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My first hunting knife

The following photo is of my first hunting knife. I was about 12 years old (memory fails) when I got this one at a store in Harrisburg, PA. It was purchased with coupon dollars that the store gave me when I bought clothing. No manufacturers name is etched on it, but I suspect it may be an Imperial knife. Over the years, I carried it while hunting game, both small and large. I learned the technique of sharpening a blade on it.

I remember loaning it to a friend to gut a buck and he put a dent in the blade. I did grind that dent out, and continued to use this knife for hunting chores. I'm not sure how often it was used on game, large or small, but it was many times for sure. Over the years I aquired other fixed blade knives and this one got retired. Now, it is just a treasured memory.

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Comment by George R Naugle on January 30, 2026 at 17:32: Great deal on your part. Being at the right place at the right time!

Comment by Jack on January 30, 2026 at 17:02: There is an interesting story to go with the purchase of my Randall I often stop at Pawn shops to look for knives. I pulled up next to a minivan and a lady started unloading all types of sporting goods scuba tanks and all the accessories, 2 shotguns a rifle and scope 2 pistols and the Randall. I helped her carry it in and asked if she was pawning it? She said that it is all to sell so i asked her how much for the knife she said 100. I took it out of my wallet and paid her. Her husband got caught parting naked with a group of his friends and female escorts. All his stuff was paying her lawyers retainer.

Comment by George R Naugle on January 30, 2026 at 13:42: I have never been wealthy enough that I felt I could afford a Randall Knife, but one of these days---------

I do have several Puma knives in my collection, including a fixed blade (Buffalo Hunter) and a lockback (Warden).

Comment by Jack on January 30, 2026 at 12:46: My Dad was a hunter and an avid outdoorsman. Vacations were spent camping and exploring ,when he got his Randall in 64 He gave me his Puma white hunter. None of the scouts in my troup had ever seen a knife like it. he did make me read up on the knife about the design coming from African big game hunters and the many ways the knife could be used. I think that was the start of my interest and love of cutlery .20221218_141509.jpg

Comment by David L. Packham on October 16, 2025 at 6:30: looks good! Not sure whatever happened to my first knife...close to 45 years ago give or take

Comment by George R Naugle on October 2, 2025 at 18:54: I don't often buy anything that is described as a lot, but I made an exception for one the other day. A guy was cleaning out what he referred to as his "man cave," and had a lot of knives, two sharpening steels, and an Arkansas sharpening stone (hard) in a wood box. Most of the knives are not worth much, but a couple are pretty. There is one Gernber folding lockback with a gut hook, a Shrade fixed blade with guthook, and a hardly-used Forschner boning knife (will find use at camp when butchering). I had to give the guy a dollar plus shipping for the lot, total was $12.75. I looked up the Arkansas stone online and found a similar one for just over $80. Most of the knives will be classified as junk and will be given away. I think I may have made the buy of the century however, at least for my knife career.

Featured Comment by dead_left_knife_guy on September 27, 2025 at 21:51: As I recall, my first knife was an Imperial that was very similar to this. Nice work keeping it for so long!

Comment by Kevin D on September 25, 2025 at 18:23: Looks good. :)

Comment by George R Naugle on September 14, 2025 at 13:16: My father in law was a cabinet maker who had his own shop for some time. He made this hunting knife from a file. He engraved his name, Wm. Weik, on it.

Comment by George R Naugle on September 14, 2025 at 11:21: Of course the knife on the right is that same one I posted about above. I have it here with a sheath I got for it when the original wore out.

The one on the left also has a story. Some years ago, I was backpacking on the Susquehanock Trail in northcentral Pennsylvania. When I crested the mountain outside Cross Fork, PA, I sat down on a rock to take a break. When I looked down next to my foot, I saw a hunting knife that obviously had been lost/left there durint a past deer season. It was German made (stamped Solingen Steel), and had no sheath.

A few years later, the handle came apart. I fashioned a handle of sorts from some walnut wood I had in my overstocked workshop, carved my name in it, and gave it a coat of epoxy (Walnut does not tolerate being wet and rots quickly). I made a sheath for it out of hide from a moose I harvested in 1994.