Sensory Overload: Blade 2016 (Photo-Heavy)

Mistwalker

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Dec 22, 2007
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I have lived in a very small town for the last couple of years, and I lived in an even smaller one for a year before that. I live next to a decent sized city, but I make a point of not going there very often. I like the peace and quite of the town I live in, and I like supporting the small businesses in my community, and I can do the vast majority of my work at home or within a couple o miles. I spent a lot of my youth living in large cities, but I have become unaccustomed to them. So the trip to Atlanta in and of itself, with the sheer size of it and all the traffic, road construction, lights, sounds, and sights. Then add in that is was the week of the International Blade Show, and all that this entailed for me being a life long cutlery buff and working in the industry in multiple aspects, it started getting overwhelming at times.

The trip started out normal enough, the road was wide open and the traffic was moving along fine.

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But since I had gotten a late start I didn't expect that to last long. Just outside of Chattanooga the traffic came to a stand still for a while. It's not a good feeling when you are told there was an accident that has had I-75 at a near standstill for and hour, and you can name two dozen people you personally know who are headed down the same road on the same day, and going to the same destination.

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Eventually things started moving again, albeit slowly, What is normally a two hour trip took four hours. And then I found myself in the stop-and-go traffic of Atlanta at 5:15 pm...

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I finally made it to the Galleria about 6:30... But the sensory bombardment didn't stop there. The sheer volume of sound and vibrations from the traffic both on the ground and in the air was tangible.

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Things were really quiet in Fiddleback world on Thursday.

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I stopped by the Schrade booth and saw my new designs on display. That was really cool. It would take a turn for the surreal later when I was asked to sign copies of the current issue of Knives Illustrated...

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Things were much different at the Fiddleback tables on Friday. It was nice getting to see old friends and catching up, and great to see the awesome knives on display. The white Gaucho was the one that caught my eye.

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Later, after the show, the wife and I headed to the pit for the after-party to have dinner and catch up more in a more relaxed atmosphere.

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Everybody wanged, everybody chunged, everybody had fun, and then the night wound down. The wounded were helped off the field and folks retired for the night.

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Before retiring for the night Lisa and I went for a walk through Galleria Park, which is like a quiet little sanctuary in an ocean of sound.

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Sunday, after the show ended, a storm moved in, but it didn't last all that long.

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Soon Lisa headed back home with her new toy, a “Vampire Spike” forged by Wally Hayes.

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I had photography work scheduled there in Atlanta for Monday and Tuesday, so I stayed a couple of days longer. So, left to my own devices, I played around with some new things I had picked up at the show.

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When I got in from work on Monday I was tired from the previous five days, so I didn't go anywhere, but I kept thinking about the peace and quiet of Galleria Park, so I decided to do a late lunch there between photo shoots on Tuesday. So on my way to work I stopped at Kroger and picked up a few things. As I walked across the parking lot I looked around the little plaza. I thought to myself that I like some Thai food, but now I want to research some of their recipes a bit more... :)

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There was no lack of sensory stimulation on the walk from the hotel to the park. The A/C system at the Waverly is as loud as a large plane getting ready for take off.

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Much quieter at the front entrance of the Waverly after the chaos that is Blade was over.

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I think that was the first time I had seen this mural without a crowd of knife enthusiasts in front of it, so the first time I had seen it as a whole.

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I thought for a minute that I had stumbled into the wrong area... at night it just appears as a pale blue flag, I never knew it was a UN flag.

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Galleria Park is a nice place. The tall buildings block most of the sounds of the traffic, and the water features drown out a lot of the rest of it. It's a nice place to chill and have lunch.

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I had picked up some “Cajun” turkey drumsticks and some strawberries, and still had a little white cheddar left over from the weekend.

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I had fun playing around with the strawberries, the 3/32 blade slices like a razor.

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I had been wanting a Gaucho for some time, I'm glad I finally picked one up.

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Soon it was time to get back to work, so time to head out.

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Oh yay, more stop-and-go Atlanta traffic at 5 pm...12 miles and forty-eight minutes of it...

