Your first pocket knife

[Dclagg1]

Let's hear the stories about your first pocketknife. Where did you get it? Who gave it to you? What was it? And if you have pictures, let's see them.

For me, I was 7 and it was a really old, beat up Swiss Army Knife. It was yellow and had a red name on it or a red logo. It couldn't be made out due to being used for so long. My dad gave it to me when he finally got a new work knife. I was in the first grade when he gave it to me and I last remember having it in the 6th grade. It accidentally dropped out of my backpack at school. I got sent home for having a weapon at school. That was my last memory of it. It was probably taken away from me and misplaced for put in a drawer and forgotten about. Or maybe I just lost it. I'll always remember it though.

 

[The Law]

Mine was a little red SAK Companion, with my initials on it, that my grandparents got me for my 7th birthday! I think I still have it somewhere in a safe place!

 

[leghog]

I bought myself a case Barlow when I graduated High School. My first good knife. Were I making the sheath again, I'd make it a high ride vs a dangler.

 

[markpmc]

Long since lost. I think it was a small old timer pen knife. He gave it to me when I was about 8. I had him sharpen it for me and I immediately ran my finger down the blade to test it. The lesson stuck as I've never tested a blade like that again.

 

[CountryBloke]

This is a fantastic idea for a thread, and I'm excited about contributing to it!

My very first pocket knife, or any knife for that matter, was given to me on my 12th birthday by my best friend.
He had gotten a cheap, imitation SAK from the local dollar-type store with his allowance, on permission from his Mother. I was intensely jealous! My over-protective Mother apparently didn't like the idea of her Son toting around a cheap pocket knife, even though I had been handling knives for culinary and fishing purposes since I was very small.

I distinctly remember having a conversation with my Mother (Father alongside) in an attempt to convince her of my ability to handle such a tool without supervision or cause for concern. My Father agreed with me and despite his gentle attempts at persuading my Mother to give in, it seemed both our attempts were to no avail.

My 12th Birthday rolled around, and as my Friends and Family gathered around the table to watch me open my Matchbox cars and various other items, I noticed Joseph (my best friend) patiently waiting, holding a small package.

I opened the package and out first slipped a small maroon colored matchbox car, for which I was very appreciative. I unwrapped the remainder of the present and literally jumped up and screamed "YES!!! My own pocket knife!" and hugged my best friend.

Once the euphoria had worn off, I looked toward my mother with concern only to realize she too was smiling. She came over and explained that my best friend's Mother and her had spoken about the gift before I received it, and my own Mother had finally relented and allowed the gifting to take place. I was told to put it away during the party and I could become acquainted with it after the event was over. I tell you that thing almost burnt a hole in my pocket I was so eager to pour over it's every tool and detail!

I used it with gusto over my early years until I replaced it with an official SAK some years later and retired the imitation. Somewhere along the line I have misplaced that cheap little knife - but it sure as heck holds warm, fond memories whenever I see a similar one in a dollar-type store.
I found an image of the same logo as was on my first knife:

 

[Stich2442]

1978, 6th birthday, I've had a knife in my pocket ever since.

Imperial Prov. RI Kamp-King



Pete

 

[r8shell]

I remember a green Girl Scouts camper-type knife. I was probably about 8 yrs old. I don't know what ever happened to it.

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I found this penknife on a picnic table at a park. I was in love! I put it in my pocket and carried it for many years. All through high school and college. So beautiful and useful! I know it's just a cheap knife, but it got me hooked. Since then, I discovered modern folders, and still use those, but I've circled back to traditionals, and it's funny, but the Buck Lancer is probably a knife I use as often as anything else.

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[Cutty73]

Great thread. It brings back fond memories.

This knife was the first one I remember. It was given to me by my grandfather while pier fishing at Carolina Beach N.C. I used the heck out of it for years

I'm glad that I never lost it because he is gone now and has been for quite a few years. Every time I look at the knife I remember him and all the great times we had together. It's the most valuable knife I own as well as other hand me down family knives.

Colonial fish knife.

 

[Lee48]

I was probably about 6 or 7 years old (60 years ago, more or less). My grandfather gave me my first pocket knife. I don't remember what brand it was but I remember it was a slipjoint and surely it was an inexpensive one. I remember afternoons sitting around with my grandfather, whittling on old lumber and tree branches, watching the chickens feed and mill around the yard. I remember he used to fill a pan with hot water and take it and a straight razor out on his porch every morning to shave in front of a mirror hanging on the unpainted wall. No matter what the weather, he shaved on his front porch with that same razor in front of that same mirror every morning. He taught me respect for sharp things. He knew his blades and used them well.

The mirror remained on the front porch for decades after he died until someone in the family decided they wanted it. I have a picture of it hanging there. At times, I can almost make out his reflection in that mirror.

I don't have a picture of the knife he gave me or a picture of my grandfather. But I remember.

