Dutch Knife Exhibition 2023
The Netherlands has only one knife show, the annual Dutch Knife Exhibition (DKE). This year’s edition was held on 1 April, with a very mixed selection of exhibitors. The number of participants was about the same as last year.
Text and pictures: Bas Martens
The 2023 Dutch Knife Exhibition.
The 2023 edition of the Dutch Knife Exhibition had about the same number of participants as in 2022. There were 66 names on the exhibitors list, but some of them apparently could not make it.
The offering were very diverse: quite a lot of production knives, knife making tools and materials, dealers and collectors, and of course the artisanal knifemakers. Those, again, were a very mixed company, with an interesting foreign representation. The level of workmanship ran from advanced amateurs to very high-quality professionals.
The location, the ‘Evenementenhal’ in Gorinchem, served its purpose well, and the exhibition was well-attended, but thanks to the spacious arrangement, with 'islands' of four tables in a diamond shape, with generous aisles in between, the show was never crowded.
The accompanying photos give a small idea of the variety.
Prizes
The Dutch Knife Exhibition has a number of prizes. The winners of the 2023 edition are:
Best of Show Paps Tomahawks
Best Art Knife Gotscha Lagidse
Best Fixed Blade Pieter-Paul Derks
Best Folding Knife Martin Annegarn
Best Newcomer Igor Kampman
Best Production Knife Adola (Mora Ash Wood Outdoor)
The 2023 edition of the Dutch Knife Exhibition had about the same number of participants as in 2022. There were 66 names on the exhibitors list, but some of them apparently could not make it.
The offering were very diverse: quite a lot of production knives, knife making tools and materials, dealers and collectors, and of course the artisanal knifemakers. Those, again, were a very mixed company, with an interesting foreign representation. The level of workmanship ran from advanced amateurs to very high-quality professionals.
The location, the ‘Evenementenhal’ in Gorinchem, served its purpose well, and the exhibition was well-attended, but thanks to the spacious arrangement, with 'islands' of four tables in a diamond shape, with generous aisles in between, the show was never crowded.
The accompanying photos give a small idea of the variety.
Prizes
The Dutch Knife Exhibition has a number of prizes. The winners of the 2023 edition are:
Best of Show Paps Tomahawks
Best Art Knife Gotscha Lagidse
Best Fixed Blade Pieter-Paul Derks
Best Folding Knife Martin Annegarn
Best Newcomer Igor Kampman
Best Production Knife Adola (Mora Ash Wood Outdoor)
The prize winners. From left to right: Jerko van den Hazel (Adola), Martin Annegarn, Pieter-Paul Derks,
DKE-organiser Ed de Pauw, Igor Kampman, Gotscha Lagidse and Pawel Surdel (Paps Tomahawks).
The “Maurader’ by Custom Knife Factory (CFK). The blade is M390 steel, the handle material is Carbon
Fiber, Titanium, Zirconium and ZirCuti. The design is by Pavel Posdnyakov. Overall length is 225mm.
The ‘Alucard’ by Kaspar Groot Kormelinck (Custom Kas Handmade Knives). The blade is O1 steel, the
handle is Elforyn with G10 spacers. Overall length is 280mm.
The ‘Sheeple’, a framelock folder by Belgian knife maker Filip de Leeuw. The blade is RWL34, the
handle is Titanium with Micarta scales.
The ‘Breda Special’ by Hans Luiken – his version of the Loveless New York Special. The blade is 58RC
surgical steel, the handle is Ziricote.
The Taku Rangi by Igor Kampman. The blade is 136 layers of hand-forged O2/75Ni8 Damask, the bolsters
are Abalone. The handle has Red Copper liners and Ivory and Bog Oak handle scales. The sheath is
saddle-leather with stingray skin.
The ‘Black Raven’ by Jeroen Knippenberg. The integral knife has a horizontal tang which follows the line
of the feather Damask pattern. The multicolour feather Damask is a combination of 1.2842, 75Ni8, 1.2510
and 1.2442 steels. The handle material is Ebony. Overall length is 230mm.
The ‘Large Hunter’ by Polish knife maker Michael Trollsky (Trollsky Knives). The blade is 80CRV2, the
handle is Vintage Linen Micarta. Overall length is 230mm.
A kitchen Knife by Patrick Blok, The blade is a combination of wrought Iron and W1. The handle is
Oak and African Blackwood. Overall length is 200mm.
A large Bowie by Pieter-Paul Derks. The blade is 80CRV2 carbon steel, the handle is stabilized Elm Burl
and synthetic Ivory, with brass fittings.
A Custom 2-tone Apocalypse by Andrius Tricius (TRC Knives) from Lithuania. The blade is Elmax, the
handle is Carbon Fiber. Overall length is 300mm.