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But it was worth it. I was doing some photos for an old friend who makes nice folding knives, and who is also an organic farmer. He gave me some elephant garlic. It was the first time I had ever seen in growing. The plant is taller than my wife, and it has the biggest flower head I have ever seen on garlic.

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So not a bad haul after the sensory overload of Blade. A couple of cool new knives, some neat cups bowls and utensils made from horn, some fresh organic elephant garlic, and a few half gallons of some really good cream-line milk I found at Kroger.

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At home I introduced the Gaucho to some country life making breakfast for dinner for the little one and myself. Some nice smoked bacon, cheese and eggs, and some sawmill gravy over toast. As we ate, I was already looking forward to the madness of Blade next year :)

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…..
 
Mist,

The pictures of what makes a city a city, were fantastic. Makes me appreciate my little corner of the woods even more.

The C-130, and the helos added a surreal touch. I have a bud who was a flight engineer out of Schenectady, he never tired of trying to peel the shingles off my roof. Never good when you can read the numbers on the JATO bottles from your deck. We now refer to him as Gerenal.

Be careful, the life of a celebrity can be daunting. When you start clubbing with Paris, Lindsey, and Kim, keep your underwear on. Those getting out of the limo shots can be tricky.

The inside shots make me wish I could have been there. Looks like a fun experience.
The shot of you guys risking it all to evac the wounded was particularly touching!

Thanks for taking us along.
 
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Great shots! Despite being wounded, I still had a fantastic time! It was great seeing you two and all of the other Blade Show regulars! Here's to (a less dangerous) Blade 2017!!!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Great Pictures Brian! I had been waiting for those. Refreshing to see the objects I look at on a nearly daily basis with a glazed over eye from another's perspective. Was that Todd and Murph in that orange Lambo coming down from Indiana??? Now I know how he came up with those little Billy Bad Axes, no trunk space!!! They said the Yuma was selling well, but dang.
 
I had been sitting here wondering when you would get around to writing a post Blade show thread. Great stuff Brian, I enjoyed the read and visual stimuli...
 
As always Mist Great pics! That Gaucho is a gorgeous blade!


Sent from the pay phone beside 7/11!
 
One of these days I'll make it to the show and say hi. Until then, thank you for the post and the pics.
 
good stuff Brian. I was hoping we would get to actually meet at Blade. maybe next year.

Bob
 
Thanks much! Love the pics.

Thanks Luca, glad you enjoyed them!


Mist,

The pictures of what makes a city a city, were fantastic. Makes me appreciate my little corner of the woods even more.

The C-130, and the helos added a surreal touch. I have a bud who was a flight engineer out of Schenectady, he never tired of trying to peel the shingles off my roof. Never good when you can read the numbers on the JATO bottles from your deck. We now refer to him as Gerenal.

Be careful, the life of a celebrity can be daunting. When you start clubbing with Paris, Lindsey, and Kim, keep your underwear on. Those getting out of the limo shots can be tricky.

The inside shots make me wish I could have been there. Looks like a fun experience.
The shot of you guys risking it all to evac the wounded was particularly touching!

Thanks for taking us along.

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the post. Yeah, it's always cool to visit, but I was ready to return to the quiet of home after a week there. When I was a kid the printing company my father worked for was near MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Every sort of aircraft the Air Force had flew over the shop and the swamps around it on a regular basis on their landings and take offs. With my grandfather having been a Pathfinder in WW-II, my father being a Marine in Korea, and having a couple of uncles who served in the Army in Vietnam, that would sometimes cause my imagination to run wild when I was 10 years old roaming the swamp lands and marshes hunting rabbits with an air rifle. Lol, I don't expect to be riding in any limos any time soon, but I always wear pants...in public :D Blade is always a blast. I am glad I live closer again!


Great shots! Despite being wounded, I still had a fantastic time! It was great seeing you two and all of the other Blade Show regulars! Here's to (a less dangerous) Blade 2017!!!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Thanks Lauren, it's always great seeing you and Erich and catching up. I'm glad it was not serious and you still had fun! Yup 51 weeks and counting down :D


Great Pictures Brian! I had been waiting for those. Refreshing to see the objects I look at on a nearly daily basis with a glazed over eye from another's perspective. Was that Todd and Murph in that orange Lambo coming down from Indiana??? Now I know how he came up with those little Billy Bad Axes, no trunk space!!! They said the Yuma was selling well, but dang.

