u/zCYNICALifornia

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.

Saw this little guy on AliExpress and decided to give it a whirl... or, more appropriately, a twist.

Small LED powered by a capacitor which is in turn powered by twisting the knob on top. One button operation, only one power setting. Not water proof at all.

No real throw to speak of, but it was almost too bright for digging through my bag on a night flight.

It's neat. Happy to have it in my bag.

Note: I added the glow charm.

Thanks to the excellent folks in this sub, I've met some rad folks and executed some excellent exchanges. Gratitude to all!

It happened again.

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My buddy and fellow G-Shock admirer asked if I wanted to do another buy from Japan and split the shipping and duty. I am a bit of a snob and prefer Tough Solar and Multi Band 6 watches. I found these, and was really struggling to choose one, so I didn't.