Well, I've just read through each and every post in this thread and I don't think it could've been stated any better (or even too much!)
This was an awesome show on so many levels it's really hard to put it in perspective.
While I was fortunate enough to come home with some knives that fit what Gus calls the "blues knife" profile, the true highlight of the show was the people. Friends old and new, previously met or only via the internet.
There was a lot of good mojo going around at the show with many of our forum members performing truly gallant acts of kindness and generosity on a variety of levels from knife drawings to dinners up to and including the pub crawls.
I was the recipient of some of that generosity myself at the Chamblin table (thanks Riad and Campbell) as well as the dinner table (thanks Mike Robuck) and a table or two in the saloons (you know who you are. Vince, make sure to give Scott another attaboy for me if you would.)
It was great to put some faces to the "handles" that many of us go by here on the forums and to have some of those former "handles" turn out to be real folks who may very well become lifelong friends. (And the same applies to several who use their "real" names as well. You guys all know who you are and I thank you one and all for making my experience all the more enriching.)
I was fortunate to spend a lot of time during the show with a couple of knifemakers and their wives, and a dealer who have now become friends I'll look forward to seeing and spending time with in the years to come. Thanks Jerry and Janice Halfrich, Mike and Barbara Zscherny, and Lee Grogan.
So, thanks to you all, new and old friends for making this one of the best shows ever!
Oh yeah, the knives:
A Case 70's 4 Dot Lockback. (Jigged wood, spearpoint). Thanks Randy W!!!
A vintage Winchester Double-End Premium Jack. Thanks, Waynorth!!!
A single blade 4" Saddlehorn by Joel Chamblin in jigged bone. Thanks, Riad and Campbell!!!
A 4" Halfrich "Pocket Hunter" in dyed stag and a 3 5/8" single blade stag Swayback by Mike Zscherny. Thanks, Lee Grogan!!! (and kudos to Mike for making that beauty.)
And finally, thanks to Jerry Halfrich for a 4 1/4" stag Winchester pattern that had my name all over it and your willingness to spend countless hours at the show talking knives and vorpal edges!
(My usual poor images and brief writeups on the knives to follow in a day or two.)
Hope everyone makes it home safe and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again next year! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
... from our travels from Atlanta. RandyW still has a few hours travel to the North end of the state.