 

[jc57]

It has been a long time ago and I really don't recall what was first. I recall a fairly rusty scout knife of some kind that was a hand-me-down, a 2-blade Barlow knife that seems like it spent time in a tool drawer and tackle box. I think the first ever that was "mine" was a red-handled SAK that I don't remember a lot about, other than a scar on my left hand caused by it.

 

[rdrogers]

Got it when I joined the Cub Scouts. Still carry it some days.

 

[Paradiggum]

I don't remember what age I was. I was a little kid though. I remember being so proud that my Dad now trusted me with my own knife. It was in much better shape than it's in today but that was 30+ years ago and it was carried every day for a very long time. It's actually pretty fragile now. It rattles and feels like it's about to come apart. But it's in a safe place. For years I thought it was lost because at some point I'd left it in the garage where my Dad found it. He kept it because the young version of me couldn't take care of things. But I found it last year in a box when I was cleaning out a closet.

It's actually the reason I now carry a Peanut.
I started carrying the Peanut long before I found that little powderhorn patterned knife. I guess at some point nostalgia hit me and the Peanut has been a constant companion since 3/14/12.

 

[SAK Guy]

My Dad gave me a Schrade 8OT, just like his, when in was 10 or so....it was lost in the '06 wildfire. The first knife I bought myself was a Victorinox Champion in '71-'72..it went in the same fire. I have a real fondness for Schrades and SAKs to this day!

 

[black mamba]

When I joined the Cub Scouts in the early '60s my father gave me this Ulster scout. Still have it and use it, frequently.
This photo is just a couple months old.

 

[SAK Guy]

I remember a green Girl Scouts camper-type knife. I was probably about 8 yrs old. I don't know what ever happened to it.

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I found this penknife on a picnic table at a park. I was in love! I put it in my pocket and carried it for many years. All through high school and college. So beautiful and useful! I know it's just a cheap knife, but it got me hooked. Since then, I discovered modern folders, and still use those, but I've circled back to traditionals, and it's funny, but the Buck Lancer is probably a knife I use as often as anything else.

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I have a Stockman version of this knife that was my Dad's from way back (probably from the 60's). It belongs to one of my granddaughters now. She will get it when she is a little older!

 

[Sonnemann]

My dad bought me this. I loved it as a kid, even though looking back I don't know how I lived with the grotesque combo blade. I'm glad I still have it.

 

[Old Hunter]

My first two pocketknives were Official BSA knives, a blue Cub Scout around 1963 and a brown Boy Scout in 1966; I don't remember what brand they were - they are both long gone (I had three younger brothers and stuff got bumped down). The pocketknife that occupies that special place for me came third, but it is the one I still own (but rarely carry) a Buck 301. My Grandmother allowed me to pick out this pocketknife, with a budget up to $15.00 in price, and charge it to her at the local hardware store for my 15th birthday in NOV 1970. She worked at the jewelry store and had me bring it to her and have it engraved with my initials. I carried the knife through HS, ARNG service, college, and during my early working days. I retired it when she died in 1989, but it sits here on my desk so I can enjoy looking at it when I want to - I don't look at it without thinking of her. OH

 

[M.FREEZE]

My first pocket knife was a Frost Cutlery "Flying Falcon". I found it when I was about 10yrs old. I was trout fishing with my great-grandpa at Montauk State Park. I found it laying on a rock under a bridge. It was the great day for a 10yr old.

 

[arizonaranchman]

Got it when I joined the Cub Scouts. Still carry it some days.

It's currently MIA, but I think it's around here someplace. Hope it turns up some day. But it was pretty much a Cub Scout knife just like this but it was blue. Would have been about 1973. I carried it to school every day

 

[phurgawtin]

I'm a recent convert to blade carrying. I never saw the point in carrying a knife on me. I'm definitely a city boy: don't hunt, skin, or any other activity that requires a knife on a daily basis. I throw knives for hobby, but pocket knives were never my thing.

I got a job as a freight stocker for a supply store, and on my first day they handed me a box cutter, cutting open boxes. It wasn't long before I rigged up a sheath to carry it so I could use it quicker without having to dip into my pocket so often.

After working there for awhile, I got real accustomed to having a box cutter on me. I started taking it home with me. Suddenly, I realized how often I was using it. Opening letters, cutting fabric strings that hang off of shirts, getting into plastic packaging, etc. Little daily tasks that a knife made easier were everywhere.

So I wanted to get a knife. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse that I'm into throwing knives, because that biased me on a lot of steel choices. I'm used to 15n20, 1075(or higher), and other steels that aren't featured on knives too often but make excellent throwers. "Stainless" is a dirty word, and I'm having difficulty coming to terms that they are okay options for my pocket, haha.

After some research, I bought an Opinel #9 Carbone. It was cheap (as a first knife should be), XC90 steel, and I got to play around with modding it. Now it's got a BLO coated handle, less friction on the pivot, and a small piece of cork in the handle slit to keep the blade from rubbing against the wood. This is the knife I learned how to sharpen with, and it's still got the battle scars to prove it.