When did you get your first knife?

FLYBYU44

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Thought this would be an interesting topic. :) I'm nearly 26 now and I got my first knife when I was 5 years old, my dad gave me a knockoff of the traditional Buck folding lockback with the brass bolsters and wood inserts. It suffered my 5 year old abuse for a while but after stabbing it into a block of wood one day to do some "carving" the lock bar broke and it folded up on my tender young hands, neatly shearing the end of my pinky nearly off. I still have the scar, because Mom just wrapped a bandaid around the end of it to hold it on there until it healed. Needless to say I didn't get another knife until the Christmas I was 10, my parents bought me another cheap lockback, this time with the message to be careful. I'm still not a fan of lockback knives to this day.
 
My Mom gave me my first knife when I was 7. We did a lot of camping and such, so she got me my first knife.
 
I've always had one, but wasn't allowed to carry it until I was 10. That's how I recall it anyway.

-Bob
 
I got my first knife when I was in the Scouts. I think I was 9 at the time, but maybe younger. It was an el-cheapo Imperial Barlow with carbon steel blades and really cheezy "jigged plastic" scales on it. I still have it, it's in really good condition- I loved it and took good care of it when I was a kid. It was Excalibur to me back then! I EDC'd it for years, and yes I took it to school every day, and no, I never got into any trouble with it. The carbon steel blades have a really nice patina to them now. I'll keep it until I have a son who is old enough, then I'll give it to him. I'm sure he'll wish, just as I did, that it were a little bit nicer knife!
 
My dad gave me my first knife, a 3-1/2"-bladed Western sheath knife with stag handle and a nice leather belt sheath. I suspect I was pre-teen, because I only very vaguely recall him giving it to me. (ISTR something about "A hunting knife, just like mine.") I still have it to this day :).
 
i was 10, it was a victorinox tinker. my first three knives were the SAK, a lockback called a "panther junior" and a western jigged bone stockman, which folded on me and cut my pinky to the bone just after the middle knuckle.
 
victorinox spartan from an aunt. I guess I was around 13-15, but I can't remember fully.
 
I got a single blade victorinox at about 8 or 9. This is an interesting thread, in that there was/is another about "what is the right age to give a youngester his/her first knife?" Also interesting is the variation in ages and levels of maturity required by the parents before the first knife was given. The concensus seems to be "when the recipient is strong enough to manipulate the blades without mishap, dexterous enough to use the knife safely, and mature enough to use it responsibly." The age spread varries between as young as 3 (one poster) to "at 26 he still isn't mature enough for a knife" (one poster), with majority of posters in the 10 to 15 year range. Like I said, I got my first pocket knife at about 8 or 9, but I got my first BB gun at 5. I would add to the list "old enough to appreciate the gift." For me, appreciation of "firearms" (I received my first .22 rifle before my first knife as well) came before an appreciation of knives.

I lost that first knife pretty quickly (within a year or two), but years later found it beneath a large live oak tree we had in the back yard. Must have fallen out of my pants pockets while I was swinging upside down from that highest branch.
 
probably 5 or 6 I don't remember exactly, A Schrade Sharpfinger, unfortunately I broke the tip and have since lost track of it.

Got my first .22 at 6 as well.
 
I got my first knife as a gift from my grandfather when I was eight. It was one of those Roy Rogers jackknives. I started buying knives for myself when I was ten or eleven.
 
I believe I purchased every knife I have ever owned except for a piece of junk boy scout thing with all the spoon, sizzors, forks, can opener etc. on it. First one was a little Imperial which cost $0.50 in the first grade, fit my hand (for a while). Later upgrades in the Imperial line include several, but the most interesting and memorable was a Barlow for $1.00. First Case knife was gotten around age 10 or so and it was also a Barlow design. Always had knives and having them close on your fingers and cutting yourself is all part of the learning curve.
 
Yes I remember it well. Standing in front of that display card filled with shiny new knives that JJ Newburys had just gotten in. I must have been around 10 and one of those Imperials would cost 50 cents, two weeks allowance. I ended up with one that looked like the stellito that was all the rage in the fifties. Still have it and never stopped buying knives. No more room in the sock drawer for socks.
 
I was about 9 i think. It was a knock off of a Buck 110 my dad bought me in the military surplus store he always used to take me to. That store was awesome for a 9 year old kid (still is) they had a TANK in front of the place. I think there was an old spitfire on the roof too.
 
I was about 9 i think. It was a knock off of a Buck 110 my dad bought me in the military surplus store he always used to take me to. That store was awesome for a 9 year old kid (still is) they had a TANK in front of the place. I think there was an old spitfire on the roof too.

Absolutely identical in my case :D

Family friend took me to an army surplus store where he bought me 3" blade Buck knock-off. I think I was around 12 years old and carried that thing in my pocket for most of my teens. Never let me down!
 
When I was 11, my family went on a trip to Europe, and while we were in Switzerland, I bought myself a Victorinox Camper. Used it for 10 straight years.
 
4 years old and it was a SAK from my great grandma.

had a few cast offs then until I was 7. got my own Barlow just like my Papa carried. Kabar I think... not sure...

He still carries Barlows. Sharpens them with a file on the job and before too long they are like little spears. But it makes him happy.
 
I was about 3 when i got my first knife from my great uncle. it was an old split joint. still got it saved away.
 
I was 6 or 7 years old when I got my first knife. It was given with no instruction at all. A little cub scout knife. I loved it, carried it everywhere until I finally wore it out in early high school and I never did any damage to myself with it either.
 
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