Blade Show west in California

If it actually happens I'm probably gonna drive down, it falls on my nightshift weekend but I never use my vacation anyway. Nice thing about driving, I can bring WAY more knives;)
 
I doubt things will be back to "normal" by this year but I agree seems an odd location change. Was Portland not a popular spot or something? I live in Washington so was fun to come down for a weekend for the show.
 
I'm relatively excited for this.
I'm only a couple hours from there. Could make a day trip up there and check it out.

Bladeshow in ATL probably won't happen for me this year unfortunately.
 
I'd do Long Beach. Family close by, Jet Blue to LGB.
Only thing better would be SLC which is super close and probably a better fit.
Long live CMFTW!!
 
AVigil said:
Absolutely, Ole Matt Freeman would carry an 11" fighter on his side everyday, everywhere he went and was totally legal. You try that in Washington state and you are going to jail, hell they consider a paring knife as a dangerous weapon.

California is great for knife people and Blade Show West will do great and bring in huge crowds in Long Beach.

I look forward to attending.
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What you can not do in Washington State is carry a weapon "that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons." Practically it means don't carry "scary" things in the big cities on the west side. There is a state law prohibiting "furtively carry with the intent to conceal any ‘dagger’ ‘dirk’ or ‘other dangerous weapon' " Spring knives are also prohibited.
Seattle and two other town have length limit 3.5 in. on folders and Seattle prohibits fixed blades.
Washington constitution provides: "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, .." Courts agreeing that knives are "arms" have gone to to interesting lengths to find that the knife the accused had was not that kind of knife..... Lots of paring knifes and no Bowie knives in the cases!
 
Well i remember not too long ago Blade show West Failed in California.. then moved to Portland (The Major Knifemaking Capitol of the US) and did ok for several years ..
But keept moving its Location and Dates .. then they gave it up ....
Once they Brought it back to Portland it did well growing in both TABLE Holders and Attendance ,with 6-10 hotels all within walking distance from the show...
Light Rail to take you from the Airport to the shows front door... Yes there is SERIOUS HOMELESS PROBLEMS !!! but that is the MAYOR/ Governors doing..
I will never return to doing Cali shows, most other knifemakers i know as well... it is not worth risking becoming a Felon for making/selling/buying the Wrong style of knife..on the wrong day.. as the rules are not easy to understand...
Too much Restriction/too little freedom for a place to have a Knife Show... No Bali/Switchblade/double edge/ secret design blade length etc..
Good luck to all that Choose to go .... i've held tables here but won't there....
 
seabil said:
What you can not do in Washington State is carry a weapon "that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons." Practically it means don't carry "scary" things in the big cities on the west side. There is a state law prohibiting "furtively carry with the intent to conceal any ‘dagger’ ‘dirk’ or ‘other dangerous weapon' " Spring knives are also prohibited.
Seattle and two other town have length limit 3.5 in. on folders and Seattle prohibits fixed blades.
Washington constitution provides: "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, .." Courts agreeing that knives are "arms" have gone to to interesting lengths to find that the knife the accused had was not that kind of knife..... Lots of paring knifes and no Bowie knives in the cases!
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I live in Washington state and yes we got poopie laws as well. And yes blade show would not be good here either. Generally if you stay out of Seattle your golden.
 
Look, as a California and Los Angeles Native who has been in the knife scene for nearing on a decade, I promise all your fears about free speech or being arrested or what not are unfounded.

Tony swanton, who makes all the swords and axes for hollywood is in Los Angeles, The Artificary doing exotic stainless steel damascus integrals is in los angeles, blade and hammer, fell knives, and many other knife makers, collectors, and users are in the city. I know people are gonna talk about the lack of rights or whatever, but as someone who has lived in California my entire life and los angeles for most of it, i promsie its never come up.
 
I hate that its moving further away from me, As portland was an easy car ride away. But the makers i had talked to had said the sales of knives were abysmal. The only booths making enough money to be worth attending where the guys supplying other knifemakers with steel, wood, etc. Of course a few major names still did well, but as a whole, it was not a profitable show for custom makers. Portland just isnt big enough, doesn't have enough to lure people in, and is yeah just not a destination city. Utah would of been even worse. That show would of been a disaster for sales.

LA Metro area is going to be MUCH better. we're talking 10x the population for "locals" to be going to the show(that will translate to thousands of more casual buyers at a minimum, buyers who live in a VERY expensive area who wont mind spending more either) and LA is a MUCH more appealing destination for long distance travelers and especially international collectors and makers as its much cheaper to get to for long distance attenders. And yeah, its LA, make a full vacation out of it. Take the kid to Disney land, go see some top notch museums, amazing food, spot a celeb etc etc. If you cant keep yourself entertained and busy in LA for a week+ you are the problem, not the city...

And on a more personal note, im really happy to see it go to LA as it will keep the people who call it "Kalifornia" from attending the show. Maybe we can finally get a classier show that is less focused on Survivalist fantasies fueled by Beef Jerky...
 
The chicken little "The sky is falling" by moving the show to Long Beach is just silly.

California has a long history of great knife shows and there are hundreds of knifemakers and many will attend the show.
 
Also one last note, just because LA geography can be a little tricky to those not from here, Long beach is not LA proper. Its about 35-40 minutes south of LA city, it is a much more industrial area with the largest port in the US, quite a few oil fields, and is probably not what most of you are thiunking about when you are thinking about LA.
 
AVigil said:
The chicken little "The sky is falling" by moving the show to Long Beach is just silly.

California has a long history of great knife shows and there are hundreds of knifemakers and many will attend the show.
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When do vendor tickets normally become avilable? ive never been to blade.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
Also one last note, just because LA geography can be a little tricky to those not from here, Long beach is not LA proper. Its about 35-40 minutes south of LA city, it is a much more industrial area with the largest port in the US, quite a few oil fields, and is probably not what most of you are thiunking about when you are thinking about LA.
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They can visit the battleship USS Iowa, Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific all the beaches and maybe whale watching.
Lot's of great restaurants and things to do after the show.
 
LBC huh? Heck, I might even come down out of my mountains for that. Unlikely but might. The wife is from the LBC but I've got her trained up now.

pbr08XL.jpg


Getting her to go down the hill is tougher than getting me too.
 
Ben and Adam are correct. LB will be a great place. I lived in the los Angeles /orange area for 38 years. And never had a problem. Pro tech knives is in Los Angeles and they regularly have tables including their auto folders

I sold just fine at Pasadena and Brea when I exhibited at both places

Anyone know the cost of a table? I don’t see it listed on the website and you have to make an inquiry
 
argyle1812 said:
I doubt things will be back to "normal" by this year but I agree seems an odd location change. Was Portland not a popular spot or something? I live in Washington so was fun to come down for a weekend for the show.
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Portland was horrible, minimal attendance in 2019, small venue that wasn't even full, and the homeless everywhere. I was legit worried about an Antifa riot, luckily it didn't happen. I cancelled my table at 2020 the day they announce moving it to october. Three weeks before the election, pandemic or not, was going to be scary in Portland.


AVigil said:
They can visit the battleship USS Iowa
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OK, this is almost enough to get me to have a table there.

Overall, I don't currently plan to host a booth there. Changing dates is bad enough, but changing locations kills it for me. You can always expect lower attendance in the first year of a convention, and that resets every time you move it. I don't know, maybe if I have enough extra inventory in (whatever the date is) I'll change my mind and grab a booth. I'm sure there will be plenty available.
 
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