This model was actually the first folding knife I bought after deciding I was into that sort of thing. I recall making a thread on bladeforums asking advice about a good first folder and among the recommendations the Soldier caught my eye for some reason. I ordered it at the same time as an Inova X5 and X1 and had my first EDC that lasted me through my first Summer of College.
To think that I actually walked around with two lights totaling less than 20 lumens and a small slipjoint for my EDC! And that was it. I was prepared though, the tools on the Soldier came in handy quite often. It seems like when you first start EDCing a SAK there are all sorts of things to fix. The world is fresh, new and slightly loose. Things need fixing or adjustment, people ask for your help. But after a few years it seems like everything in your sphere of influence has been screwed tight or repaired and your tools just don't see much use.
I remember when I was working my first dishwashing job using the Soldier to adjust the temperature booster on our dishmachine. I think the only reason I was allowed to do so was because I had a SAK, it's almost like the knife expressed a certain intellect upon the user and let me slide by and do something that was generally outside the scope of my duties.
Now, this particular knife isn't actually the first Soldier I've had. The original one I bought after the bladeforums thread was "lost" while sitting in class during the fall of that year. It fell out of my pocket and when the girl sitting next to me picked it up to hand back to me (the only boy in the class) I was too embarrassed to admit it was mine. I'm fairly sure it either ended up in the lost & found or the trash. Probably the latter, it was a Women's Studies class after all.
