What knives do you/have you given as gifts?

Hashishiin

Hashishiin

Joined
Dec 29, 2021
Messages
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And if so, do you know if they are used and appreciated? Or not, perhaps abused and appreciated? Or maybe just unused and unappreciated, as told here with one poor guy who gave his friend a Leatherman Wave+ for Christmas, came to his house the following year to help him put something together and found the LM, still unopened, at the bottom of a bucket filled with parts, trash and general detritus. I personally have not given a whole bunch, but my capacity to give, especially quality, is increasing.

The first knife I got that was intentioned for someone else when I first got into knives, was a plastic-scaled, assisted, two-for-one flipper stiletto of 4" (Delta Defender Stiletto in case you are curious), for my girlfriend, for defense, before I knew anything at all about it. I think I knew I was making a mistake as I purchased a bunch of crappy knives for 100 bucks. I did not end up giving her that knife, as one of the two I got immediately failed upon flipping, the liner slipped to the other side and the knife slipped impotently to my fingers. Yeah, I knew I had made a mistake. Very shortly after that, I got an Opinel no. 8 as a Christmas gift from my girlfriend. discovered the joys of Opinel, Douk-Douks, Higonokami, Mercators... and acted accordingly.

She is very nature-oriented and as such, I got her an Opinel no. 8, mushroom slicing knife, and had it engraved as "Name's Shroom Slicer". I also got her a large Higonokami, which I thought would be right up her alley, but she did not carry as much as I expected. I think this was because of the slow action. She just seemed to be preferring the RAT2 in AUS-8 that I gave her after I got my white scales and black D2 bladed beautiful one. But, as I was getting into nicer knives and Spydercos in the months after that, I decided she should have something better. Got her a Spyderco Sage 5, the minty one with CPM-M4, and that was a hit. That is now her daily-use work knife.

I gave her younger brother a Cold Steel Kudu, the one with the ratcheting lock, for his birthday, and he seemed quite pleased. I think that was a good choice - it was between that and an Imperial slippie, and this one was more fun for him for sure. Besides, that Imperial slippie is terrible, an awful example of bad Chinese slippies, the answer to the question "How bad can a slipjoint be?".

I gave my mother a beautiful walnut handled no. 6 for her birthday. She loves that, glad I was able to get her a useful lil knife and get her into the idea of using and carrying one!

How about you guys?
 
Let's see...
A few bugouts, mostly mini-CF elite ones (since I prefer it and its my gift so I can pick lol)
A pile of Moras (probably close to 25 at this point), mostly the robust with its indestructible build
A pile of SAK. Most recent one was a nailclipper one for a buddy of mine. He uses it for fishing camping trips
3-4 Kershaw blurs, I think it's a great starter knife so I give them away
A few bucks, most recent one was a micarta 112 in S30V. Once again, great starter knives
Pm2, manix s110v both retirement gifts (different people lol)
A pile of old Shun kitchen knives...enough to build a few sets at this point
ALOT of old school slipjoints I restore for fun and give away...I enjoy it
A bunch of different CiWEvis, because I get tired of people complaining of Chinese quality. Mostly Elementums and Banters
....

Given away a couple of random knives such as grips, tenacious, polestar, leathermens, etc. Ya know, the classic gateway dru- I mean knives.

Cheers
 
I've given a lot of knives away as gifts and will continue to do so, for friends and family. The latest I gave away were a Cudeman Marinera and a Civivi Baby Banter.

It's important to not just give away knives, but to also tailor your choice for the person receiving them, if you want them to have a better chance of being appreciated. I wouldn't recommend giving a Ka-Bar BK-2 to a hiker who likes to carry ultra-light gear or a CRKT Provoke to a hunter who would love a new skinner.
 
I don't give away a lot of knives; but the ones I do give away - for the most part - are appreciated & used.
To keep it simple, I'll restrict this to the past 5 years: Spyderco Positron, southern Grind Spider Monkey, Spyderco Mantra 2 (with Purple CeraKote handle), Spyderco Delica 4 (under-appreciated, virtually unused), Kershaw Leek, DLT SFO Buck 501.
There were a couple of fixed blades in there, too; but I don't recall the details at this moment
 
My cousin lives alone in Chicago and I've given him quite a few. Kershaw leek about ten years ago. The last several years I've given him one for his birthday and maybe Christmas. Kershaw Launch 8, a Hogue Deka wharncliffe, and an engraved Victorinox super tinker.

My dad I've given a few. An engraved Case golf knife for my wedding in 2015, a Lionsteel opera cocobolo (forgot about it until recently) and his favorite, last year for Christmas, a Kershaw Launch 8. They are all mine now unfortunately.

Gave a friend's kid an Esee zancudo for high school graduation.

Gave my cousin-in-law a Kershaw Emerson which I nearly lost part of my right middle finger to.

Other cousins a waved Endura and a Blur I bieve.

Lots of SAKs.
 
The most recent ones have been a blue Cold Steel Tuff Lite for my buddy because he had no knives other than kitchen knives. Says he uses it often. Gave my mother a CS Khan a few months ago to replace the SOG Flash tanto she picked out at SMKW 18 years ago and misplaced. She likes tanto folders.
 
