What is Your Most Sentimental Knife/Knives?

[Flexxx]

I really like the blade profile on allot of the ESEE knives but have always backed out because of the handle. It just looks too......Square to be comfortable. When its in hand does it feel natural or does it feel a bit blocky.

They feel awesome in the hand IMO.

 

[clich]

The buck 119 my dad gave me, that my grandfather (my moms dad) gave to him that he got in nam. That and my bk10 i got from knife rights with the box and note signed by Ethan. Those mean the most. Oh and the Ah-1 that gundude sent me

 

[Nsvens89]

Thanks for sharing guys I really appreciate it!

Here are some more...

Top to bottom: same Honk Falls serpentine jack, Uncle Henry stockman my granddad carried, a Boker one-handed-opener that was my father's, a Boker that was my first knife, and a Ka-Bar that I always associate with my father's tackle box.

Guyon I love those Bokers that one handed opener is a nice looking knife.

For me it would have to be my dads old yellow case trapper. He died in September and that was the knife he always carried. It saw years of work when his mind was clear and quite a bit of abuse when it wasn't. Still, him and that knife is what gave me the love I have for knives so it will always be precious to me. It's the 3rd one down in the pic.

Liveitloud I really like the color on your dads trapper and you can tell its seen some good use form that patina.

In 1977 my fiance and I were struggling college students, squeezing every penny to cover our college costs and put money aside for our wedding. One Saturday I dragged her to a gun show at the old Masonic Auditorium in Toledo, OH and she played the good girlfriend, pretending to be interested in all the guns and knives I was pointing out. I passed one guy's table a few times and admired the Case bowie knife he had for sale. I really liked it but it was way more than I could afford at something like $40. My sweetie excused herself saying she had to go to the restroom and I continued to walk the displays.

After we left the show and were in the car headed back to her house she reached into the back seat and pulled out the Case knife. I was floored! After she left me to 'go to the restroom' she circled back around to the dealer, bought the knife and took it out to the car. She was proud when she told me she talked the dealer down to $37.

This is one knife I'll never get rid of.

That's a great story for great looking knife. Gifts like that mean that much more when you know that the person who got them for you stretched to do so.

Top one is a Morseth blade. Grandpa made the handle from cocobolo and aluminum.

Bottom one he made from 440c, micarta with phenolic, and brass

Very nice looking blades, your grandfather had some serious skills.

I got this knife February 14th, 1992 at the RAF Bentwaters Air Force base in England at the ripe old age of 11. (After doing some quick math I think it might have actually been 1993.) My father and I were at one of the shops on base and he was getting some stuff for my mom for Valentines Day. I had a penchant for saving my allowance for these days we visited this shop, and I remember that originally I had set out to get a new Lego set. The one I wanted they didn't have in stock though, and back then there wasn't much of a call for ordering stuff, so if they didn't have it, you pretty much didn't get it until they did, or you found it someplace else.

I remember that I was a little distraught at not finding the Lego set I wanted, but then after some wandering around I found a small section with some knives on the wall, and was incredibly intrigued by them. Would my dad let me get one? Only one way to find out... I asked my dad if I could get one, and he told me that he didn't have a problem with that, provided I took care of it and was very careful with it. (How different life was back then.) He then mentioned to me that there were other knives for sale in a different area of the shop. I saw this one and was immediately smitten with it. He tried to convince me to get the pilot version as it came with a whetstone, but I wasn't having any of that, and after some further deliberation and the realization that this wouldn't wipe out all the allowance I had saved, I bit the bullet, and purchased my first knife.

Several years went by at this point, and after it was all said and done, this and a stuffed animal I got the same day were the only things I had. I gave my new baby brother the stuffed animal a year ago right after he was born, leaving this, and only this, as my oldest possession, and the dearest. My parents divorced a few short years after I got this knife, and my mother's choice in men was, at the time, less than perfect. Her second husband was fairly abusive, and there were times at night when I worried when the next altercation would happen. This knife was near me almost permanently during those times, mostly outside, but at night, it lived under my pillow, just in case. I think that it was my security blanket for the longest time, and honestly, having it around me constantly probably stopped more fights than anything. There were some good times though, and where we lived in Arkansas was an outdoor paradise. Our back lot was filled with woods, and extended for quite some ways. My step-father's parents owned the next couple of lots over, so the woods seemed endless, and I was given free reign to do as I wished. I stayed outside to avoid him, but despite that I truly treasured my time outside there.

