What Made You Decide Knives Are Great?

R

RedLynx

Joined
Aug 5, 2011
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11,445
Hi guys,

I know there are similar threads about which knife brought you here, your first knife, etc. But was there a turning point that made you decide "whoa, knives sure are useful/interesting!"

My first knife was tiny folder, when I was about 6. My dad gave it to me as a bribe if I'd wear my crutches at church that day. ;)

But to be honest, I starting thinking they were interesting tools because my dad and granddaddy carried them every day and I wanted to be more like them. If these tools were so useful for my dad and granddaddy, I knew they'd be good enough for me too. What really started me was wanting to be like dad. ;)
 
The practical carrying and usage of edged tools has probably been in most men's genes from the earliest human history.

Knives are just one of the most useful tools known to mankind. And with all the variations of modern and traditional knives they're just plain awesome to both use and collect.
 
Got a knife for my 8th birthday, and realized I enjoyed stabbing and cutting things.
 
Cut through my share of cardboard box lids with that little first knife of mine.
 
Found one at my grandmother's house when she used to watch over me. She didn't mind me keeping it. If I remember correctly, it was a Buck 110 one of my uncles left behind. Of course, it could have been a $5 clone. I didn't check the markings :D

I just remember feeling like a little badass with it. I must have been 6 or 7. Never cut myself with it, either.
 
I remember walking around my Papaw's farm in KY when I was a kid. He kept tobacco plugs out on the dirt road (wrapped of course) so Mamaw wouldn't see him chew. We'd be walking, and he'd stop, bend over, pick up a plug, get his pocket knife out, cut a piece off, then we'd keep walking while he shoved it in his mouth. That's when I knew that knives were handy things to have.
 
Pirate63 said:
Any man who does not always carry a cutting tool is not a real man....period.
Click to expand...


False.

I've known plenty of guys who don't carry a knife who would laugh in your face at such an assertion. Right before they wrestled a bear barehanded, then ate it raw and told you it was your turn, cupcake.


To keep this on track: I grew up with a father who was a huge knife guy. So, naturally I am too.
 
Quiet said:
False.

I've known plenty of guys who don't carry a knife who would laugh in your face at such an assertion. Right before they wrestled a bear barehanded, then ate it raw and told you it was your turn, cupcake.


To keep this on track: I grew up with a father who was a huge knife guy. So, naturally I am too.
Click to expand...

Bear wrasslin--a real man's sport.
 
Same here Quiet, it was thanks to my dad.

I like to think Pirate was joking around but I'll echo your sentiment, plenty of non-knife guys in my life that are the very definition of "real men" no matter how one chooses to define it. They'll fit.

Quiet said:
False.

I've known plenty of guys who don't carry a knife who would laugh in your face at such an assertion. Right before they wrestled a bear barehanded, then ate it raw and told you it was your turn, cupcake.


To keep this on track: I grew up with a father who was a huge knife guy. So, naturally I am too.
Click to expand...
 
My friends mom used to buy us knives in middle school.
So I always liked them.
My first decent knife was bought recently (about a year ago), sort of a gift for myself for quitting cigarettes.
Been hooked on knives since.
And I use a knives at work almost daily.
 
HwangJino said:
My friends mom used to buy us knives in middle school.
So I always liked them.
My first decent knife was bought recently (about a year ago), sort of a gift for myself for quitting cigarettes.
Been hooked on knives since.
And I use a knives at work almost daily.
Click to expand...

Cool! Congrats on quitting smoking by the way. What knife did you choose to gift to yourself?
 
Well ; my mother ; father ; grand parents ; cousins and Aunts and uncles like knives for years. As a little boy of 8 years of age l often used to make wooden handicrafts for fun. I used to borrow an old carbon steel kitchen knife for the job. One day l was going to get my Father his Buck 112 Ranger knife from the desk of his study in our farm house. He asked me to get it for him. I was in the garden with him. I went to get it. As l was coming back with it a bush pig rushed out of the bushes and hit me hard. It kept coming after me. As a little boy of 11 years l was naturally terrified. I.took to.my heels and run. But it kept coming at.me. Finally.l stood my ground and got the knife open. It.lunged. I drove the knife through it's neck killing it. I am not sure if you guys will praise or condemn my actions but remember : l was a 10 year old little boy who feared death alot. Since that day l recognized the use fulness of carrying a knife : cutting food; cutting rope ; whittling ; wood carving ; conducting small repairs; opening packages ; cleaning fish after fishing ; gutting and dressing game using as a makeshift screw driver and the potential to be used in self defense if God forbid l am ever.mugged.
Maybe you might not need to do these things every day ; but what if some day you do ? No one knows what the future has in store for us. So l am a big believer in being prepared. Always. I got a small damascus slip joint from my Grand mother at the age of 11. I used it until the age of 14. Then.l got a cheap chinese Switchblade with a 2 inch blade from.my father. I got my first " Good" knife 3 years ago: Grandpa's Imperial Ireland Camper 1095 carbon steel slip joint. But some changed. Not only was l interested in the uses of the knife but in the knives themselves. Then l began my collection and now own 16 knives and will hopefully own more.
 
Grew up with knives, family members always had them. It's part of who I am, I can't imagine not having a knife on me. I make sure my knife is on me as well as my watch and glasses. Gaining knowledge of well made knives has led to my obsession of quality made knives
 
I don't think there was a single point in my life where I decided "I like knives". My mothers side of the family had a butchery, so large, very sharp knives were always a normal thing to me. That wasn't the case for most of my friends, as I found out when letting them use my knives. :D

For me it was more of an evolution, got my first SAK as a boy of 7 or 8 and was taught by my dad how to use it properly. Later I bought a Glock field knife, for playing "Rambo" in the woods :D. Thats when I taught myself basic sharpening, too. The Glock knife was good for that and it took a lot of punishment before it broke. But until then, knives were just tools you would cut things with. They had to be sharp, but they weren't something I was spending to much time thinking about.

I think the real knife-nuttiness started when I bought my first quality multitool in 2004, Leatherman Surge (which I still have and carry almost daily)
I began looking up knives on the internet, discovered knife related forums, different steels and their properties.
Since then its become much more expensive :grumpy: I bought knives simply because I liked them, not because I had a use for them. Or because I wanted to try out a different steel or grind. I'm always trying to slow down and rethink purchases, because I really don't need any more knives but some I just have to have. Or at least try to buy knives that serve a different purpose than the ones I already have. Don't know where it will lead me, but I will always be interested in knives, and I'll always have a few good ones around :thumbup:

And if I live to be a hunderd years, I'll still be wondering how some people can even cut with the knives they consider "sharp" ;)
 
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