What Was Your First Knife?

I had a black pen knife with a silver shield on it and silver bolsters. No idea what kind it was, if anyone has an idea please post a pic. Later a friend gave me a bayonet that my parents would not let me have. It fueled by knife sweats ever since.
 
Im pretty sure I've said this before:

Buck 121 and a Buck 301. Bought at the same time. My Dad and shop owner worked in unison to guide me in my purchase. I was 10 years old.

I lost the 301, for the third time. Whereas, I still have the 121.
 
I say that my first knife was a Kershaw Leek. I had one or two no-name brands before that, but the Leek was the one that got me interested in knives as more than just a tool
 
Long rambling read. Apologies in advance :)...

I know I was given several pocket knives as a young boy, but the first one I remember getting as a major gift was from my dad for Christmas when I was 6. Actually, it was more of a multi tool than a knife, but I'm going to count it ;)

It was the first time I had something under the tree for me before Christmas morning. It wasn't from Santa. It had my name on it with "From: Dad" on the tag stuck on it to hide the uneven wrapping. It was put there, by design knowing my father, to make me squirm and wonder what it was for weeks before I could open it. It was a small box maybe 6" long and 2" wide and only an inch thick...but it had weight. It wasn't plastic, it wasn't clothes. It was something of... substance.

Flashforward to Christmas morning and it was the first thing I rushed to open. Piles of presents expertly wrapped by my mom to resemble the deft fingers of meticulous elves forgotten as I tore the shoddily encased clumsy rush job my dad did on this gift. Inside was probably the equivalent of a Red Ryder BB gun in terms of how much it meant to me.

It was not much of a tool, looking back on it. I can't find a picture of it, but it was a small adjustable wrench about 4" long with tools that folded out on the side. This was in the days where Leatherman tools existed but we're not ubiquitous. It had a knife, a saw, some screwdrivers, and scissors...I think. The handle was a black plastic and it came in a box. On the handle engraved in cheap gold paint was "Jacob". I mean, this was MY tool. Nothing in my young life had ever been presented to me as MINE alone, at least nothing that was meant to do work or perform an action of repair. It came with a little nylon sheath as I think back then Sal was still molding pocket clips out of plastic ;) It was pretty basic but it was glorious when I plucked it out of the box and examined the various tools.

The tool construction was pretty pedestrian, and I'm sure my dad ordered it out of a magazine for $9.99. It wasn't all that well put together. The steel was soft, the scales sort of loose. It most likely came from Japan because it was early enough in the 80s that there was still some cheap stuff being cranked out from there and it would be 20 more years before China started doing that work. However, it was the one gift I have never forgotten.

I would like to say I carried that tool on me for decades and it rests retired in my collection, but it was swallowed by the woods of southern Indiana within a year or two. However, during that time, I cut and tightened and tinkered and used that little tool for everything a curious 6 year old could get his hands on. On more than one occasion my mom would ask me to fix or open something for her just because she knew I was itching to be of help.

To this day, I have a lot of really incredibly knives that I rarely leave the house without having on my person, but I NEVER step out the door without a multi tool on my hip or pocket...even if they cost substantially more and don't even have my name engraved in gold paint ;)
 
Steely_Gunz said:
Long rambling read. Apologies in advance :)...

I know I was given several pocket knives as a young boy, but the first one I remember getting as a major gift was from my dad for Christmas when I was 6. Actually, it was more of a multi tool than a knife, but I'm going to count it ;)

It was the first time I had something under the tree for me before Christmas morning. It wasn't from Santa. It had my name on it with "From: Dad" on the tag stuck on it to hide the uneven wrapping. It was put there, by design knowing my father, to make me squirm and wonder what it was for weeks before I could open it. It was a small box maybe 6" long and 2" wide and only an inch thick...but it had weight. It wasn't plastic, it wasn't clothes. It was something of... substance.

Flashforward to Christmas morning and it was the first thing I rushed to open. Piles of presents expertly wrapped by my mom to resemble the deft fingers of meticulous elves forgotten as I tore the shoddily encased clumsy rush job my dad did on this gift. Inside was probably the equivalent of a Red Ryder BB gun in terms of how much it meant to me.

It was not much of a tool, looking back on it. I can't find a picture of it, but it was a small adjustable wrench about 4" long with tools that folded out on the side. This was in the days where Leatherman tools existed but we're not ubiquitous. It had a knife, a saw, some screwdrivers, and scissors...I think. The handle was a black plastic and it came in a box. On the handle engraved in cheap gold paint was "Jacob". I mean, this was MY tool. Nothing in my young life had ever been presented to me as MINE alone, at least nothing that was meant to do work or perform an action of repair. It came with a little nylon sheath as I think back then Sal was still molding pocket clips out of plastic ;) It was pretty basic but it was glorious when I plucked it out of the box and examined the various tools.

The tool construction was pretty pedestrian, and I'm sure my dad ordered it out of a magazine for $9.99. It wasn't all that well put together. The steel was soft, the scales sort of loose. It most likely came from Japan because it was early enough in the 80s that there was still some cheap stuff being cranked out from there and it would be 20 more years before China started doing that work. However, it was the one gift I have never forgotten.

I would like to say I carried that tool on me for decades and it rests retired in my collection, but it was swallowed by the woods of southern Indiana within a year or two. However, during that time, I cut and tightened and tinkered and used that little tool for everything a curious 6 year old could get his hands on. On more than one occasion my mom would ask me to fix or open something for her just because she knew I was itching to be of help.

To this day, I have a lot of really incredibly knives that I rarely leave the house without having on my person, but I NEVER step out the door without a multi tool on my hip or pocket...even if they cost substantially more and don't even have my name engraved in gold paint ;)
Click to expand...
To all the Dad's out there: 🍻
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top