GIVEAWAY: The one that started it all!....WINNER ANNOUNCED!

[scattershot]

I've always been interested in kives, mostly the traditional ones, and lurked here a long time before I took the plunge. haven't looked back since. I'm in, thanks for the chance to play.

 

[LEGION 12]

Not a entry already won a Case from you just wanted to thank you again and say good luck everyone .

 

[Blade_Crazy]

I'm game, it's a beautiful knife and a more than generous give away. Thank you for the opportunity.

As for me I can remember the first knife I was ever given. My sis and I were fishing with Dad and Grandpa and being the terrible fisherman I am I spent more time wandering the bank than at my pole. In the process I managed to wander across an "old style" pocket knife with bronze bolsters and dark brown scales of some sort, it was to long ago to remember the brand but it reminds me of a buck 55. Any way It was tangled in fishing line and guts (fish), though as I remember it was in good shape otherwise, and when I presented it my dad immediately took it from me. Grandpa however asked to see it and that was the last I saw of it till a few hours later (back at grandpa's house) he snuck it to me cleaned, untangled, and sharp. I love that man, hes still kicking for the record, he was always getting me things that I other wise was "not allowed to have". He bought me my first air pistol when i was in 8th grade and didnt tell my parents till i opened it on Christmas eve, moms face was great...

Its been history ever since, though I fell victim to the tacticool knife trend in my teenage years. Came here looking for a new knife a few years ago and found the traditional side of things, I've never really looked back.

 

[pertinux]

Vic, how generous of you!

I'd love a chance at this beauty, especially given its provenance. I'm in! :thumbup:


I've loved and carried knives from the time I was small, saving up for my first one (a $.99 hardware-store-counter special) when I was about 7 and adding a Victorinox Small Tinker at 10-12 yrs old-- both purchased with my own money, and without asking my mother first (she tried to say "no" both times after the fact, to no avail; I'd known enough not to ask before buying 'em).

After a good 20 years with a Classic in my pocket (which, truth be known, was all I need[ed], don't tell), a couple years back my soon-to-be-20-yr-old son asked for "a pocket knife" for his birthday.

His simple request led me to solicit recommendations and research further online. In doing so I found BladeForums, and continued reading and looking further even after I'd picked out a knife for him.

Thus my own interest in pocketknives was reignited, and the result has been ... er, encompassing.

I've loved the intersections of quality, pocketable tools with the quality hearts and perspectives that I have found here. I wouldn't enjoy my knives nearly as much if it weren't for all of you, and that includes gaining a new respect for my first knives, acquired in the days of yore.

Speaking of firsts, it all started here, early and late....
(Sadly, I parted ways with my early hardware store jackknife not long after acquiring the SAK; needing pliers to open the pen blade of the jackknife possibly had something to do with that[!]. I'd love to have it now.)

My Small Tinker, with which I've now spent a good 38 years or so:

My first knives upon re-entry, a tiny Boker Congress and a Case Mini Copperlock (after giving the latter to my son for his 20th birthday, I became all jelly and had to get my own):

My first GEC:

Thanks again, Vic!

~ P.

 

[bronyblacksmith]

I'm in thanks for the chance I don't have many traditional knives but I really like the ones that I do have.
I found this thread by accident from the main page.
any way I always liked guns and knives but nutnfancy was what got my into large knives.

 

[Daniel Dorn]

Thanks for the generous GAW! Beautiful knife, that I'd love to have as my own.

It's funny how I ended up hanging out here in Traditionals. I've been on this site for almost 15 years, and only recently in traditionals (okay, almost 4 years here).

I had been into the tacticool type of knife for most of my adult life, and most of my traditionals were relegated to a small corner of my box of collectible knives. I had received a few as gifts, but they almost never got carried, and I had only bought one for myself.

Then, one day, while garage sailing with my wife and kids through our neighborhood, I found someone with a HUGE collection of Case knives for sale @ $35 each. I had no idea if the prices were good, and vowed I would figure out their value. Now, I wish I had taken home at least a few of them.

So, I head on over here to start poking about, and no sooner had I stepped in here than I put my foot in my mouth by volunteering a Spyderco Kiwi as my most traditional EDC knife in the What are you Carrying thread. Blues slapped a warning, or whatever on me, and I was taken back a bit.

I realized that this was a different kind of place, compared to the rest of the forums.

