Blade Show 2016 Videos, Photo's, Reports and Gossip

[dplafoll]

Were there any new sharpening products on display? I am very eager for the Gauntlet as well as the diamond/ceramic pocket stone that is supposed to be in the works.

Darby, they had a Gauntlet system there I believe but I somehow missed it. I did ask Sal about it and I believe he said it should be coming out soon. Not sure if soon means in a month or a year. :)

FWIW, I also bugged him about making us some diamond rods that are somewhere in between the existing diamonds and the medium ceramics. Some 600 and 1200 grit diamond rods for the SM would be really nice to have with all these fancy high vanadium steels we've got floating around these days.

The Gauntlet was in the knife award display case outside the main hall, as it was up for the Accessory of the Year award. I saw it, and it looked really cool.

My thoughts on Blade:
I spent a good bit of time at the Spyderco booth, and I want to first thank Sal, Eric, Michael Janich, and the rest of the Spyderco crew for putting up with silly fanboys like me pawing all over the knives. My wife was with me, and I think she managed to keep me from being too bad.
I handled a lot of the prototypes/production samples, and several stood out.
Magnitude - I confirmed that I would like this more than the first Rubicon. Very, very nice.
Sage 5 - I confirmed that I definitely want the heck out of one of these.
Advocate - Very nice, good flipper, might actually consider now.
Caribbean - Larger than I thought it would be.
Chaparral - Handled 3 different protos, one is SS(Sal said this one would be good for engraving, like the SS Delica/Endura). The other two were some sort of colored material, one blue and one green, and I honestly don't remember what they were.
Nirvana - It's as good looking in person, and just feels perfect.
SpydieChef - Very neat knife. I love Slysz designs and this one is no different. I don't really have a use for it, but I bet someone will totally want it.
Ouroboros - Very, very cool knife. Very good in hand. I'm definitely more interested in it now.
Reinhold Rhino - Neat little budget knife. It's really nice to see the CompLock on a less-expensive option.
Manbug Wharncliffe - Didn't hold, but looked really cool. I hope they make it.

Lots of neat concepts and prototypes in the case. One highlight was something already mentioned in this thread: Marcin Slysz brought a Mouse 2 custom and left it in the case, and as a huge fan of my Techno I was super stoked to get to hold the M2. I saw it on MS's USN forum, but didn't really imagine ever getting to handle one. It's really, really great, and I hope Spyderco makes a Techno 2 based on it. I'll totally buy that.
I'm trying to remember the rest of what I saw; if anyone was there who can jog my memory, that would help. It was my first Blade Show so memorizing wasn't my main focus. :p

Not present: Para Military 3. Dang.

EDIT: I forgot to mention a couple of production pieces that I also handled.
Introvert - Very interesting knife. Very good in the hand, better than I thought it would be. Not the greatest flipper; you'll probably use the opening hole more.
Caly3 - I had to hold the one they had in the case, if nothing else to show my wife who really liked it. I talked to Sal and he told me about why they discontinued it with the maker. It's a sad story, and I hope they can resolve it in some way. As usual, the knife was beautiful, and a pleasure to hold. I actually would've bought this one over any others, if I'd brought money to spend on knives.

I didn't buy any knives at all while at Blade, but I did end up with some cool stuff. The best thing was the Spyderco 2016 Product Guide that I had signed by Sal, Eric, and Mr. Janich. Thanks to all three for that.

I'm already looking forward to next year, and, good news, my wife is as well. I told her next time I'm bringing money to buy some sort of knife while we're there. She gave me the "we'll see" look. :rolleyes:

[SG89]

Thanks dplafoll for the post. I hope they produce the Manbug wharnie! About the green and blue chaps... Were they FRN handles?

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Absolutely have to get the Advocate. It was nice to handle the Rhino and Jess Horn sprint. The variety of Chaparral handles are sweet, although I can't remember what they were made of. I was surprised to see the Slysz "mouse", which will hopefully make it to production as a Techno 2.

OK, so the Jess Horn sprint was a mind-blower the other day, now the Mouse!! :D I love my Slysz Spydies so much I actually contacted Marcin Slysz recently to inquire about his customs and he responded very graciously almost immediately and said that he would only be making the Mouse 2 in the near future (I really wanted his Rat model).

It's so fantastic to hear that Spyderco may be having now their 4th collaboration with this awesome maker! Sal mentioned to me in April that he had never even met Marcin in person, but seeing pics of both gents at Blade makes me hopeful they finally connected! SO cool! Radioactive :)

P.S. I'm still processing the incredible Manbug wharnie news as well!

[Surfingringo]

Thanks dplafoll for the post. I hope they produce the Manbug wharnie! About the green and blue chaps... Were they FRN handles?

The green one was kind of transparent with some kind of green material and actual bronze (I think) swirled through it. The result was kind of an artistic looking camouflage. Best I can describe it. The sharpest looking Chaparral in the case was the stainless steel version IMO.

[SG89]

Thanks dplafoll for the post. I hope they produce the Manbug wharnie! About the green and blue chaps... Were they FRN handles?

The green one was kind of transparent with some kind of green material and actual bronze (I think) swirled through it. The result was kind of an artistic looking camouflage. Best I can describe it. The sharpest looking Chaparral in the case was the stainless steel version IMO.

