What was your first “expensive” knife?

dialton said:
Bought this Benchmade somewhere in the 90’s I think at the House of Blades in Cowtown. It cost $100 which at the time seemed really high for a knife. It has been carried and used more than any locking blade I own. I certainly have got my money’s worth out of it! Though I had carried a knife since I was a kid, this kick started things into a level change. Many have come and gone but I kept this one around. What about you? View attachment 1926501
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Bought a very early Bali song in San Francisco when I was a young Marine sometime in 1985 (or 86?). This was before Benchmade was even Benchmade. I paid the ridiculous price of nearly 400 dollars and ended up selling it later on. Could not get it sharp no matter what I did.
 
This one. Seems like I paid ninety-nine bucks for it way back when. I believe I bought it from Cheaper Than Dirt back when they used to send me their catalogue through the mail. I was headed toward salt water and the black coating was said to help prevent rust on the ATS-34 steel. I don't know how well it works, really, except to say that I haven't seen any rust on it.

 
I remember three times I was like, "Wow, an $X knife!"

An Ontario SP-1 for $60
The black G10 PM2 for 150~ (and then put some very expensive Ti and Maple scales, the Ti cost way more weirdly)
Espada XL for $300, but having furthur mods done and it also came with a GRIK and tanto Voyager XL for $15 each.

The PM2 or Espada will probably be the most after mods..
 
I bought a Cold Steel Tanto in the early 1990's. It was the most I had ever paid for a knife, but it was a very high quality item for sure.
 
I bought my first expensive knife in 1984. A Wusthof 10-inch Chef’s Knife. Others followed but all fixed blades for work.

I bought my first expensive folder five years ago or so. A Shirogorov F3. Before then I only but always carried a SAK. Since then I’ve acquired more. Laconico, Anso, Burger, Chris Reeves, North Arms, and others. A couple of commissioned customs from knife makers here. A couple of high end Japanese kitchen blades. I received a Winkler Operator today. And I ordered a new Masahiro Makiri knife this week.
 
My first expensive knife was an Emerson cqc 7 I bought when I was probably 22. I went into a large gun and knife store in San Antonio and told the guy working the knife counter what I was looking for. He told me that they did indeed have that knife, but if I really wanted a “good” knife I should consider one of these, and pulled out a small titanium framed folder that had scratches all over it and didn’t look like anything special to a 22 year old. The blade wasn’t black and stealthy, it wasn’t a tanto or a chisel grind that I’d never be able to sharpen, it didn’t have a wave opener, it hadn’t even been in a David Morrell book. The old guy working there was kinda of an arrogant dismissive prick who didn’t bother to explain anything, just looked annoyed that I would be considering anything besides the knife he was suggesting. Needless to say I left with cqc 7. I only learned years later what he was trying to sell me was a small sebenza. Well 19 years later with probably a dozen or more sebenzas over the years and never another Emerson I realized two things from that encounter. One the old guy was right, and two acting like a snobby prick, especially to someone just getting into knives doesn’t help anyone.
 
Bought and carried this Puma in Germany for a few years. I didn't think it was that expensive then. A fairly uncommon pattern.

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Bought this on order with Chris when he was still in South Africa. It's one of 25 for that run and has my name on it. My first Custom.

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Weiss said:
This one. Seems like I paid ninety-nine bucks for it way back when. I believe I bought it from Cheaper Than Dirt back when they used to send me their catalogue through the mail. I was headed toward salt water and the black coating was said to help prevent rust on the ATS-34 steel. I don't know how well it works, really, except to say that I haven't seen any rust on it.

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This was mine as well. I’m sure I paid 99 bucks because I lost it like 3 weeks later and went back and bought another!
 
Benchmade balisong for something over a hundred bucks at Stoddard’s on Temple Place in Boston. At the time I made about six dollars an hour working at Staples and was commuting to UMass Boston. I still have it, and a few more. I like the round holed handles. Can’t bring myself to carry or use it these days. I used to carry and use one of the smaller models (3” blade maybe) when I was in school in Florida. IIRC it was a flat ground drop point model that I promptly snapped the tip off of and had to regrind. I wish Benchmade still made them and I wish they weren’t so expensive. They were my “vice” knife and while I mostly only get knives I will carry and use and don’t care if they get beat up (think Buck 110 or a SAK), if I found one of those old ones for a decent price used, maybe I’d get one to carry now and again for old time’s sake. I was pretty good at flipping back in the day.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
*My first knife I bought was a beautiful little Gerber, made in Japan. Mother pearl one side, abolone on the other.... Cost about $37. It was Alot, and I was like 8-10 years old.
I later gave it to my 7th or 8th grade girlfriend, i don't remember?
I want it back.
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I feel your pain. The only knife that I regret giving away is a Buck 107 that I gave to a girlfriend who promptly lost it. That knife and I had been some places. It brings back more good memories than she does.
 
Bastler said:
I feel your pain. The only knife that I regret giving away is a Buck 107 that I gave to a girlfriend who promptly lost it. That knife and I had been some places. It brings back more good memories than she does.
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I'm Sure my knife.......after all these years,
Still looks Good.
 
vjb.knife said:
In 1984 I bought one of these Lile Sly II knives for about $685 new from Lile, and that was a lot of money at the time.
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A lot of money indeed! Adjusted for inflation that’s equivalent to $1972.

Have you put a lot of use into that knife over the last 40 years? How has it performed for you?
 
This was my first expensive knife:

www.arizonacustomknives.com

BMF

www.arizonacustomknives.com www.arizonacustomknives.com

I bought one of these when it first came out. It was a little more expensive than the Buck184, but it was lighter and had a better handle.

n2s
 
Enzo’s Woodshop said:
A lot of money indeed! Adjusted for inflation that’s equivalent to $1972.

Have you put a lot of use into that knife over the last 40 years? How has it performed for you?
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Nah, I used it some, but ended up selling it probably in the 1990's. I made a little money on it. But the Timberline SA model that I have is a better knife of that type.
 
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