Show me a knife and tell me it’s story

[CShepherd]

I thought this could be a fun thread. Show me a knife that you own or have owned with a unique story. The closer of a connection to family the better.

I’ll start with this gem that I was given by my grandmother. I can remember it always sitting on a shelf in an old sideboard cabinet in their kitchen. My grandfather would use it when ever he was skinning squirrels because he could easily cut through their leg bones with it. It never had a sheath as long as I can remember and I’m 52 now. A few years after my grandfather had passed I was visiting with my grandmother and saw it sitting on the same shelf in that sideboard and started reminiscing about it. She asked if I would like it and I jumped on it. She told me how they used it when I was very young while processing hogs. They were pour and processed their own. They also didn’t have a bandsaw so they cut their pork chops by beating this knife through the bone with a hammer. This little knife has lived a tough life.

With some research I believe it might be a Camillus but not sure because there are no markings on it. Most certainly the blade shaped has changed considerably through lots and lots of sharpening. My grandfather insisted that every single knife be able to shave and he would spend hours on the front porch with a small carborundum stone getting them that way. My hope is to use this knife to field dress a deer some day. It might not be much, but it is a prize piece in my small collection.

Now, let me see what you’ve got and hear their stories.

 

[shane45-1911]

I previously posted this in another thread (What Was Your First Knife...), but it is applicable here too.

I was always drawn towards knives, even as a young kid.

This is the very first knife I ever owned, given to me by my Dad when I was 7 or 8. That puts it right around 52 years ago.....I still have it (obviously), and I think of Dad every time I see it. My Dad's name was Wayne and I remember him telling me that I will always think of him when I use this knife because his name is right on the blade.

While it was my constant companion as a kid (I remember sleeping with it under my pillow, and those were also the days when no one blinked an eye at a kid with a pocket knife at school), I seldom carry it anymore. Now it is simply a treasured keepsake and provides memories of better, simpler times when I was a boy. This knife was the start of my journey down the rabbit hole.

Miss you, Dad.

 

[jlauffer]

Have 2 that were my FIL's. The first is a WWII German bayonet that he gave me. Said it was his uncle's, who got it at Iwo Jima. Said he had some other things from the uncle, but over time they disappeared, and this was the last of it, and he wanted to give it away before it disappeared.

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This old Western was also his, which the MIL gave me after he passed.

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[CShepherd]

I previously posted this in another thread (What Was Your First Knife...), but it is applicable here too.

I was always drawn towards knives, even as a young kid.

This is the very first knife I ever owned, given to me by my Dad when I was 7 or 8. That puts it right around 52 years ago.....I still have it (obviously), and I think of Dad every time I see it. My Dad's name was Wayne and I remember him telling me that I will always think of him when I use this knife because his name is right on the blade.

While it was my constant companion as a kid (I remember sleeping with it under my pillow, and those were also the days when no one blinked an eye at a kid with a pocket knife at school), I seldom carry it anymore. Now it is simply a treasured keepsake and provides memories of better, simpler times when I was a boy. This knife was the start of my journey down the rabbit hole.

Miss you, Dad.

That is very cool that you still have it. I still have my first pocket knife, a Camillus. My grandfather, same one, gave it to me when I was 5. He had tied a shoe string to the lanyard ring then tied the other end to my belt loop. I carried it like that for years, which is probably why I didn’t loose it. I eventually quit carrying it to make sure I didn’t loose it.

 

[CShepherd]

Have 2 that were my FIL's. The first is a WWII German bayonet that he gave me. Said it was his uncle's, who got it at Iwo Jima. Said he had some other things from the uncle, but over time they disappeared, and this was the last of it, and he wanted to give it away before it disappeared.




This old Western was also his, which the MIL gave me after he passed.

Those are some great knives with a wonderful history. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RLB0414]

I gave this knife to my grandfather as a Christmas gift in 1972. He carried it and used it daily until he pulled it out of his pocket for the last time on July 6, 1993. It cleaned squirrels, rabbits, fish, chicken, harvested veggies from the garden and anything else a pocket knife can be used for.
It is with my now. I carry it every Christmas day and look at it often.
His knife is on the right. Photo shows how much he used it

 

[NapalmCheese]

My dad started his military career in the Air Force during the early days of the Vietnam war. He saw the "Ka-Bar" (really a USN Mk 2) all the cool guys had and wanted one (he was an avionics tech in Japan). He did some horse trading and acquired one. He eventually separated from the Air Force and went into civilian life. Finding that he couldn't pay for college, he looked to the Navy. The Navy agreed to pay his way through college as a pharmacist. In recompense, he had to give a few years of his life to the Navy. He did so, and and some point got tired of just being a pharmacist and decided to join a Marine Corps Reserve unit as a Corpsman. He was allowed to do so, and, during his two weeks, he would carry that same "Ka-Bar" that he horse traded for during the Vietnam war.

