Josh Smith Knife show & hammer In

Attended the 3rd Annual Josh Smith Knife Show and Hammer In which takes place in beautiful Missoula Montana.  There was a great lineup of knife makers; Harvey Dean, Larry Fuegen, Josh Smith, Tim Hancock, Larry Feugen, Juergen Steinau, Ken Steigerwalt, Matt Lerch, Owen Wood,  Wade Colter, Rick Dunkerley, Bill Ruple and John Young.  The event started on Friday with an open house at Josh's place in neighboring Frenchtown, MT.  Fun hanging around and talking with everyone, some knife forging, cigar smoking, refreshments, fun with small arms and some heavier artillery.  A highlight of the event was the firing of the homemade cannon shooting bowling balls at the nearby mountain!  Here are some pictures of the cannon and "ammunition";

Looking downrange

 Here, for your entertainment is a link to a video on YouTube of the actual firing of the cannon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8e1rRFgf04
If you listen carefully you can hear a whistling as the bowling ball rotates and the air plays against the finger holes in the bowling ball.

Several of the attendees either arrived early or stayed late to enjoy the fishing.  Here is one of the wonderful streams I visited in the area;

Here is Ken Steigerwalt showing off his casting skills;

Besides the knife show/sale there were several demonstrations of technical skills involved in the knife making process, very interesting.  Anyway, a great time was had by all.  I hope to continue attending this great event.