Thanks for the opportunity--this is great.
If I remember correctly, my first knife was a slip joint. I think it was a small Schrade lockback with scrimshaw. I might have been 8 years old. Man I loved that knife and carried it with me everywhere, which was, of course, absolutely fine at that time, especially growing up in Montana. I spent all day everyday tromping around the mountains, and a boy always needs a pocket knife when tromping.
I don't know when I lost it, but I remember being upset. There was a steady stream of knives that followed, but I don't remember any of them as well as that little Schrade.
Cheers,
Daniel