14 BLADE SEPTEMBER 2019
Akereonhada tablewhichwasnice,the
GermanswhorehandletheSwissArmy
knives had a table and a lot of stuff,
andBastinelli was loadedfor bearand
doing a collaborationwith Fred Perrin
[France].JensAnso andJesperVoxnaes
[Sweden]had theircollaborationat the
GiantMousebooth,aswellasattheir
knifemakertables.
“The trendI noticedwasmoreknives
bytheChinese.WeKnife,Reateand
othersaremakingmoreknivesformore
people,sothere aremoreknivesinthe
$400range.Andbyvirtueofthembeing
attheshow,theyaregettingevenmore
businessandmakingmoreknives.”
“Chinesecompanieswerea significant
increaseoverpreviousyears.Inaddition
to the large well-known companies
like Kizer, Reate and We, there were
intermediate companies like Artisan
Cutlery,allmakersofveryhigh-quality
knives,” Crenshaw noted. “Then there
werethelesser-knownChinesecompanies
thatjusthaveanInternetpresence,all
tryingtogeta pieceoftheknifepieinthe
USA.The Europeans’expandedpresence
wasobvious.Itwasn’tjusttheGerman/
U.S. orLionSteelbutcompeting Italian
companiesandtheFrench.”SHIFT SWINGS
Custom knife purveyor Les Robertson
said that while there was a glut of tactical
folders, a shift to fi xed blades has started.
“Tactical fi xed blades, primarily, are still
employing CNC or some outsourcing
to cut the blade blanks,” he noted. Th e
resulting knives incorporating a single
integral guard and two pieces of handle
material are “easily mass produced,SHOW RECAP^ |^
THE RACE IS ON The show doors open to the
maddening throng on Friday. (Mark Han image)WARDEN, PHILLIPS
TAKE WORLD TITLESN
icole Warden won an unprecedented
fourth straight title in the women’s
division and Donavon Phillips won
his fi rst-ever men’s division crown in
the 17th Annual BLADE Show World
Championship Cutting Competition.
Conducted by BladeSports
International, the competition was
moved inside due to inclement weather
in the Galleria Specialty Shops area of
the Cobb Galleria Centre. It was the
first time the event was held indoors.
Robin Berry and Jonni Jo Carothers
placed second and third behind Warden
in the women’s division, respectively, and
the respective second- and third-place
fi nishers in the men’s division were Dan
Keff eler and Ben Propst. Other placers
in the women’s division in order were
Chandee Smith and Shanna Kemp, and
the balance of the fi nishers in the men’s
division in order were James Clift on,
David Moore, Christopher Berry, Gary
Bond, Andrew Blanchard, Joe Smith and
DavidBarnes.Nicole Warden (left) and Donavon Phillips.BECUT STEEL
CORE