The cutlery that first pulled me in wasn't a knife, but a hatchet - Estwing, 14" with a stacked leather handle. It was my dad's and one of my younger brothers now has it. Whenever we'd go on family camping trips, that Estwing would ride along. I'd use it for whatever I possibly could. When I was old enough to go out camping with friends, that hatchet rode on my belt dawn to dark.
The first knife that got me started specifically in knifedom was an issued knife. I'd spent years deliberating over different survival knives but could never find something which suited me. My indecision was partially due to ignorance. Well, during my first go at college, I took a wilderness survival course taught at the university by retired Air Force pararescuemen. They issued a Cold Steel Bushman to each student, each semester. Those Bushmen, along with a Cold Steel shovel, were our primary wilderness tools. I cut my knife teeth (yeah, that was a cumbersome analogy
) on a Bushman.
After the class ended, I bought a CS SRK, my first wilderness knife. I still have it and occasionally carry it, although I prefer larger knives nowadays.
Concurrently, I had a first folding knife that sucked me in.
As a teenager, my dad gave me a Schrade 1080T. I carried and used it on occasion, but was too young to appreciate slipjoints
My own preference was for locking folders.
Well, as I've posted elsewhere, my leg and foot were crushed by a boulder while taking a land navigation course as a follow-up to the wilderness survival course. In 16 years, I was the only injury in that class.
For months after the injury, one of the survival instructors stayed in contact with me. He would visit me regularly to buoy my spirits and watch my progress. We'd talk for hours about all sorts of things, including knives. One day, he essentially commanded me to start carrying a folding knife with me wherever I go. He enabled me to comply by giving me a used, medium Cold Steel tanto Voyager. I carried that knife for more than a year and will never purposefully relinquish it.
The instructor who gave it to me was with me when my leg was crushed, assisted the head instructor in the rescue, and befriended me for months after the crushing. He helped save my leg from amputation. Needless to say, that knife is dear to me.
So, an Estwing hatchet, a returned-issue Bushman, and a gift-Voyager are the three pieces of cutlery that pulled me in.
The first blade was a Christmas gift from my Grandpa back when I was a little squirt, It was so long ago that I can't remember him giving it to me 
My dad told me about it. It's made by Western Cutlery & is just a little smaller than the old Ka-Bars & is full tang :thumbup: The sheat is handmade ,this was his personal knife.
