Spyderco at SHOT show

chambers · #1

SHOT show with Spyderco

Well it was my first SHOT show so I suppose a little awe was in order. We (my buddies and business partners) drove up from New Mexico Wednesday afternoon and spent that evening partying in Vegas. I walked my*****off and enjoyed every minute of it. Now I was fortunate enough to know a veteran of these shows, fellah by the name of VanCook who let me in on a couple of secrets for handling the enormity of the event. “Bring comfortable shoes” he tells me, “And plan out your route, make sure you know exactly what you want to get done or you’ll never get around to all of it”. Folks I’m here to tell you if you’ve never been to a show like this before Jerry knows what he’s talking about. Bring comfortable shoes.

Planning out my route. Well that’s a no-brainer. Walter (owner of the shop) had told me my job was to scout out knife companies and check out new product line for ’04. You mean to tell me you’re going to haul my butt to Vegas to the biggest knife show I’ve ever heard of and you want me to just go look at knives? Oh please brer fox throw dis rabbit in the briar patch. To say that I was excited was an understatement. Bouncing off the walls? No not quite adequate. Vibrating is a little closer.

So who to hit first? Being the fan of their work that I am and being as Sal had made shadowy hints about a certain collaboration with Laci Szabo Spyderco was the first place on my list. And let me tell you folks walking into the Las Vegas Convention Center you get about ten yards in and suddenly the enormity of what you’re seeing hits you. Everything was there. The gun guys where there, the tactical gear guys were there, the booth babes were there, people who sold stuff I never new existed, the archery guys were there, the guys who sell bottled deer wiz were there, Optics, tree stands, bullets, bullet proof vests, pepper spray, coffee mugs it was all there. I stopped dead in my tracks and **** near forgot where I was going.

Armed with a map that had tiny numbers on it and even tinier print I made my way through the hordes of camouflage vendors and hip wader hawkers to the land of the hole. It was a fairly sedate booth with a certain pride to it. It wasn’t as garish as some of the other booths and certainly not as large. But there was a certain elegance to it. We know who we are and we know what we do, and we know we do it very well. It said. No sooner had I approached than a woman wearing a Spyderco shirt offered to sharpen my knife for me. I politely turned her down and commenced drooling over the displays there. They were all there. All of it, the Spyderfly, the Kerambit, the ATR it was all there. All of the really cool models that I hadn’t had a chance to play with yet were there. I’m sure I left permanent fingerprints on a concept model or two. In looking around the booth I had one thought in my mind. You see my friend Jerry had asked me to say hi to Joyce for him. That was my mission. I had to find Joyce and say hi. At this point I had been drooling over Spyderknives for about twenty minutes when I suddenly remembered my mission and then promptly forgot it as Sal Glesser appeared from the inside of the booth. Holy Crap the Godfather of the hole was standing right there! Right there man say something! Anything! “Hablaghel” I think is exactly what I said. I regained my composure before he noticed and managed a fairly normal introduction from there on out. Sal is a cool dude and very easy to talk to once you get over the fact that he’s responsible for all that is Hole-ly.

After chatting with Sal for a while I told him the reason I’d come. “I must see the prototype Sal I have to”, I don’t honestly think I was frothing at the mouth or anything if anyone was wondering. Sal may remember it differently. He smiled and took me over to the prototype case and left me hanging out with Ed Schemp. You know Ed, the guy who designed the Persian? I was back in dribble mode as I got to play with a concept model of a collaboration between the Glessers and Laci Szabo. I’m keeping mum on what it was that’s Sal’s business but I wasn’t disappointed at all. A word about Ed for a minute. Ed is the kind of guy you meet and then a day later it’s like hanging out with an old friend. He’s good people as they say. He is also an extremely talented knife maker/designer. Amazing work. Ed if you’re reading this I mean it man, you do great work.

After drooling on every single prototype and concept model in the case I remembered I was supposed to be saying hi to Joyce for Jerry. I managed to track her down and did in-fact say hello for Jerry. I then introduced myself as Chambers from BFC and other places and she immediately recognized me, “Oh, you’re the Szabo freak!” she said brightly. Guilty as charged. We talked a little and laughed at how quickly I had been pegged, and then I had to turn her loose. You see Joyce was handling the business end of the booth, talking to big customers and people who were ordering for the coming year and things like that. Every time I returned to the Spyderbooth, quite often in all honesty, she was working that corner engaged with a client, but every time she managed a smile and a friendly wave when she saw me circling. Once as I was swinging by she plopped my favorite concept knife in my hand without me saying anything and asked, “Come to play with this again?” Again, good people.

Even though Joyce was busy and Sal was busy with other people that hadn’t yet told him they’d built a small shrine to him in their bedrooms I wasn’t quite done with the Spyderbooth yet. You see there’s one other figurehead of the Spyderco family and that’s Eric Glesser. Eric was about my age and as friendly as they come. This guy has the Balisong down pat. I know my way around your average ‘fly but when Eric gets a hold of the Spyderfly it’s magic. Easy going as anyone you’re likely to meet, Eric even took some time out of an obviously busy schedule to teach me a new trick with the Spyderfly. That’s right I got to play with the Spyderfly…ENVY ME!

All in all I spent several hours with the Spyderfamily over the next three days and every time I was greeted with a friendly smile and a warm welcome. You see, every time I went back I met someone new. I bumped into Michael Janich, Bram Frank, and even Chris Reeve. I left the Spyderco booth feeling like the luckiest man on the planet and went off to immerse myself in hip waders, camouflage and deer wiz feeling like a better person for the experience.

