The Modern Knife Show Experience – More Than Just a Sales Event
By Roger Eckstine
The increase in the number of knife shows being held across the country is not an illusion no matter what long time collectors might say. Yet looking back to when I was assigned to write the first Shooter’s Bible Guide to Knives, I was surprised to find that unlike the firearms industry, barely a single knife manufacturer had a media rep on staff. In my opinion, the increase in concealed handgun carry brought with it a boom in the popularity of tactical knives. With this new trend brought increased competition for sales. Dollars spent on advertising included an increase in trade show budgets. Quoting a number of promoters, “With more paid tables, more money for advertising adds up to growth in attendance.” That means more and bigger knife shows. But as growth continues, the nature of the knife shows have evolved from merely the selling and trading of knives to that of offering a more comprehensive experience.
The trend towards making knife shows more than just a sales event is not happening in a vacuum. According to analysts, this is indicative of a trend in how Americans spend their dollars. One law firm that studies such trends in order to act as trusted business advisers is Foley and Lardner LLP. According to a Foley bulletin published May 9, 2023, entitled “Data Deep Dive – Is Gen Z less interested in driving or owning a car than prior generations?,” “Generation Z, born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, has been characterized as a generation that is tech-savvy, environmentally conscious, and more interested in experiences than possessions.” Many of today’s knife shows are rich in experiences, offering not just display but participation such as stepping up to an anvil with red hot steel and banging out your own knife. But should vendors be worried that a Gen Z’er is more likely to attend a knife show simply for the experiences rather than making a purchase? Not according to this analysis. The bulletin wraps up exposing a “plot twist” wherein purchasing preferences evolve to those of baby boomers and millennials. Either way, there are plenty of features at today’s knife shows to get people in the door.
Hammer-ins by local blacksmithing clubs have long been popular. At the Atlanta Blade Show classes, lectures, and demonstrations were among the first added attractions. But now many other shows offer knife throwing and/or axe throwing both as a demonstration and as instructional experience. There are cutting contests that challenge two participants at a time racing through identical obstacle courses to see who can finish first. Regional pride is often on display. The Kentucky Custom Knife Show in Lexington, Kentucky is famous for copious amounts of bourbon celebrating regional pride along with the knives. Perhaps it won’t be long before a set of icons indicating attractions such as these and others will be used in the pages of mainstream tourism guides. Yet the history and motivation behind the individual shows is often more personal than sales alone.
This article appears in the November 2024 issue of KNIFE Magazine. Click below to launch a flip book of the whole thing.
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