My father introduced me to knives when I was very young, six years old or so, as I remember. He was a tool design engineer, and the company he owned ran one of the most prosperous custom tool and die shops in the Denver region.
He wasn't what you'd call a knife knut, not really a collector, but he was certainly knife-knowledgeable, and very much a knife and edged tool "accumulator." He was a personal friend of Ray Appleton, and frequented local knife shows after he retired.
The knife he carried every day, for probably at least the last 15 years of his life, was a Schrade Old Timer 1080T. Needless to say, it's one of my most prized possessions.