I have given a few knives to my wife. Or perhaps I should say, she has taken possession of them. But there was one custom model I gave her that was my idea, based on extensive knowledge of what she likes and what she has problems with. She carries and uses it.

Update: My wife had a plant that was root bound in a heavy plastic pot about a foot high and wide. She was trying to cut the pot open with an old bread knife that appeared never to have been sharpened. Not making much progress. I said I could cut the pot in 5 or 10 seconds with a reciprocating saw, but she was worried the saw might damage the plant. So I went and got my Cold Steel with a stupid name and 5 inches of recently sharpened 3V. She finished cutting with the knife, maybe faster than the saw would have been. I declined to let her keep the knife, but I ordered two Mora Stainless Companions to give her for gardening.
 
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I've given away quite a few knives over the years. Admittedly nothing too expensive.

SAK Classics. I find even "non-knife" people will put them on their keychain. Handy to have.
Folder : Rat 1 or 2 in D2.
Fixed: Mora of some type.

I also like to gift keychain flashlights too.
 
Sonnydaze said:
$3000 worth to my sons and family.
About $2500 to law enforcement and/or deployed military.
Maybe $1000 to friends, etc.
Pretty well out of knives and money now, but older than hell and satisfied.
Click to expand...
You are the man! This is the way.
Dergyll Dergyll and K.O.D. K.O.D. you guys are doing it up really, really nice, too, as well as the rest of you, must have happy friends and fam!
Mora, SAK, RAT... awesome ideas for cheaper knife gifts all around.
T The Grendels good point on right choice for the right person, too. Important to getting one to use and realize the use of knives.
 
I get to be sort of adopted "wilderness uncle" for a few friends, so their kids will get knives when I get a chance to hang out with them at some point. I generally give knives when someone is asking for advice or has a need they want to fill and I think I know the right thing, with the knowledge to both parties that I'm not expecting it to be the perfect knife, and if they find a better one, they should get it, but the gift is more about what they will learn in the process.
 
I gave one shooting buddy a Cold Steel neck knife.
Another longtime friend got an Olamic Wayfarer 247.
I gave my Son and his Bride an Olamic Wayfarer and Busker (him), and a Spyderco ManBug (her)
My Missus got a Dragonfly, and a couple of old pocketknives from my Gramma Denman.
 
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I've given away several, mostly to co-workers and employees. People who needed a knife for work but had no idea of what "quality" meant in regards to knives, and who wouldn't buy themselves anything more expensive than a gas station folder.

My rule for gifting knives to those people was to only give knives under $100. For under $100 I could give a person a very decent knife that could serve them well throughout their lifetime. But at the same time, I didn't have to worry that I spent big bucks on a knife that they might lose, or unintentionally destroy, or trade someone for a case of beer. The knives I've gifted to such people include Gerber, Buck, Spyderco, Benchmade, and maybe others that I can't remember.

By gifting what I considered "inexpensive" knives I also avoided any awkwardness that might arise if the recipient looked up the knife online and discovered how much they cost. The fact is, to avoid awkwardness, I've never let the recipient of a gifted knife know that I bought it for them. Instead, I'd tell them something like I found it and had no use for it, or that it was an old knife that I no longer had a use for. I've learned that when people find out that you BOUGHT them a gift that they often feel obligated to then buy you one in return. Or they felt awkward accepting the gift knowing that they could not afford to buy one in return. But by telling them I found it, or that they would actually be doing me a favor by taking it off my hands, all they felt was joy and appreciation.

And that joy was a gift to myself. It really is a nice seeing the reaction of people when they receive their very first QUALITY knife. To some on this forum a sub-$100 knife might not seem like a big deal, but to people only used to gas station knives, who can't afford to pay $50 or more because they have bills to pay and mouths to feed, a $50 knife, or something a little more expensive can be a great treasure. I've seen that reaction several times. And what a great feeling it is, a month or so later, to see that same knife all scuffed up from being used.

I've never gifted a knife to another Knife Knut, because all the ones I've known personally were capable of buying their own.

The only knife I've ever given to a family member is the Kershaw 5200 pictured below that I gave my father back in 1989. Again, I didn't tell him I bought it, he wouldn't have liked the idea of me spending money on a gift for him. He wasn't into knives or outdoors activities, and I didn't actually think he would ever use it. But I found it in one of his drawers after he died, scratched up, with the blade covered in tape residue and other crud. That made me happy. Now I carry it as my "public friendly" knife.

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I've given away so many knives over the years. I enjoy making friends and family happy. I've given my son, who is now 18 and not really into knives, a couple Microtech otf's, a couple zt's and Kershaws. I've given my daughter, who is 24 and loves knives, several Spyderco's, pink Kershaws both regular and damascus. I've given her boyfriend, my future son in law, more knives than I can count. He's really into them and only had cheapo flea market variety before I started hooking him up with many nice ones along with a knife case to keep them in. He's in college and can't afford all of the stuff I've given him and his dad is a sorry bum that does nothing for him. Then all the other friends and family and friends kids etc. Shoot my nephew was in town last summer and was admiring my inverter generators I got at good prices from the auction, still new. I gave him a real nice Champion 4300 watt inverter generator. He was so so happy lol. That kind of stuff gives me more joy than when I get it for myself.
 
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