One Proud Father

[Albatross]

A little history first...

About 8 years ago I found Spyderco. At first I was not impressed with the looks, but figured the countless testimonials couldn't all be wrong. A PM2 with dlc blade and digicam handle scales was my first Spyderco. I loved that knife, and even fell in love with the looks, but fell victim to the, "Everything needs to be overbuilt" mentality(I have since learned how wrong I was). I believed the tip to be too thin, thus rendering the knife useless. We were all ignorant at some point, right? Regrettably I sold that knife and I'm still kicking myself to this day for it. Don't worry, I now have 2 of them, but with upgraded steels. The next love was a green frn Delica 4 ffg. I had that for 8 years and it had become my trusty friend. Poor sharpening techniques gave the blade a rather round tip and much less remaining blade than there should have been. I sold it, in hopes of developing a new bond with a new knife, for a clean start. My sharpening skills had improved enough to warrant a new friend. I do miss that knife though. A Manix 2 came about 2 years after the Delica purchase, and was slated to fill the role my PM2 had previously been in, but this time I would have a knife with a strong tip(sabre ground). Sold that knife, after 6 years of use, to go back to my real loves, the PM2 models I now own.

Enough rambling on about loves lost.

I have tried Benchmade, Cold Steel, Kershaw, Zero Tolerance, SOG, Case, Buck, Ontario, Victorinox, and so on. None filled me with joy and cutting confidence like Spydercos did/do. None fit my hand so perfectly either.

Back in November of last year, my wife and I had our first child, a daughter. She is now closing in on 4 months of age. A few days ago, while sharpening one of my knives, my wife said, "she is really interested in what you're doing". Well, babies are curious, so while this was amusing to me, it seemed normal.

The next day, I got the urge to watch some YouTube videos of Spyderco knives. Specifically the Cutlery Shoppe exclusive Manix 2 LW S90V(I have one in the mail and needed a fix). After a few minutes, I look over to see what our daughter was doing, only to find her smiling and giggling. Turns out, she was watching the video as well and found the knife appealing. As any father would do, I put on another video of the same knife and, to my surprise(and delight), our daughter was again smiling and giggling. I needed to find out if it was the color or model. A video of the Manix 2 LW S110V brought her the same amount of joy.

For science-y purposes, I then played a Benchmade video... No reaction.
Okay... :confused:

Kershaw?
Nope... :confused:

A base model PM2?
Yup! More smiles and giggles. My wife shook her head and sighed, "Oh boy, you're just like your father".
Was I ever beaming. :D
"Do you like Paramilitary knives?", my wife asked. An immediate grin overtook our daughter's face.

So far, we know she likes the Manix 2 and PM2 the best. We will have to track down a pink PM2 for her first knife(for when she's old enough, of course).

It appears that we have a new Spyderco fan in the making, and at only 3.5 months old. How many other brands have this kind of bragging right? None I suspect.

I really hope she's not going to collect Spydies... girls are expensive enough and I don't think I will have the strength to deny her knives when she's old enough. I'm gonna need 3 more jobs to afford my vice and hers...

[Albatross]

I should also add that we now use videos of Spyderco knives to soothe our daughter, when all else fails. Works like a charm!

[PStone]

That is awesome! What a great way to get daddy daughter time! Might I suggest a plastic delica for the little lady? I’m sure the age limit is 3+years. But any little plastic toy would be. At least she could fondle a “knife” while watching vid’s with her dad supervising maybe. I’d also like to share my first spyderco/child experience.

One of my sons(16 at the time)saw me sharpening and asked if my knives were from earth. I schockingly replied that as a matter of fact they were. And immediately followed up with my own question. Why would he ask such a silly, silly question.

Apparently he and his friends were looking at knives on their phones at school. One of his (highly intelligent) friends had remarked that the best knives were made on Earth. My son had argued that all knives were made on earth. But his friend explained to him that some Spydercos are actually stamped “Earth”.

So when he got home, and saw me and my knives, he jokingly asked if they were from Earth. To his surprise, they were. He was so shocked. His eyes grew large and he started to ask about them all. In the end, he had fondled every knife I own, and walked away with my(his now) all black PM2. Smiling from ear to ear.

[Sharp Guy]

That's a great story. It made me smile on a Monday morning. :)

Congrats to you and your wife on the little one.

[Jazz]

That's funny and cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Albatross]

That is awesome! What a great way to get daddy daughter time! Might I suggest a plastic delica for the little lady? I’m sure the age limit is 3+years. But any little plastic toy would be. At least she could fondle a “knife” while watching vid’s with her dad supervising maybe. I’d also like to share my first spyderco/child experience.

One of my sons(16 at the time)saw me sharpening and asked if my knives were from earth. I schockingly replied that as a matter of fact they were. And immediately followed up with my own question. Why would he ask such a silly, silly question.

Apparently he and his friends were looking at knives on their phones at school. One of his (highly intelligent) friends had remarked that the best knives were made on Earth. My son had argued that all knives were made on earth. But his friend explained to him that some Spydercos are actually stamped “Earth”.

So when he got home, and saw me and my knives, he jokingly asked if they were from Earth. To his surprise, they were. He was so shocked. His eyes grew large and he started to ask about them all. In the end, he had fondled every knife I own, and walked away with my(his now) all black PM2. Smiling from ear to ear.

That's a great suggestion. A while back, I bought my nephew a wooden dragonfly kit, since he's been wanting a knife, but his parents weren't sure if he was ready. Oh were they pleased with that idea. It filled his "need" and offered them a glimpse at how he would handle a knife. Win win.

That's an awesome story! The Earth question cracked me up! Sounds like you have a new shared hobby too, which is wonderful. I hope it continues to serve as a bonding experience for you two.

I'm so tired of hearing about terrible parent/child relationships, so it's awesome when pleasant ones can be shared.

[Albatross]

That's a great story. It made me smile on a Monday morning. :)

Congrats to you and your wife on the little one.

I'm glad it brightened your day. Perfect for a Monday. :)

Thank you!

[Woodpuppy]

Too cute! I have two sets of twins, they all have their own glow in the dark plastic Delicas. The older set have their own Meadowlarks, the only problem being they can’t press the back lock lever down to close them. One of my girls likes my squarehead.

[The Meat man]

Congratulations on your first child! Sounds like she is getting off to the right start. :)

[Bloke]

Ah, hahaha! Very cool! :)

Nothing beats little people.

[Albatross]

Too cute! I have two sets of twins, they all have their own glow in the dark plastic Delicas. The older set have their own Meadowlarks, the only problem being they can’t press the back lock lever down to close them. One of my girls likes my squarehead.

Two sets of twins? One can be a handful, I can't imagine twins! Oh that's cool, they all have their own and it gets them involved with you more, I love it. Yeah, back locks can be tricky for little ones, but are probably the safest for them. The Squarehead huh? That's funny. It's definitely a case of function over form, so I'm surprised a kid would be interested, but it's awesome nonetheless.

Congratulations on your first child! Sounds like she is getting off to the right start. :)

Thanks! She's definitely getting off to the right start, despite what my wife says. :)