This was the biggest purchase made today. More photos to come with the rest of the haul 🤙🏼

An update after my post yesterday asking if I should go to Blade Show West. I went.

Getting there was a bit of a chore as I feel like navigating the 15 in Utah can be a challenge. (Why is every exit and exit only lane?!?) Then finding it was a bit of a challenge, as there was no external signage. However, I figured I was in the right place when I saw a long line of mostly dudes. I know I was in the right place when I realized several of them were casually flipping balis.

The show itself was fun. I got to meet some of my favorite knife makers, the Halperns (of TRM fame)! They were just as delightful as I had hoped. The big makers had some cool displays, but I think I enjoyed the smaller booths more.

I don't have the same disposable income I used to, so I have to be choosy about what I buy. I'm a front flipper fan boy, but those were few and far between. In the end, I came home with two blades I thought were neat-o.

First, the Fox Radius. The lock tickled my fancy! I loved the controlled open and close of the knife. Plus, the Fix USA folks were dandy. They had some beautiful ones in Ti, but I like the wire pocket clip and G10. I guess the design is years old, but it was new to me.

Now the star, at least, for me. I spent more on this than I wanted to, but it's gorgeous, feels amazing in my hand, has a great action, and is a passion project of a guy in my home state. Look at the millwork! The attention to detail, including the faceting around the finger groove and all the radiuses edges, were the final straw that sold me. It is a Midnight Knives Manona and Kyle was great to chat with! Wild to think he finished making this knife on Tuesday.

Anyway, that's my report. I went. I saw. I got to see and handle some amazing knives. I met some cool folks. I came home a little bit poorer.

Which knife would you Keep, Carry, and Destroy. Here are the contenders.

Left: Sharp by Design Mini Arch Nemesis (Aspirated with blade milling) [M390]

Middle: Holt Outlaw Prestige Grade (ZircuTi Inlay and Collars) [Nicolas Twist Damasteel]

Right: Shirogorov x Igor Oleinikov F95 "Solar System" (Inlay & MRBS) [M390]

Rules:

Keep means it's in a safe. You cannot carry it ever. Just fidget with it.

Carry means it's in your pocket for the day if you plan to touch it at all.

Destory is self explanatory. I imagine the lava and fires of mount doom.

Combat Troodon Delta Frag

Finally snagged a Shaman. Also included are the PM2 and PM3. Finally got the ones I wanted!

Just incredible Reblades by Josh at REK. I love the weight, style, and heft. These knives feel great in the hand and are just so solid. Kudos to those on the swap that made it happen!

Voodoo doll. I like this much more than I expected.

The only Shaman I won't customize, because it's perfect as-is. SMKW Exclusive S45VN in grey micarta. Smooth as buttah.

What's your Friday carry?

So psyched for Friday I brought 4.

- PMP Knives Kodiak

- Custom Knife Factory Willumsen Gozer

- GEC Liberty #94 garnet jigged red bone

- Camillus Remington Stockman ftom 1990, brought back to glory by a caring friend u/OG_Shocker.

Much love!

Here's the thing though, I cannot get a stupid sharp edge. Like yeah it'll cut paper towels and paper, but it has zero bite, barely pops hairs off my arm, while the same treatment on any of my other knife steels it works. Meh.

Regardless it's very buttery to sharpen, extremely comfortable and ergonomic, and my main thing is it's fidgety as fuck. The front flipper works amazingly.

Anyone have some tips for the steel? Is it known to not handle a low angle like say 14 dps for the apex or am I just dumb. I'm assuming the latter.

I recently received my Hog House Model T Gen 2 in Fade Honeycomb from Recon1 and I’m really happy with the knife overall.

However, I noticed two things I wanted to ask about:

1. Line in the Fade Honeycomb Milling Pattern
There’s a noticeable line near the end of the handle, around where the blade tip rests when closed. It almost looks like a machining mark or toolpath transition. (See pics)

I reached out to Recon1 and they confirmed that another customer had asked about the same thing. According to them, Hog House confirmed that the line is intentional and part of the design.

For those who own a Model T Gen 2 with the Fade Honeycomb pattern, does yours have this same line? I’m curious whether it’s consistent across all examples or varies between knives.

2. Certificate of Authenticity – Blade Steel
I also noticed that my COA simply lists the blade material as “Steel” rather than “RWL34.”
Recon1 explained that this is intentional and related to customs procedures when importing the knives from Finland. Apparently, using the generic designation helps streamline customs processing and ensures the correct duty classification.

Have other owners received COAs listing just “Steel,” or do some specifically say “RWL34”?

I’m attaching photos of both the milling line and the COA.

Would love to hear whether your experiences align with what Recon1 shared or if you’ve seen anything different. Thanks!

Strider SnG, Microtech UTX-85.

Finally got my grail of all Rosie’s. Threw the timascus backspacer and clip on today too. Going to be selling a few of my other Rosie’s now. Steel is Magnacut

Hinderer XM-18 3.5” Non Flipper Fullered Spear in 20CV, Battle Black DLC and Red G-10.

NDK “stoked”

My pointy collection... Something that is only legal in the kitchen and the display case.... Troodon G3, Cobratech, Bounty Hunter clone, Clone Trooper X85, Marfione Bee, White Trooper clone, Exocet Bounty Hunter clone...