Thank you Justen. I thought the same thing when I saw the Indiana plates lol. I can't say for sure with Todd, but I have spent a LOT of time hanging out with Murph up at Ethan's gatherings in the woods. He is still very deeply in love with his Jeep. Like me, his idea of hauling ass is having something that will haul his ass to places where there are less people :D I'm glad the Yuma is doing well for Todd, it is a very well thought out little knife for my uses. I got to take the first proto to Florida for a few months back in 2012 and put it through hell. Todd has been making knives for nearly thirty years now and does some fantastic work. I started pushing him to get into stainless more when he first mentioned going full time with the knife making. It took a while for him to sort out which ones he liked working with, and to sort out the heat treat to suit him. I picked up the Yuma I had been waiting for since 2012 this year, in CPM154.

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Very nice pictures! The elevator pic made me lol!

Thanks Marcus, gad you liked them! That particular group of individuals has a tendency to make me lol any time I am around them. I love hanging out with the Fiddleback gang at Blade!


Fantastic pictures as usual. Thanks for posting!

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the post!


I had been sitting here wondering when you would get around to writing a post Blade show thread. Great stuff Brian, I enjoyed the read and visual stimuli...

Things were absolutely insane for me this year Bill, so much going on it was hard to keep up with, and it caused a lot of things to slip through the cracks. We missed out on going to the pit on Saturday because we had a dinner with an old friend, then had a meeting on a new fire starting system I have been consulting on and helping to design. One I have personally wanted for several years. Then I was still working two days after Blade, and the internet at the hotel I stay at sucked this year so I couldn't upload photos. I have to be back in Atlanta for more work in a couple of months, but for now Alayna and I have a lot of work on our plates this summer with projects for ASG.


As always Mist Great pics! That Gaucho is a gorgeous blade!


Sent from the pay phone beside 7/11!

Thanks Adam, glad you enjoyed them! Yeah, I had been wanting a Gaucho for a long time, but it took me a while to decide what handle config I wanted. With one of the really large projects I am working on being fresh in my mind always right now, the ivory and lime caught my eye immediately. I love the spalting on the blade and I think the knife as a whole is just beautiful.


One of these days I'll make it to the show and say hi. Until then, thank you for the post and the pics.

Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed them. I hope you do make it down. From now you have 51 weeks to prepare, so plenty of time :)


good stuff Brian. I was hoping we would get to actually meet at Blade. maybe next year.

Bob

Thanks Bob. There were several people I was looking forward to meeting, but I was so busy I missed out on a lot. This year was an abnormal amount of work going on and there were just too many different places I needed to be. I spent a lot of time wishing I could be in two places at once...
 
Good stuff. Even though I might say otherwise; I actually have little desire to attend Blade Show in general other than I think it would be good times meeting up with some of the folks who share my interests in knives and the outdoors.

I'm with you on city life. No amount of money will move me back to DC, and I look forward to the day we relocate away from the NYC/NY/NJ metro area
 
Very nice communicating the theme. The crazyness of city life contrasted with rural life is remarkable and well documented here. I especially liked the pics of the show blades and of the wives :D
 
Good stuff. Even though I might say otherwise; I actually have AS MY LIFE GOAL THE STRONGEST desire to attend Blade Show, HANG OUT WITH SOUTHERN GENT FOR 72 HOURS IN BLADE HEAVEN AND in general EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY WITH MANY other "FIDDLEBACKS" RATHER than ONLY SPEAK TO THEM ON THE PHONE OCCASIONALLY AND ON THE FOURMS. I think it would be good times meeting up with some of the folks who share my interests in knives and the outdoors.

I'm with you on city life. No amount of money will move me back to DC, and I look forward to the day we relocate away from the NYC/NY/NJ metro area

fixed it for ya. BTW, a house a couple of doors down just came on the market. Just sayin'.
 
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