A little story for ya'll.

[IzzyJG99]

I thought I'd share this with you guys. I figured those of you who frequent the collectors forum would find this story neat.

Many years ago when I was going to go for my first camping trip with a school group I needed a new sleeping bag. It was winter at the time and for Florida it was going to be fairly cold. So my Mother (I was 7) took me to Wal-Mart to get a heavier duty sleeping bag. Naturally being a young boy I wanted to get a new knife to bring along with me camping. Up until then my Mother didn't like to buy me knives, but she indulged me.

But as we all know we lose knives over time. I last recalled seeing it in a tackle box, all black and tarnished somewhere around the time I started the 7th grade.

I didn't really realize how important that knife was until I got much older. I'm 26 now. Still young, but a veteran to knives. All I knew about the knife was it had blade, awl, can opener and bottle opener with metal ends (bolsters, I guess) and plastic faux wood handles for scales. Your typical "scout" or "camp knife." I wanted to find out what model and make it was and get another to remind me of the first knife my Mother bought me. Of course the description is quite wide. All I had to go on was it was a Schrade, or so I believed it to be. So I started to search last year.

Basically I just looked all over eBay. Sometime last year I found it. Brand new. In the package still. Even older than the one I had. Mine was early 90's. This one was late 80's. Even better. I had to get it. As a collection piece that had significance. The knife? Imperial Schrade "Kamp King." The price? $4.99.



They don't make them like that anymore, sadly.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this story. I felt like sharing.

[Chain Gang]

Great story.I think we all had a knife like that at one time or another.Like yours mine ended up in a tackle box and after some time it was pretty much unrecognizable as a knife.Thanks for sharing.

[THE_LONGBOW]

Thanks for sharing your story. I think back to some of the knives I had when I was young and wish I had not lost them.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's great to have that first knife- it's like your first car or your first love- you never forget them.  For me it was a Vic Camper, Pontiac Firebird and Jennifer.  I still have the knife, the car was scrapped when the engine exploded and Jennifer has two kids with her funny looking husband!  Good thing the kids took after her! 

Any idea what may have happened to the original?

Def

[MultiMat]

Great find mate & a pretty sweat price as well  .

My first knife was a Pioneer SAK , I still have it , minus it's blade tip  . I nabbed a new Pioneer a year ago or so & have a NEW old stock Pioneer on the way  .

Good on ya mum as well mate 

[IzzyJG99]

It's great to have that first knife- it's like your first car or your first love- you never forget them.  For me it was a Vic Camper, Pontiac Firebird and Jennifer.  I still have the knife, the car was scrapped when the engine exploded and Jennifer has two kids with her funny looking husband!  Good thing the kids took after her! 

Any idea what may have happened to the original?

Def

I'm pretty sure it got thrown out either because it had gotten "rusty" (ie. That black....alien rust of unknown origins) or when I tossed out an older tackle box it went with it.

[2xTap]

Izzy,

Great story bud, and glad you found one like your original. Excellent knife and you stole it at that money. Funny too, as I collect Scout/Camper pattern knives and own many but in my youth, unlike many, the Scout pattern wasn't one I had. Glad I still have my first two original pocketknives from when I was young. I've lost quite a few from back then but the two most important ones I still have.

Thanks for sharing.

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[IzzyJG99]

What struck me most about this particular knife was the quality. Here is a knife that at the time cost only maybe $10 brand new and the quality was superb. Comparing it now to what you would buy at Wal-Mart for a comparable (adjusted for inflation) knife (Made in China) was like night and day.

I pick this up and I can just FEEL the quality and I can say to myself "If I have this....I feel safe."

Even with the plastic faux black wood scales and the die cast somewhat metal bolsters it still has brass liners, tight springs, quality where it matters.

It certainly makes me reflect on the state of the "common pocket knife" quality one gets now a days. Which I am sure many of us have noticed.

[Chako]

That was a great story. Here is my first knife.



It is a Stag Ireland camper that my father bought me when I was 6 or 7 years old. The story behind this is much like yours. We were camping for the summer in Northern Ontario and my father thought it would be a grand idea to get me a camping knife. I do recall my mother being a bit reticent, but I was all for it as I wanted a knife like my dad carried at all times.  I remember using this knife to eat with for a few weeks straight when I first got it. It was my constant companion all that summer. It is a wonder I never lost it.

Then like all things, it got misplaced and mostly forgotten until a few years ago when I was digging into some old storage boxes. By this time, I was now collecting MTs and SAKs, and was overjoyed to see the knife again. I was sure it was long gone and lost. Plenty of good memories tied into that cheap knife.

As for quality, It doesn't have much of that. My father wasn't about to waste a good knife on his son. It did however show him that I could take care and use one safely. Meaning that my the time I reached 13 years old, I got a real nice knife that was very much like his. I still have that one also.

[2xTap]

Even with the plastic faux black wood scales and the die cast somewhat metal bolsters it still has brass liners, tight springs, quality where it matters.

It certainly makes me reflect on the state of the "common pocket knife" quality one gets now a days. Which I am sure many of us have noticed.

There is still some top quality pocketknives made today, some that equal and even rival those made just a few decades ago. It's just that nowadays there isn't as many companies making them.

Been alot of us on other forums hounding GEC to make a classic Scout/Camper pattern, as they harken to the past for their patterns and go with some classic ones.....it is hoped that one of these will be coming. If so, it'll be one of the best made.

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