What Is Your 'Gateway' Custom?

[Jon Brand]

Which handmade knife/knives sparked your interest in customs? Either you bought one or saw a photo, then became hooked. Please share your story and post photos if you have them.

---

I was always into production knives and had never heard of "customs" or "maker's knives". At the age of 14 I saw a picture of a combat tanto by Pat Crawford in an Edge Company catalogue. I brought this to a friend I met at a local shooting range who had a fine display of customs in the store. I got to handle about 5-6 Bill McHenry Autos (high end ones) and that got me hooked. The man at the shop ordered a similar Crawford knife for me to start my collection. Shortly after I purchased this Mel Pardue folder which was a prototype for Benchmade knives. Then came a Butch Valloton Chameleon which I don't have a photo of.

 

[jjtjr]

Jon,

My first custom was from JD Smith MS. He called it Mastadon Madness. It has a 5" multibar damascus blade with mokume, mastadon and filework

I also got hooked on the knives of Vayne Valachovic. He was the 5th ABS Mastersmith. He has been retired for about 12 years but I still love his knives. This one was has a 3 1/2" "high density" 11,000 layer damascus with mammoth ivory and filework.

 

[T.K.C.]

I honestly do not remember.

 

[Jos]

I remember very well! It was an article in a dutch weapons magazine about knifemaker Aad Van Rijswijk.

Not this exact knife but something like this:

Never got around to buying one. But soon I will ...

Kind regards,

Jos

 

[nikoknife48]

Bardsley custom fighter and Paul Long custom leather sheath with buffalo inlay. Photo courteous Paul Long sheathmaker.

 

[Jon Brand]

Wow, you guys all had a better start then I. Keep em coming!

 

[ddd]

My first true custom knife was the folder shown here made specially by
Wolfgang Loerchner for my first book on modern custom
knives,"Custom Folding Knives".
Wolfe gave me "Calla Lily" at the Milan Show in 2002, many months
before the book was published....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Marcel54]

In 2003 my brother in law gave me a book on knives (Hartink's Knife Encyclopedia) for my birthday. At first I thought it was a lame present.
But after a few weeks I started reading it. One of the makers that were presented in that book was Arpad Bojtos and I was immediately captured by his knives.

From there the story is easy. I went online to research "custom" knives, found makers, forums, books and so on and I never looked back.

Oh yes my first custom knife I still own. It's a puukko by Anders Johansson with a scrim by Viveca Sahlin.

The best or prettiest knife in my collection?? No not by a long shot but I will never sell it.:thumbup:

Marcel

 

[USSR]

My friend's Jim Sornberger, plus the one time I handled a Ken Onion folder at the Solvang Knife Show have started tipping the scales.

 

[flava]

When I saw the pic of a Jens Anso sheepsfoot I knew I must get one.
I ordered it from Jens back in 2000. My first custom order and actually my first "serious" knife purchase. I still have it and it's still my favorite.

 

[muddy672]

I started the craze with Laguiole corkscrews, then to their knives, makers like Forge de Laguiole, La Maison de Laguiole and Calmels.

My first hunter style knife was a buckeye handled slim hunter by Russ Easler. The first folder was this Elishewitz below. Miss this knife, still one of the smoothest I've owned.

 

[RogerP]

In the early 80's I was in Dallas with my Dad and came across a custom knife store in a North Dallas shopping mall. I ended up spending much of the day there. I left with a Robert Hajovsky (Bob Sky) dagger with ivory micarta scales. I was truly smitten with that thing. We came back the following year and I got a Warren Osborne fighter - sort of his take on a Randall #1.

Roger

 

[jdm61]

Backin the late 70's I, like many others who were in oand around the military, thought Randalls were the Holy Grail of cutlery. I read about guys like Bill Moran and Bill Bagwell making damscus and saw some custom damascus knives at places like the Acorn in Gtlinburg in the 80's But what really got me going with customs was a visit to one of the huge early 90's Guild shows when it was at the Marriot World Center in Orlando. I saw real Morans, Hendricksons, some early Pendray wootz knives, Hudsons, Valochovic's etc. I bought a slim fighter from Joe Flornoy. I didn't buy another cusom for a goodly number of years and didn't start trying to make knives for 11 or 12 years after that, but that was the start.

 

[Hmathews]

In the late 60's an article in Gun Digest showed knives by Merle Seguine and some others like Moran, Morseth and I believe Loveless. The Seguine knives caught my eye and looked like nothing I had ever seen. I immediately sent for a brochure and got stiffed for the purchase price. I never heard back from the guy. I got a Morseth Ozark hunter in about 1970 or 71 but it was the looks of the Seguines that started the insanity. I started going to the gun/knife shows about then seeing knives by some of the greats and realized I was hopelessly hooked. I finally found a couple of Seguines years later thanks to Mr. A. G. Russell and his quarterly knife catalogue (knife porn in its purest form).

 

[JParanee]

An Elmer Keith skinner started it all 20 some years ago.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

For me, it was back in the 60s when I saw a Bob Loveless hunter. Even though I was only a teenager, I already had an appreciation for quality knives. By that time I owned a Buck 110 and a Puma hunter. I should have bought a Loveless back then, when it was affordable.

 

[Hmathews]

Keith I think back on the article I saw with Loveless, Moran, Morseth, and Seguine and wonder what on earth made me like the Seguine over the Loveless or Moran. Most of the people on this forum probably never heard of Seguine. I can really pick ‘em. As far as buying them while they were affordable, they never were. Always had something more important to do with the money then too.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

If I'm not mistaken, that Loveless knife was something like $125.00. Though that was a lot of money in the late 60s, it was an amount that I could afford. I was a teenager with a job. Merle Sequine made good knives.

 

[Win Heger]

Always fun to see what got people started. In 1988 we were at Wildlife Expo in Charleston and met a knifemker named Sam Cox, I came home with my first custom and it's been a terrific ride since.

Sam Cox never really caught on in America but has been very popular in Europe. I saw that New Graham is handling his knives and he still makes some really nice pieces. My brother has a couple from late /80s and they are sweet!

Joe, that Keith knife has always intrigued me, I'm good friends with Dennis Friedly and I'm going to need to get one of his someday.

Win

 

[MTF3]

In January 1975, I got run over by a 1957 Chevy, heavy car, and I spent six months or so flat of my back. I read the 1975 Gun Digest Book of Knives so many times I knew every word. I read about Bob Loveless and his use of 154CM, I believe it was called "High Speed Stainless" at one time. I had to have some.

In 1977 I bought this knife made by John Slawson of Oklahoma. Is is a simple walnut handle, brass fittings with a 154CM blade.

I had this one "very" sharp. On a frog giggin' trip with three buddies, we walked back to the pond at dark, but we forgot the boat paddles. I took this knife and chopped down two small (1 inch or so) trees and cut all the limbs off for two poles. Then I showed them, I could shave arm hair with any part of the blade afterwards. They couldn't believe it. Back then, you didn't have the quality in production we have now. Plus people thougth $30.00 was a lot to pay for a knife.

Then I read about the fellow from Florida called Bo. I had to have one.

Balance

Now I am hooked.