What was your first knife?

My first knife was a Victorinox Gardener at age 4. Probably one of the best knives I've owned. I assume it's from the 70's because it was old and abused when I got it in 1984. It's been sharpened all to hell (poorly) over the years, but it will take a razor edge on just a Smith's pull-through sharpener. I've used it for about everything, including cutting some corner pieces to repair a bed frame for my daughter. Funny part is that when I knew I needed to carve wood, I immediately whipped out the Victorinox and had never considered using any other tool. That knife wasn't even what drew me in though, it was seeing my father use a knife every day for everything. I just saw how useful a tool it is and why I should carry one every day, and I have since. Even to school (shhh don't tell the easily frightened masses) :)
 
My Mom gave me my first knife when I was 7, I honestly do not remember what it was. (Buck 110, maybe.) We used to go camping & fishing, and she taught me the proper use of a good knife.
 
My first knife was a very old 3 bladed white pearl case my grandpa gave me when I was 10. As to where it went I cannot remember, I am sure it was lost unfortunately. My first real folder with a clip was the original skyline with the Sandvik 13c steel. It has ballooned from there.
 
JupiterPaladin said:
My first knife was a Victorinox Gardener at age 4. Probably one of the best knives I've owned. I assume it's from the 70's because it was old and abused when I got it in 1984. It's been sharpened all to hell (poorly) over the years, but it will take a razor edge on just a Smith's pull-through sharpener. I've used it for about everything, including cutting some corner pieces to repair a bed frame for my daughter. Funny part is that when I knew I needed to carve wood, I immediately whipped out the Victorinox and had never considered using any other tool. That knife wasn't even what drew me in though, it was seeing my father use a knife every day for everything. I just saw how useful a tool it is and why I should carry one every day, and I have since. Even to school (shhh don't tell the easily frightened masses) :)
Click to expand...

I'd love to see what a 70's vic Gardner looks like, I love mine and think it's one of their best models ( I'd love one with a cv blade )
 
Goldie here was my first knife. Given to me by my granddad (already well used,) as a kid, I didn't know what to do with it, so I mostly used it to cut apple slices.

sg7b4l.jpg


259lt1e.jpg


24oa6oy.jpg
 
When I was a kid, I had one of the dimpled steel folders, probably a Camillus. In my early teens, I carried a gravity knife for a while; never had occasion to use it, which should come as no surprise, but at the time, it was essential to my self- image.
The first knife I bought because I finally figured out why a guy needed to carry a knife was the Loewen hippekniep I bought in Amsterdam in 1970. I sliced a lot of cheese, sausage and apples with that one. I still have it.
uZxYVR.jpg
 
My first knife was one of those hollow handled "survival" knives. My grandfather gave it to me. It was one of the first ones made, probably shitty but I liked it enough and the sharpening stone got me into sharpening, that little bit of maintenance made me want to l learn how to do it right and get better knives.
I was about 6 or 7 - that knife and 4 others were stolen by a police officer, then another collection was stolen out of my home.
 
First knife of my own was a buck 110 that Dad gave to me on one of our weekends together. I carried the hell out of that thing from when I got it at 8 or 9 years old to when I discovered better steels and knives when I was about 19 or 20. Now I carry a ZT or a Spydie (Or a fixed blade when I need one), but that little buck still makes trips with me when I get to feeling nostalgic. It takes one heck of an edge.
 
This thread hurts!! I had a Bowie with a 6 inch blade made in Solingen Germany that I swapped for a gravity knife when I was young. Probably a quality blade of carbon. Back in the 60s and paid cheap money for it. Just greatful I hung onto that Puma Skinner made in 66.
 
A little long, but it has all my "first" knives and a little background n them.

My first knife was a small peanut given to me by my grandfather when I started 1st grade. He said

"Now that you're starting school, you need your own knife. We can't have you borrowing one all the time." I had already been using knives under supervision for a couple of years, so no one was too worried about me having one. I was initially the only one in class carrying one, but after the pencil sharpener in the classroom literally blew apart and I used my knife to sharpen every one else's pencil, everyone (including my teacher:D) seemed to get some small knife for Christmas.

My first fixed blade was a Western L46-5. I was helping my grandfather get the combine ready for maize harvest. His left shirt sleeve got caught in the chains/gears. He reached down, pulled out his Kabar 1232 and cut off his sleeve before he was injured. He looked at me and said

"That's why you carry a fixed blade when working on machinery. You'll never get a pocket knife out in time."

