I have always loved knives. I used to take my dad's little pocket knife out of his dresser and take it to school. I just liked carrying it. Invariably, I would get caught by my parents because I left it in my jeans and it would make quite a racket bouncing around in the clothes dryer. But nobody freaked out and if a teacher would have caught me, they wouldn't have freaked out, either. But this was in the 1970's, so things were different.
There was a hardware store within walking distance of my house, Hillandale Hardware. In the back of the place, they had a coke machine that spit out those miniature bottle cokes when you put a quarter in the machine. They were ice cold and damn good. And they also had a display case of knives in the back. It was filled with Buck Knives. I would get a coke and just stare at those wonderful knives and wish I had the money to have a Buck Knife.
You see, everyone that I thought was cool back then carried a Buck Knife on their belt. The proper dress was jeans, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Judas Priest shirt taken off and tucked into jeans, and a Buck Knife in a sheath on their belt. Oh yeah, and a chain wallet. Gotta have a chain wallet. I never had any money and then when I did have enough for a chain wallet, I didn't buy it because I thought my father would make fun of me.
I now collect knives. My first knife was a Gerber and I still have it and it's cool and all. But I also have a mess of Buck Knives that I just love. Yes, they are well made and have a lifetime warranty. But I love them because of the display case in Hillandare Hardware. Just wanting them so bad made me go overboard when I could finally afford one.
I got a Buck Skinner today with "Will Over Hope" engraved on it. I think that it just may be my favorite knife of them all.
