EVOLUTION IN BLADES

[Nemo]

My maternal grandfather always had a knife on him. It was a smallish Spanish type folder, like the ones from Case. I remember the blade was black as if it had been blued, but it was because it was oxidized, except for the edge that was always shiny silver. When I was about 10 he gave me my first knife, an “el cheapo” folder from the hardware store with two blades and fake stag scales. I had it until it fell apart. My paternal grandfather always carried one of those curved lineman/electrician knives and as soon as I could also bought one of those, and got a nice cut from it once it closed on my fingers. Then it was time for the official Cub Scout knife. Some fellow webelo stole it from me at a jamboree.

From high school to college I evolved within the different iterations of the Victorinox Swiss Army knife… the Hunter, the Fisherman, the Champion and then I think it was the Super Champion. I even got suspended for three days from my alma mater Catholic high school for having one of those terrible red weapons in my backpack. I carried a Swiss Army knife for a very long time and always had it handy to fix whatever could be tackled with the tool. My 3 younger brothers got to call me MacGyver…

At some point during my college years I discovered what to me was the ultimate MacGyver tool: THE LEATHERMAN!! Wow! What a gadget! Haven’t been without one since and my kids got theirs a couple of years back for Christmas. My old Leatherman now permanently lives in my car and I carry with me the newer Wave.

In the early 90’s when I started reading the gun rags I discovered the pocket-clip equipped Spydeco’s, an excellent complement to the larger multi-tool and always handy right there in my pocket. I got to have the Delica, the Endura and also made the one my diving knife. IIRC the model was the Fisherman, sort of like a folding fillet knife with a ½-serrated edge.

When breaking the points of my Spyderco’s got annoying I got a Cold Steel tanto blade folder, which I lost don’t know when or where. Then got my first Benchmade, the least expensive one that looks like the Spyderco, now it’s listed in their catalog as the 10400 Pika, still have it. About 5 years ago my wife got me a Mini-Stryker for my birthday and that’s the one I carry most of the time. Then at SHOT 2003, I got a yellow Mini-Griptilian serrated that alternates with the Mini-Stryker.

So there you have it… my history with blades.

What do you have?

[tightloop]

Mostly cheaper folders like Benchmade or Gerber...have a couple of custom Ruffin Johnson folders and a couple of William Henry folders..

[stingerjg]

Like Nemo i started with the Swiss Army knife when i was a kid. My family used to camp alot when i was young, that ment i could carry my knife in a sheath wherever i went. I eventually added one with a 2.5" saw so i could cut down the large trees in the forest for firewood. To this day i still carry it in my truck.

My first folding knife was a Spyderco Delica. I had that thing for years, till i sold it or the tip broke off. I then got my first Benchmade. Then the second, third, and ...........

I now have about 7 Benchmades from small folders, Balisongs, to a few fixed blades. The ones with the Axis lock are my favorite. I also have a few CRKT knives and a Spyderco Jess Horn Lightweight.

I always carry some sort of knife. Usually a Benchmade. When at work or on the range i somtimes carry two and multi tool.

[jessej]

I used to have a nice collection of butterfly knives as a kid. I can open one 6 different ways. Over the years I've somehow lost them all but one. Mostly lent to friends that got them confiscated. Now I only have my trusty Emerson Commander and Raven.

[AikiDale]

I have two groups of knives. The one's that lay in the book case from Randall and Cold Steel and the 2003 FGN RO knife. The second group is the carry knives. Leatherman Micro on my key chain and a Buck 110 in my pocket.

[1911user]

My father and grandfather had the typical 3-blade stockman type knives. I had one of those in my teen years and rebuilt a POS 5 inch, fixed blade, combat/camping knife with new handles and a sheath. I still have it around somewhere.

During college, I had a mix of smaller swiss army knives and a Buck 110. I lost the small knives, but the 110 is in a box somewhere probably with the POS combat/camping knife.

