2018 Buying Habits?

Lol, epic fail for me. Literally made it like a day or two into 2018 before falling off the wagon.

I'm working on it, though. I'm going to try to sell some knives that never get carried, I picked out ten today to list tomorrow. I'm going to try to make up for slipping a few times by selling more knives than I've bought, at least.
 
The change in my buying habit is that I refuse to pay over $100 for a knife. I have enough knives to last several lifetimes, so those high-zoot knives hold less appeal.
I understand and feel a little that way. My dollar limit on folders is $200 but I prefer to keep it under $150. I find that I most often look at knives that run over $100 unless it's a slippie. I seldom really look at the cheaper stuff except for the Condor line.

Those high-zoot knives might be the only ones left that you haven't already purchased and/or tried out. GEC knives have been slowly inching toward the $150 mark in the larger frames.... I consider them somewhat of a benchmark.
 
20 knives and 2 trainers so far, and no sign of slowing down. If I nail a new job in a few months, buying is going to pick up it's pace.

3 - Randall Knives, making payment toward 3 custom knives (Model 14, 13 Large, 13 Small)
1 - Neill Schutte 8 inch dagger
1 - Caswell Morphing Karambit
1 - Zero Tolerance 0609BLK
1 - RMJ Tactical Raider Dagger
2 - KA-BAR / EK - Jarosz boot knife
2 - Les George Galvos Daggers. (TWO) leather sheaths, (TWO) kydex sheaths.
1 - Emerson Tactical Kwaiken
1 - Emerson Karambit fixed blade
1 - Emerson Barracuda - signature series
2 - Aku Strike, Mimic T-16 trainer with 2 replacement blades
1 - CRKT FE7
1 - Gerber Strongarm BDZ-1
1 - Hinderer 3.5 inch Fatty Harpoon Tanto
1 - Hinderer Maximus double edge
1 - Boker Kwaiken marbeled carbon fiber
1 - Tops Knives - BladeOps Blackout - Special Ed Wild Pig Hunter
 
I've been selling more than buying in 2018.

I've taken a hard look at my knives and realized I no longer want multiples that fill the same niches, so I'm selling redundant knives and focusing on rounding things out with a priority toward my most common uses.
 
I'm good on ZT, Benchmade, and Spyderco. I always wanted a Cold Steel with the Tri-Ad lock, so I recently acquired an upgraded Recon 1. Great knife that has basically kicked everything else out of my pocket. I'm pretty good on folders now.
 
I really didn't make any resolutions for myself this year, especially considering knives.. But I've been pretty happy with the ones I've got. So far I've gotten 2 knives, costing about $7 bucks for them both. One was a 0900, got that in an even trade. Absolutely love it. I've wanted one since they came out, but never really got one. Really glad I was able to nab the little brute.

The other one was a GAW win, a Tidoute 73 that's just rad as hell. I never considered myself to be a "traditional" guy. I love my Spydie's and Benchmade's as much as the next guy, but this little guy has ruled my watch pocket since he arrived. So another huge thanks to lambertiana for letting me enjoy such a great knife. I actually think my next purchase will probably be a slippie.

One thing that's kinda halted my spending is selection, not a whole lot excited me so far this year. Lots of cool new knives, but none that really compelled me to part with my dough.
 
I have eased off quite a bit compared to last year.

From the exchange:
- Spyderco Gayle Bradley 1
- Landi PSK
New:
- Lionsteel Shuffler in Stag
- GEC 71 Bullnose x 2 (picked up an OD green and have a red linen on reserve)

Not a ton of purchases on the horizon. Considering another fixed blade for camp/bushcraft use, and I have a Dom and a Roundhead on alert/reserve from CollectorKnives when they are released this summer.

Hit the knife purchases hard over the last couple years since getting into the hobby, but have found I have narrowed down what I like through some trial and error (thankfully the exchange cushioned some of that blow :p). Looking to let some of them go over the next couple months to fund some higher end knives and pistols through the end of the year.
 
Spent lots of $$$ in the last three years buying and trading knives, Im pretty much done now. No more customs at all, been burned to many times. Ill stick to what works, whats easily replaceable and company's who stand behind there product. My ideas, philosophy and attitude have completely changed since I started this addiction. Ill keep a little extra in Paypal and when something meets all my criteria I may buy it but Im not hunting anymore.
 
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In one of those threads, I said that the only purchase I had planned was an Olamic Wayfarer. That purchase isn't happening due to lack of response. No big deal... though I was a bit annoyed that I sold knives to fund that purchase. I got over it & spent the money on something that shouldn't lose value as quickly as knives. .
I purchased a kitchen knife; but, for a variety of reasons, gave it away.
As a result, my only real purchase so far this year was a GEC 73 in Osage Orange. I've looked at a few other things; but nothing I felt compelled to buy
 
All I can say is WOW. That is a lot of knives. You must have been knife starved.

I want a really large collection but I need a better job to pull it off so I'm working toward that now. I don't have a lot of custom knives and that is where I want to move into.

Early in 2018 I purchased two BRT BLADEWORKS (Ben Tendick) Universal Blade Rigs to carry knives the way that you carry a handgun, with a single or double shoulder holster. Because I did not have two of any kind of knife, I had to take a look at what size makes sense to carry with the blade rig and then buy several sets of two so that I had a few matched sets to draw from for carry options. I'm still purchasing knives for the double carry option.
 
I was one of those who swore frugality. I was also put off by price increases vastly exceeding my rate of raise in income. For the most part, I’ve held fast.

After much thought, I decided in January I couldn’t live without a Spyderco Hungarian. I felt a bit remorseful picking one up...but I’m so pleased with the knife I’m interested in picking up another!

I found an inlaid Sebenza recently on the exchange...I’ve slowly been saving up for one and missed out on a few (one was a particularly stinging miss!), so it was a semi-planned purchase.

The only silly impulse I’ve caved on is a Massdrop Gent. I don’t know why I joined the recent drop, but whatever. I guess I fell victim to hype.

I will buy myself a ZT for Fathers Day (probably 0609) and I’ll pick up a something-Salt once the LC200N hits. I’m also trolling the Exchange for two specific nicer knives I’ll snatch if I find ‘em at my price point.

Except for the Gent, I’m keeping to my plans—thus far.
 
Wicked Edge in the lead at the moment. Need to narrow down to which WE.
If you want just the basics and focus more on the stones, the WE GO is technically the cheapest you can get. I am really curious about what you will pick, because IMO that's the Grail Sharpener: Super fancy, Super pricy, results can be replicated by lower priced products, but we all know that we want it lol
 
I am honestly in the same boat as several of you guys who have posted..prices have seriously skyrocketed, not only for some production makers but also custom folders. I have not purchased knives for about 4 years now and the custom makers that I followed and want to own have changed their pricing models to the point where it's almost out of reach and not reasonable. I should have purchased a Grimsmo Norseman 4 years ago when they were about $465.. Now he is charging $1100 for the same knife... Mikkel Willumsens were about 400-500, now the starting point for a custom is 800-900, Shirogorov a few years back 600-700, today the exact same models are 1100, and of course my favorite is Jens Anso.. A few years back you could pick up new customs for 600-900, now I am seeing them starting at $1300.. I'm pretty bummed out about these trends.
 
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