"Gateway Drug": what was your first (CRK or non-CRK) knife that started it all?

kidcongo

kidcongo

Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
3,195
My first pocket knife purchase in my adult life was a Spyderco Sage 4. Within a year of that purchase I had my first Sebenza (there we a couple others in between), and in many ways now my journey is over. I still have that Sage 4 and wonder sometimes if it is not in some way responsible for me ending up with a nice collection of CRKs. Did it inspire me, or just leave me dissatisfied so I needed something better? Hard to say. It's a great knife, but it wasn't a "destination", if you know what I mean.

What was the knife that started your journey to owning a CRK? Did you dive right in with a Sebenza, or was there another knife that was the first bite of the knife bug?
 
I bought a Spyderco Police 3 serrated at a gun show about a year and a half ago and EDC'd it until about 3 months ago, when I bought a ZT0200ST at another gun show. A couple weeks later, I bought a ZT0350 (which I later sold) and was blown away. I thought that those ZTs were the pinnacle of production knives. I went to my local knife store and checked out one of the Sebenzas they had on display and wasn't too impressed. It was super smooth, sure, but it wasn't a flipper, it had a plain blade shape, and it didn't have any cool scales. I wondered what the hype was all about. I didn't think much about it for a few more weeks, when it started to bother me that of the 3 knives I owned, none of them were perfectly centered, none of them were incredibly smooth, and none of them had that "bank vault" feel. I started eyeing Sebenzas and fell in love with the Insingo blade. I bought a small plain Jane Insingo on May 28th, and I've carried it damn near every day since. In less than 2 months, I've acquired the small Insingo, a Sebenza 25, a Large Inkosi, and I have a small BG42 Regular on the way. Stay away from CRK, kids, it's an expensive habit.
 
For me it was a simple Benchmade 707 Sequel. That was in early 2013 and 66 knives ago (24 of them CRKs). Reading through BF I kept finding references to Sebenza and finally made the jump in 2014 with a Sebenza 25. At the time I thought "really- $450 for this hunk of titanium?". Since then I figured it out and developed a CRK habit I can't kick, and don't want to either.

The 707 Sequel that started it all:
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I recall my first knife that I bought myself was a Benchmade Griptilian that sent me down a road of collecting almost exclusively BM for a while and then switching to mostly CRK right around when I joined BF. I was really into collecting/using BM 705's and I've been similarly obsessive in buying/selling Sebenza 21's.
 
While I had an interest in arms & weapons as long as I can remember, a Buck 501 that was loaned to me for a backpacking trip, turned into a lifesaver, and the die was cast.
Several years later I saw the first Sebenza in the window of a Carmel, CA Knife store. After handling the Sebbie (Reg) I knew I had to own this tool. A year later on a follow up trip north from LA I purchased a Lg Reg BG42 Sebenza, Which I still own & EDC (in rotation) to this Day. More then a twenty Sebbies later, Damascus, Insingo, UG & CF, the love affair continues...

Mike B.
Downey, CA
 
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Like Zeta33 my real knife "collecting" began with a Benchmade mini AFCK. Before that I had a simple Gerber LST that a buddy gave me for my 18th birthday. I carried that LST for years, lost it twice and found it twice. The AFCK was something like 25 years ago and I still have the AFCK and the Gerber LST. Both in my safe now replaced by a CRK. Some years after that AFCK I began collecting Benchmade auto's.

It wasn't until last year that I found this website and started buying (and selling) more Benchmades, Emersons, Protechs and so forth. Then I somehow found CRK and I've not been the same since. My first was a plane jane Small 21. Then a Small 21 Insingo with all silver hardware. The hunt continues for the perfect CRK, but I'm guessing there is more than one.
 
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My first CRK was a bit of a coincidence...February 2014 there was an ad on a local classifieds site for a titanium Eagletac D25A at a good price, and at the bottom of the ad the seller (who turned out to be BF member) mentioned he had a few knives to sell as well, including a couple of CRKs. Now by this time i was already on BF for nearly a year, and had a couple of Benchmade knives, a Spyderco PM2, a few Cold Steel fixed blades and of course a Buck 110, so i was aware of the existence of CRK & the Sebenza, but had never held one and did not know too much about them. Except that people were always posting how great they were, and i always thought that they were just too much $$$ for a knife...
While setting up the meeting to pick up the flashlight i requested the seller to bring along the CRKs as well. Soon as the 21 was in my hand, i knew i had to have it - although i could see that the blade had been resharpened aggressively, i did not even realize at the time that it was actually slightly shorter than a new 21 until i actually purchased a new 21. Likely that a broken tip was fixed, but not sure...
Within a month i ended up purchasing a 25, soon after a Umnumzaan Tanto from TNK, and then our local retailer got a couple of raindrop damascus large 21s...picked one up, and the next day went back and got the second on they had in stock as well..."gateway drug" is right...hard to stop once you start...
Since then my CRK collection has grown...my instagram page (link in signature) has almost become of a journal of this...if you do check it out, scroll all the way to the bottom, and you will find the sebenza i mentioned above...

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Pic from February 2014

March 2016 (not all are in there, and a couple more have been added since this was taken)
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Long before I joined BF, I got very tired of always having a dull knife (Gerbers, Cabelas crap knives, etc). So after a very short amount of research I ordered a PM2, then a Spyderco Valloton, then an employee lost my first PM2 and I ordered another.....you get the point. I was quite impressed at how a good blade steel held an edge. My second daughter was born on Valentine's Day 2015 and while home with the new little one I was looking for a new knife. I saw these Chris Reeve Knives and had to take a look. I bought four off the exchange the first few days. Then I quickly sold them in order to buy left-handed models due to carrying a gun in my right-front pocket everyday. I have bought a few other brands along the way, along with some slipjoints, but I always come back to CRK. Well....now I have more than a few CRK's, mostly leftys. Several members here helped me along the way in the beginning and still do to this day. I try as often as I can to return the favor.
 
