I’ve always liked knives, though it wasn’t something I ever really thought much about. I never consciously set out to build a knife collection, but ever since my grandfather gave me my first knife- a Buck 55 imitation- I have been easily fascinated them. They’re “easy to get your hands on,” so to speak, but I’ve also found them powerfully evocative of different environments and activities, and many of the knives I have owned have been acquired before I ever engaged in the uses for which I intended them, often making them the first realizations of my dreams afield.
Before I ever took any serious game I had bought what is now my oldest knife, a Ka-Bar Little Finn. The first time I used it was to help my Uncle Joe process the button buck that was the first deer I ever killed. By the time I would use it again it had become backup to several more specialized knives, but when I got it, I still had no serious plans for hunting. I was just getting back into fishing and thought maybe one day, I would use that knife in any number of sporting activities. Eventually I did.
I hadn’t really gotten into Every Day Carry yet, but I did want something a little more utilitarian and substantial to use as a camp knife. This led me to my first Morakniv, the Companion. I use it for basic camp tasks and very light bushcraft to this day. That knife is so well made an economical that I was stunned when I got it. It is simple, and made from inexpensive materials, but clearly made with thought and care. Having found such a perfect camp knife really started me down the path of trying to find the right knife for different situations.
When I was young, I had a CRKT M16 folding knife that was my first real exposure to modern folders, but I never carried it regularly and it was another of many I would lose. However for a long time, I thought of CRKT knives as top notch. After I got back into fishing, but before I really got into hunting, I started to run into enough situations where having a knife handy would have really been useful and so I decided it was time to pick up a pocket knife. At the time I wanted something gentlemanly and unassuming, so I settled on a CRKT Quill, a cute little folding knife that I only had a short time. When I finally started hunting as an adult, and focusing on birds, I got a CRKT Bird and Trout knife from my parents for Christmas that I have used for several years now on all manner of birds and small game.
Eventually, when I started to get seriously into deer hunting, I decided to get something better suited to the task, and something of heirloom quality. I settled on the Buck Vanguard. I liked the size and basic look, but it still wasn’t exactly an educated selection. It has turned out to be a lucky choice. I knew Buck knives were considered nice, and I wanted something made in America. I wanted to have a nice knife, but I’m generally very careful with small, expensive gear that can be easily lost or stolen, and so I really only carry it when I am actively deer hunting.
Though I don’t lose things regularly, I’m wary of losing knives, just out of experience. Knives seem more prone to getting lost because the circumstances when using a knife , especially for outdoor recreation, are often less routine and controlled. I lost the first EDC that I started to carry almost immediately when I left it in a hotel room as I moved back from Boston to Baltimore. I lost my second EDC years later on Janes Island in Maryland while on a crabbing picnic with my family. I lost the special floating Morakniv I bought to carry in the Boundary Waters on a portage on the second day of my trip, and ended up using my folding fillet knife, as the only one I had, for its remainder.
Over the years I acquired an array of specialty knives, first the Havalon Piranta, a replaceable-scalpel knife for field dressing, then boning knives for processing deer, a folding fillet knife, and many other fillet and oyster knives. I prefer to carry as few as possible, but I try to have the right knife for the job if I’m planning to do something. I do like to dream on the frictionless plane where my “one-true-knife” does it all with ease, but in reality I know that there are trade-offs that make different tools better suited to different tasks in different conditions.
When considering what I would get as a replacement for my third EDC if it was truly missing, I came across Opinel knives. The backstory was intriguing and the knives were affordable, so I found one that seemed to suit my needs and aesthetics and got a No8 in Stainless steel. I got one painted green because it seemed like a folksy way to have dressed up a simple knife, and was immediately taken with the elegance and quality of the design. It felt like the perfect knife to carry hiking or backpacking, when food prep would likely be its primary duty, but it could easily be called upon to dress the odd bird or fillet a small trout in the backcountry. Holding it, even now, fills me with a desire to make that dream come true.
Over the years I have built a small, utilitarian collection. Of course I could get by with one or two trusted, versatile knives, but I always seem to want just the right tool for the job, and so far I’ve never regretted buying any of the knives I own. Many of them are powerful mementos of glorious days outdoors.