This past weekend I drove to Apeldoorn in The Netherlands for Have A Knives Day, an annual event hosted by Knivesandtools dedicated to knives, EDC, outdoor gear and the community around it.

 

And what a weekend.

One of the perks of this event is that it is within driving distance from me. Technically around seven hours, but in reality it turned into closer to ten hours of actual driving thanks to some pretty serious roadwork on the German Autobahns.

The upside? I got very much caught up on podcasts and audiobooks.

 

 

More gathering than trade show

Have A Knives Day brings together knife enthusiasts, makers, designers and brands, but what I like about it is that it doesn't really feel like a traditional trade show.

The focus is much more on interaction. People get to meet the people behind the products, handle new gear, ask questions, exchange knowledge and take part in workshops and activities.

Except for the driving, it is a really relaxed event – and it puts the interaction between people at the center, which I love.

That was also the highlight for me this year.

So many people stopped by our table. Some I already knew, some I had known online for years but had never actually met in person, and others had absolutely no idea who we were or what ANSØ is about.

All three make for great conversations.

And there are conversations everywhere at an event like this. One of the more memorable ones happened over breakfast at the hotel, where the good people from BigIDesign and Work Sharp somehow ended up in a surprisingly detailed discussion about egg and pillow preferences.

Apparently those are subjects people have strong opinions about.

 

 

 

From online to real life – and back again

Back in the studio after the weekend, I noticed several people posting photos from the event in our Facebook group, ANSØ Collective.

I really like that circle.

You meet someone online, then eventually meet them in person at an event like this, and afterwards the conversation continues online again.

For a relatively small community spread across the world, these events make the distance feel a little smaller.

 

 

 

 

 

And then there were the foxes

 

There was also one completely unrelated thing I finally got around to investigating on this trip.

For the past couple of years, I have noticed strange comic book-style foxes painted on bridges and other structures along the German Autobahn.

They had caught my attention because there was clearly a common visual language to them, but they were never quite the same. Different characters, expressions and situations – but unmistakably related.

Ten hours on the Autobahn gives you time to wonder about these things.

So this time I finally did some research.

What I discovered was that it isn't the work of one artist, as I had assumed. The foxes are connected to a group of artists working under the name Fuchs Kollektiv.

A completely unexpected little piece of inspiration from a weekend that was supposed to be about knives.

Maybe that is also part of why I enjoy getting out of the studio once in a while. You go somewhere looking for one thing and come home thinking about something completely different.

 

 

I am already looking forward to next year's Have A Knives Day.

Stay inspired,

Jens Ansø