Whats your most sentimental knife

[Mcshank]

Just curious as to what your most sentimental knife is and why... I can imagine a few of you have got some good stories to share.

Mine has to be my Spyderco Tenacious for the simple reason it was what got me into the knife hobby.

 

[marcus52AR]

Clay 3 ZDP-189 for the same reason as you. If it wasn't for that knife purchase I'd still be rocking an Olfa.

 

[22-rimfire]

Don't really have a sentimental attachment to any of my knives. I don't own any gifted knives from people I care about. I pretty much bought whatever I own and I keep buying..... more slowly now, but still buying and using. I look fondly back at my knife roots, but the one knife I own from that time period has a broken scale and the blade is worn down a lot, so it just sits in my tool box (perhaps developing some rust) for a time I might not have a knife in my pocket using tools. If for some reason it is lost or broke, so be it.

 

[McFeeli]

My most sentimental knife is definitely my Grandpa's little Case stockman. My uncle actually gave it to me in a small wooden box he made for it with a card saying, "This knife belonged to your grandfather. He carried it sharpened. There wasn't a day it was anywhere but in his pocket."

It's beat to hell, the bone has cracks and spots missing, the blades themselves are barely even there he reprofiled them so much. They look more like toothpicks than blades.. But it holds a lot of meaning to me and it's something I'll have until my grave.

 

[blades&wrenches]

1. Spyderco Delica Ti/Damascus gifted to me by my wife for Christmas.
2. Small Sebenza Micarta that shares my 30th Bday
3. Spyderco Dragonfly 2 Salt gifted to me by my brother.
Unfortunately I've also lost 2 knives that were gifts that would have made the list.
A plain jane Manix 2 my wife bought me as an anniversary gift and a ZT 0566CF given to me by my brother, both lost at work. Needless to say, I no longer carry a knife with any sentimental value at work.

 

[palonej]

This one! It's the only knife I haven't cut anything at all with.
My sons surprised the snot out of me with it! 710-1401 with their initials engraved on the blade.
Had no clue they ordered it.
A VERY cool and thoughtful surprise!!
Had Steve Ketchen do the scales.......before he went off the deep end and screwed everyone he could.
Joe

 

[palonej]

Excellent!!

My most sentimental knife is definitely my Grandpa's little Case stockman. My uncle actually gave it to me in a small wooden box he made for it with a card saying, "This knife belonged to your grandfather. He carried it sharpened. There wasn't a day it was anywhere but in his pocket."

It's beat to hell, the bone has cracks and spots missing, the blades themselves are barely even there he reprofiled them so much. They look more like toothpicks than blades.. But it holds a lot of meaning to me and it's something I'll have until my grave.

 

[Wowbagger]

Not much story to tell but :
The Swiss Army Knife The Executive. This model, as far as I know is the only one with the nicer / larger orange peeler (there is a small simple peeler also on the Mini Champ NOT THE SAME).
Anyway I think this was the first SAK that I ever saw. I was about twelve. My friend and mentor carried it ( I bought one way back in the day and lost it; bought another recently just to remind me of those times). He was an executive and a gentleman cyclist (meaning he rode his bicycle to work and went on multi week tours on one of his many custom hand made road bicycles with his fantastic wife and small groups.

Ah that was a lovely time in my life, the seventies, life made sense, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life, there was lots of opportunity . . .

He was a brilliant person, passed the Mensa tests but never went further with it (I'm not sure what all that entailed; his wife told me this much latter in life). I miss his company immensely. He treated me like a son and didn't expect any compensation for it. I just met him at a cycling club meeting. I went there on my own (at twelve) and we hit it off and were pals for decades after. When I got my driver's license (remember when there was driver's ed in high schools ?) when we would be driving around town he would say "why don't you drive". I mean this was a risk right ? I was a snot nosed kid. He let me drive his van and once and a great while his Saab Sonnet sports car. I would be putting down the highway going below the speed limit with my puckerer puckered and he would make this motion with his hands like ANDELE and say " it's a sports car".

First time I ever went 180 mph was on his motorcycle.
I called him the cultural mecca of the town I lived in. He always knew about and was often using the very latest technology (he MADE a system of timers and switches that controlled his house heating and cooling to save energy long before this was common in homes). All built into the wall behind a panel of smoked plexiglass / looked like something from the Star Ship Enterprise. He did all the work himself. Etc., etc.

He read voraciously (one thing we had in common) . . . his small library / home office was two books deep on the shelves.

Killer sense of humor ! ! ! ! Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Firesign Theater . . .
Life sucks with out him ! ! !

