So what started all this

My knife obsession was fueled by my father in the late 80's and 90's and he was a collector of automatic knives at the time. Every Birthday or Christmas for a number of years I would receive one, usually a Benchmade but also Microtechs, Daltons, and a few Paragons. Being relatively young, I had little notion of their value and was not kind to them in usage. They were my first "EDC" blades and all are still carried today. The "game changing" moment for me was going out on my own and buying a Spyderco Endura Clipit model and realizing the utility in a well-designed, affordable folding (non-auto!) knife.
 
I recall seeing Spyderco knives in the '70's, when they first started, mainly at fairs and other public shows. Not sure if they had clips at that time but I do remember the holes.

The first time a modern caught my attention was probably in the early '90's when I purchased two Benchmades--a Panther and a 975. Seems things went from there....
 
Some of the things that I third helped change things are the liner locks and frame locks. From what I understand, they are easier to make/manufacture than the lock backs. Another thing that seemed to change things was the use of high strength synthetic materials (Micarta, G10, FRN, CF), including the use of these without liners.

We must not forget the makers who came up with these new mechanisms and uses of the synthetic materials.

Ric
 
Mine was the spyderco delica. A radical departure from the swiss army knife that I carried.
 
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