The start of my knife addiction...what are your experiences?

I have been around here for a little while, and thought I would share this.

A long time ago, somewhere between 15 and 20 years, I got my first knife. It was a gift from my favorite uncle.

Perhaps someone can tell me more about this knife. Does anyone have one or have seen one, when was it made, does anyone have one to sell?

It was a S&W stainless folding lockback. Very thin, sturdy. The blade was small; about 2.5" or thereabouts, I think. The handle had the S&W crest/shield emblem ingraved into it.

I never knew much about knives, but loved this one, probably because of who gave it to me and what it represented to me. I carried it darn near everyday of my life. It was with me through exams, all the way through college, every college exam I took, every job interview I was on...etc. I think you get the point. It became so that if I did not have it with me for a particular situation, I almost couldn't go through with it. It was almost like a crutch; a security blanket.

I know this sounds silly, but that is how it was. I have never been so sentimentally attached to ANYTHING, object wise, in my life.

Well, and I'm sure you knew this was coming... This past January, it became lost! It was the first week of this new year. I was panicked! The thought of starting the year 2K without this item that I have carried seemingly forever was incomprehensible to me. I realized I didn't have it when I was at work. I had to leave work. I traced every place I had been in the office. I went to the shuttle bus transportation company that I ride and had them search ALL of their busses, as I couldn't say which one I was on. I posted flyers at the office. I tore my house apart, my car apart, etc. It was, and is, gone forever.

Since then, I have gotten into and have been obsessed with knives. I stumbled upon you guys, and have been reading here feverishly, although I have not posted much. I read here and knifeforums.com, and microholics.com also. Are there any other knife forums I should, but don't know about?

Well, I just wanted to let all of you know what got me started on this hobby (mental illness?)!

If anyone has ever seen the particular knife I was refering to, please let me know. And, if anyone has one perchance, and is willing to part with it, well, you know...

I know I could never *replace* what has been lost, due to the sentimentality and all, but it is always nice to think you can. Just like when you lose a pet, they say that you should get another right away. Well, since I have lost this piece, I have gotten MANY other *pets*, and though many are bigger, better, higer quality, etc...the origional will never be able to be replaced.

I'm curious if others here have similar stories. I know I am not the only one who has lost something so important to them, and not just knives, but whatever.

In case you are wondering, I am 34 now, so you can see that the knife I lost had been with me through a LOT. It was even in my pocket when I got married, and in the delivery room when my children were born.

Thanks.


------------------

---------------
Lundo
 
2

2Sharp

Joined
Oct 6, 1998
Messages
1,848
Hello!

My addiction stared pretty easy 28 years ago when i was born, been going downhill ever since...or is it uphill??
smile.gif


It'll never stop and always get worse, knives are just too fun!

------------------
Be well!/Jonas aka 2Sharp

"May all your detonations be expected"

The coolest bar in the world: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/8373/index.html
My knives!
 
I had a Buck 501 that my wife bought for me after we first got married. I was noseing around this gunshop when she bought it and gave it to me. I made a small leather case for it and carried it in my back pocket for years. Tossed it in the little basket going into the airport and the security lady took a look at it and said "looks like you have been carrying this for a long time" I got the knife back and went to the plane.
We have been married for 33yrs. now and I still have the knife along with something over 100 other knives now.
Any thing with a blade on it catches my eye now and I want to have it.
I am NOT spoiled! I want it, I want it and NOW!
Enjoy your addiction....ITS FUN FUN FUN!

FREEDOM IS NOT A SPECTATORS SPORT.

------------------
Ron
 
Lundo- I have the same S&W knife that you had. It is a good one. Welcome aboard

------------------
The thorn stands to defend the Rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict
 
Hey, what's up everyone
smile.gif
.

