Story time! Ontario caused my knife addiction!

S

Squashfan

Joined
Jun 6, 2012
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It is true!!! The first piece of quality steel I bought for myself was the stock 18" machete. My brother and I had a day off together and we were taking a day trip. I wasn't planning to by a machete when I got up that morning but it is funny how life works out. We were driving up the road and I remembered that we were near Smoky Mountain Knife Works. A few day before this I had been thinking about my Grandfather and how he had always kept a machete around his barn. I don't know what kind it was or anything about it, except that my brother almost cut his finger off with it when he was very little. He was using it to try to cut a concrete block in two. But I thought how cool it would be to have a machete like my Grandfather. I asked my brother to stop at the Knife Works on a whim. It was the first time either of us had been to it in our adult lives. As I was walking in the store, I remembered hearing someone say that Ontario was a good brand. I had heard this literally just a couple of days before and thought no more about. But this thought did return. I asked for directions to the machetes and started looking them over. I didn't know the first thing about patterns or which blade length to pick. But I asked the salesman to show me where the Ontarios were. He obliged and I tried all three lengths. I settled on the 18" version of the GI machete. But I had no idea how to sharpen it or even what to use. So I asked a friend of mine who was much more knowledgeable than I was. He directed me to the tried and true bastard file. I got the gist of file use but was far from proficient with it. But for the first time I had a sharp(not so sharp, in hind sight. But sharper than anything I had had before) piece of steel. Then I wanted a sharp pocket knife and it has been all down hill from there! But I still have the Ontario and it has been joined by a little brother.
 
A lot of us around the office and factory can identify with you. There are people here who have loved knives since they were allowed to hold one. In fact, some of the people on the production side are still at the first job they've ever held - and they'll retire soon. Some of them come from families that have worked at OKC for generations. But there are also some people who just had an office skill that was needed and came to work here. Everyone ends up carrying at least a RAT1, and most of us own multiple entire lines of knives. So there are people here that can say their knife addictions caused some of the Ontario Knives to exist, but there are others who can honestly say that Ontario caused their knife addiction. One thing we all have in common - we love knives now.
 
My story is quite similar, my Local Army/Navy store was within walking distance, just a couple of blocks, they always had bins of Machetes (Ontario) all the different lengths, and Ontario Knives in the glass cases, saved my pennies for an "Air Force Survival", have lost it since, just bought a new one earlier this year. Have had many knives since but the Ontario will always have a warm place in my truck, or on my side whenever practical.
 
SP2-94 was one of my first decent knife purchases back in the early-mid 90's. It's been a workhorse! Probably the biggest job was as a sod cutter when moving into a new house in 2001 (had to lay sod in the yard). Was hard on it, but it's still in great shape, albeit a bit used looking. :)
SP2-94.jpg
 
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When I was in my late teens and into my 20's I was a collector of Case knives. I always carried a slipjoint. After loosing two the second of which I'd had for over 15 yearsyears I decided it was time for a more modern folder with a pocket clip. Until then I'd shied away from them. After much time researching on you tube I discovered the Rat 1. I've had it for over 2 years now and its still one of my favorites. Since its purchase I've bought numerous other brand of knives. Currently I'm back on the market for a couple OKC's, the Tak1 and SP8. To be honest if the Rat1 was USA made it would be my favorite ( Yeah I'm one of those guys... Can't help it )
 
My "man gadget collection" has taken all sorts of twists and turns. I purposely deviate from time to time to keep my interest alive and diverse. Most of my collection of do-dads consists of traditional pocket knives, tradititional fixed blade knives, some guns, some tomahawks, and other gadgets... Some stuff is on the larger size, others are miniature. Heck, I just purchased a couple tactical pens to keep things interesting, lol! ;) Of the fixed blade knives that I own, Ontario represents the most I have of any one brand. I do think highly of the Ontario Knife Company :)
For me, all these gadgets are things I use to decorate my home with, and is a collecting hobby. Even though my intention is not to use these gadgets as the tools they were designed to be, they are all functional pieces that still serve a purpose of bringing me pleasure :)
 
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