I remember we were in Denver one day for the Larimer Square Criterium bicycle race. I was thirteen about. Big crowd. We were all watching the street facing away from the buildings. Very exciting racing by the way; first rate ! ! !

He looked over at me and said "Do you want to grow up a couple of years ?" I nodded affirmative very quickly like that little dog cartoon "YAHYAHYAHYAH ! ! !".
He said "watch that door" and he pointed at some kind of plainish door in the wall leading to some stairs.
Well here I am the only dambed fool facing away from the action watching a door . . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
it was worth it. Out from the door emerged some of the most shall we say "PHYSICALLY FIT" women in tights and ankle warmers that I could ever imagine . . . no . . . well beyond that in fact. It was a women's dance studio. Nothing so wonderful as well developed athletic legs.
Thanks Vinc !
That was just a very small thing. He gently forged me into some semblance of a civilized human being and I am for ever grateful.

 

[scottyj]

My Gerber BMF. I wore it on my web gear every day during Desert Shield/Storm. When I punch out my daughter gets it.

 

[3fifty7]

I have a knife belonging to my late father and both late grandfathers. As well as a replacement for the first knife giver to me by my grandfather. Thanks for the reminder, I'll get them together for a pic this evening.

 

[Wowbagger]

1. Spyderco Delica Ti/Damascus gifted to me by my wife for Christmas.
2. Small Sebenza Micarta that shares my 30th Bday
3. Spyderco Dragonfly 2 Salt gifted to me by my brother.
Unfortunately I've also lost 2 knives that were gifts that would have made the list.

Doesn't hurt to list 'em and tell their tale.

 

[Wowbagger]

View attachment 777337 This one! It's the only knife I haven't cut anything at all with.
My sons surprised the snot out of me with it! 710-1401 with their initials engraved on the blade.
Had no clue they ordered it.
A VERY cool and thoughtful surprise!!
Had Steve Ketchen do the scales.......before he went off the deep end and screwed everyone he could.
Joe

I really like the 710 and enjoy seeing yours in particular.

 

[That_Knife_Guy]

I almost hate to say it but I was more of a kid then but I bought a smith and wesson assisted opening knife. That knife is what got me into the hobby and now I look back on it as the crappiest knife I own.

 

[Barman1]

Buck 119.
I bought this one when I first enlisted 38 years ago and carried it for 14 years of service.
Thought I lost it on separation with all of my gear but I found it hanging on the peg board in my dad's shop a couple of years ago... klepto-dad strikes again.
It was a good reunion.
Also made me realize that my sharpening skills have improved significantly over the years.

 

[That_Knife_Guy]

Buck 119.
I bought this one when I first enlisted 38 years ago and carried it for 14 years of service.
Thought I lost it on separation with all of my gear but I found it hanging on the peg board in my dad's shop a couple of years ago... klepto-dad strikes again.
It was a good reunion.
Also made me realize that my sharpening skills have improved significantly over the years.

I had a similar situation happen when trying to find the knife that got me into this. Back then I used a crappy sharpening system and omg I have really improved.

 

[palonej]

Thank you WB! Really appreciate that my friend.
I have a couple 710s, but the action on that one is sublime. Perfect Axis action and I had Josh, REK, put the sweetest working edge on it.
What a bad ass knife!
Joe

I really like the 710 and enjoy seeing yours in particular.

 

[bigolegator]

Mine is a BM Griptilian my wife had made for me after the birth of our daughter...it has engraving that is special to both of us

 

[blades&wrenches]

Doesn't hurt to list 'em and tell their tale.

True. Edited my post to list them.

 

[22-rimfire]

Knives were always tools until the mid-1980's when I started going to gun and knife shows, including Blade. I call this my awakening period to the world at large even though I was an avid talk radio fan at this point. It was the point in time when I started to buy knives because I liked their look and had fantasies of actually needing a "survival knife". I spent a lot of time in the woods and loved hiking, camping, and I worked in the woods a lot. Enter Randall's and some handmade fixed blade knives into my life. I was stretching my wings a bit and in the midst of a divorce or pending divorce. That was seemingly a long time ago. But I still don't really attach sentimental value to my knives. They're mostly tools; some very nice. But tools all the same.

 

[d.r.h.]

I have only two knives I could actually say have "sentimental" value. The first is a knife that came up for sale 2 weeks after my mother passed away last year. While I am not generally attracted to Mammoth tooth ... the minute I saw this one, I knew I had to buy it. It has all the colors that my mother loved.

The second one is sentimentally special because a good friend (totally out of the blue) surprised me with it as a gift.