To every single person at the Spyderco booth this year: YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

Shared Joy is increased, Shared Pain is lessened, -Spyder Robinson oxxxxxx{------------------------

4 s ter · #2

chambers

Great Report!

I just wish that all the really big shows weren't so far away from here - of course, everything is far away from here <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

David

"Not all who wander are lost"

sven · #3

i didn't know that the shot show was in vegas..... i'm there next year for sure....
and you're right chambers, i do envy you

sven

steel is unforgiving... sharp steel even more so

samosaurus · #4

W<img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>W! Thanks for the field report! I WANT to go! <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0><img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0><img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Sam

"have scars will travel.."

ramlanrafie · #5

Hi chambers,

How lucky you are. When can I be .........

Hi David,

It's further here, I wish too

Shiden · #6

Great story, Chambers!

Shiden

<IMG SRC="http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/avata ... 1073689062" ALT="Lux et Libertas">

chux · #7

Wow, that was a post and a half. Interesting though, great story.

"Better gear than good sense a traveller cannot carry."

CKE · #8

Excellent read there Chambers!
NO kidding eh David everything is FAR away. Have you been to any of the CKG shows in TO???
Thanks again Chambers! Take Care!!!

"everything else is just a jeep"

#9

Hi Chambers,

What a great write up! A very accurate and colorful description of what SHOT Show is really like.

Thank you everyone who stopped by during a busy show to say hello. All of us here at Spyderco enjoyed meeting you.

He's not kidding about the deer wiz!

Joyce @ Spyderco

J D Wijbenga · #10

Wow! Great story! Now I am even more looking forward to meeting the Spyderco crew with there prototypes when the hit the Low-Lands in three weeks!

JD

Ed Schempp · #11

Location:
Posts: 11
I copied this post from Bladeforums
Chambers,
Thanks for the kind comments. I have a couple of comments about Spyderco. I entered into my relationship with Spyderco with a lot of respect. After working with these folks for a couple of years my respect and admiration for the company and crew has grown. All the Spyderco folks are very knowledgable about thier product. Sal is very aware of his focus, and a good listener. To my knowledge Spyderco is the only knife company that shows it prototypes and concept knives to the public. Sal wants imput from his end line users. Sal feels and I agree that you make the best decisions with the best information. If you want to see a junk yard dog, try cutting quality in his knives.
Eric Glesser is a talented designer, can opperate a butterfly as well as I have ever seen demonstrated. Eric exibites knowledge, attitude, and competentcy well beyond his years. Gail Glesser is a strong focused individual that stands 110% with her husband, and she is always fun to interact. Kelly, Janet, and Olive are all very knowledgable, integral folks that are great to spend time with. Joyce is one of the best marketing people in the industry. Her success is born from being a good person doing the right thing. Mikey and his crew in the factory are motivated passionate folks. Jack keeps the numbers organized, and is a great guy.
Spyderco is a family like effort, with good ethics, high standards, opperating with respect for one another.
When you buy a Spyderco you get a great knife that reflects the passion, the compassion, and the integraty of a good family. It is my honor to work with such a fine company. Ed Schempp

AllenETreat · #12

chambers :

"Godfather of the hole"?

A "Freudian slip" ( as in "Godfather of soul&quot<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>?

AET <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

"All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke ( 1729-1797 )

Nicky · #13

Now ya should post a picture of every prtotype you've seen there!

cblaze230 · #14

reading your report was almost like being there....i wish i had the chance to go and like you would have definetly drooled over at the spyderco booth( temple ).....i do envy you!!!

ADS · #15

Anybody have pictures of the show? I know that you can't photograph the prototypes, but does anybody have pictures of something else?

Alan2112 · #16

Welcome aboard Ed, and thumbs up to what you said. <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>co is the company!! RKBA!

Ted · #17

I read on CPF that SureFire will release a very cool light, the U2 (5W led - 6 brightness levels, max 100 lumen) <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> MSRP $270 <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Hopefully Doug Ritters will make a report soon as he has done every year on <A HREF="http://www.equipped.org" TARGET=_blank>www.equipped.org</A>

Ted

<A HREF="http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/spyderco/spyderco.html" TARGET=_blank>CLICK HERE FOR A LIST WITH ALL SPYDERCO MODELS </A>

Edited by - Ted on 2/18/2004 5:37:09 AM

Jurphaas · #18

Chambers,
I truly enjoyed your enthousiastic report. It reflects very much the fun and joy you've had teaming up with Spyderco and the crew. Thank you very much for sharing!

Clipits work!

dialex · #19

Thanks for the extensive review. Looks like you really had fun there...

<a href="http://users.pcnet.ro/dialex">(my page)</a>

chambers · #20

I had a great time at Shot and the Spyderco booth was just a really good place to hang out. Between Joyce Smiling, Ed handing me his newest creations ever five minutes and Eric doing his thing with the Spyderfly it made for a great environment. The Spyderco family is exactly that, a family and they really make you feel like part of the gang there. While I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the Prototypes, ( I was scared Joyce would break my arms) I will see what I can do to maybe email Joyce some of the pictures I did take for her to post. I have a few really good ones of Me with Eric, Sal, Michael Janich, Ed, and Chris Reeve who showed up when I was harassing Sal about a picture. Joyce if it's cool I'll have them scanned in and I'll email them to you.