I'd warn myself that I'd be moving from town to town quite a bit from 2000-2013, and to be more careful not to lose my first EcoLine Recuit. I probably wouldn't be using it much anymore anyway, but that knife and I spent a lot of time together, and it deserved better than being lost forever.That said, when asked for recommendations for a first Swiss Army Knife, I generally recommend the Huntsman (but I'm a bit biased.)
If I could start from the beginning again, nothing would change in terms of SAKs. Right after my fifth-grade graduation, my Granddad took me to a local cutlery store, and allowed me to choose a knife. Being as, at the time, we got a lot of SMKW catalogs, I loved the SAKs, and was disappointed by the failure of a cheap China-made knockoff when a bushing popped off a pin when whittling. I chose the Fieldmaster; as it was in the budget my Granddad gave me (which, as I recall, was under $50). It is needing some work now, but served me well until relatively recently. It's had a rescale, and the scissors are messed up. I recently changed out to a SilverTech Huntsman and a 1960s 84mm Craftsman. I also discovered an Old Cross Pioneer in an old desk my great-Granddad used when he lived here before his passing in 1993. I love how two-layer 93mms carry, back then, and then now. The Fieldmaster needs to be sent off to Victorinox, as I abused it a lot as a teen. The OC Pioneer is mostly a formal carry for very special occasions; having been replaced by a new silver Pioneer for EDC, and a banged up, slightly newer OC Pioneer for EDC and work. Interestingly enough, something has changed. My grandmother let me buy a Classic SD at Lowe's when I was 12. Hated it, gave it to my great-uncle as I viewed it as way too small to be a "REAL" knife. Now I have close to a dozen 58mm knives, in Alox, horn, and Cellidor, more than half of them Classics or similar. My favorite is a purple Classic SD with a purple and orange paracord lanyard put on by a former owner. The traditional patterns I use are the same--Stockmen and electrician's knives. He gave me a late '70s Schrade USA 34OT I carried until last month, when it was retired. The Colonial Electrician was retired 2-3 years ago when I started accruing several examples of the pattern from various makers. Trappers, folding hunters, and penknives have gotten a lot of my attention as of late. Camillus Cutlery Co. (not the rebranded cheap POS sold by Acme) was still in business in mid-2006, so I wished I'd picked up a few here locally. We had a hardware store, and even the very cutlery store the SAK came from them that sold them. Pliers-based tools is an interesting subject. I didn't have a decent one until I joined this forum. I had an Irish-made Imperial out of the tractor toolbox for many years. It worked OK, better than the cheap stuff, but it wasn't great. I wonder what I'd do if I'd gotten a good one early on? I'd long lusted after the Buck 110 as a teen. Finally inherited my first from my great-uncle in 2015; and now I have 3; with a fourth pending. I'd have loved to have gotten one much earlier. My folks used to always buy me small lockback knives for safety; and I still like buying and carrying these to this date. I have a little Camillus 870 on the way as I speak. Tactical knives were something I absolutely hated, due to Frost Cutlery. Family and friends would give them to me, and the locks would fail, resultling in some nasty cuts. Now, I have Benchmades, Spydercos, Kershaws, CRKT, and Bucks as well as various moderately priced Japan-made knives from the '80s in my arsenal. If someone had given me one of them earlier, even something entry-level like a CRKT, I'm sure things would be much different. Fixed blades. I had an American-made Imperial "boy's knife" my great-Granddad used fishing and hunting, with a custom handle he made to replace the cheap plastic one. My folks didn't allow me to carry them until I turned 18 (which was when I started buying Moras like crazy; something I still do); and my grandmother "confiscated" it not long after I found it in a kitchen drawer when I was 12. Found it in a desk last year, put an edge on it this week, and it's back to use! It's just the right size, and the fish scaler on the spine makes great jimping to get a good grip.
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I'd tell high school me about something called alox, because an electrician would've made a much better work knife than the boat anchor Buck 110 I carried. I'd also convince myself that cellidor wasn't cheap looking sooner than I figured it out on my own.
I'd tell my young self to stick with the Tinker I received for my 13th birthday, don't chase and spend a couple thousand on knives you'll be mostly rid of before you're 40, and pick up a Micra to supplement it when it comes out in a few years. Forget the CS tanto and the crappy Crkt in your late teens. And buy this this thing called Bitcoin as soon as it comes out. As much as you can afford.
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