What was your gateway drug?

For me it was a BM 705 in circa 1995. Then moved onto the Spyderco Delica.
That was thousands of $ ago.
What a long strange trip its been.
 
Finding myself working in the steel business really started me off on more "educated" knife purchases... Learning more about steel in general led me to start paying more attention to the vast array of steels available out there for knives and that created intrigue which gave way to compulsion.

I'm a value oriented guy though, don't have money to easily justify some prices of Knives equalling car payments and such, and I find myself owning more Kershaws then any other single brand right now.
 
I had a few Gerber folders, but the knife that did it for me was a Buck 110 my brother-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years back. It was too heavy for EDC, but it got me looking for something else as solid-feeling in my hand. I think I've been bitten by the bug, now...
 
Sog.
Was into their fixed blades before their quality went to crap. I dont own any more at this time.

Gave cold Steel a try then Benchmade, Spyderco, Emerson, busse etc. And so on. Tried some customs.

Settled on a couple strider folders, a couple winkler fixed blades and a couple task specific benchmades.
There are a few more things around but ive really slimmed down this year.
 
The mini grip I basically went out of mind trying different knives after discovering how great the axis lock was to me at the time.
 
CRKT, then Emerson.

My first custom was a DDR.
 
Schrade Old Timer in the 70s. I wanted a Buck 110 but they were about double the price of a 25OT. Then I got an LB 7 lock back. I had it for a few years and then left it on a tractor fender in the feedlot spreading straw.
 
I started buying cheap bait shop knives when I was around 9 or 10. Then it was "fancy" military surplus store assisted openers. Eventually I moved into eBay switch blades and finally a crkt Hammond cruiser from a mall cutlery store. After breaking that, I came to blade forums to find one (just one!) good folding knife. Right, so that was almost 10 years ago.
 
It's a toss-up between SOG and Buck. I bought several Buck's when I was younger, and they got me into knives, but my first educated knife purchase was a SOG Flash II when I was 16 or 17.
 
After heavy research of Spec Ops during the Vietnam war and later specifically MACV-SOG, I became curious about the Benjamin Baker knife... which of course led me to SOG Specialty Knives. I didn't end up purchasing a SOG knife, but that's when I caught the bug. Somehow, I ended up in some traditional threads here at BladeForums and quickly found myself drooling over pictures of Sodbuster collections. Wait... people have knife collections? And that was it... Case CV Sodbuster Jr. was the first purchase... then CRKT Drifter... then RAT II... then Spyderco... then Vic Farmer... then... (somebody help me)
 
Last edited:
Cold Steel was my first. My knife hobby was born out of an interest in survivalism, and I figured if I wanted a cutting tool that would have to deal with my hijinks, I'd want one that was built like a tank without breaking the bank.:) Years and many knives from many companies collected later, I'm thoroughly convinced that my first choice was a smart one. Survivalism turned out to be a passing interest, but the knife bug stuck with me.
 
I got a Buck Nobleman when I started Boy Scouts and spent all my time "whittling" tree branches (i.e. make them pointy). I got a lot of practice sharpening it, too. The 440C doesn't hold the edge as well as fancier steels, but it still got really sharp.

Fast-forward to a couple years ago, when I bought a Spyderco Ambitious, which led me to buy a Dragonfly 2, which led me to buy -- you know how that goes. Got myself a Sebenza for my birthday a couple months ago, and Blues Bender over on the EDC VI thread has me eyeing some Rocksteads...
 
Spyderco Standard.

79F194B2-8CE7-4469-8361-70ACC7F5DE26-916-0000008A7F212A8F_zpseba2d0b5.jpg
 
My love of knives started when I was six and my Dad gave me this old Kent. I carried that until I got my Cub Scout knife, then a Boy Scout knife, which I carried until I bought my first Buck 110 in the early 1970's when I graduated from high school.
Marked:
KENT
NY CITY
image_zpsckp3chez.jpeg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
For me it was Microtech that really bit me. I had a benchmade mini grip and it was okay. I saw an online review of the Socom elite and just had to have it. Two days later I had one and it was more than I thought it would be. Eventually got into some higher end mid tech and handmade stuff and sold it off, but it served me well. It was a great knife. I'm currently looking into getting a new Socom Delta. Glad they are producing them again.
 
I've never really had a loyalty towards any one company. Who I buy from depends on what I need the knife for, what is available, and my budget. My first really good knife was a Benchmade Emerson model CQC7 I bought back in the 90s. Having it showed me the true difference between a quality blade, and the cheap knives I had always used for edc.
 
Spyderco tenacious opened the door for me. CRK blew the doors off. The passion they put into their knives has been passed on to me.
 
Cold Steel. Then came Spyderco and Benchmade, both of which I own several of but the Cold Steel my brother gave me for my birthday years back opened the floodgates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top