I decided I wasn't going to just "use" this place to grub up some information, but was going to take it easy, sit down for a while, and see what this whole traditional culture was all about.

Since that time, 3 to 1, I've been buying traditionals over modern knives, and feel that I've definitely learned something about what contentment is, and find the ideas behind this forum and our traditional knives reflects a different outlook on life that I wish to strive for.

It's truly changed how I look at knives, and collecting "things" in general. I'm not so swift to jump on the "newest, hardest, coolest, most modern" stuff like I used to. I take a lot more time to make a decision on ANY purchase. It's not about how I want to be perceived by others, anymore, but about what truly pleases ME.

Thanks, again for the GAW, and thanks to everyone for making this a place that can change a person for the better.

 

[markpmc]

Very generous gaw. I'd be honored. Been curious about Laguiole's for a while now.

I was out of knives after leaving the Army. I lost my buck 110 while on a ftx in Germany. I managed to lose my SAX somewhere in the desert. I gave my boot knife to my roommate during out processing. Figured I didn't need a knife anymore since I didn't have to open a mre for lunch

Wife gave me a Blue case stockman back in 2000. I lost it last year :grumpy:

Replaced it with this one from queen.

 

[saltyveins]

Im in.

I remember as a young child watching my grandfather pull his Case knife out of his overall pocket and peeling an apple for me. He could start at the top and spin the apple and peel all of the skin off in one super long ribbon. That was so impressive to a 4yr old that it pretty much started my love of knives.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

I'm in. Thanks for the chance.

I had been interested in good kitchen knives and had a few SAKS that I never though too hard about. Then while carrying a 4.5 inch Wusthof Utility knife while camping, my buddy showed me his Opinel 8. Again the knife virus was still just nascent and I still didn't think much about it. But when I got home I did a little research on that french knife and became intrigued. I ordered a no 12 and while I was very impressed I realized it was a little big for EDC. I remember my first post was of a crude Mod Job to the 12 to make it flip open. As you can imagine I was laughed off the thread! lol But I kept coming back for more whippings. Next I got an 8. Then I pulled out my old SAKS and had a new found appreciation of springs and sharpness. I moved onto the Douk Douk, Mercator K55K, and Moras. Then more Opis, Sodbusters, Okapis, USA and German Made Stockmans. The rest is history. and 4 months later with the guidance of this forum I've put together a satisfying collection of traditional working user knives, but I'm still looking for my "Sunday Best" knife and I've had an eye on the Laguiole for quite a while.

 

[nozyk]

Wow Vic!

What a sweet GAW! How I ended up on BF and infatuated by traditionals is pretty much a tale which goes full circle. I have loved knives ever since I can

remember. I was given my first knife ,a SAK for my 10th birthday nd stilll have and carry it to this day. 40 + years later, I have run the gamut from traditional

folders, to fixed only, to the silly stage when "tacticool" pocket bricks ,with purty ,dangly things ruled the roost and my pocket and then back to sanity and

serenity of slipping a beautiful slippy into my pocket,satchel or what have you and knowing it is there,capable of handling most of my knife needs.

There is absoutely nothing wrong with ANY knife as far as I am concerned and every genre has it's gifted craftsmen and beautiful examples but in my twilight

years,I find it simply a matter of practicality. Plus, so many of traditional's are like pieces of fine jewelry in of themselves and I receive so many compliments

when I pull out one of my few custom folders or a nice GEC versus the look of terror when the XM-18 is deployed.

Finally, I too have learned more about knives and so much other "fun" stuff here in my 3 short years on BF than I could have ever imagined. It's one of those

situations that you end up knowing stuff you don't even know you know. It's funny how many times I find myself in conversation with people less knife inclined

but interested and find myself spewing facts I did not even know I knew. Make sense?



The Laguiole is a beauty and whomever wins it will surely carry it with pride. Merry Christmas to you and all and thanks for your generosity and BF for the

great folk I have met along the way

 

[wazu013]

I'm in:thumbup:
Mercy Boo Coupes

 

[davek14]

Hmm, well grew up on a farm so I've always liked knives and hatchets and such like any other farm boy.

What got me back into liking knives a lot was that 15-20 years ago I found myself drinking way too much alcohol and needed to stop. Anytime you end a bad habit like that you find yourself bored with extra time to kill. Surfing the net I found an article on boiling antler and inserting knife blades while the pith was soft.