I replied with "But Popo, what if it had been your other arm?"

He looked at me like I was speaking Greek at first, then he realized what I was talking about and he walked over, turned off the tractor and said "Let's go."

We got in the truck, drove 3 miles to the Western Auto in town. They were out of 1232s, so he got the Western. A couple of weeks later, the WA owner called and told him that the "little Kabars" were in if he still wanted one. He replaced the Western with another 1232 and the first time he saw me after getting it, gave me the Western L46-5, saying

"If you're smart enough to come up with a question like that, you're old enough to carry a fixed blade."

Except when prohibited by law, regulation or workplace rules, I've carried paired fixed blades and paired folders. Because you never know which hand you will have to cut something with.

The first knife I bought for myself was a Buck 110 in 1973 when I used some of my HS graduation money to buy it.

As far as what kicked off my collecting of sharp and pointy things, that began when I came home from my 1st Class Midshipman Cruise between my junior and senior years in college. I had "free" money in my pocket from getting paid for 8 weeks of active duty. I knew that I needed, based on ready Navy Regs, as a small boat crewman (Boat Officer being one of the extra duties of an officer I experienced on cruise) either a USN MK1 or USN MK2. (Aside - by the time I was commissioned and started my active duty that the mandatory requirement had gone away, but the regulations had not been updated.)

So I went down to the local surplus store in College Station TX to see what they had. They had a 30 gallon barrel full of MK2s and another full of MK1s for $10 each. I picked out a nice MK2 (had to get the 7" blade over the 5", right???:D). Then I saw this weird looking bayonet. The guy wanted $10 for it, as well. I asked him if he'd take $15 for the pair. He agreed. It took me a while to find out what I had was an 1869 Yataghan bladed Chassepot sword bayonet. I decided later that I wanted a MK1 as well. I went back and got one, talked the guy down to $8 for that one.

I still have everyone of those knives.

This coming July, it will have been 40 years since I started collecting military knives, bayonets, swords and then non-military knives. I've bought way more than I have sold or given away, and I've given away more than I have sold.
 
Last edited:
First knife I owned was a beautiful crappy Chinese Swiss Army knife I'll get a pic of tomorrow night. Tho I snuck a few of my dads out of the house before that and they're probably still in the hiding spot at that house we moved out of. I should talk to new owner and find out if I can checj


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My first was a Benchmade Mini-Nitrous Stryker and I seriously overpaid for that one.
Then I joined Bladefrums and my next knives were, in order, a Sebenza, an Umnumzaan, a Strider SMF, and an XM-18.
Curiously, they're all gone now.
 
First knife was a cheapo cub scout knife. I remember putting it in a drawer somewhere and seeing it again a few years later and the covers were peeling off (we're talking mid-1970's here).
The knife that started the obsession was a Case red worn bone trapperlock, a gift from the wife in the hopes it'd be something she could pick out for me on birthdays and holidays.
 
Not counting the really cheap junk knives I bought at the gas station or flea market. My first knife was a orange delica vg10. I was almost instantaneously in love with knives from that point on. Soon after I joined the best knife forum in the world, Bladeforum.com.
 
As a kid, my first knife was a novelty fixed blade with a one inch blade. I was told that if I took good care of it, that I could get a better one. I still have that little knife somewhere. But my first knife purchase as an adult, was the Ontario MK3. It was the first knife to be designated an official "Navy Seal" knife. I got the older version with the curved clip blade. Now, they improved them to have a straightened clip blade for strength. I would like to get one of the new versions and try it out as well.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
I was helping my grandfather get the combine ready for maize harvest. His left shirt sleeve got caught in the chains/gears. He reached down, pulled out his Kabar 1232 and cut off his sleeve before he was injured. He looked at me and said

"That's why you carry a fixed blade when working on machinery. You'll never get a pocket knife out in time."
Click to expand...


That's a pretty cool story!
 
I never carried a pocket knife until I was 30+
I bought my first gun, a used Florida Highway Patrol Beretta 92G. That started me down the path of the "everyday carry world". Shortly thereafter, I bought my first knife at a local gun store. A Benchmade Griptilian.
5B8E8F2A-6025-4141-AD7D-A8B50DEDC4DD_zps5lr1pico.jpg
 
Got a pic finally. My first knife was the Victorinox Gardener in the middle with the dull red handle and abused blade. It's been used regularly since the 70's. Second knife was that Monarch 2101 fixed blade underneath.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top