Worst beginner knife collecting/buying mistakes?

[underdog406]

Owning a bunch of Victorinox with features not really needed, in my case I can get by with just the spartan.

[dark impaler]

It will take time and money to figure out what you like and what works for you,
enjoy the journey.

And if a knife beckons you- don't hesitate, cause you're not the only one it's calling to.
Besides, you could always sell it, if it ends up not suiting you. Also, keep an open
mind- some knives will surprise you.

I'm still such a novice at buying knives, but I've gone through different phases in
my purchases. It's been more of a journey of self discovery. That's one of the
best aspects of this hobby, there are so many avenues to take and explore- always
something to learn.

I tend not to think of a knife that I didn't keep as being a mistake, but rather a
learning experience. One that brings me closer to the knife that I'm really going
to connect with. Knives are such tactile objects, most often times one has
to see it in person, hold it in hand and use it to know if it works for him or not and
that may require purchasing it.

[UpChUcK]

Before I acquired some knowledge of knives, I bought a Gerber Paraframe II. Worst knife ever!!! The edge rolled if you looked at it funny.

[twl]

Big mistakes are buying the latest trend, or buying the "cultist/fanboi" knives.
I also avoid all knives that are "collector knives" of any sort, because they have an intangible(and unwanted) added price because somebody else(not me) thinks they are "collectible".

[ThirdTooth]

Buying whatever everyone else likes.

+1 to this.

also, a lot of knife snobs telling you not to by cheapy knives and save up for some expensive ones. I do enjoy my nicer ones more but that isn't to say a $30 kershaw won't bring you much enjoyment either. just buy what you want.

i think a beginner mistake would be buying those stupid fantasy knives, movie replicas, etc. thats a REALLY newbie move, like probably the stage before you even discover that hard working functional knives exist. I got a piece of crap movie replica Katana from "the last samurai" a couple years before I developed a real taste for knives. such a piece of garbage.

[BobSig]

This place here can be of great help and fun. Treat everyone here good, you will make friends. And when cant find a knife you seek, they might be able to help. I have multiple knives in my collection because of friends here, and I have helped others out as well.

Real good men with good knives live here

[AlexWitte]

Thank you for all of the prompt, thoughtful responses - these tidbits will be helpful as I expand my selection.

That being said, KaBar Becker BK2, or Scrapyard Sykco 411?

Is the comparison even valid? Pros and cons?

[alterview]

If you are getting into knives with the intent to use them then...

- Research and buy slowly
This will give you time to actually figure out whether or not you actually like the knife. ei- blade steel, lock type, scale materials

- Try out a variety of different lock types and build materials and find what you are looking for.

- Invest in a few tools. A sharpening system or stones and a few wrenches.
A user knife is only as useful as the edge you can put on it. A lot of knifes do not come nearly as sharp as they can be and sometimes need to be tuned a little. ei- centering, tension...

But really the #1 mistake: getting to this madness in the first place!

Have fun!

[PitbullShogun]

getting brand nameless knives from websites like trueswords or budk jsut because they look cool.... buying combo edge is a big one, as well as buying lower end knives. do your research and save up for somehting you wil actually enjoy.

[miltmaldo]

My mistake is spending to much time looking for a good deal I mean 10 bucks more is not going to kill my budget and some times ill let a good deal go . Most of my knives are in the 100 to 200 range most of them I got a great deal like my spyderco gayle bradly 100 bucks great deal it took almost a year to get it just looking for the right deal but like they say time is money . I'm learning if I have a budget for a knife and it comes up for an extra 10 just get it and stop looking . It can take a year and I'm looking for that knife . Hopefully it doesn't take a year to get that Fallkniven A1 . I want it so bad but I don't want to over my budget. Maybe 10 bucks over lol.

[jdd32]

The worst thing i see people do when buying a knife is pay the msrp for a knife without doing a little research to find actual good deals. Like a friend of mine who spent $100 for a grip at a dealer when i told him i could find it much cheaper.

[mediamst]

You don't have to buy expensives knives. I have lots of cheap Rough Rider knives that I carry all the time and love them. Lots of advice on saving up for a more expensive knife... Just buy what you enjoy carrying. If use or collectability require a fancy or expensive knife, go for it.

[GODSPEED TACTICAL]

I'm learning how to make smarter knife buying decisions (after some not-so-great purchases), but I was wondering what some of you have experienced as rookie mistakes when you got into buying and collecting knives.

I'm not a "collector" but I have a huge collection so take this for what it's worth.. I have no interest in future values, etc. Don't buy anything that you don't want to use, or that you would (n't) like to use someday. That's my only rule when buying/trading it has to be something that I'm interested in using or I could see myself using.


Eli

[Sulaco]

I don't think I made any mistakes. I learned what brands I like, what steels I prefer, and what designs work for me. I would have never learned that had I not tried them all out. Everyone has their own preferences and just reading about it all isn't good enough. To be sure, it's hard to make many mistakes you can't get out of when you have such an awesome community of fellow knife nuts willing to trade so much.

[nopyo]

*Blade: 1045 Surgical Stainless Steel*

Oh cool, surgical steel. That must be good!

*Add to cart*

Now that I've been reading BF enough and have taken some material science courses, I can look back and see how foolish I was.

[matgarsmi]

Don't buy too many, too fast.

Give yourself time time to carry, use, and sharpen any new knife you buy. You'll appreciate it more. Don't just look for your next fix.

Don't feel pressured to acquire knives by some of the big dogs in the knife community. Just because some out spoken people love Hinderers, doesn't mean you need to drop $800 on a knife.

Don't worry about making mistakes. I've made plenty, but now I know exactly what I want in a new knife. You only get that through experiencing all kinds of knives.

[Larry Turko]

Buying whatever everyone else likes.

I agree absolutely! And of course buying whatever everyone else likes, means not buying what YOU like. If you're true to your own instincts, there's no such thing as knife-buying "mistakes".
In fact I would argue that anything else posted on this thread claiming to identify "mistakes", is just somebodies opinion ,very likely copied from somebody else's opinion.

[Joshua J.]

Thank you for all of the prompt, thoughtful responses - these tidbits will be helpful as I expand my selection. That being said, KaBar Becker BK2, or Scrapyard Sykco 411? Is the comparison even valid? Pros and cons?

As soon as you mention "Scrapyard" I don't care what the other knife is, get the scrapper.

[MrCalamiteh]

Same with the gerber paraframe 2. I got that as my first folder and it wasn't the best lol.

[muradtexas]

Buying a "great for the price" instead of just "great" knives. In my journey from Winchesters, Remingtons etc to ZTs and Benchmades, I have realized that I could have just gotten the ZTs and BMs from the start and saved paying 10X as much while upgrading slowly.