How did you get into the hobby of Knives?

needler420

needler420

Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
947
I got into it from my dad. My dad used to collect and buy all the books and magazines. He just never got into the sharpening side as much as I have.

This is pretty much how my dad got into knives.
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I had 2 folding knives when I was 9. One my dad gave me that was his dad's, and one with plastic scales I found in a junk drawer somewhere. Used them both a lot. One day the blade and pivot broke completely free from the scales on the plastic one. Obviously, I wasn't using either knife for things they should realistically be used for, but it was at that moment I realized not all knives are created equal. The years went on and I used and abused more knives. Some broke, some didnt. In my early 20s, I forked over some bigger bucks for a Kershaw Blur... then a Benchmade Grip... then a Spyderco PM2... then a ZT 0562... so on and so forth. Now I have a problem. I love you, bladeforums.
 
Been a lifelong user of knives which I carried daily. It started with my Dad as he always carried a knife and used it often for little things around the house that I saw as a little kid. The hobby of knives really didn't start until around 1990 which is when I started buying knives that I really didn't need. Things picked up when I joined BF.
 
My dad always carried around a small Case pocket knife. He bought my brother and I some Old Timer traditional style pocket knives when we were younger and a Case Mako each from around the 70s (which I will never part with). I remember using the Old Timers to help him skin muskrats and other animals we'd trap.

Even at that age, I was always bothered when a blade would get dull and I didn't know how to sharpen it. A few years ago, I bought a Lansky and learned a lot about sharpening on it through trial and error (and YouTube and tips elsewhere). I'd say finally learning how to get a knife sharp has started me on the very slippery slope of buying more expensive folders than any one person needs. My friends all call me crazy. Oh well. Haha. Glad to be here!
 
My father bought me my first knife when I was about 5 or 6 ( 1964-65) and I've been carrying a pocket knife everyday since high school.
Even though I had hunting folders and fixed blades, my favorite folder back then was a lockback stiletto and it was my EDC.

About 30 years ago , when I bought my first house , I realized the stiletto blade wasn't useful for hard work and so I started buying more conventional folders.
 
I went into AGRussells knife shop looking to buy a Marble Ideal but i kept holding off and about my third trip in there the girl behind the counter asked if i liked big knives and i told her yes and she pulled out a bk9 and handed it too me. This is right when KaBar just started to make the Becker line and i knew nothing about the bk9 or becker but i liked the knife so i got it. I have been hooked every since.
 
I got knives as gifts growing up always had one when growing and had family members who preached always carry a knife. That combined with eventually finding beauty in blades just made the hobby a natural fit for me.
 
I grew up in Alaska, and Dad would take us down the rivers to fish. I carried my Scout knife with me on those trips, until I used my paper route money to buy a fixed Buck (105 maybe?). This morning I looked at the rotation shelf in my closet and realized I had $600 worth of folders on it, and I don't even want to think about what's in storage. I think I need to start fattening up my kids' college fund instead of my collection now. Damn you adulthood!
 
TSA confiscated my Buck keychain knife/bottle opener about 5 years ago. Researched replacements for it, stumbled across Spyderco's offerings and was instantly/ridiculously hooked. Happened again recently when I discovered ZTs. Those two companies keep me very happy! :)
 
I have always been fascinated by knives and the act of cutting with them: from my mom’s food prep, to my dad’s cleaning of freshly caught fish. As tools, I thought they were beautiful things.

I also liked that using a knife, or any blade, required a degree of carefulness and skill: cutting or peeling fruit, properly trimming a steak, whittling and sculpting wood. Even shaving required attention and aptitude.

So one day I asked my father for a knife on my birthday, something to use while the family went on camping trips.

All I got was a pretty crappy hobo’s knife that quickly rusted and whose blade was ever dull.

I think that it’s since then I’ve been wanting a real blade: a blade that could do work, whittle and shave and, with care, would last and be sharp.

It’s however not until early fall of 2017 that I actually found the want to get some good, quality knives.

Since then, I’ve been trying out different brands and models, liking some more than others, got a
Midtech or two, and decided on what I like and dislike about carrying a quality cutting tool.
 
JamesofArc said:
I went into AGRussells knife shop looking to buy a Marble Ideal but i kept holding off and about my third trip in there the girl behind the counter asked if i liked big knives and i told her yes and she pulled out a bk9 and handed it too me. This is right when KaBar just started to make the Becker line and i knew nothing about the bk9 or becker but i liked the knife so i got it. I have been hooked every since.
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Those big ones really attract us knife lovers even if we don't use them very often. The BK-9 was a good start. As they say, "Everyone needs a 9." My first Becker was the BK-2.
 
Location, I suppose. Where rivers and forests out match concrete 10 to 1 it's just commonplace to have a knife on you(small traditionals/Buck 110's are the most common around here I imagine). As long as you're not walking around town with a machete no one notices the sheath on your hip.

I carried the fairground ring toss type of knives, or cheap ass gun show knives I thought were cool until I got my first Spyderco. After that it was all down(up?) hill, haha.

That said, my Dad had a pretty large knife collection that I remember sneaking around with when I was a kid. Got in trouble quite a few different times because of it. That probably helped push me into this direction.
 
I had been looking for a Busse Team Gemini for a long time. I assumed that Busse had “gone under” because their website looked a little outdated (no offense) and there were no products listed. Eventually I found Bladeforums, made an account, and made a thread titled “What happened to Busse?”. That was a year ago today.
 
As far back as I can remember I was fascinated by knives. I remember being a little kid watching MacGuyver get out of jams with a SAK and wit and wanted one, bad. I remember raking leaves like crazy until I was able to buy one, then showing it to my Grandpa who proceeded to give me my first sharpening stone and (attempting) to show me how to use it.

I also remember watching the movie Romancing the Stone as a kid and thinking that the OTF Auto the bad guy had was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and vowing to one day get one.

It's weird that as an adult I don't own a SAK, but I've got a pile of OTF Autos...
 
Wish I could say I had all of the fond memories most of you have shared. However, I just decided I wanted a nice knife about two years back and that was the beginning of the hobby for me. Sure I had the Rambo type survival knife (with the compass and storage in the handle) that every boy buys at the fair when they are young but never truly got into knives till I was in my 40's. Even though it took so long I'm glad I made that purchase two years ago as I have derived much enjoyment from the knives I have acquired.
 
OP's post sums it up for me:

I was a kid and we went on a family trip to Germany to see my aunt. She lived in an apartment that was above a couple of shops, and one was a knife store like a House of Knives.

They had switchblades, exactly like OP's comic up there, and I was NOT leaving without one!
 
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