How old were you when you got your first knife?

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kirch

Joined
Dec 19, 1999
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My son, an 8-year-old Cub Scout, has decided that he wants to sell enough popcorn in their annual fundraiser to win a SAK. Though he's never owned a knife before, I think he's reaching the age where some supervised used is OK. I got my first knife (out rusting in my tackle box, I believe) when I was 10 or 11, an old Boy Scout pocketknife my dad never used. Given its level of crappiness, I'm surprised I eventually started collecting knives.

How old were you when you got your first knife, what was it, do you still have it and do you still use it?
 
I was just 6, mom had to be with me when I got it out. It was a Case 2 blade folder that she still has (she wanted to keep it). I don't think she really knew what her and dad started 25 years ago with that purchase.
 
There were a lot of knives floating around in the family. Stored in fishing gear, in basement chests, and boxes of "old stuff," they were present and I had access to them from the time I was about seven (1955). Back then learning about knives was a hands on experience. I got cut a reasonable amount and learned how to handle knives.

The knives started to accumulate. I remember collecting "pen knives" and very small pocket knives. $2.00 was the upper end of my knife outlay budget then. I remember putting down $3.00 for a lock-back when lock-backs were a new idea. I still have it (circa 1960). The others are lost or broken. A few still are floating around . . . My budget's not $2.00 anymore.
 
Bought my first one at 7, a fixed-blade with stag handle from Solingen, for around $2.85 or so.

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Die Entropie der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu - R.J.E. Clausius
 
I was just 7 when my father gave me my first folder as a birthday gift.

[This message has been edited by Sergiusz Mitin (edited 10-09-2000).]
 
Given its level of crappiness, I'm surprised I eventually started collecting knives.
-Kirch
Click to expand...

I was given a pretty crappy knife too. It was a Europa all stainless steel lockback made by slave labor in Mainland China. I abused this knife a lot (try beating this... I sharpened it on sidewalks). Also, I made it really hot with my lighter, and plunged it into water just to hear the sizzling sound. I still have it around somewhere, probably in the bathroom where I performed my lighter experiments on it. I was probably 12 years old when I got it. The next couple weeks I decided that this knife really sucked, and so I got a Buck Protege for a huge sum of $20 (I was 12). I later sold it for $10. It was a very good knife for the money. Note that I had a lot more respect for this knife and did not perform lighter experiments on it!

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 10-09-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 10-09-2000).]
 
I must have been about five I think. All I remember is that I didn't have a good knife until I got a Boy Scout one from a family aquaintance. One of those "Hey young fellah, do you have a knife?" "Yes." "Oh. Don't bother carrying that, take this." And he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Camillus Scout model. So about 9 was when I got my first "real" knife. That thing went everywhere with me until I got a LeatherMan a couple of years later.
 
I got my first knife when I was around 5 or 6. It was a Case or Barlow, I can't remember which. I went through several over the next couple of years because I had the bad habit of putting them in my back pocket. My Dad was not too pleased but he always got me another 'cause when you do chores on a farm, you need a knife. Wish I had those knives now but sad to say, they are all lost.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
I don't remember getting my first knife. I think I was handed a scalpel to cut my own umbilical cord at birth.
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I remember getting my first rifle on my 6th birthday. I do remember the first time I had a knife taken away from me though. I was 5. I had a small 2 bladed Case that got taken away from me at kindergarden. I'll never forget that "Why the hell are you bothering me with this" look that my mom had when the teacher was talking to her at the end of the day. Given todays standards though, I think that 8 or 9 is about the right time for boy to be able to carry a small knife. Of course education is the first step in owning a knife. He must be able to understand the responsibilities involved. If he can't, he's to young for a knife.

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"Paranoia is simply a state of heightened awareness"

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
 
I was about 5 or 6 when my dad got me a Victorinox Swiss Army folder at the local Kmart. My grandfather and uncle had great fun teaching me to sharpen it. I moved on from that to cold steel and spyderco and most recently a sebenza. Still have the swiss army, it rides in my toolbox in the trunk of my car
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[This message has been edited by ski (edited 10-09-2000).]
 
I was four! My parents were not afraid of knives. My father was a meat cutter and hunter and knives were considered tools. What did a four year old need with a tool! Beats me, I just wanted something my dad had. It was a single bladed pocket knife with a bail and black plastic scales. I don't have it now. I don't remember thinking it was cool to kill something or cut somebodies something up with it. I used it to whittle mostly, or carve my initials in the neighbors barn.

Bruce Woodbury
 
13 -- I was a city kid, and my dad was dead. So my brother (9 years older) finally bought me my own SAK for Christmas when he found out I was carrying one of his old POS folders I'd found in a kitchen drawer.
 
I was 8 or nine when I bought my first knife. I may have had one sooner than this but cant recall. Anyway it was a two bladed folder with Celuloid Mother of Pearl scales.
I dont remeber the brand but I seems it was about 10 dollars 1972 which was a mint for me at the time with this in mind I venture to say it was of better quality that some of the junk sold today. Wish I still had it but it was confiscated by the principal. I was using it to cut up a piece of fruit to eat. Like I was going to kill someone with the 2" main blade. I've been very carefull about people knowing I carry since.

Arthur D. Washburn
ADW Custom Knives
 
I was about 10 and it was a POS two bladed folder that my grandfather gave me. I almost totally destroyed it in about a month. I threw it at trees and used a brick as my "sharpening stone" Surprisingly I still have have it but now I have real throwing knives and real sharpening stones.
 
My first was when I was a cub scout, about age 9, and I still have the knife!!! Just found it last week!!!! Must have been 26 years ago!!



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Lundo
 
A little red celuloid handle pen knife at the ripe old age of 6. Lost it in the front yard throwing it in the air to see if it would stick in the ground. I would still like to find it, even though after 30+ years, it would be useless.

Paul
 
I was about 6 or 7. My parents gave me a SAK in my christmas stocking. And thats all she wrote. From that moment on, all I wanted was knives. Not much has changed
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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
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