What was your first knife?

Jenner 515 · #1

Going through the tool boxes last weekend and came across a cigar box of stuff that I had tucked away. Inside was a couple of different knives that had some pretty significant history, to me at least.

When I turned eight years old my Grandfather gave me a slip joint Scrade Old Timer #93OT, the rules were always...keep it sharp, and remember to respect it as it was a tool, not a toy. It is still sharp, and clean and everyday for the past thirty years I have always carried a cutting tool of some sort all because of what my grandfather taught me and gave me.

Ten years later, about six months after my grandfather passed away, going through his tackle box that I inherited, I found the last knife I had given him for Christmas of '84, another Scrade Old Timer a model #123OT. This knife was an EDC for a long time for me, cutting everything from the ends of cigars to limes for tequila, cleaning hundreds of rainbow trout. It also is still clean and sharp.

I own about thirty Spydercos and another twenty or so assorted other manufacturers. All because my grandfather taught me keep them sharp and respect them as the tools they are.

I'd like to think that today if he were alive me and my grandfather would go down to the SFO and get him a Spyderco, maybe a Delica...

So, what was your very first knife? And how and where did you get it?

Zwaplat · #2

Well, my first real knife was (and still is) my Victorinox Camper. Got it from my grandparents when I was 12 years old.

vampyrewolf · #3

5th bday, Sheffield slipjoint...

Still have it in my storage
made in 51-52 for a couple bucks back then... made it through my granfather, my father, back to my grandfather, and then to me.... It's loose, well used, and just about sharpened away... but it's my first and will be handed down too.

Got 2 from my grandfather in january as inheritance... both old schrade(imperial).

davec · #4

el cheapo Hammer brand Imperial pen knife with cracked ice scales. It did whet my appetite for sumthing better.
It also kinda blows that the Imperial Hammer brand is better known than the NYK Hammer Brand. The finest knives ever!

Jonny8642 · #5

My first knife was given to me by my grandfather and that was a little swiss army knife that you usualy see on a person's keychain.

smcfalls13 · #6

The first knife I myself bough was a cheap Buck 110 knock off. It's since had the lock fail completely, and its beyond bothering to sharpen. The first knife I ever got was a Buck Nighthawk when I was 13(Yes back in my glory days I too wanted to be a mall ninja). Still have it too, and its so dull it won't cut anything. Needs a trip to the sharpmaker, but I might need some time to set aside to sharpen this one. 11 years of abuse will take quite a while to fix. :o

Gerard Breuker · #7

My first knife was something cheap I bought when I was 10 or 11.
It fell out of my pocket in the sand and although I started searching right away I couldn't find it anymore as if it had just disappeared.
My first real knife was a SAK my father gave me when I was around 13.
I still carry it frequently but always on a chain as I don't want to risk losing it for sentimental reasons.
Same model SAK is also the first knife I give to my boys (with a chain) although they are not really into knives yet.

vinnypie · #8

buck 110 got it 21 yrs. ago seen lots of use still have it. still one of my favorite knives. have 12 other great knives BM kershaw sog spyderco crkt. also have great kitchen knives wusthof forschner henckle. if it has a blade i love it

Senate · #9

like a lot of european kids I started with a SAK, when I was around 13... it was the big Swisschamp model with all the tools!!! yeah! :)

WORKER#9 · #10

A Buck 110....25+ years ago

greencobra · #11

A Schrade clone of a Buck lockback about 25 years ago. Bought it from a dealer from my gun club who had a bunch of 2nds for $10 ea, complete with leather belt pouch. Still have it.

WOTANSON1 · #12

My Grandad gave me his 1930's Schrade easy open jack knife when I was a kid. I still have it, had it cleaned and repaired a couple of years ago (blade wobble), It will go to my son Auggie in about 7 years. My most prized possesion :)

CKE · #13

SAK knockoff...my Father still kicks himself for only getting me the knockoff. Oh well, live and learn.

samosaurus · #14

Samo's first knife as an "Okapi" fixed blade.. Rusts like **** and was purty brittle.. Later in years, came the Victorinox "Scientist" (circa 1982) which became Samo's first slip-joint and the Victorinox "Rucksack" (1985) which was Samo's first 3" locking folder.. :D

Sam

skcusloa · #15

I think it was a SAK knock off, I didn't care, I certainly thought it was a real SAK. First decent knife was a small neon buck knife, I think it came in a gift pack with a mag lite. First razor sharp knife I had. I think a bully took it from me and stomped on it. That was when I was like 6-7. I didn't really carry a knife from then on until I was around 20. Then I decided I needed one for work. I went on ebay and I searched for knives under $50 and I ended up with a delica some how. The river took it from me and I upgraded to a military. I don't plan on losing any more knives, though the military has tried several times. I am so scared I'll be crawling around in a cars interior one day and it'll fall out and a customer will get an extra bonus with there car work. I've made sure all of my clip it's are extra tight.

Dr. Snubnose · #16

This thread brought back memories..My first knife was given to me by my father when I was 5 years old...He bought it for me...or maybe won it...(not sure) at Freedomland (which was a huge amusement park, I think it was in N.J. but can't remember) anyway it was a fixed blade 2.5 inches had a carved wooden handle and came in a leather sheath with a belt loop, looked like something tanto would carry...the coolest thing about it was there was a small compass inlayed into the wooden handle...I loved that knife...I still have it....but the compass is broken

... :D Doc

Jimmy_Dean · #17

first knife that I owned was a super small 1in. blade folder I found in the school yard one day. Kept it in my pocket for years. Don't know where it is now and I hope I'll find it someday.

this knife insipred my parents to buy me my first real knife, a Swisschamp when I was 7 or 8. Don't remember very well. Carried and used it everyday for a good 10 years. It's been retired two summers ago, when I bought a brand new swisschamp to replace it.

When I moved out on my own, I bought my first knife for myself, a #8 carbon opinel. Mostly as a cheap beater in the kitchen, to realize that it's inexpensive but not cheap. I have since bought around 15 opinels of various sizes.

and then came spyderco...

znpschatz · #18

Bought a SAK knockoff Kamp King when I joined the Boy Scouts at age 12. That was my EDC for the next 15 years of camping, caving, army, urban life and all until impulsively giving it away to a girlfriend who promptly lost it. That gave me the opportunity to replace it with a real SAK and I never looked back.

Michael Cook · #19

an old double bladed barlow pocket knife from the hardware store for 5 bucks.

clovisc · #20

mine was a boy scout SAK i got for selling popcorn when i was a cub scout.

i was soooo psyched about it. i bent the tip of the blade somehow, though.

i also remember rubbing the edge against a rock. and no -- i was not sharpening.

first knife i bought when i got interested in knives again was a kershaw whirlwind... got it cheap from a friend before i knew what i liked. (spyderco).

my first spydie was a chinook II. i thought "hmm -- i'll just get myself ONE do all, end all knife that costs about $100 or so, and then no more buying knives..." HA HA HA HA HA!