In 1991, I discovered the Spyderco Delica and Endura. I've since carried a Delica for most of 15 years. I've also had Enduras around but didn't carry them as much due to size. I don't like the new style metal clips on the spyderco knives, so I'm constantly on the lookout for older model endura and delicas for sale; I like the plastic clip and thinner tips. I also have a (Wayne) Goddard Spyderco with a wonderful drop point blade (G10 steel) and that damned metal clip. I've also got another swiss army knife, but it's one of the thick ones so I don't lose it, plus it has scissors.

I've had a leatherman wave for several years and am very pleased with it. The small screwdrivers fit adjustable sight screws pretty well and it has scissors also

[Wakal]

Folding knives such as the Buck 110 in belt sheaths were considered standard, growing up in Minnesota. That was how you could tell the townies from the farm kids in school Ah, back in the day when kids could carry knives in school without SWAT being called...I remember doing my first stock work in wood shop, now that I think about it, but that is another thread.

Switched to carrying a butterfly knife in the pen-pencil pocket of my BDU's and a Swiss Army "Hunter" in a belt sheath, when I joined the service. Traded the Swiss jobbie for a Leatherman, when I managed to snag a then-newfangled one while working with EOD. Upgraded to a Super Leatherman (which I still carry in uniform), when they first came out. Traded the venerable butterfly knife (which had got me arrested...but not charged...twice in my Air Farce career...so far...) for a Benchmade AFCK, and swapped that for a AFCK/Axis in D2 when those came out.

In soft clothes, I usually carry a old Spyderco Calypso. However, I just ordered a Classic Sebenza last week

Alex

[rhino]

My first knife was a Diamond Brand folder I bought on the sly while on a trip to the lumber yard with my dad when I was probably nine or so. It was in the $1 bin, and I'm still not sure how I pulled it off, and $1 plus tax was about all the money I had. It was a fishing knife, with a thin, high carbon steel clip point blade about 3.5-3.75 inches long, and a fish scaler w/ hook disgorger beside it.

Soon after that, it was discovered that I had a knife, and a wickedly sharp one at that. It was summarily confiscated and a war waged over the years where I would find it, swipe it, and get caught and lose it again.

On my 13th birthday, I receive a Wenger "Motorist" Swiss Army Knife from my parents. My mother said, "You can put that in your collection."

I replied, "You don't let me have knives, so I don't have a collection."

That's when the collecting started!

By the time I was in high school, I was never without a knife. I always carried a large folder of some kind in my back pocket next to my wallet for "emergencies" and usually a variety of others in another pocket for utility use. Back then (early 80s) we were in the transition period where the rules were coming into play disallowing students from carrying knives in school. Naturally, the kids who were discreet never had a problem, and those who wore them on their belts or pulled them on other kids in the bathrooms got the disciplinary action.

When cousin of mine sent me his own knife (a balisong handmade from a file), it became my most treasure possession and the knife that was always in my back pocket. That thing took an incredibly wicked edge due to the high carbon content and a very high, flat blade grind. I used to finish sharpening it on a hard, black Arkansas stone and it would shave hair on your face easily without discomfort. Hairs on your arm seemed to leap to their deaths rather than face that edge!

[tightloop]

How many do you have Rhino

[rhino]

How many do you have Rhino

Good question!

The bulk of the collection is mostly "junk" that a high school kid could buy with his lunch money from mail order places. I haven't looked at my whole collection in years, but I'd estimate I have at least a couple of hundred, not counting the multiple SAKs I've lost around the house over the years.

I very rarely buy knives anymore as I am very selective and my $$$ will usually go toward ammo!