I knew quite a few people who hunted at work. I begged some antler and bought some blades and pottered with them in the garage on the weekends about when I would have started drinking. I made quite a few very rustic knives that way and traded for more antler, yadda, yadda. Even made some better ones for a while although I never got to really polished levels. Got me through a bad time.



The one on the right front sticking out from the salt and pepper shakers is a boiled antler assembly.

After a while it kind of hit me that, living in the 'burbs, I couldn't really use these anywhere but at home and I began an Opinel modification craze.

Gotten into other things over the years but still always liked knives. Guess I've always needed an "addiction" although the monkeys on my back are quieter and better trained these days.

Count me in, that's a beautiful knife.

 

[deskil]

I'd appreciate a chance at that knife. Thank you very much.
I'v had a knife in my pocket every day since I was ten, and my Grandpa gave me a Barlow.
I never was a collector of knives until I lost the knife I'd carried daily for over thirty years. Laid it down somewhere at work after cutting something, forgot to put it back in my pocket, walked away and never saw it again. It had replaced the other Uncle Henry LB5 that I lost after dropping off a load of garbage at the county dump. Cut something (a rope probably) and laid it on the tailgate of my truck - forgot it and drove away. When I came back, maybe 10 minutes later, to look for it, a grader was working the area where I'd parked. Buried and Gone. Bought that one about seven years earlier. Went to WalMart the next day and got another one (the first knife mentioned here) just like it.
The search for a replacement of the second lost knife spawned the affliction I now enjoy. (As Kenny Chesney sings - " One is one too many, one more is never enough.")

 

[VictorLouis]

I'm in for the wonderful GAW of this lovely artisan French piece.

I guess I've found myself more drawn to the history and american knife-culture roots here. There's a lot of tactical-blacktical slicers out there, but there is no individual uniqueness to each one. I am learning to appreciate the slip-joints and the multi-blades that I would've ignored years ago. Searching for a 3-spring Case stockman right now, and another piece of French origin is on my short list.

 

[michael t]

I am in I love that style of knife

 

[Toddwalla]

I'd love a chance at that beautiful knife!

I showed up here in 2011 when I was looking to replicate a small lock back that I'd had in my younger years. I was in grad school and teaching and looking for a knife that would literally disappear in my pocket. Around a year later, after hundreds of hours of lurking, I signed up to inquire about cleaning up a handful of knives that I had inherited from my grandfather when he passed in '97. Since then there has been no turning back. As someone who has always carried and collected knives, this place has been a sweet find. The comment has been welcoming and imparted loads of wisdom that has resulted in a very slim wallet!

Here is the knife that originally brought me to these parts:

and here is one of my grandpa's knives that got me to become an official member of this here community (also the first picture I ever posted here):

 

[Phydeaux]

I'm in. For many years my EDC was a Buck stockman my dad got me back in the 60s. Still have it . My very first knife was a small two bladed pen knife. I carried that thing every where. It had a bail, so i was able to attach it to a crude lanyard to tether to my belt so I wouldn't loose it.

Ric

 

[benchwarmer380]

I'm in!

When I get on BladeForums I almost always just go to the main page to see the newest posts from every forum (except that one). I poke in the Traditional Forum from time to time just to browse. At first, all the wood and bone and plain blade shapes just kind of looked the same (as G10, recurves, and tantos look the same to some), but after a while the subtle differences became more apparent. Every single blade is well thought out has serves a purpose. No gimmicks. The natural materials add character and beauty that manufactured materials can rarely match. Each pattern tells a story of a different time. Traditional in every sense of the word.

Thank you for a chance.

 

[mike Berkovitch]

The that started my immigration to traditionals is small Jeff Cover knife, after I got it I found this forum while searching for info about the maker. I sold the knife but stayed here.... So yes I am in. Great GAW knife.

Mike

 

[Jack Black]

Some great posts and great pics on this thread

I've been into knives my whole life. They were always there around me, even in my earliest years, and I would be gifted them by relatives even before I was deemed too young for them by my parents. One of these knives was a Richards Little Chief, with the same configuration as the new GEC Radio Knife, and a picture of a Native American on a horse on the hollow cover. One evening, after school, when I was 7, I was going out to play with some friends about a mile down the road, and I slipped the knife into the right-hand pocket of my shorts underneath my handkerchief. I've been carrying a knife ever since.