Blade HQ let us tag along with them again this year at the 2012 Blade Show. We all had fun and enjoyed meeting all of the great people of the knife industry.
You can read through this whole post or jump to the knife brands you love most:
Kershaw/Zero Tolerance
We talked with Jim MacNair of Kershaw (famed designer of the ZT 0777 and the new ZT 0888) and Jennifer Newsome (even more famous from the Nutnfancy Youtube videos). They showed us a bunch of the new stuff that Kershaw and Zero Tolerance are putting out this year.
Kershaw Cryo II
On the Kershaw side, there are several new knives including the Kershaw Cryo and a newer, larger version of the Kershaw Cryo called, remarkably, the Cryo II. There will be several limited edition versions of the Kershaw Blur available as well. The Kershaw Blur with carbon fiber inserts looks particularly awesome.
Kershaw Blur Kershaw Blurs with spiderweb handles.
Zero Tolerance had some particularly stunning models at the Blade Show this year.
The ZT 0888 Overall Knife of the Year Award 2012 Blade Show
First was the ZT 0888 which is the newly minted Overall Knife of the Year. The knife will come in a couple of variations; one features a composite steel blade and flipper with a S110V edge and a 14C28N spine. ZT also had a carbon fiber version of the 0560.
Carbon-fiber ZT 0560
I love the look of the carbon fiber; this one is sure to be popular. RJ Martin and ZT got together for the ZT 0600 which won this year’s Collaboration of the Year Award.
ZT 0600 Collaboration of the Year Award 2012 Blade Show
The knife is based on RJ Martin’s award-winning Q36. The knife features B75P stainless steel (similar to BG42), titanium, and carbon fiber.
Boker
Boker is having a ton of success with the custom collaborations they have been putting out recently. At the show we saw the Boker Kwaiken. Boker Kwaiken
This is designed by Lucas Burnley. Lucas also told us that there are a few more Boker models that are coming down the pipeline.
The Boker version of the Dave Curtiss Nano was also on display, and I am a huge fan of this knife. Plus the price won’t be too bad.
Chris Reeve Knives
The Sebenza turned 25 this year. To celebrate this milestone, Chris has released a new special version of the Sebenza.
Sebenza
This new Sebenza has tons of improvements including a new grind on the blade; a bronze washer on the lock side that adds stability; a ceramic ball that acts as the interface between the lock bar and the blade; a thicker blade and much more!
CRKT The Ken Onion Foresight Imported Knife of the Year Award 2012 Blade Show
CRKT has a brand new Ken Onion knife called the Foresight. It won the Imported Knife of the Year Award. This knife will be available sometime around July.
Spyderco
As always Spyderco brought tons of prototypes and concepts to the show! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures. Spyderco Autonomy Most Innovative American Design Award 2012 Blade Show
We were able to get a picture of their new model that won Most Innovative American Design: the Spyderco Autonomy. This knife is an automatic that was designed with the Coast Guard in mind. At the prototype booth they showed off a version with H1 steel and a yellow handle. The button is over-sized making it easier to open with gloves on.
Smith and Wesson The 1600
SW debuted a new automatic knife for 2012, the 1600. It’s a sweet-little-number of an automatic knife that should sell for a relatively low price point.
SOG is working this year with Jason Brous to make several new knives. One that they had at the Blade Show was SOG’s version of the Triple Threat. This collaboration should yield several awesome knives.
Protech Protech Doru
Protech had a new version of the Doru with a bronzed handle and a skull. Protech had several more custom versions of the Flyfather at the booth. This Flyfather is sweet; I can’t wait to see the production versions of them.
Microtech had several custom versions of their knives available. The new versions of the knives with the titanium handles look really cool. They debuted their new bottle opener built from a Socom Elite handle.
Microtech Custom Metal Mark Balisong Butterfly Knife Comes in high polish, high satin and blued Damascus
Blackwater
Blackwater is back! They have a couple of new knives made by Lion Steel. These knives are similar to the DPx Gear knives that you may already be familiar with. Blackwater Ursa 6 Blackwater Grizzly 6
