What was your "gateway" knife?

The first knife I really wanted was a Benchmade 940, but my first 'real' knife was a Delica 4... Got it for $20 at a pawn shop in perfect condition. I have to say that the 940 was the gateway knife to much more expensive knives.
 
Like many here I have carried a knife since childhood, but the "gateway to the deep end" was a ZDP Delica my father gifted me around 2006. I went through a major acquisition phase which has blessedly tapered off in the last two years. That Delica, now modified to a zero edge hamaguri mirror finish on water stones, is still a favorite.
 
Laugh (or sneer) if you will but for me it was my S&W Baby SWAT framelock. That led to the Mini Grip, which led to everything else; most recently, of all things, a Kimura. I've officially lost my mind.
 
Moondrop said:
Laugh (or sneer) if you will but for me it was my S&W Baby SWAT framelock. That led to the Mini Grip, which led to everything else; most recently, of all things, a Kimura. I've officially lost my mind.
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In due time, you'll find yourself paying $700 for a balisong. You still have some sanity left.
 
it was the kershaw leek for me. then i became obsessed with small folders.

can't go out without a knife anymore after buying that a few years ago
 
I too have always carried a knife since I was a kid and never thought anything about it. Usually a Case or a Buck. Then I bought a Kershaw Baby Boa. Damn you Kershaw! Many thousands of dollars later and I can't stop!
 
I've always liked knives, but as a kid, it's not like you can afford to have a collection. I'd use a knife 'til it was broken, lost, or given away, then I'd find another.

First quality knives were from A. G. Russell's store in Rogers, AR. At that point, I was able to keep track of knives a little better, and when I finally graduated college, and had a "real" job, I've been accumulating at a higher rate.

Really, the first quality knives that began my accumulation problem was a Benchmade 875 Sentinel (Elishewitz design) and a BM 3000 Auto (Pardue design) that I bought in '98. @ $75 each, I never imagined spending more than that.
 
When I couldnt find a replacement for this :
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been a long road to find that expensive , and hi tech steels , and big public presence cannot out weigh the simple cutting performance of the older style knives and steels ..

I edc a opinel 10 , and Im another who wonders , do the more expensive knives come with better cutting performance ?
 
Case #220 Jackknife for me, it was gifted to me by my uncle, for Christmas one year. Really got me interested in quality cutlery.
 
berretta air light aus 8 back in 2000. I bought two of them and then the sickness started..
 
First knife I wanted: Spyderco Chinese folder
First knife I bought: Frost POS that still locks up like a vault with no blade play whatsoever.
I keep wanting to get rid of it but it's acting like a real knife...
 
I had a knife addiction start at an early age...7 or 8 years old? I'm not sure where it all began, but we one day received a knife catalog in the mail...something along the lines of "Colorado Cutlery"? A plethora of cheap (and some not so cheap) Chinese and American offerings at the time. I had a fascination with the fantasy daggers of Gil Hibben. Also had a thing for "movie" novelty blades (Rambo III, T2, Total Recall ring a bell?). I suppose my first true EDC was a Swiss Army knife I've long since lost that my grandmother had given to me. I still have the Chinese-made eagle headed ruby rhinestoned eyed folder my grandfather gave me. Then there was the Buckmaster 184 in black finish and 188. I sold many of these off on Ebay as I got older and realized many were subpar to say the least.

Then a few years ago I used some of that money on a Spyderco Delica as I thought I could use a good quality, high value pocket knife in my daily life. It's rekindled the love affair of blades, and I frequently relapse back into my addiction.
 
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Colog said:
I've had knives every since I could remember. My first quality knife was a Kershaw leek. That's when the problems really started.
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G10/s30v Leek for me. Only reason I bought it was because I had ebay bucks saved up and I ended up paying 5 dollars for the Leek.
 
mr_badexample said:
Spyderco Delica in the early 90's. fully serrated and still rockin.
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Spyderco delica plain blade, wasn't my first knife but it opened up the door for me. After buying several different makers I finally found out what works best for me are CRK and spyderco, mainly because of there size, and most of them fit easly into my pocket, I like slender, thinner knives.
 
I've had cheaper knives but my first good knife that really started it was the Kershaw Leek
 
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