I'm only 18, and only start my knife addiction about a year. I used to hate knives(god forbid), untill i got a job at a knife store
biggrin.gif
biggrin.gif
. And then... phew boy, got my first 2 knives in a month. An Endura and a BM Stryker, yup, there goes my first paycheck
smile.gif
. Since then, ive been buying at least 1 knife in 2 month, it just grows on you. I went to HS everyday w/ at least one knife on me, even on graduation ceremony
biggrin.gif
. I just feel naked w/o a knife, im pretty sure many others feel the same way.

Knives 4 life
 
A little piece of crap that costed 2 bucks is what started me. I think I lost it. My dad bought it for me because I told him I needed a pocket knife and he didn't feel like buying the Schrade Cliphanger (25 dollars!!! too expensive!). He probably should have bought the cliphanger, because the only reason I'm so addicted now is because i felt that 2 dollar piece of crap was insufficient. If I had gotten the cliphanger, I wouldn't be so obsessed!

------------------
Chang and the Rebels of the East!
Southern Taiwan Will Rise Again!
cst.jpg
 
Conrad Chang,

It looks like I started for very much the same reason.

About 25 years ago (has it been that long already?) my friends and I went on a nice summer backpacking trip. I had selected a hill I was familiar with in upstate New York. This hill crested about 1400 feet above its base and there were several old lumber trails that snaked up from its base.

I had been on the hill several times before and had been very impressed by the views it offered on top. But, on those prior occassions I had gone up during the winter. I knew the trails would be overgrown with brush this time of year.

We were 17 and 18, and we didn't have alot of money, but none-the-less we added a couple of American Camper machetes to the rest of our camp gear.

Up the trail we went, and sure enough the brush was very heavy. We pulled out the machetes and started hacking. Within thirty yards both machetes had been totally disformed, the edges had folded over, the blades were 30-40 degrees from true, and the handles had grown loose.

We never did make it to the top. And, I came home determined to find a good field machete. Quite a few knives later I'm still looking.

 
It was Daniel Winkler's fault. I saw a copy of blademagazine many years ago that had a couple of his knives on the cover. I opened it up and discovered the world of custom knifemaking. I did not previously realize that such wonderful things were being made today.

I love handcrafted Art. I have a knife knut brother who had sent me a few production pieces over the years, but the Art being created by masters of the forge like Winkler, Fogg, Crowell, Fisk, and Fowler really blew me away. I read the magazines for several years. I finally bought my first 'custom' piece after several years of looking and reading. I guess I just skipped right over the usual production knife phase of cutlery addiction and dropped into the blissful abyss of the custom knife knut.

I knew I was Really hooked and hopelessly addicted when I went to my first custom show back in '96. That was it for me. To find out that amazing pieces of hand-crafted functional art were being created by so many talented and interesting makers just captured my soul. And I am very happy about it.

I love my knives. And I love using them, admiring them, sharpening them, and talking about them. I don't want a cure for my addiction. Don't know anyone who does. Searching for the perfect knife seems to be a never ending journey. I plan on enjoying the ride, but realize that my quest is hopeless. It's the journey that matters, not the destination.

Paracelsus

My Custom Knives

[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 08-12-2000).]
 
My first knife was a Cub Scout knife. I misplaced it when I was about 8, in 1959. My father was an Army Officer and we moved a lot. When we were unpacking from a move in 1968, there it was, in the bottom of a box. I still have it.
I always loved knives, but wandered into my first custom knife shop in 1982. Paid what I thought was an outrageous price for a beautiful boot knife, $150.00!! My wife rasied hell! I sold it a few years later for
$500.00! My wife shut up!
Now I buy one or two custom and four or five factory knives a year. Most of them only get looked at and handled.
I love it.
 
I'd have to say that the 1989 Combat Knives magazine started it all for me.



------------------
K. Williams
Modern Arnis Student
AKTI Member #A000978
 
Passion for knives does not run in my family, at all. Parents, grandparents, siblings--couldn't care less about knives. One day it just hit me--"I want a knife, a good one." Then when I found Bladeforums, my obsession (which had previously been a hobby, or "phase")evolved into what it is now--the most enjoyable sickness I've ever encountered. People I know still cling on to the hope that maybe it's just a phase, a very long phase...

