This is no doubt true, SEF. This forum was what really got the ball rolling with me. Got my Boy Scout knife at age 6 or 7 (1948 or '49) and I don't believe I went through a single day of my life after that without a knife in my pocket. I did acquire several along the way, but went through decades of latency before belatedly discovering Spyderco about 5 years ago. I had got tired of not being able to close my large, cheap liner-lock stud-type no-name knife one-handed (left hand, and it had no lock cutout in the handle). So I ordered a popular stud type knife with an Axis lock but didn't like it and never carried it a single time.SpyderEdgeForever wrote:While we are on this topic, do you think that right this very moment, somewhere in the world, there are individual persons who are just now receiving their very first Spyderco knife, and who will receive their first Spyderco knife, and, in the future at some point will join this excellent forum and share their experience with us?
I went on Amazon and this new H-1 steel caught my eye. I really liked the reviews and pictures of the black blade Pacific Salt and then the Manix 2 and Caly 3.5. I first ordered a hollow ground PS Manix 2, not from Amazon, but from National Knives. I was astonished at how smooth and precise the action was. I'd never handled a knife with zero blade play that would allow you to close it by gravity alone. My second order was the CF Caly 3.5, from Outfitter Country, and it may have been my downfall. It had some CF particles in the pivot which made it very hard to open the blade, and I joined the forum and asked for advice about it. I was overwhelmed by the friendly helpfulness of 8 or 10 forumites. (Nevertheless I went against their advice, took the knife apart and cleaned it out, and it's been one of my favorites ever since.)
But that got me started on the forum at a very exciting time. I got caught up in the excitement about the S110V 2013 Forum Native 5, the current mule, the current sprint run (green CTS 204P PM2), and it's hardly slowed down since. I've been sort of dazzled by the amazing variety of knife types and designs, steels, handle materials, traditions, countries of manufacture and so on. Received my 89th spydie last week, not counting a couple of Bug Sets I won at National Knives and 6 or 8 knives I've ordered for other people. I was amazed to notice that I have blades in 26 different steels! And I'm not even really a bona fide steel freak, just an intense dabbler.