Being a reservist he didn't need to have his kit available 24/7 so he often kept that "Ka-Bar" under the driver seat of his preferred vehicle. One night, in the parking lot of a movie theater, someone broke into said vehicle and stole the knife. He limped along with his cub scout knife from when he was a kid (as a Corpsman he didn't have a lot of knife fighting to do).

Noticing that he no longer had his "Ka-Bar", I bought him a new one, in a leather sheath and emblazoned with the EGA. He refused to use it on grounds of "the leather sheath isn't as safe", but I think he really thought it was just too nice to use. Noticing that he didn't use it I found a surplus store in Moss Landing, CA that had many original USN Mk 2 knives. Not knowing anything about them other than they were very similar to the one my dad had, I picked one up and sent it to him. He carried that for his last few "2 weeks a year" with the Marines.

He passed away in 2006 and that "Ka Bar" was among the things I inherited. To this day, it is still the only knife that rests in my safe, all others being something I can bring myself to using.

 

[K.O.D.]

Back in 2016 I was in the hospital, they found I had liver failure and was in the throes of encephalopathy. My mother was there, and looked at my phone. The last thing I had open was BF, a for sale thread in the knife makers subforum. I'd been looking at a Bailey model 2 flipper geek edition when I passed out and dropped the phone. She bought the knife.

When I was finally lucid (lots of medication) she brought it to me in the hospital. I was floored.



She has always been supportive of my knife (and gun) hobbies as she grew up around that stuff in Texas. She has always been there for me, with all my medical stuff, including 9 months in the hospital with the botched liver transplant and it's resulting aftermath. She is the reason I'm alive, advocating for me while I was incapacitated.

She was in Tennessee with my sister recently and they came upon a shop selling custom folders from a local maker. She wanted to buy me one, but wasn't sure what I'd like. So instead she's gonna buy something I pick out. Random acts of kindness, that's her.

In August 2021, I was in the hospital for 11 days, I tripped over a 15lb dumbbell in my office, slammed into the wall, knocked myself unconscious,and landed on a hot oil radiator, and burned the crap out of my leg. I was laying on it for about 5 minutes before my family woke me. (I work for the family business. After getting transferred from the ER to a hospital room, she and my sister visited, brought my laptop and she snuck some knives in the laptop bag.



Back in 2016 I believe I won a Becker BK-5 here in a giveaway, sharpened by Jerry Fisk. I gave it to my father, but he never used it. I lost him 1/1/22 and it's know mine, a long with most of his stuff. I had bought him a Kershaw Launch 8 for his 65 birthday 6/2021 and he lit up like a boy getting his first bb gun. He loved that thing. Since I already have the same knife, I gave it to my brother in law. I don't have a pic of the Kershaw, and I can't find one of the Becker.

 

[vltor17]

Dad’s Ruana. He bought it in 1965, so I believe it was made by Rudy. He used it when he was a hunting guide. I have no idea how many deer/elk I skinned with this knife as a kid, it was always my favorite knife. Dad gave it to me a couple years ago for Christmas. It got a little dusty in there.

 

[Dergyll]

Back in 2016 I was in the hospital, they found I had liver failure and was in the throes of encephalopathy. My mother was there, and looked at my phone. The last thing I had open was BF, a for sale thread in the knife makers subforum. I'd been looking at a Bailey model 2 flipper geek edition when I passed out and dropped the phone. She bought the knife.

When I was finally lucid (lots of medication) she brought it to me in the hospital. I was floored.

View attachment 2088183

She has always been supportive of my knife (and gun) hobbies as she grew up around that stuff in Texas. She has always been there for me, with all my medical stuff, including 9 months in the hospital with the botched liver transplant and it's resulting aftermath. She is the reason I'm alive, advocating for me while I was incapacitated.

She was in Tennessee with my sister recently and they came upon a shop selling custom folders from a local maker. She wanted to buy me one, but wasn't sure what I'd like. So instead she's gonna buy something I pick out. Random acts of kindness, that's her.

In August 2021, I was in the hospital for 11 days, I tripped over a 15lb dumbbell in my office, slammed into the wall, knocked myself unconscious,and landed on a hot oil radiator, and burned the crap out of my leg. I was laying on it for about 5 minutes before my family woke me. (I work for the family business. After getting transferred from the ER to a hospital room, she and my sister visited, brought my laptop and she snuck some knives in the laptop bag.

View attachment 2088189

Back in 2016 I believe I won a Becker BK-5 here in a giveaway, sharpened by Jerry Fisk. I gave it to my father, but he never used it. I lost him 1/1/22 and it's know mine, a long with most of his stuff. I had bought him a Kershaw Launch 8 for his 65 birthday 6/2021 and he lit up like a boy getting his first bb gun. He loved that thing. Since I already have the same knife, I gave it to my brother in law. I don't have a pic of the Kershaw, and I can't find one of the Becker.

Where's the tears emoji??

Great stories, keep em coming.