[3quartertime]

Cool thread,,,

Lets see,

First knife was probably something my dad gave me when I was waaaaaaaay too young to tote one. ( He gave me a 12ga when I was 5, sold it soon after but it was the thought, RIGHT) My grandpa gave me a cool fixed blade knife/hatchet comb when I was pretty young. The knife was a small bowie design and I taught myself how to throw with that one. Got so good I broke the blade. Wish I would have just put it back. Next one I remember was a Puma lockback that I got for christmas at age 12 or so. Had that till I was in the military. As I recall I was digging silicone off of a relay on Twix's Harley and burnt the tip off. Gave it to my dad later to fix and he lost it. Bought a nice butterfly knife from a store in Jax while in the service. As I was leaving for work one day I was practicing with it and got a pretty nice cut, nice scar. Lost it on a job years ago. Had a really nice lock back case with bone handles and a long thin blade. I really liked the blade design but lost it after a short time and the store couldn't get them anymore.

Got turned on to liner-locks by a fella that I used to work with that began making his own. I've got a few but the one I always carry is a CRKT KISS model with the half serrated blade. Found it next to the creek one day. Recently picked up three more CRKT's in a bulk deal. A ryan, a marzitelli prowler and another KISS. Pretty good knives for the money...

Most of the other blades are just cheapo novelty stuff...

[tightloop]

I used to have 25 or so but have pared it down to about 10 now...mostly in the Gent folder category but have a few everyday folders like the Benchmade stuff...

[lynn jones]

well as you know the first hit..hmmm knife is free, then the monkey jumps on your back as you know. the collection is deep. i have posted my pics will do again if you want to see all 150.

lynn

[rhino]

I posted what I currently carry in the "what's in your pockets" topic, but I'll repeat it here.

My usual carry knives:

Cold Steel Large Voyager, clip point, plain edge

Cold Steel X-Large Voyager, clip point, plain edge

CRKT M21 (the big'n, of course), plain edge

Victorinox Explorer SAK

Leatherman SuperTool

No, they don't rotate ... that's what I actually carry. You never know when you might need a ... knife.

[MBaneACP]

Strange story...in my impetuous youth growing up in Memphis in the 1950s, my grandfather owned a drugstore in a good neighborhood going bad. Jerry Lee Lewis hung out there. Enought said! I didn't realize it at the time, but the way you maintain a DRUGSTORE in a war zone was to be the baddest dogs on the block. My grandfather's "delivery boy" was a local legend, a very hard man who carried a straight razor and a hooked-bill linoleum knife. When I was about 12 or 13, he asked my grandfather for permission to "show me a couple of things" on knives so I'd be ready for high school. Yeah, right. i was the only kid at my school who NEVER got hazed.

Never been without a knife since (and my first "sensi" taught me well!). I love Bali-Songs and I've got a bunch of them (including one Benchmade wanted back for their "museum"), but local laws pretty much rule them out for regular carry. Daily carry knife is an aging Benchmade Emerson copy. I'm also fond of Delicas and the Mike Janich designed neck knife from Spyderco.

I've been lucky enough to study with Dan Inosanto and Mike Janich, but I still have a weird affinity for straight razors--as my first sensi said, "Cut you before you know you cut; kills you before you know you dead." He diudn't believe you should cut a woman; one killed him.

Michael B

[Sam]

Lot's of lessons in that post Micheal.

Memphis! 10-O-C.

[tightloop]

Women and kids will kill you just as dead as a man will..

[rhino]

I wasn't impressed by Janich (through his writing, photos, etc. in magazines) untill I saw him on "Shooting Gallery." Now I am very impressed.

So many of the "knife guys" are goobers in real life that it's tough to know them from the competent people unless you meet them in person. Bane finally did something good by having Mr. Janich on his show!

Now ... if only he'd see the light and make me the permanent co-host ...

[rhino]

Oh ... some more blade evolution on my part.

I had to switch back to my Outdoor Edge Magna in my right pocket from the CRKT M21 I got to replace it. I was retouching the edge on the M21 this weekend, when I found I couldn't get it "sharp" anymore. It's not worn too much (where the edge would be too thick), so I suspect the heat treatment did not go deep enough into the steel.

I wanted to retire the Magna because it's an awesome knife that can't be replaced, but it's back in action until it gets replaced by something suitable.