I have been called hard to shop for, and that goes double when you are limited to a budget. That being said Sarah always does well when it comes to getting me something. I drop a ton of hints, and sometimes I can be a 'pain in the butt' with all the hints. With the move I got most of Sarah's big ticket items before leaving Atlanta. When we hit the week and a half point Sarah looks at me and asks how much I spent on her gifts this year, and continues to tell me she had gotten nothing for me. I said I did not need anything and that I would be happy with socks because mine are getting old.
A couple days later Sarah was snooping on my computer, and I found out after the fact that she was on my amazon account looking at my wish list. She said she opened the wish list and saw what she thought was a good gift for me.
I like knives, and have a small collection that is growing. Sarah got me a really nice knife that I have had my eye on for a while. I decided today that I would write a post highlighting some of my favorite knives and maybe take a picture of as many of them as I can get in a shot so here goes.
First knife I am highlighting is my multi-tool. I carry this tool everywhere I am allowed, and also take it fishing with me. As knives go this has gotten me out of the most pinches weather its pinching barbs in regulated fishing area, or fixing my old bike on the side of the road this is knife has been there. It is a Gerber 01471 suspension pliers, on it is almost everything I need. Pliers, wire cutter, saw, two blades, can and bottle opener, and much more. Sadly the one you see here is my second knife, I lost the first and this was a present from Sarah because she knows how important it can be.
This folding knife has been in my collection for a long time. It is a Sig Sauer which is better known for their guns, but this tactical knife has been my favorite for years. I bought this knife, but used some money from a gift card my uncle gave me so it too was a gift. Most people see knives as weapons or get scared when I say I collect knives, but the truth is I see them as tools. This knife has been used as a steak knife, spatula, stirring stick, branch cutter, screw driver and countless other things. It was my survival knife for years, but now I carry it as a back up survival knife.
The reason my Sig Sauer knife is now only a back up survival knife is because of this guy. This is a Gerber LMF II survival knife (22-01400) and it is just that a knife built for survival. Four of my groomsmen and I bought this knife before my wedding with a couple of symbolic reasons. We were going to wear it under our tuxes but they are just too big and we thought it might make people mad to wear them on the outside. At the time of the wedding we had a groomsman in Iraq, and two weeks before the wedding I found out my brother (best man) could not make it because he needed to report to Wisconsin for new coast guard post. Anyway both of these guys got this same knife as a gift. Then there was the three groomsmen who bought it as a symbol of the one who could not be there, and this knife is something we all have in common now. It was build for military use, but makes a very useful survival tool. The LMF II can be strapped to a leg, belt or molly system, and it has a built in sharpener in the sheath. There are three holes in the handle so it can be lashed to a stick for self defense, it has a hammer on the end, and a glass punch. This is my primary belt knife when I hike and yes it is heavy but if I was to be stranded somewhere it would be worth its weight in gold.
So Christmas morning this year, Sarah tosses me a gift. As I was catching it I knew it was a knife, because a knife in a knife box is something that has a very distinct feel, sound, and shape to it. When the paper came off I saw the box and the letters CRKT, and judging by the size and weight I knew exactly what I was about to see. It is a CRKT(Columbia River Knife and Tool) M16-14ZSF, which according to my lovely wife was at the top of my amazon wish list. I have no real review for it as of yet, but it is very sharp out of the box as CRKT tends to be, and that it is well constructed. It came with an extra pocket clip and the wrench to fit the screws.
There are a couple reasons this knife was even on my amazon wish list. First is the look, it just looks cool and as shallow as that seems sometimes a look will do it for me(in the world of knives). Next is the brand I have read only good things about CRKT and I am starting to understand why.
As far as looks go this knife has every thing working for it. From the tan handle with the large holes, to the flat silver tanto blade. The pocket clip can be put on any one of four different positions, and then there is the part that is both function and style, the flippers. These two flippers make opening this knife so easy it is not funny, but very serious. The same flippers that help in the opening of the knife also turn into a hand guard so that you do not slip off the handle if you need to apply force to a forward motion.
Lastly the knife have a great locking system, it has an inside lock that only operates when you move this red pin on the top of the knife. With about a day worth of practice I was able to master the this locking system and even close the knife with one hand.
So once again my wife came through with a great gift, and I think she knows that if she can find nothing else for me at Christmas time she can always go to the "go to gift" and get me a nice knife. Sorry this has been a lot of reading, and if you are a knife person this really has not been very informative but if you are not I hope my views, passion, and respect for knives and all they can do for us has shown through. I will leave this post with one last thing, a picture of just part of my collection. These are the knives I wrangled up for the photo shoot, and when I am running short for post ideas in the future I will show off more of my collection.
-Bruce
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