Knives you wanted as a kid ?

cbach8tw said:
As a kid, what started it all, was the knife carried by Johnny Weismueller as Tarzan, so any large knife would do. Then the hollow handled survival knives took off after seeing Rambo, First Blood, so I bought an inexpensive metal handled one in 420 steel with the stuff inside. But the one that caught my eye even then was a Mark 2 knife I saw in the display case at Best Dept Store in Fairfax, VA (not Best Buy). They also had a Bowie kit knife that had a nice big shiny clip blade. Later, I fell in love with all the knives in the very early Smoky Mountain Knifeworks catalogs. I finally got that Kabar Mark 2 during college, and used it to cut up fruit and boxes. Still got it.

Lastly, what started my descent into madness and later to customs were the frequent sale flyers from Cutlery Shoppe with close outs or special limited offers. The knife that still eludes my grasp is the Ek Model 5 in black Micarta, think about it, a large Bowie knife that I would want on my side in the wilds....just like Tarzan in the movies. Some kid dreams still stay with us into adulthood.
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It's been awhile since I practiced my Tarzan yell . 50 or 60 yrs ? :p
 
A Boy Scout knife from JC Penny was about the pinnacle back in the 50's (this is well before color was even invented, not to mention, color TVs:p). Later on I would droll over the Case display at the local hardware store, but they were too expensive.
 
The first knives I bought were Schrades from a local hardware store. It was in early 1977, and I was 13. Then I wanted a good stainless knife, as I found that the carbon steel Schrades would rust easily. I ended up discovering a Buck display and got one of the 303 Cadets (that was actually made for Buck by Camillus). Back then, where I was, the most commonly found pocketknives were Schrade, Camillus, Ka-Bar, Colonial, etc. I had never seen a Case knife, nor even heard of Case until 1997 or so.

One knife I really wanted was a switchblade. I saw an episode of Baretta that featured a switchblade-wielding killer targeting bums and thought the knife was cool. A friend sold me one for $5 that had a 3" blade that he'd smuggled in from Mexico. I think he got the better deal. but I thought I was cool and carried it to Jr. high in one pocket and the Buck Cadet in the other pocket for the real cutting chores. I secretly thought of myself as "The Man With The Switchblade", LOL. Until one day I sat down and noticed it had come partially open in my RF pocket. The tip of the blade was lightly pressed right up against my junk. That was the last time I ever carried it. I still have that old switchblade in a drawer. The opening mechanism stopped working a long time ago.

Another knife I wanted as a kid was the Buck 110. It was pretty much considered the state of the art locking folder back in the '70s. But for some reason, I never did get one as a kid.

Jim
 
Lapedog said:
As a kid I wanted a Japanese sword of some type more than anything. These were largely the first bladed objects I fell in love with. Of course back then I didn't know much. I knew that the good swords were manufactured in a traditional sense and could be super expensive. At the same time while I knew that the cheap Katanas you found in souvenir shops were not Shogun worthy, I didn't really know all about different steels and heat treats and thought "a sharpened metal bar is a sharpened metal bar."

I lusted after my friend's Microtech auto when I was quite young too (I think it was a Socom) The father of a group of friends had a Spyderco I wanted too as he knew I was interested in knives and wanted to hear about it. He would always tell me how amazing Spydero knives were which made me want to very badly.

My first really good knife was a buck 110 I got for my Bar Mitzvah which my father promptly stole from me.
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Lol, your Father has an excellent eye for cutlery. :)
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When I was a kid, I never really "wanted" some specific knife. I was gifted a peanut by my grandfather when I started first grade and than was sufficient for a couple of years, then my father gave me one of his user folders (probably an Imperial) when he got a new freebie from one of the seed companies. About 1x per year I'd get another small hand-me-down folder from my father or grandfather and I was good to go.

My first fixed blade was a Western L46-5 that my grandfather gave me when I was 10. Now I was ready for anything.

After that, I think I received a SAK of some sort for Christmas one year.

What I really wanted when I was a kid was swords - the type didn't matter - sabers, gladii, spathas, cutlasses, viking swords. Never got one though, way too expensive and my parents were too smart to trust me with them. Later, when I started working, any decent vintage sword was fair game. :D
 
I posted this in another thread, that I would have traded my little sister for a Buckmaster when I was younger.
 
