on? Oh, yeah, we've been running around like wild men since yesterday so our legs are shot. We still have all day tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

[1:02:26] Alright so I have a question. How does Neves Knives, you guys cover so much, you have the most complete knife channel. How do you come to a place like Blade Show and cover this? What's your plan?
So we try to come up with ideas of knives that we can find and then make a video out, of like craziest knives at Blade Show, maybe like the new EDC knives of the year, maybe, That's fixed blades, things like that.
Get them into a bunch of different videos and then figure out a way to edit it together, which is the mess, by the way. That's the mess.
We try not to go conventional. We don't go to tables and say, hey, can we review your, knife? We do that, but we're always talking to someone.
Right. We try to go for a bit like, if you're not here, what would you want to see? And.

[1:03:12] That's what we're trying to show. I saw you working the camera. So are you always camera?
Not at home, because we have a tripod, but like in a moving situation, or even at home home when there's a moving type of video then yes, but if he's at his table, there's just not a need for that, you know, sometimes though, yeah, but anywhere else, yes.
Yeah, you guys had a good collaboration, like you had a good teamwork thing going on.
Yes.
So what are you excited about? What have you seen that's blown your mind?
Um, you know, honestly, not, not as much as I would have thought there's a few things.

[1:03:43] But you know, I guess the best so far this year has been Weezboob.
Wee Knife Co. came out with like, I don't even know, like 15 new knives and not even just just, 15, 15 amazing new knives. And it's very hard to beat that because when you see how they're, It seems like every year they're like just surpassing what they did last year and I know all companies kind of do that to some extent, but we this year man, they are just hitting, home run after home run and we went and filmed them yesterday morning.
So you know, we basically had as much time as we want with the knives, you know, to check, them out. And we did a live with them the day before.
So we got to briefly see them for a moment. still now I start thinking about it like what knives and beat that and I can't even think of anything that's beat it really you know that hasn't already, existed you know like the Hulks and things like that. We're looking for like new for 2023 not like this is a great knife but it's existing.
The cool thing about the new Wee Knives are that like you said they have a bunch of new ones and they're all unique. This is like a bunch that look the same. Yeah.
On anything in the custom realm. Have you guys gotten anything or?
Well, right before this, I have a custom. She did, yeah, she wanted to get a custom one.

[1:05:05] So we were at Blade Show Texas. I found a smaller maker called Spoletta Infinity Knives.
He makes these tiny little fixed blades. I asked him if he does custom orders. He said no, but then he would when he meets people sometimes. So he made me one. I picked it up at this blade show. You're going to think it's normal. It's USA made, they go for about $150, which is not much for it.
Yeah, it's gorgeous and the scales are absolutely perfect, like they're absolutely perfect.

[1:05:35] So I've had some other knife makers hold it and just say like how great of a job he did all the scales, these, just not this particular scale configuration was custom, but yeah, $150 USD made and that's really custom.
Well then you know, right before we came here, we got our Steve Calari custom, so that was right before we came here.
Which he sold out, so his booth is doing amazing, and I couldn't be happier for him because his work is so great.
Like that's like a prized possession for me right now that that chef knife So such good work, so I'm really happy for him and then other custom knives. I'm trying to think, We ran into a bunch of custom explained guys that were really cool, and we got a collaboration videos I think we talked too much at once until I can't differentiate in my head right now Yeah, everything's blending together, Until I look back at the footage and be like, oh yeah that was cool Yeah, Well guys, thank you so much for talking to me guys and gals, it's a really awesome talk to you great seeing you, I can't wait to see the videos you put out.

[1:06:47] Do you carry multiple knives then overthink which one to use when an actual cutting chore pops up You're a knife junkie of the first order. Well another another amazing year at blade show this year 2023, every year.
I feel like I'm in my element. And then I go home and I think, why am I not doing Blade Show every day of the year? Obviously, I can't. But the idea is, all of these like minded people gathered together, it is a very, very diverse group of really awesome people. And when I'm here, I feel like I can go up to anyone and just talk to them. Because I know that just to get into the the door, there are some prerequisites. One of them is gotta love knives. And if you love knives, you and I have something to talk about. So a lot of great community here, a lot of great people here and just miles of gorgeous steel of, all sorts. So if you have the means and if you have the druthers, make your way to blade show next year, the year after that, whenever you can, because it's awesome. So I'm gonna I'm gonna what do they say live in the afterglow for the next couple of days. And I'll check in with you on Wednesday. All.

[1:08:06] Right. This is Bob DeMarco saying thank you so much for joining me from Atlanta and blade show. And be sure that if you're interested, be sure to check out our Patreon for Jim working his magic behind the switcher. I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer. Thanks for listening to the ninth junkie podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review at review the podcast.com. For show For notes for today's episode, additional resources, and to listen to past episodes, visit our website, theknifejunkie.com.
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And if you have a question or comment, email them to Bob at theknifejunkie.com, or call Call our 24-7 listener line at 724-466-4487 and you may hear your comment or question answered on an upcoming episode of the Knife Junkie Podcast.

[1:09:04] Music.