I walked into a gun store about 8-9 yrs ago and saw a huge Benchmade display. I remember being really intrigued with just how many different sizes , styles, colors etc..I also loved how sturdy and solid they were. They seemed to be the best of the best! When i got home, my own personal downward spiral into "knives" had started. I started learning as much as i could about these "Benchmades" online. Whats funny is that i concentrated on nothing but Benchmades...i wouldnt allow myself to venture to far off from the BM forums etc. I didnt realize there was a whole world of knives including customs along with all the other companies etc..

It wasnt too long after all this that i started hearing/reading..."CHRIS REEVE SEBENZA".

Haven't owned a Benchmade in years:)
 
Gerber gator loved that knife lost in Iraq from there been upgrading now only buy what I really want to carry higher end. On another note I do buy old slip joints at flea markets and garage sales to fix and give away
 
I carried a SAK all the way through school/scouts, and then dove directly from those into CRK when I bought a small regular Sebenza. I couldn't afford multiple CRKs at the time, so it was joined by lots of different friends from various makers. As my means increased, so did my CRK collection and they are now my go-to "modern" knife.
 
I have loved knives as long as I can remember, but my first "real" knife was a Case Stockman given to me by my grandpa when I was 18 or so. Unfortunately I lost it a few years later.

My first "real" knife purchases were back in early 2009: a Benchmade 550HG Griptilian and a Spyderco Endura 4 with full SpyderEdge, purchased simultaneously. Very shortly after buying those and realizing I didn't like FRN, I bought a Paramilitary 1 in CPM D2. Of those 3 I only still have the Endura 4 even though I never use it, mainly because resale value isn't really worth the trouble of selling it.

After that a lot have come and gone, mainly Spydercos, BMs, ZTs, Bark Rivers, Busses, and one Strider SnG. I still have 6 Spydercos (7 counting my wife's Dragonfly) and 6 Bark Rivers. It was a constant feeling of restlessness searching for the perfect knife, then being disappointed by quality when it arrived, or being let down by performance shortly after using whatever particular knife.

Then came my first CRK, a StarTac Umnumzaan circa early 2011! I still have/use/love it along with three Large 21s, and I look forward to whatever my next CRK will be. Finding I love Ti framelocks led me to buy an XM-18 3.5" Slicer (reground by Josh at Razor Edge Knives), and a Les George Talos and VECP. CRKs are my personal preference though, and although the search and obsession with CRKs continues, they have filled that knife void in my heart that you all know and have probably once felt! :D

Just last night I bought a GEC/Tidioute #66 Calf Roper Stockman which very closely matches that Case Stockman my grandpa gave me, essentially to try to fill the gap left by that knife I lost. It has come full circle!
 
I ordered a Randall while I was overseas, got it a few weeks later. That was the first really nice knife I owned, and it's sure cost me a lot of money since then. :mad:
 
My gateway knife was a first gen. Spyderco Endura Serrated with the integral molded pocket clip that I bought around 1990 along with a first gen. Surefire 6R (rechargeable version of the 6P) from a local police supply store called "The Thin Blue Line."

Been buying quality knives ever since. :)
 
Even though I owned a number of pocket knives from my childhood into my teens, it was the Spyderco Delica I was gifted in the early 90's that really flipped the switch for me.
 
My Dad gave me a Swiss Army Knife on my 13th birthday, and I've carried a pocket knife every day since. I bought a couple Kershaws, then a couple ZT's, then some Spyderco / Benchmades. Eventually I started looking for something better. I was torn about my first CRK (a plain Jane large 21), but once I had it in my hands I just couldn't resist buying it. That was a little over 2 years ago. Since then I've sold all my other knives (except that SAK), and bought 6 more CRKs - two in the past month.

The quality of CRK's products truly is addicting. I can't seem to stop myself when they release a new knife.
 
As soon as I first saw the Insingo blade around 5 years ago it was all over for me.
I've been pretty much out of control since.
 
Great thread idea.
For me it was the Rat II. Super solid and smooth. I couldn't recommend it enough for someone looking for a sub $30 folder that is starting. It truly showed me what quality was when I first started buying knives. I still have and use it until this day.
 
First knife I bought for myself was a Victorinox Camper, loved it and carried it every single day, sadly it slipped out of my pocket one day.

Next, I bought a SOG Twitch II, lovely little knife, though I do have a soft spot for multi-tools.
I'm sure I bought a Spyderco or two.

I bought a few customs too, Anso, Fujisaka, Mayo, Korth, Scott Cook, Emerson, Hawk.

A flashlight collecting friend suggested Chris Reeve knives and I bought one from him, but then found out about the Moonsong design. I spent countless hours searching for a Moonsong. While searching I ran across many other designs that I liked and bought, which is the main reason I have a CRK collection today.
 
My first "real" knife was a Spyderco Tenacious. Worked my way around their Japanese made line. Found Benchmade with their griptilians and the 940s and 710s. Then ZT's framelocks.

Later I get my tax refund and get my hands on a Sebenza 25 from the Exchange. I wasn't ready for it. Too nice to use. I've gone back and forth in between brands and landed with a mixture of them. I stepped away from blades for a while, content with my "collection". Until, that is, friend asks me for advice on knives and I peak back into this room and see all the new stuff. Now the Large plain Insingo has carved itself into my mind and I can't get it out. Looking for used models, maybe i'll feel better about using it.
 
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