Blade Show 2024 Recap

Dylan and I traveled to Atlanta last weekend for the annual Blade Show, the largest knife show in the world. From arrival early Friday afternoon to departing around the same time on Sunday, we reunited with old friends and met many new ones. We chatted with knife-making legends, future legends and Forged in Fire champions. We acquired a LOT of awesome knives that will be available soon, including some really cool folders for our EDC club members (get on the waitlist!). Knifemakers come from all over the world for this show and everyone was in high spirits; here's some of the highlights.

In the evenings after the show closes, industry people gather in the lobby of the adjacent Renaissance hotel around an area affectionately known as the pit. We ran into our old friend Dan Hilgenberg of Silverthorn knives and he spotted Bob Kramer across the room so we went over and chatted with him for awhile.

Last time I went to Blade Show (2019?) I bought a vintage Bob Kramer chef knife from Steve Scherzer. Steve is a senior ABS Master Smith and it was great to see him looking well and still actively making knives. I couldn't resist a skinner and fillet knife set he made from 1095 and linen Micarta.

We picked up a boat load of Protech knives from their booth including some limited edition Malibus. Being a huge Protech fan, I was super pumped to meet one of their most revered designers Mike Irie, known for his slick compound blade grind. Mike had a table with a number of special pieces from his personal collection that I couldn't resist.

We've been fans of Tre' Hill (3rd Hill Customs) since we met him a couple years back. The knives he brought to the show were on another level and I did my best to lighten his load for the return trip home. They will be up on our site soon. It was also really cool to listen to him talk about knife making with Bob Kramer and Dan Hilgenberg. Tre said something that blew Bob's mind!

Sunday is usually pretty chill but this year we met lots of cool makers that were previously on our radar, including Tim Rowland of Rowland Cutlery in based in the Atlanta area. Tim is a chef-turned-knifemaker and his blade grinds were amongst the best I saw at the show. By this point the suitcase I checked to fill with product was overflowing so fortunately Tim agreed to ship all the knives I bought from him. They will be available shortly after they arrive. Tim also makes Japanese (wa) style handles so we now have a resource for replacement/upgraded wa handles.

 Somehow neither Dylan or I managed to get a photo with Martin Huber of Austria. He and his fellow Knifemaker Chris Ambros had an amazing collection and right before was left we convinced him to ship us almost everything he had left including the two beauties above. 

We met Joshua Fisher of Edge Knife Works and were really impressed with his knives. Josh is a young knife maker from Kentucky but already has a Forged in Fire championship under his belt. His blades are thin with crisp grinds and they are well-priced. We look forward to having more of his knives on our shelves in the future.

 A couple others that caught my eye from Mike Baldwin of Chicago and Paul DiStefano of NYC pictured below, respectively. We'll also be getting cool folders from Microtech up on the site soon.