I made many shelters using that knife and that knife alone to fell many trees (back before I knew anything about preservation or that maybe I shouldn't just cut down every tree in sight) but thankfully due to the understanding of the limitations of the knife, most of the stuff cut down was fairly small and not missed. I made a bridge that spanned a creek between the lots that was easily 14 feet wide, and it was a sturdy and well built bridge. I made many hidden lean-tos that later became some great shelters for paintball, and those were times well remembered. Outside, in my dad's old BDU's, wearing a pair of his old issue boots, sleeping under the stars and just loving the outdoors.

After my mom had the good sense to leave, I moved several times, bouncing back and forth between her house (where ever it happened to be at any given time) and my dad's, and in the process lost or misplaced or just plain discarded almost every thing I owned. Stupid on my part I suppose, but looking back, I cannot think of anything else that I really treasured. This knife was, at the end of it all, the only thing that mattered. It was my safety, my tool, and the one thing that never let me down. Years of what I would now consider abuse saw only mild damage to the knife, a slight loosening of the pin that holds the tang in place.

Last year, during a particularly emotional time with my fiancee's son, I gave him this knife. I showed him how sharp it was after over 18 years of ownership, and never had I seen someone so impressed. I showed him how it would shave arm hair, and during the process managed to slice a hair in half lengthwise. His jaw dropped. I then showed him the scar on my left arm, and explained that doing the shaving my arm hair thing is what had earned me that scar, in a rare moment of not respecting the knife as I should have. He understood. It was then that I gave him the knife, and I thought it was a fitting gift for earning his tote'em chit in Boy Scouts. I would catch him just holding it, looking at it, always with a look of awe and reverence.

He took it out a couple months after I gave it to him and for the first time in over 8 years gave her a taste of some work. She isn't as sharp now, and there are a couple of rolls on the sharpened swedge on the back that I steeled out (for the most part), but every now and then I will see him at his desk, hunched over it with a ceramic rod I gave him, doing his best to get it back to razor sharpness. I try to help him sometimes, but mostly I let him learn for himself as he forges that bond with the knife.

I have since gotten him a BK11, and a very nice SAK that he doesn't seem too fond of, but he is getting a new folder for Christmas that he picked out but thinks I forgot about. He has some other junky pocket knives, gas station deals and whatnot, but he is learning.

So that is, or rather was, the knife that held the most sentimental value for me.

Derek I can say I truly feel honored that you shared this amazing story with us. I hope your fiances son treasures that knife. From the sounds of it you are teaching him right. Thank you.

Circa 1989 Camillus which has been through everything but an actual battlefield.

Circa 2000 Camillus BK-5 which has slaughtered and butchered possibly hundreds of cattle, hogs, deer, goats, and even a few large catfish. It's even been used as a machete more than once too.

H.I. Super CAK, as I call it the WW3 Model, because it's the only one of it's kind and I was destined to have it.

Wolf Very nice knives and that's a fine looking 1911! Yet another five popping up, I think that is fate telling me I need to get my hands on one soon

 

[NixKustoms]

I wish I had some sweet old knife that I could say that I got from my father, and he got it from his father, and so on, but I don't. I guess I'm first generation knife nut.

That said; the knife I treasure most is my Cam BK77.

 

[Nsvens89]

I wish I had some sweet old knife that I could say that I got from my father, and he got it from his father, and so on, but I don't. I guess I'm first generation knife nut.

That said; the knife I treasure most is my Cam BK77.

Nice looking knife MWTIC, So do you notice a big difference in the blades performance as far as the difference in the steel? As far as being a first generation knife nut that 77 would be one hell of a blade to pass down. Might want to hang on to that one!

 

[Captain Airyca]

I'm in a similar boat to MWTIC, where I haven't really had a hand me down knife that is part of the family or anything. The most sentimental knife I own right now is definitely my bk11. I got it from my good bro OREGON FAL'ER for a birthday/graduation/whatever else was going on I can't remember present. I've never really received a tool like that from anyone so it is very special to me, and of course gets lots of use. I'd like to think that my 11 and some of the other knifes and things I've acquired will be able to be passed down through my family once I get to that point. That little knife of course got me hooked on becker and I am thankful for it

I am also insanely attached to my bk9 and 10.