Thanks SG! So the Chap handle didn't look like ctek? Sorry for all the questions lol

[Surfingringo]

Thanks dplafoll for the post. I hope they produce the Manbug wharnie! About the green and blue chaps... Were they FRN handles?

The green one was kind of transparent with some kind of green material and actual bronze (I think) swirled through it. The result was kind of an artistic looking camouflage. Best I can describe it. The sharpest looking Chaparral in the case was the stainless steel version IMO.

Thanks SG! So the Chap handle didn't look like ctek? Sorry for all the questions lol

Nope. It looked different than anything I've seen so far. It was still in the concept stage I think.

[roger-roger]

I'm curious about that wire clip on the Spydiechef...is it titanium?

Correct me if I'm wrong but a ti wire clip made from the same diameter wire as what looks like a steel clip, will be noticeably more flexible than the latter.

I dig it (!) because that would correct the one issue, that prevents me from carrying most of my Spyderco in dress pants or board shorts.

[Evil D]

I'm curious about that wire clip on the Spydiechef...is it titanium?

Correct me if I'm wrong but a ti wire clip made from the same diameter wire as what looks like a steel clip, will be noticeably more flexible than the latter.

I dig it (!) because that would correct the one issue, that prevents me from carrying most of my Spyderco in dress pants or board shorts.

My understanding is that Ti is far more rigid than steel but will crack and fail rather than bend like steel will. I'm honestly not sure how a Ti wire clip would behave.

[Scroop]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d99nfaiPCvs

[Able Dog]

Coming weeks?! Woohoo.

[farnorthdan]

Thanks everyone for all input, it's very exciting to see and hear about all the fantastic pieces on the horizon. I'm trying to figure out were I'm going to come up with the funds to grab all the ones I want.

[Liquid Cobra]

Great info, thanks all! That Nirvana video...what a knife. Wow.

[dplafoll]

Thanks dplafoll for the post. I hope they produce the Manbug wharnie! About the green and blue chaps... Were they FRN handles?

The green one was kind of transparent with some kind of green material and actual bronze (I think) swirled through it. The result was kind of an artistic looking camouflage. Best I can describe it. The sharpest looking Chaparral in the case was the stainless steel version IMO.

Thanks SG! So the Chap handle didn't look like ctek? Sorry for all the questions lol

Nope. It looked different than anything I've seen so far. It was still in the concept stage I think.

Yeah Sal told me and mentioned here somewhere that they've been working on multiple handle materials for the Chaparral and many of them haven't worked. It looks like they'll make the SS for sure, and it was very nice. The other two were concepts as Surfingringo mentioned. Very cool looking; they seem to make the knife a bit more traditional-style while still very modern.

[MacLaren]

The Magnitude really has my interest...

[Doc Dan]

There are some really nice things on the horizon. I am just disappointed that the Junction is going to be over $150. KC has it posted. I am looking forward to that knife but the price is above my current budget because of the exchange rate.

[Tdog]

Any news on a fillet knife? Thanks

[dplafoll]

I just talked to my local knife shop guys(where they get two of every Spyderco automatically), and they told me the Nirvana will arrive very soon, like within a couple of weeks.

[bh49]

I checked 2016 Blade awards and didn't find any for Spyderco :eek: . Nothing for BM or ZT either. People’s Choice Knife Of The Year®: Schrade – SCHF52. Seriously ???????? Overall Knife Of The Year®: Lionsteel – Metamorphosis - over $200 knife with aluminum scales. Seriously?????

[SpyderNut]

I checked 2016 Blade awards and didn't find any for Spyderco :eek: . Nothing for BM or ZT either. People’s Choice Knife Of The Year®: Schrade – SCHF52. Seriously ???????? Overall Knife Of The Year®: Lionsteel – Metamorphosis - over $200 knife with aluminum scales. Seriously?????

I hear you, Roman, and I agree. I was pretty peeved to say the least. Last year, Spyderco won two awards during Blade (one for the Imported Knife of the Year (Nirvana) and one for the Best Buy of the Year (Byrd Cara Cara 2). It's a shame they didn't get an award in at least one of these categories...

[RexGig0]

We were only at Blade on Saturday. The Spyderco table was very crowded. I did manage to speak, briefly, to Michael Janich fairly early, and to Joyce near closing time. The only knives I handled were the Ronin II, and Temperance II, to confirm a good fit in my hands, for consideration as future purchases. I recognized Sal and Eric, from previous visits, but they were so surrounded by people, I did not get close enough to speak.

After speaking to Joyce, I went around the corner of the Spyderco display, to see the prototypes, only to find that they had already been removed from the case, for the night.

My only purchase at the Show was a Kasper Scorpion, a fixed-blade, from Wes Crawford at the Crawford Custom Knives table.

We stayed at a very nice Fairfield Marriott, on Paces Ferry near 285, about 3/4 of a mile from the Show, Friday and Saturday nights.

Unfortunately, we were delayed in leaving for the Blade Show by bad weather in Texas, so could not quite make it to the Show on Friday, and having to be home by early Monday, could not stay to attend the Show on Sunday. Next year, I plan to allow more time!