I Want a Knife....

Good Afternoon, I'm sure most of you are thinking, I've seen at least 4 knife pics in your last few articles.  It's weird, but I've had knives since I was about 9 years old, and not one knife truly fit me well.  My first knife, Black Deer (the sheath had a black deer on it), was a 9" long bladed hunting knife, surface rust and a dull blade.  My father gave it to me, to make us feel safer sleeping in the back room of a shotgun style house.  In an urban environment, the back door isn't where you want your bedroom.  I loved that knife, lost it sometime around high school and haven't looked back much.  It was poor quality stainless steel and I could never get an edge on it.  

In high school I went thru a bunch of Buck, Gerber and Kershaw folding blades.  I never found that just right balance of weight, length, size and cool factor.  Once I got a job, I would buy knifes and give them away after a week, still trying to find that right one.  When I joined the military, the first place I looked was the BX, and there I picked up a Camillus "KaBar" clone.

 I carried that knife on exercises and operations until around 2001. Sometime during that time, I had switched to "High End," at least to me, carry folders like Benchmade's, Spyderco's, and SOG's.  I loved them, but the design flaw in my opinion was they tip up and very heavy.  I couldn't keep one in my pockets for more than a few months, without losing them.  

After 9-11, the deployment tempo surged and I was out the door again to support OPERATION Iraqi Freedom.  Just before I left, my brother gave me a cheap United Cutlery, "Delta Force" Knife.  As dull as every other fixed blade I had owned, but with a mean point.  He told me to to take it, so I can make it home, and I did just that. It sits on my work bench as I write this.  That knife is a family heirloom, and will be

passed to my first grandchild. During the wars, I even got issued a automatic knife, it was a Benchmade, and the hand receipt read $400 in value.  I actually had to surrender that knife in another country, while deployed to defend their freedoms, lol.

Since then, I've switched to small fixed blades for carry use.  I guess I'm clumsy in my old age, but I can deploy them a lot quicker than fumbling with most of the flippers, studs, assists, etc.  For a few years, I carried a Cold Steel Mini-Tac Tanto blade.

 It's a great knife but was not really suited for utility.  It kept it's edge but that blade shape is really meant for fighting.  It wasn't until about a year ago I accepted finally, I'm just going to have to carry two knives.  One for utility and one for fighting.

At the same time I discovered the Karambit, a deadly fighting knife, with practically no utility use.  I began to carry the Karambit, but still needed something for my boxes, sticks, tape and packages.  I decided on a classic, the Victorinox Swiss Army knife.  For the life of me, I can't name which, it's the one with the saw that forgoes the ubiquitous corkscrew.  Found it, it's the "Hiker."  

I use them both, the Karambit to train with and the Swiss Army knife for all other tasks, but there's something inside me still telling me, I want a knife....What's your favorite knife qualities, let me know in the comments?  Cheers