 

[Nsvens89]

I'm in a similar boat to MWTIC, where I haven't really had a hand me down knife that is part of the family or anything. The most sentimental knife I own right now is definitely my bk11. I got it from my good bro OREGON FAL'ER for a birthday/graduation/whatever else was going on I can't remember present. I've never really received a tool like that from anyone so it is very special to me, and of course gets lots of use. I'd like to think that my 11 and some of the other knifes and things I've acquired will be able to be passed down through my family once I get to that point. That little knife of course got me hooked on becker and I am thankful for it

I am also insanely attached to my bk9 and 10.

Thanks for sharing! I really like the color of those scales, what type of wood is that? Very nice sheath also.

 

[BRL]

I have a souvenir junk slipjoint that was my great granddad's; I don't think he ever used it. Also a Paki Buck 110 ripoff that was mine when I was a kid that has a bent tip. That's about as close as anything in my collection gets.

My dad always had really small slipjoints that I sorta remember. I'm hoping against hope that I will someday find them somewhere in the mountain of hoarded junk my mom has crammed into two different houses and three different storage units. They're probably there but talk about a needle in a haystack...

Edit: Damn, this reminds me that my mean old Uncle has a german bayonet he got in WWII that he rehandled with a chunk of glass/plexi/whatever that he got from a downed Messerschmidt. I gotta figure out how to get my hands on that without actually telling him I'd like it, because then I'll never see it.

 

[HuntBomb]

DerekH - Great story. Deserves to be well told.

Nsvens89 - I'm also curious about the BK77 steel. Worth the price when compared to 1095 Cro-van?

 

[FCFER]

Great stories here guys. This is what its all about.

I've had many knives through out the years, but only one I have not traded or gave away.
Its an old Western skinner that my Dad gave me when I was 10 or so. Its still in pretty good shape as I hadnt tried digging a hole with it or anything when I was a kid.
Still have it in its original sheath and keep it sharp and clean.
Just last Dove Season I gave it to my 11 year old daughter. Teaching her how to use and care for the knife has been fun! She's dying to hunt rabbit soon. We'll see how she takes to cleaning her first kill.

 

[Murphnuge]

Just off the top of my head I have a couple. My BK10 I packed on my second tour in Iraq and through our fight in Fallujah. It has also been my go to trail knife until I ran into you lot here.

I also hold my great Grandpa's Ka-Bar pocket knife pretty dear. He died awhile back, but I was given the choice out of two he carried daily. I was only around 14 at the time, but something appealed to me about that Ka-Bar. I don't remember what the other was, my cousin has it.

Edit to add : Derek I just went back to read your post, I have a bad habit of just skimming previous posts. I'll admit I just glanced your post the first time. For that I'm sorry, it deserved my full attention.

 

[Groove]

My Great Grandfather's 1950's Wenger SAK.

 

[NixKustoms]

Nice looking knife MWTIC, So do you notice a big difference in the blades performance as far as the difference in the steel? As far as being a first generation knife nut that 77 would be one hell of a blade to pass down. Might want to hang on to that one!

Thanks!!
I think it is a pretty bad a knife. Compared to the 1095 I think it holds a edge a longer, and it might be a little heavier. I feel like the s30v is a harder steel also. I'm not very educated on the on the differences in the steels. That might be something I should do some time.

Yeah my son has already claimed all of my knives. He will someday get the 77, and I already got him a LE BK10. He'll have plenty to play with when the time comes.

Thanks for sharing! I really like the color of those scales, what type of wood is that? Very nice sheath also.

Thanks!!

 

[sar5]

Mine would have to be my first pocket knife. I was either 8 or 10 and we were in Germany. We walked about two miles to a small town in the black forest area and went into a hardware store. My dad looked at all the knives and helped me pick out a blue scale Swiss army knife. He taught me to use it correctly, whittle, etc. While still in Germany my grandmother was having a family get together. I went outside and found a berry bush. A idea popped into my head to smear the berries on the knife and my arm. I went into the house pretending to cry. My mother had a near heart attach, my grandmother close second and my dad laughed knowing what I had done. My knife got taken away for a week, I got whopped, and my dad I'm sure caught he'll from my mom.
I have lost that knife more than anything as a kid. Neighbors would return it to my dad from fence posts, lawns etc. Mumbly peg was the rage. I cherish it more than anything.

The second is the Swiss army knife I had bought my dad when we were in Switzerland about fifteen years ago. My dad carried and used that knife till the day he died.

