What Was Your First Knife and How Old Were You?

[22-rimfire]

My very first knife my dad gave me a small Barlow when I was around seven. It was a cheap and dull one that only lasted about 6 weeks when the pivot pin broke and the bent metal bolsters fell off, it folded and sliced the top of my finger as dull as it was. That was my first lesson in terms of value. That it’s worth paying for quality and I valued my fingers enough to earn the money to buy a good well made knife. The next one I consider my first knife I bought for myself after working the next summer and saving. It was an Old Timer junior 1968. It was a good knife and had it about a year and a half before I lost it out in the field. Stockman knives were all I ever wanted until I saw a Buck 110 Damascus Stag 1989 I just had to get and I still have it.

Seems to be the trend and the choices adults make for their kids. I would do the same frankly. I think it's good for kids to choose their own knives after they get a bit of experience. I saw one of those damascus Stag 110's at a gun show at precisely this time frame and bought it. I considered it a pretty expensive knife at the time. Think I bought my very first handmade knife at the very same show. Traded a Mossberg Chuckster (22 mag) rifle in very good condition for it.

That 22 mag rifle was a childhood dream fulfilled when I got it. I later decided that I really didn't need a 22 mag rifle as I didn't really have many opportunities for varmint hunting at that point in my life. In recent years, I found a place for a 22 mag rifle in my stable.

 

[chuck4570]

I still have 4 of the first 5 knives of mine. The 1st one is a used pen knife given to me by my Grandpap it’s a small 2 blade pen knife when I was 7 or 8, it saw a lot of pocket time between him and me. I can’t remember the make and even with a 10x glass I can’t make it out. My 2nd I got a few years later on a camping trip it is if I remember correctly it’s a Colonial Cut Barlow, the clip blade is broken off but this is still my desk knife. The 3rd and 4th knives I received on my 12 birthday one is a Ideal Products small game knife and the other one was a Sharade Sharpfinger which I promptly lost the 2nd day of deer season that year hence the 5th knife once again given to me by my Grandpap is a used Queen Cutlery fixed blade knife to replace the lost Sharpfinger. These knives are cherished by me and bring back a lot of memories.

 

[CableGirl]

My very first knife was some sort of small round short pencil like brass gravity type Mom and Dad found in a box lot at an auction. When turned upside down and the opposite end was depressed the blade fell into position and was held there by 2 leaves of steel that wedged against blade and the slit it dropped from. This post has motivated me to try and look for another if I can figure out what it was called.

My second when I was about 4 or 5 was a cheap knockoff SAK Mom ordered me from the back of a magazine she was reading. Both sadly lost to time.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

I know some people from different areas of the country and different age groups may find this strange but not everywhere or everywhen was knife adverse.

When I was growing up we had a name for people who didn't carry pocket knives. We called them "Female" (No offense to any of this gender on this site, as I said it was a different time and place).

So what was your first knife and when did you get it?

Mine was a 00030 Case Peanut I received for my 7th Birthday.

PS To scandalize you even farther I received my first Air Rifle at 6, Rimfire at 8, Shotgun at 9, High Powered Rifle at 11 and Handgun at 12.

I think I was 3, though I wasn't allowed to use it until I was 5 or 6. It was a Gerber Silver Knight from my grandfather. Unfortunately stolen off of our porch some time later.

I was definitely the exception rather than the norm. Most kids I knew in the early 90s could only dream of being given a knife of their own.

 

[mushka]

I too am not sure of the first knife I had for my own but I believe it was a cub scout knife in the mid fifties while living in Hutchinson Kansas.

 

[robinpeck]

The first knife that I remember owning was a Solingen stag handle hunting knife very similar to this one. I was around 10 or 11 years old and I saved up my money (I think my Dad originally paid 10 cents an hour for chicken barn work...) and bought it at the hardware store in town. I nearly had it stolen from me when I walked home with it. People called it a "boy scout knife" although when I took it on an official Boy Scout camping trip they confiscated it and only returned it to me at the end of the trip. Apparently only small folding jackknives were allowed. I quit Boy Scouts soon after. My knife became a trusted companion on my many outdoor adventures (along with my hatchet, my dog, my bow, and sometimes the family .22). 1963 was the last year we took our knives to school and played knife games at recess. No one ever got stabbed.

 

[A.L.]

It was a reindeer horn handled little puukko, I must have been way below ten then. Really cloudy memory, but I remember I had it on road trip we had (probably lapland) and I cut myself right away!

 

[Rayray70]

A SAK knockoff with a bunch of tools. I was around 8. My Dad said not to open everything at once because it was too easy to cut yourself. Of course I secretly opened them all. Closed them, and realized I had cut myself A small cut and I didn't tell him!

 

[Wogger]

My very first knife when I was around 10 years old was a cheap knock off Swiss Army knife from a dollar store. The blade was as dull as a butter knife and I broke off the cork screw prying on something that wasn't a bottle of wine.
It was the biggest piece of shit I've ever laid my hands on but it planted a seed in me that took years to grow .
Then in my twenties I picked up a Buck Bantom and carried it every day at work and home. That's when the addiction started...
I learned how to sharpen with stones on that knife, I developed the muscle memory getting that knife in and out of my pocket, and how to flick it open and close it with one hand.
It was the first knife I ever got sharp enough to shave my arm hair. The blade steel got dull fast so I had no choice but to get good at sharpening.
It's been a long road since then with more knife purchases than I'd like to admit to. But this hobby is something I'll love until the day I die...

 

[Agrsiv]

My dad always carried a buck 110 on his belt so at 7 or 8 he got me a 55 with leather sheath to match. My grandpa bought me sharpening stones immediately after. I thought I was so cool with that knife on my side

 

[Robinson1]

Some sort of swiss army knock off when I was 7 or 8. Total piece of junk that left such a bad taste in my mouth I was in my late 20s before I gave a real Victorinox a try.

Then came a Sabre brand lockback about the size of a Buck 112. Later got an Imperial Ireland Buck Lite knock off that was a surprisingly good knife.

Bought my first Buck 110 with grass cutting money and it's been down hill since. You'll never convince me that there's a better knife design than a 110 or 112