JD hasn't stopped smiling about his new knife.

When I was twelve years old my Dad gave me my first knife.  If I close my eyes I can still picture that day and remember thinking how cool it was to have my own knife.  It wasn't much to brag about but you couldn't tell me that at the time.  I spent many hours whittling on sticks in the woods with that knife.  It was a small black folding knife that to this day I have tucked away in a special place. 

With this being JD's first deer season I thought it would be special if I could get him a knife that he could not only use but cherish for the rest of his life.  I knew JD was no stranger to knives because he often had one on his side or in his pocket when we would go on fishing trips over the summer.  With that being said I wanted to make sure the knife he got for his first hunting season was special in every way. 

About ten years ago I bought a "Pikes Peak" pocket knife from CRKT - Columbia River Knife and Tool.  I was always looking for a good pocket knife and when I bought that knife I hit the jackpot.  The knife has held strong since I bought it ten years ago.  The only hiccup was about two years after I bought the knife when the clip that attaches with three Torx screws came off in my pocket and I lost one of the screws.  The next day I called CRKT and within the week I had a new clip and three new screws.  The representative I talked to was very helpful and gave me a tip of putting Loctite on the screws before I reassembled.  From that point forward that knife has been rock solid.  

	CRKT - Kommer Brow Tine

Based on prior history, I knew that CRKT was the company I wanted to use to find JD a knife for his first season.  With their help, we found the perfect knife in the Russ Kommer Brow Tine.  When the box came in the mail I could hardly stand it.  When I opened the box and pulled the knife from its tooled leather sheath I was pumped.  The stag antler handle fit perfectly in my hand and I could see my reflection in the stainless steel mirror finished blade.  As a hunter this was a dream knife and I couldn't wait to give it to JD.

Unfortunately when the knife arrived we were in the middle of about a week's worth of rain.  I wanted to surprise JD with the knife, so I waited until the weather cleared up.  The weather finally gave us a break last Monday so I called JD and asked if he wanted to go check on the food plots.   I told JD I was going to do an update video for the blog but as we started the video I told him to look in my camo bag.  As he pulled out the box I think I was about as excited as I could be.  JD was totally surprised and I don't think he has stopped smiling since.  Now he has an awesome hunting knife to carry on his side this year.  Inscribed on the side of the knife it says field tested.  Hopefully we can put those words to use this year in JD's first season. 

I think JD will cherish that knife for a very long time.  It is these memories that we can really hold on to and I was blessed to be able to share that moment with JD.  Do you remember your first hunting knife?  What memories do you have of it and your first deer season?