Should of got an original Puma White hunter when I had the chance.
I handled one once that had a rubber handle. Would of liked that as well as the stag one.
 
hiwa said:
Should of got an original Puma White hunter when I had the chance.
I handled one once that had a rubber handle. Would of liked that as well as the stag one.
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My father has a stag handle Puma White Hunter. It is his hunting knife. I always wanted that one when I was a kid. He said I can have it when he kicks it. This is a borrowed pic but it's like this one:
puma-white-hunter-stag.jpg


A few years ago he got me a wood handle version. He was visiting the home of a close friend that passed away helping them sort through furniture and stuff and he found it there hidden behind a radiator, and he took it for me. It means even more to me knowing that he jacked it from a dead guy (who I liked so I have memories of him here too). Borrowed pic again, but like so:

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I badly wanted a Buck 110 or the similar lockback from Case with the shark etched on the blade. Time frame would have been the late 70's.
 
I carried Case as a kid. A knife was just a tool in my pocket. Didn't lust after them back then.
 
I was in high school in the mid 80's, and ached for a Cold Steel push dagger, and a real Bali-Song. Years ago I found a Cold Steel Safe Keeper at a gun show, and recently picked up a Benchmade 62 locally. The push dagger is still in the safe, and once the novelty of flipping wore off the 62 was traded away for a Scagel knife.
 
I remember my buddy and I wanted switchblades when I was 12. Couldn't find one local(illegal), big taboo.

We rode with my parents into Mexico, split from the group and found a little store selling them. $12 each so I bought half a dozen. It was all the money I had.
Went back across the border with 6 switchblades in my socks:D

Got home and sold the other 5 for $25 each. Thought I was a regular Pablo Escobar:D

I few weeks later my mom found the one I kept for myself and threw it away.
 
When i was a kid i wanted a Buck 307 because my Grandad carried one. It's funny that after all these years I still dont have one in the collection.

Jim
 
I grew up with solid users, the likes of Buck 110, SAK, Schrade 1540T. I always lusted after Gerber Mk1s and Mk2s, Eks, and authentic Fairbairn Sykes. I never picked up any of the Gerber fighters or F/S, but I took an Ek Bowie on my first deployment (Desert Storm).
 
I started thinking about this again today and something I remembered is that the KA-BAR didn't really show up on my radar till I was around 15, but I believe I was around 11 when I was first awed by a Buck 119 at Walmart.

It has experienced a shipping delay which is unpleasant, but i will certainly have it before Christmas.
 
For me, it was the Precise Deerslayer Classic. It was in the "special" case at my local sporting goods shop. Maybe around '79 or '80? After it caught my eye, I would stop in almost every day while on my paper route.....My source for income to save for that expensive (to me), holy grail knife of all knives. I had to own it before going on my first big Boy Scouts trip, THE 50 Miler in the High Uintas.

I hit my goal, and the popknife served me well on that trip, and many other occasions after. I may have lost my mind, but I still have that knife!! It's the lower knife in pic.

2uzxezb.jpg
 
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I've loved knives for basically as long as I can remember. Got bit by the knife bug at like age 5 and have had one of some kind or another since at least age 8. Being a child in the materialistic & decadent 1980s could put an adolescent's brain into dopamine overload. First time I saw 'First Blood' I KNEW I had to have the hollow-handled survival knife. Thru my childhood, my friends & I had several and as I recall, ALL were total junk that basically had no edge nor could it keep one. (not to mention the sheaths were a joke as I'm sure most of you know). I cared not tho, they had a survival kit inside and a FAIL plastic compass on the pommel and they aided in our fantasies when building forts and playing army guys to defend the neighborhood from Communists. That's all that mattered to me. :D

I also recall having quite the love affair w/ Randall (fawned over the magazine adverts and articles for hours) and early Cold Steel advertising. (when CS was still all US made, those were the days)

Always wanted switchblades too but, never could find them anywhere. closest I ever got to one was the cheesy switchblade comb that was sold in drugstores back then. :rolleyes:
 
bflying said:
For me, it was the Precise Deerslayer Classic. It was in the "special" case at my local sporting goods shop. Maybe around '79 or '80? After it caught my eye, I would stop in almost every day while on my paper route.....My source for income to save for that expensive (to me), holy grail knife of all knives. I had to own it before going on my first big Boy Scouts trip, THE 50 Miler in the High Uintas.

I hit my goal, and the popknife served me well on that trip, and many other occasions after. I may have lost my mind, but I still have that knife!! It's the lower knife in pic.

2uzxezb.jpg
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Hmm, that thing reminds me of a Parker Cutlery knife saw at an " antique " store recently.
Not sure if they were actually good knives, but I see lots of pictures on Google of 80's made in Japan Parker knives and a lot of them actually look like a well made knife.
The problem is that I've seen some frost knives of the same era that looks good as well, but I know from experience that they really weren't.
 
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