Trip to the 2009 A.G. Russell Knife Show - 07/24/2009

Today was the first day of the show in Rogers. That's about a 10 mile drive from where I was staying. Not too bad, but I think it would have made more sense to have stayed in Rogers since I went back there 3 or 4 times. Dozier knives was kind enough to send me a free VIP pass in the mail before I left home, which allowed me to get in 2 hours prior to the general public, and for free to boot. I got there a little early and was waiting near the entrance when folks were allowed in. A.G Russell himself came to the door, smiled, waved us in and said "Welcome everyone!" Here's where I really wish I had had my good camera, but I did get some photos along the way. Well, of course the first thing I did was head over to Bob D's tables. I looked for a good while and finally picked out a nice little knife to take home. It's model is called a Dozier Personal and it has a neat little 2.5 inch blade and this one has jigged bone handles.




Here's A.G. Russell talking to an exhibitor.


This is Ray Kirk (on the left)out of Oklahoma. I spoke with him for quite a while and eventually bought one of his knives. I took several photos of his line up as well.





I thought his knives were really neat looking. There were a lot at the show that were highly polished, beautiful knives. Some call those kinds "Safe Queens" because you'd buy them just to collect and look at, never really use. Ray's knives were beautiful to my eye because they were rugged, functional knives that could be used if you cared to. I'll probably baby mine for a while. You can read more about Ray here:

http://www.rakerknives.com/

I looked around for quite awhile and then met a really nice older fellow named Gary Brashears and his son who have been making knives for a long time. Again, their products were very utilitarian, yet attractive. To me, the three I picked up had some of the nicest wood handles I saw all weekend. One thing about these guys is... they offer a very open-ended guarantee in writing that basically says if you ever need anything...its covered. You need your sheath resewn? Send it to them. Want it resharpened? Send it to them. Handles broken? Send it in. They really want you to be able to pass these knives down from father to son to grandson. Here's some pics...

Mr. Brashears himself.




This one is the one I bought my dad. Burled maple handles. The darker areas towards the spine of the knife are little hammer marks that were left in the metal after it had been worked. My pictures don't do justice, but in person, they give the knife a really nice visual effect.


Here's a more complete lineup of some that were on his table.