What knife tunred you into a collector

Like many others, I've always been into knives and the first real purchase on my own was a Buck 112 at a gun show. Through a few slipjoints and lockbacks not worth bragging about, I finally bought some Elishewitz CRKT and then the Kershaw Blur. Somewhere in those purchases, it hooked me and I'm a financially drained yet happier man to this day. Once I decide to collect or amass any particular item, I'll buy the things that I like until I'm content with the "collection" I have. I'm still keen on my collections of vinyl records and antique cameras, but knives have definitely taken the lion's share of funds in the last couple years. Obsessive-compulsive maybe? The hunt for rarities is also fun to me.
 
Oh I was hooked from the first knife I owned - POS made in China Maxam folder
 
Im going to have to say the spyderco tenacious that my brother bought me.

I made fun of him for collecting knives and told him he was "wasting his money". So he bought me a spyderco and I haven't looked back since.

Never will I second guess anyone's collection/hobby and why they spend so much money into it.
 
I've collected without intent since I was about 11, but if I had the pick "the" one that made me begin collecting for the sake of consciously collecting ...

GEC Tidioute Improved Muskrat in antique green bone. I remember opening that first GEC and thinking "this is a whole 'nother thing".

Then the fever spread to all kinds of knives. Just love "functional art".

~ Edge
 
cold steel ak-47 did it for me, after watching the nutnfancy review on it, I fell in love, and bought it the second that review ended.

slowly after, i went nuts researching and reviewing knives, now i have a huge want list that im tackling one at a time :D
 
Growing up as a boy scout, I've used them in some fashion. About September of last year, I purchased a Kershaw Rake with the composite d2 blade. I wouldn't say that this is the knife that started it though. I really don't even know that I like it that much.

However, next came the bm 940. Love this knife, and i go nowhere without it. I think that what got me started was how different two knives can be. This was February 15 of this year. I purchased this knife as a reward for myself because I earned a big promotion and wanted something more gentlemanly to go with it.

I may not buy another 940. I bought my second BM last month, an 810 contego, because I wanted something more heavy use/tactical and really wanted to try out cpm-m4 steal.

Between those two there was a becker bk2, and most recently after the contego I purchased a buck 119. I still don't consider myself a collector, but I only bought that buck because it looked so good and I needed to have it.

My next purchase will probably be a vollotton, but I may go with something more like the para2 since its such a staple. I've been itching to add a spiderco to my collectio-...err...assortment of knives. :)
 
When I got my Izula, it really opened my eyes up to how specialized knives can be. I'd always had a few folders on hand, but the Izzie really impressed me. Then I got a Spyderco, and that really got me hooked. I hated their look at first, but after using one, I realized how ergos and looks aren't always related.
 
Schrade's Uncle Henry Bear Paw back in maybe '81 or '82. Beautiful, solidly built, HEAVY knife.

There was no turning back at that point.
 
I'm not a collector, I'm an accumulator. I can't remember the specific knife, so many have passed through my fingers. I knew I had a problem when I bought a Buck custom shop 110, with stag scales and damascus blade. Wish I still had that one. I think I got started on quality knives when I bought a Benchmade 550 at a flea market with a 42 balisong Benchmade sheath, for maybe around 30 or 40 bucks, maybe a little after I got started on Delicas and Enduras. SOG and Japanese/American Cold Steels were well made, and I think I had all of the Voyagers at one time. The Kershaw flipper assisted openers from Walmart kind of propelled me along on this path.

Why do I get so many? OCD probably...
 
I've been carrying a knife in my pocket since I was 10 years old. Even to school (when you could get away with that kind of thing), teachers would ask to borrow it :) Mostly slip joint cases and buck knives, then about 10 years ago I bought my first liner lock with a clip ( a Buck , don't remember the model), carried it for years, and bought the odd knife here and there, nothing very expensive. Last fall I decided to give the Sypderco Tenacious...that set off the addiction for me.
 
Ive told this story a couple times on the forum but I'll tell it again. I owned a spyderco harpy ss and a ss dragonfly growing up lost em both. one day while searching the interweb I came across the kershaw junkyard dog 2 and ordered it. I edc'ed that thing for 3+ years, still have it still one of my favorites. One day I was like, wow I haven't lost it I'm going to buy something new. Thats when I found blade forums, and thats when the addiction started...
 
For me it was when I purchased a Tested era Case Candy Stripe 2 blade Barlow (Spear & pen)
 
Can't remember which one, but I do know 1 of my first production Benchmades turned me into a collector
 
I got a Cold Steel zytel Ti Lite in 2004, carried it for about 2 years and then got a Cold Steel Triple action and carried that for about 2 years. After that I got an Endura 4 in green and started getting into Spydercos. My accumulating hit critical mass after getting a Spyderco Military soon afterward. That knife took my ideas of fit, finish and ergonomics to an entire different level.
 
Spyderco Paramilitary 2 S90V, and I never even got to touch one :( . I came to this sight right when the pre-orders were going out for them. I only came here to find a decent <$50 folder to keep as a hard user, but found a thread on this knife and was lost in its beauty. I immediately put in pre-orders at a couple different places, but I was too late. They were all spoken for and I was officially hooked.
 
A couple of really cool rainbow knives. Yes they were cheap chinese knives but I loved them. I got hooked on spring assisted knives. I then just kept buying and buying and ended up with tons and tons of knives.
But the one that really got me going on the name brand better knives were my first Kershaw Nerve and when I saw my friends Spyderco Tenacious and Spyderco Persistence.

I now just got rid of nearly all of the cheap knives I had so I can keep it to only better knives and I don't have 40+ knives just sitting in drawers collecting dust. Of course when I first started, all I did was collect. After over a year I've become more of realist.
 
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