I still have not had the courage to remove it from his night stand at mom and dads house. Some day, just not yet.

I will post picks when I can.

Thanks for the memories.
R.I.p. Dad

 

[Ethan Becker]

Hey......

Derek, I am never gonna be able to think about you in quite the same way.....What great story.....Thank You....

The knife That has spent the most time on my hip or in the pack has been a Puma "Hunters Friend"......My first one was with me on every adventure from about 1961 to about 1977 when, during a rehafting mod (I really did not like the stag) an idiot I had helping me used the blade to bust up some fertilizer in a bucket and left it there.......I found it months later looking like something that came out of a ship sunk in the 1400's.....It's replacement, now living in a really lovely Gary Brommeland sheath, stayed with me always whenever afield until I started carrying my own steel......A lot of REALLY good memories whenever I see it......

All Best.....

ethan

 

[DerekH]

Hey......

Derek, I am never gonna be able to think about you in quite the same way.....What great story.....Thank You....

The rest of the unwritten story there is pretty good too I think. When the boy signed up for scouts, I figured I needed a new knife for bumming around out in the woods. So, knowing how much I had loved that Camillus knife, I went looking to see what they had nowadays. Sadly I discovered that they were out of business, but one of their subsidiaries had moved on and was being produced by Kabar. They made some sweet black knives, and no one had a bad thing to say about 'em. So after about two weeks of biding my time, I bought the first fixed blade knife I had owned in quite some time. It was full tang, and built like a sharpened prybar. Mostly cause it was; my BK3, the first of many Becker knives.

 

[thatotherguy]

DerekH- Great story, well written, I could imagine the world through your eyes. My F/U lives under my pillow too, and I feel fairly confident with it. Only been there a couple nights, after a fiasco with an armed and dagerous man flashed a gun at a school north of me, they caught him almost in my backyard.
My most sentimental knife is an Uncle Henry mini stockman that my uncle carried for years before he died. RIP Father Bob, you are missed.

(Explaination for the "Father" in his name: He was a priest. He baptized me, fished with me, and wanted to take me to Wyoming to hunt. He never got to. He changed the lives of everyone he met, no one who knew him will ever forget.)

 

[Captain Airyca]

Thanks for sharing! I really like the color of those scales, what type of wood is that? Very nice sheath also.

Scales are cocobolo by crimson falcon, and the sheath is complimentary of Nix leather

 

[Psyop]

I have a Buck 119 that my dad (Col Defender) carried in Vietnam in 67-68 and again in 73. Most of the time after that it lived under his truck seat. Several years ago he gave it to me.
I also have a Gerber LMF 2 that I took to Iraq it served me well.

I have one other knife that is more sentimental but it isnt a story for the internet.

 

[Silverthorn]

Great stories and pics guys.

For me the knife that holds the most sentimental value I sadly no longer own.
It was my grandfathers Case XX 337-6" Quartermaster, and it was stolen from me by a room mate back when I was a younger man.
My grandfather was in his forties when my dad was born, which means by the time that I was old enough to really be interacting with him much he was almost great grandpa age.
He was a tough old man and serious as cancer, even as a kid I half the time I couldn't tell if he liked me or not, and my dad told me it was the same for him as a kid growing up.
Needless to say I was surprised one day that when we were visiting Grandma and Grampa's house, he said hey son come here I want to show you something.
He took me back into his "Junk room" and broke out his old tackle box and sat me down in front of it on the floor with him. I was a bit awestruck because in all the times him and I and my dad had gone fishing together his tackle box was always strictly off limits. He opened it up, pulled out the bottom tray and pulled out this old knife that I had always stared at when he took it out to use.
He told me, this was my knife in the war. I never used it to take a life, but it saved mine once or twice, and I have always kept it close. I think its about time you have it, and maybe you pass it on when its ready.
I was to young to really understand what this was, what he was saying and I was so excited about the knife that nothing else mattered at the time.
It was only later in my life that I realized what it meant,and by then he had passed away and I didn't get to tell him. To this day I still get a lump in my throat thinking about it.
I know that I wont ever really be able to replace it, but looking for one was what led me to the Becker forums. I had owned some Camilus knives from the days when Ethan was there, and had an old Ka-bar that I loved, but didn't really know about Becker until I started looking for a sharpened prybar to replace my grandfathers knife.

Anyway, thank you for your stories, and for reading mine.