The Smith and Wesson Collector’s Association annual symposium was in Spokane this year.
How was it? Well, I had a great time. I caught up with some old friends that I only see at the symposium. And I had some good luck. I didn’t buy any guns, but I found a muzzle brake for my Model 41. I’ve been looking for one of those for about ten years. I also had some good luck in the auctions. I picked up a H.H. Heiser “Hunter” holster for a 4″ K-frame for $30 in the silent auction, and won a package (a S&W holster for a 4″ N-frame, a nice S&W belt buckle, and what I think is a 4″ M&P .38 Special barrel) for another $20 in the regular auction. I also picked up an unusual bit of paper for another $5 (I was the only person who bid on it in the silent auction), but I want to wait and see if I can get a better picture of that.
As always, because the symposium is a closed, private event, I’m not really comfortable discussing in detail what went on. I will say that there were excellent talks by Roy Jinks (the S&W company historian), Jim Supica, and Richard Nahas (yes, that one
(And I don’t think it is a secret any more, if it ever was: the 4th edition is coming.)
Billy Bates from Buck Knives gave a pretty nice presentation, too, and brought along some samples of Buck’s custom work. But even better: he arranged for a group of attendees (myself included) to take the factory tour. (Post Falls is just on the other side of the Idaho/Washington border, about 20 minutes from Spokane. You take Exit 1 off of I-90 to get to the Cabela’s, and Exit 2 to get to the Buck Knives plant.)
As you know, I’m a sucker for factory tours, and the Buck tour is worth taking. They currently make about 80% of their product in the US, and are trying to move even more of their production back here. The tour gives you a nice overview of how the knives are made, from stamping blades out of stock all the way through final assembly. It reminded me a lot of the Smith and Wesson factory tour, and I wasn’t the only person who made that parallel. There’s still a lot of vintage machinery in use, and a lot of finishing by hand. (One piece of equipment we saw that was still in use was purchased as military surplus after the war. World War II, that is.) It makes me wonder how they can afford to run their operation, especially with so much production being US based. But apparently they’re doing pretty darn well.
There’s also a company store; you can even purchase factory “seconds”, if you wish. Unfortunately, they were sold out of everything I wanted. Which was a shame, because after listening to Mr. Bates speak and taking the tour, I really kind of wanted a Buck 110. (Unlike many of the association members, who were reminiscing about their Buck folders, my lock blade folder as a teenager was a cheap Mexican knockoff of the Buck. I don’t know what ever happened to it, or my other knives, come to think of it…) I also want one of the fixed-blades, like a 119 or 120. I don’t actually have a fixed-blade knife for field use. And come to think of it, I remember lusting after those Buck fixed-blades when I was a teenager. Those, and the Gerber Mark II. Nostalgia is a moron.
(After I got back, I found one of the 50th Anniversary commemorative 110 folders at Academy for short money. Yeah, I need another knife like I need another hole in my head, but the 110 seems like a good general-purpose and even defensive knife, without the agita of worrying about it being stolen from checked baggage or confiscated by the TSA. You break it, Buck fixes it for free. You lose it, you go down to Wal-Mart or Academy and grab another one: Academy’s price is actually considerably better than Amazon’s.)
Also, stupidly, I didn’t realize that Buck had a museum upstairs in the plant until after my carpool left. C’est la damn vie. Perhaps I’ll wind up in Spokane or Post Falls again.
(One thing that intrigued me: Buck also does heat treatment for a lot of custom knife makers. I intended to ask about pricing, but didn’t get a chance to. Turns out, though, that there’s a pricing page on their website…)
The convention hotel was the Red Lion at the Park. If you’re going up to Spokane for Sasquan, or any other reason, it’d be hard to do better than the Park. I was extremely impressed with how nice and friendly everyone on the staff was, from the front desk people to the maids to the shuttle drivers. (Especially the shuttle drivers; we relied on the shuttle a lot.) My only complaint with the Park was that the catered dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday were…well, let’s just say, not really to my taste. (But the cocktail party on Thursday was awesome, and the smoked pheasant soup in the Dam Bar and Grill was pretty good, too.)
Speaking of food, I wound up eating a lot of Chipolte. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. (The Chipolte was within walking distance of the hotel; also, one of my close friends in the association lives in a remote part of Pennsylvania and really likes Chipolte when he can get it.) I had very very good meals at Churchill’s Steakhouse (hey, with a name like that, I had to go: the sautéed mushrooms in Madeira cream are exceptional), and Frank’s Diner in downtown. I also had pretty good meals at Jack and Dan’s Bar and Grill near Gonzaga!, and Anthony’s at Spokane Falls.
(The Jack in “Jack and Dan’s” was Jack Stockton, John Stockton‘s dad. On the way over, the shuttle driver was talking about John Stockton; it turned out I was the only one in the van who’d even heard of John Stockton, and everyone knows how big a NBA fan I am. Anthony’s is where the power plant photo was taken. The view is stunning, and they were running a very reasonable early bird special when I went. Unfortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t care much for salmon in the form of a thick cut, like a fillet. I’m fine with thin sliced smoked or otherwise cured salmon, but there’s just something texturally about salmon fillet that I find off-puting.)
I also had some excellent brownies from Marsells Cakes and Desserts Bakery, conveniently located in the same center as the Chipolte. Based on what I tried, I have no qualms about recommending Marsells for your wedding cake or other baked good needs. (It seems like we were in Spokane’s wedding district; in addition to Marsells, there were several other vendors of wedding supplies located within easy walking distance of the hotel, including one custom jeweler.)
Though I didn’t go to the brewpub itself, I was able to try the Rise and Grind and the Tart Cherry Ale from No-Li. I enjoyed both, and regret that I didn’t have time to try their other brews.
Since Sunday after breakfast was a slack day, I took a little time and walked downtown (a little less than a half-mile from the hotel). Spokane’s downtown is beautiful. Between the hotel and my ultimate destination there’s a lot of green space, a nice amusement park with children’s rides, a fountain for kids to play in, a lot of green space, and a few additional interesting things…
Closer view of that sculpture under the bridge. Yes, it is kind of ugly: that’s why I took the photo.
Yes, this is the world’s largest Radio Flyer wagon.
There’s also a very cool independent bookstore in downtown, Auntie’s Bookstore, that sells new and used books. That’s where I picked up The Buffalo Book, as well as a paperback of Christopher Buckley’s But Enough About You (which I finished before I even got on the plane). In retrospect, I really wish I had purchased this, but I wasn’t sure how I’d get it back on the plane. Maybe Auntie’s will do a mail order…
I haven’t really changed up my kit very much since the last couple of trips. I brought the whole camera outfit, including the big Nikon, but didn’t take it out of the bag even once. All of my photos were taken with either the little Nikon or the iPhone. Everything worked according to plan, except that the iPhone is getting to the point where it needs either a new battery or an upgrade.
Does Spokane pass the Keller test? I liked the city very much, but I can’t see living there until Washington state changes their gun laws. But. I could see myself living in Post Falls or Coeur d’Alene and driving into Spokane periodically. Buck does employ IT people…
My thanks, as always, to the people in the S&WCA, at the Red Lion at the Park, Churchill’s, Frank’s, Marsell of Marsells, Auntie’s Bookstore, Billy Bates and the other awesome folks at Buck Knives, and anyone else I may have forgotten.