The Blade Show is an annual tradeshow for the cutlery industry. It is the largest event of its type in the world. The show is owned by Caribou Media Group and is hosted by Blade Magazine. The event has over 1,000 exhibitors and is the host for inductees into the annual Cutlery Hall of Fame. It also hosts the annual Blade HQ Balisong Competition, BladeSports International Cutting World Championships, Blade University, Knife of the Year Awards, and a variety of knifemaking classes and demos. The event takes place every year over the course of several days and brings in knifemakers and knife companies from all parts of world.
History The first Blade Show was held in 1982 as the American Blade Convention and Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. The magazine who hosted the show was known as 'American Blade' at the time. In 1983 it became known as "The American Blade Collector's Show". In 1984 the name became "The Blade Super Show". In 1986 the show relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1988, the name was changed to the Blade Show & Cutlery Fair and it became loosely referred to as the Blade Show. In 1993 the show moved to Atlanta, Georgia and officially became known as Blade Show hosted by BLADE Magazine. In 2018, the show went under the ownership of Caribou Media Group.
Cutlery Hall of Fame Every year, the Blade Show admits a new person into the "Cutlery Hall of Fame". The Cutlery Hall of Fame is composed of knifemakers, authors and persons who promote knife making, Bladesmithing, and Knife collecting. Each year, the living members of the Cutlery Hall Of Fame nominate and vote on the latest inductee to join their ranks. Henry D. Baer - Knifemaker, President of Schrade Knives and namesake of the "Uncle Henry" brand of pocketknives. Dewey Ferguson - Author Bo Randall - Knifemaker James B. Lile - Knifemaker M.H. Cole - Knifemaker and Author Al Buck - Founder of Buck Knives William R. Williamson - Scholar and collector of Bowie knives Pete Gerber - Founder of Gerber Legendary Blades Bob Loveless - Knifemaker William F. Moran - Bladesmith Jim Parker - Knifemaker George Herron - Knifemaker 1932-2007 Frank Buster - Knifemaker Frank Forsyth A.G. Russell - Knifemaker Ken Warner - Author Jim Bowie - Father of the Bowie knife Maury Shavin Hubert Lawell William Scagel - Knifemaker Gil Hibben - Knifemaker Harry McEvoy - Author Buster Warenski - Knifemaker Albert M. Baer - Founder of Schrade Knives Col. Rex Applegate - Knife designer, author B.R. Hughes - Author Bruce Voyles - Author Bernard Levine - Author Houston Price - Author Bill Adams - Author Jim Weyer - Author and photographer Chuck Buck - Knifemaker - Buck Knives Blackie Collins - Knifemaker Frank Centofante - Knifemaker Ron Lake - Knifemaker Sal Glesser - Designer, Founder of Spyderco Joe Drouin - Knife Collector Bob Schrimsher - Knifemaking Supply Rudy Ruana - Knifemaker D¹Alton Holder - Knifemaker Michael Walker - Knifemaker, Inventor of the Walker linerlock George "Butch" Winter - Author Tim Leatherman - Inventor of the multi-tool knife and founder of Leatherman Tools Dan Dennehy - Knifemaker, Founding Member of the Knifemakers' Guild Ken Onion - Knifemaker and inventor of the SpeedSafe Mechanism Al Mar - Knifemaker, founder of Al Mar Knives Paul Bos - Master heat treater - Buck Knives Carl Elsener III (2011) - Knifemaker - Victorinox Kit Carson (2012) - Knifemaker Wayne Goddard (2013) - Knifemaker and Author Goldie Russell (2014) - Knifemaker Chris Reeve (2015) - Knifemaker and inventor of the Integral Lock CJ Buck (2016) - Knifemaker - Buck Knives Jim Batson (2017) - Knifemaker - Benchmade Knife Les de Asis (2017) - CEO - Benchmade Knife Phil Lobred (2018) - Knife Collector Dan Delavan (2018) - Knife Retailer - Founder California Custom Knife Show Tony Bose (2019) - Knifemaker Mel Pardue (2019) - Knifemaker Steve Shackleford (2019) - Editor-in-Chief - Blade Magazine Joe Keeslar (2020) - Knifemaker Jim Sornberger (2020) - Knifemaker Jay Hendrickson (2021) - Knifemaker Beverly and Billy-Mace Imel (2021) - Knifemakers
See also SHOT Show
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