What Got You Into Knives?

I always had a pocket knife laying around, but did not always carry and really had no interest. That is, until my son got into scouting ~15 yrs ago. I started researching knives for both of us when it came time for him to earn his knife carry badge, and....woops...O sh$t...I got the bug.
 
I was about 5 years old with my father up in the high mountains in the dead of winter.I ran out in front of him as he was yelling stay away from the river. A moment later was the sound of breaking glass beneath my feet and down I went into the raging river barely grasping some ice around me as my feet starting going horizontal. My father extended a long pine bough he cut across the ice and pulled me out. The ass whipping I got will never be forgotten, nor was the knife. He died in 2010 and I've missed him every day of my life since.
 
Coyja said:
I ditched my car for a 6 yr period for my motorcycle and it was a glorious time. All 4 seasons in Columbus, Ohio, I made it work.
Now I have a kid though... priorities.
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I've tried riding hardcore like that but it didn't last long. I have a cafe bike and I just like riding around town, exploring backroads, and getting something to eat.
 
Duper said:
....PS: I wonder what sort of collectors we would all be without the Internet?
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The internet certainly makes many knives available that you wouldn't either know about the knife or the dealer. In the old days, you had catalogs. If you didn't have the catalog, you didn't buy unless you ran into something at the local sporting goods or hardware store that caught your eye. Think of all the paper that has been saved because catalogs don't have to be printed. That said, if you like hard copies of stuff to read, you print a lot and prior to the internet and affordable computers, that wouldn't have happened conveniently.
 
skyhorse said:
I was about 5 years old with my father up in the high mountains in the dead of winter.I ran out in front of him as he was yelling stay away from the river. A moment later was the sound of breaking glass beneath my feet and down I went into the raging river barely grasping some ice around me as my feet starting going horizontal. My father extended a long pine bough he cut across the ice and pulled me out. The ass whipping I got will never be forgotten, nor was the knife. He died in 2010 and I've missed him every day of my life since.
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You deserved that ass whipping and you were a lucky boy. Think how you would feel if your son disobeyed your advice/orders and died as a result. Life would never be quite the same again.
 
colin.p said:
Yes indeed. I wonder if it was for the better sometimes.
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I enjoyed chasing my Colt collection before the internet much more. The internet took some of the thrill away in the sense that you found something that maybe a lot of people have overlooked. Since I don't collect knives, it is not an issue other than it sure makes spending a lot more money easier with this hobby. I doubt that I would have purchased many knives "just to try out" prior to Blade Forums and the internet.
 
Edm1 said:
I seriously asked if I could cut my sons cord with my AFCK. I was told in no uncertain terms "NO"
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I asked to use my freshly cleaned and newly sharpened EDC with all my kids. The doctor said no in every case. One was kind enough to explain that a field delivery is one thing but in the actual hospital, they have to use the approved sterile scissors for insurance reasons.
 
Edm1 said:
I've always carried a knife...be it a Boy Scout knife in grade school..I remember being 12 YO at church when someone asked to borrow a knife thinking" I don't remember a day I didn't have a knife on me"...in college I bought a spyderco...in the military I carried benchmades...I remember once in OBC when I counted I was carrying 5 which I had included a multi tool...then got back into slipjoints...i just always appreciated a fine knife.
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If anyone ever asks if someone has a knife, most people who know me will automatically point to me and say my name. I ask "why do you assume I have a knife?" "Because you always do" Yep.
 
My grandpa got me into knives, or at least their utility in carry. He always had a stockman slipjoint on him, and taught me how to do nearly everything from cleaning catfish to working in the wood shop with that little knife. I think he or my dad together got me my first knife, and Old Timer single blade "pal" when we were at the Walmart in northeast Missouri for something or another. I was pretty young. Just a few months back I came across that same knife back home, found in an old cigar box as we were cleaning the basement.
In college I sprang for my first benchmade, used it camping, hiking, working, etc. It's kinda been downhill since then.
 
NomenclaturalMan said:
how . . . you got into knives.
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It allows me to carry something with me into my day, into the modern world, that makes some kind of basic sense and that I can depend on.
A simple tool that cuts through the crap . . . as it were.

A quote from one of my favorite stories that might shed some light :

This computer was so large that it was frequently mistaken for a planet - especially by the strange ape-like beings who roamed its surface, totally unaware that they were simply part of a gigantic computer program. And this is very odd, because without that fairly simple and obvious piece of knowledge, nothing that ever happened on the Earth could possibly make the slightest bit of sense.
 
^^^ Like in the old days... Buying... Knife Magazine, Blade Magazine, Knife Illustrated, Knife news, Backpacker, Tactical knives, Field & Stream, Outdoor Canada, Outdoor life. etc... etc.... ^^^

The internet is much less expensive and much more loaded with information... And you know you're not alone, this kinda helps a bit. Just have to decide if it is positively or not....

But I was initially contaminated by my Father and Grand Father who where Avid Collectors, My gran-pa had over a thousand folders in his collection not counting hundreds of Fixed blades and countless novelties and atrocities.

I resisted the best that I could all my life the crave for knives every single instant. And still manage never to get with ridiculous amounts of unused knives. I try to buy only thing that get used and this helped a lot keeping the impulsive buy reflexes at bay....

But still I come over here everyday to look at all the new things that come along and just cant resist a good picture thread.
 
When I was a kid I went to gun shows with my dad and he would have a table there. Because I couldn’t own a gun , I got into collecting knives.
 
It was a natural attraction, to the most basic tool everyone should have. Gibbs rule #9. Always have a knife.
 
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