No Jagd und Hund expo visit would be complete without an encounter with this friendly gentleman and his wife. Mr. Janos Madaras always has a lot of great tools on display, from his razor-sharp and beautifully finished knives to his woodworking tools. We cannot communicate other than with smiles and gestures and my bad and little Hungarian, but there´s little need to do so. The respect we have is mutual, and that´s all there needs to be.
Fine blades with a charmingly rustic finish. I love the contrast between the hammer-peened surface and the highly polished hollow grind that´s more of a razor grind.
His knives are tempered to a flexible hardness and most come in at 57 HRC. Only a barbarian would use them for batoning, but they are great knives for light camping, hunting, and snacking.
Talking of which, lovely table cutlery.
Damascus woodworking chisels anyone? He sold his Damascus knives at absolutely bargain prices, and could easily charge double the price. Handforged Damascus hunting knife for 150€ anyone?
His whittling knives are great to boot. I own several of them and I can say they work like a cinch.
Then I was off to another booth. Maqson knives are produced in Pakistan. Mrs. Maqbool however lives in Germany. She´s a German with a Pakistani background, and with her partner offered a variety of different knives.
I especially loved the bushcraft knife in the middle, with a nice and thin blade and a solid feel out of high carbon steel, presumeably 1095.
I do not know if this is a traditional Pakistani shape, but it is looking great and felt good in the hand.
Folding knives. Those held little appeal to me, even if they were, for the most part, well made.
Those iron age knives came in way too cheap. I could whine about how they smash my market, but instead will go back to the drawing board. I just have to be better;-). I currently need half an hour for one, resulting in a price of 35€. I have to learn how to forge them in ten minutes.
We´ll see what time brings;-). Anyway, the scrolls are finely made!
...cutlery...
S-hooks...scuse me sir, do you have other letters as well?;-)
Damascus iron age knives...
Damascus rings...
Billets, all from 1095 and 15N20 steel.
A beautiful replica of an iron age Celtic knife.
Then I met with Stefan from BOS / nitecore/ Raffir. He is currently returning to Solingen after living in China for some ten years or so. I look forward to some more frequent meetings, bro!
The ubiquitous Rolf was there also... he was working for Mr. Weber from
Weber knives, and his boss was taking me aside while Rolf was in a selling frenzy whispering in awe :"This guy is obsessed"! Turns out he was a bit fond of Rolf´s enthusiasm and his laidback manner. I am, too, and was glad to meet him, even if he is an altogether different character.
He had made this beautiful neckknife for himself from a historical Jagdnicker blade and camel bone.
We had a nice chat, and then time was suddenly running out, and I had one visit to make still:
Marc and Tobias from
Boker were there as usual with their high-end line-up, selling knives with weird humour and enthusiasm. Another good-natured chat was made, and in a frenzy pics were shot...
I love those Dozier design Arkansas skinners by Boker Plus.
And some of you might like this knife also.
Suddenly all was over. I returned to
Olaf and Heike´s booth and we talked a bit to schedule my work and to chat a bit about this and that. Then I got outside into this somewhat eerie, ghostly light.
It was a very intense and controversial experience. I have taken home many inspirations and a lot to think about, some delicious food and a Damascus knife.
But it all was a bit unreal.