------------------
"I'm out there Jerry, and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"--Kramer
 
For me it started one evening 20 years ago when I shot my first buck with my bow. Neither my friend nor I really knew much about field dressing a deer so I started in using my father's old stockman in which all three blades were extremely dull and rusted. It wouldn't cut through the hide but it really did almost remove my finger. At that moment I realized what a difference a nice knife(tool) will make in a situation and from that point I set out to find the perfect field knife. The search still continues.
 
It's genetic... I have this little wooden knife my mother made as a little girl, dated 1913. Began forging miniatures from nails before I was 10. Downhill from there.
 
When I was a kid I used to spend ALL the money I made at the local livestock Auction, on knives... I used to spend EVERY penny on CRAPPY knives from the "knife guy" at the swap meet. I would stand there for hours FEELING the knives and plotting my purchases..
Fast Forward to my "Adult" life- I met a man named Norm Levine at the BIG Great Western Gun/Knife Show... He made AWESOME ART knives and got me hooked on the KNIFEMAKING thing... I now make knives for a living and I would not trade this TRADE for ANYTHING!!!
Lots of Blood, Sweat, and tears but I wouldnt trade it for anything..:-) I love knives and love making them too... Knives have been a big part of my life as long as I can remember...

Take Care
Trace Rinaldi http://www.pe.net/~thrblade/
 
Bank account balance------------$0.00
Credit cards maxed out.
LOVE IT
smile.gif


------------------

have a"knife"day
 
First step is to remove ALL the seat cushions on ALL your chairs, couches and things at home, THEN start tipping them over listening for that fateful rattle, man it just HAS to be there somewhere! Do that poste haste and I sincerely hope you find that knife. A friend of mine has one that sound exactly like the one you have, he loves it for it's simplistic design and the low profile, has held up very well, he also has carried this knife a long long time.

Good luck in your search.

`Never Give UP, Never Surrender'
smile.gif

G2

------------------
"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...

G2 LeatherWorks
 
My Dad was a printer, and always had a pocket knife on him for his work. When I was old enough, 6 or 7 I guess, he would give me small, dull, and cheap pocket knives. The first sharp knife I received was when I joined the Cub Scouts, I sure gave that knife a workout. I have carried a knife ever since.
As a teenager in Brooklyn in the 60's, I'll admit I carried a knife as a weapon, and I have the scars to prove it.
The Navy, changed me a lot, and my carry knife became a tool. I haven't used or thought of using my knife as a weapon since then.
About 2 years ago I saw my first knife magazine, and I realized I wasn't alone in my fascination with knives. Next I started going to the NYC knife shows. The makers and the folks that attended were the nicest people I had ever met in my life.
Finally last Oct. I stumbled onto BladeForums.Com, where I could get a daily fix of knives. I have been hooked ever since. I check the Forums daily, and I'm on Chat just about every night. I'm on a first name basis with several top makers, some serious collectors, as well as manufacturers, it's been great.
I can't afford to buy all the knives I want, but that's okay, I take pleasure in my friends purchases. I look at building my collection on a long term basis, not as a competition. It's been a joy for me.

------------------
"Will work 4 Knives!"
My PhotoPoint Site
 
My father gave me my first knife when i was 14, and i still have it. I do not know who made it as it has no name on it. The handle is stainless steel along with a large lanyard hoop. It has a single blade and a large awl on it. I do not know what type of steel this is. since then my collection has grown to about 15.
 
I carried A SAK Climber Deluxe for years. One day I spotted a Benchmade AFCK in a store, myself and 2 co-workers bargained a deal for three AFCK's. I've carried Benchmades ever since. I have since traded that AFCK, and like I've read in these forums before,
"Damn I miss that knife...."
frown.gif


John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top