A man and his knives

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
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I wonder if it's true that the kind of knives a man collects tells, to a certain degree, the kind of man he is.

If a man collects only big knives, does that mean he is inclined towards outdoor life?

Most of us ordinary folks would prefer folders for the obvious reasons.

A minority would prefer balisongs. It gives the balisong man a certain style. Perhaps his flamboyant nature, his inclination to add colour to his movements. The way he looks at life.

Just as a few may prefer tomahawks. It could be his deep understanding of the rich American history. The stories built around the tomahawk and the tales built on it.

I have a prefence for both big knives and folders. Big, rightly or wrongly, gives me the assurance of safety and dependability.

Folders, I like, for their design and ingenuity of its internal mechanism.

Folders also show that man has made tremendous progress since the days when knife was just a roughly sharpened piece of iron used to chop branches and may be a last resort weapon against a predator.

Whatever your preference for that particular category of knife, it probably has a personal story to tell, except that most people don't want to talk too much about it.
 
I think the same thing often. I feel like the knives a person collects, doubley so the knives they carry, are just as much a mode of personal expression as their style of clothes or hair.

I frequently look down at my folder and see the advancement of mans' technology. My imagination morphs inbetween the hi-tech folder I carry and a sharp peice of flint that early man may have dressed his game with. I think it is a great testimate to our natural ingenuity to be able to continuously advance a technology that is as old as primitive thought.

That sort of thinking leads me to believe that we will constantly progress. No matter how refined we think an invetion is, there is always a step up, an infinite ladder of improvement and progress. Of course that is a very simple linear analogy for there has been great discoveries that have been lost to us and perhaps rediscovered to start the climb again. But we certainly are tenacious beasts. Both a blessing and a curse depending on how it is applied.
 
Originally posted by golok

If a man collects only big knives, does that mean he is inclined towards outdoor life?
Click to expand...

Either that or to make up for the fact that they have a Teeny Weenie.

Hey, have I shown you guys my collection of Minatures?

Bwahahahahahaha
 
I was actually wondering why a lot of guys on this forum are into KNIVES , GUNS ( no surprise there ) ... but also FLASHLIGHTS and PENS ?? A lot of us into WATCHES too but I can't see the phallic connection there.

In truth I do not see it as a phallic thing ( of course since I am a big knifeknut and own guns and flashlights I am not impartial ). What THe way I see it we like well made , useful objets d'art that we can actually carry around with us. I can't walk around with a painting but I carry around a $400.00 knife etc.

It's either that or schwang is so small I need a knife to compensate.
Although since I prefer my LaGriffe lately I guess that means I need Viagra ? Get it ? Cause the LaGriffe blade is curved down ? Oh never mind.
 
If anybody is compensating with knives, my bet is that their partner(s) might just get upset :D.
 
I don't collect a certain style because I have a certain personality or some physical uniqueness, but I collect becuase I like how technology works.
Technology shouldn't be limited to a PCB with a bunch of copper leads and a bunch of silicon chips, but also fine knives, guns, pens needs good technology to make them function well.
I would probably pick up a Tomahawk because I want to see it first hand and have something different, and I'm not really related to American history... I'll also want to collect a Khukuri because I like how it can do regular knife work and also chop well, and also it has a place as the the famed weapon used by the Gurkha in World War II.
 
I too collect unusual blade configurations mostly fixed blades. Then ive always had an attraction for the obscure things in life. My favorite knife designers are FRED PERRIN,LACY SZABO,JAMES PIOREK ,JOHN GRECO ,STEVE RYAN.
 
I've always been more of a pragmatist where my knife acquisitions have been concerned. I used to own a number of "airplane knives", which were legal and suitable for air travel, e.g.non-serrated, 3" or less in length, and not too tactical looking.:rolleyes:

By December of last year, I had traded or sold almost all of those knives. If I'm no longer restricted by blade length (as I go about my daily business), why carry a smaller blade when a larger one will serve as well, if not better? Note: It was Freud who said "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." ;) Anyway, now when I fly, I just pack a good folder.

I've recently also started acquiring more fixed blades, usually in the 5" range. If I wanted to carry a knife concealed, a fixed blade having a length of 5 1/2" or less is legal in Texas.

I've also decided to say NO! to impulse buying of cheap knives at gun shows. From here on, I want to see quality when I open that knife drawer. Or drawers. Or bag...whatever. geegee
 
Golok..

I don't know about you,,but..

I like all things that are sharp....
Doesn't really matter what it is...

I do tend to stear toward outdoor fixed blades though...


ttyle

Eric..
 
SkinWalker wrote: "My imagination morphs in between the hi-tech folder I carry and a sharp peice of flint that early man may have dressed his game with."

His mention of flint reminded me that some time ago, i began, for a short time, collecting artifacts, mostly the very old Paleo blades, truly what cavemen used to cut with, these are not Indian arrowheads, far older. You look at these things and marvel at what is available now, and yet, there is something very elegant about these paleo blades, they do exhibit fine craftsmanship in their own sort of way. Neat stuff to look at and ponder. Another neat feature is that though my paleo knives were found in different places in the world, they tend to have the same shape, a distinctive shape, its as if this is the first shape that ALL men were able to craft, pretty neat if you think about it, and this holds true as the artifacts become younger. You can tell the age of the blade by its shape, common to virtually ALL blades made at that time, everywhere in the world! They all started out at the same level of sophistication, and they all evolved very similarly. :)
 
I suspect many of us simply take comfort in playing with some of the very few things left that are non-disposable. A good gun, watch, flashlight, or knife can last for generations if properly cared for. You can't say that about most things these days. Do you really want to leave to your TV or stereo to the grandkids? :rolleyes: Aside from probably becoming completely obsolete, those things say virtually nothing about us or our interests. A gun/knife collection is different; it can be a nice family heirloom. There is nothing like Great Grampa's shotgun to stir our fond memories and excite our imagination.

My collection (more of an accumulation - which has taken the form of a growing steel blob) consists largely of large camp knives, and many older military and ethnographic examples. I am interested in how technology has been applied by different cultures at various periods to resolve similar problems.

n2s
 
golok,
I've always liked knives but never accumulated them until about 3 years ago. As a kid I always carried a small slipjoint & had a small fixed blade on my belt when I went trapping.
Nowadays, I appreciate a knife for its function & beauty. Just look at a knife - a raw hunk of steel turned into a work of art! So many varieties; something for everyone. My accumulation includes a few miniature fixed blades, different styles & sizes of slipjoints, liner locks, lockbacks, right on up to good sized bowies.
 
golok, My knives are nearly all folders and are in my collection because of the way form follows function. A very effective and well made knife is often an object of beauty BECAUSE of its effectiveness and quality.not2sharp has made an observation that also applies to me although I didn't realise it until now. Whenever I have made a knife purchase I have always had longevity in the back of my mind. Will this one last? I like to think that my knives will all eventually belong to my kids or (someday) grandkids.
 
N2S said: "There is nothing like Great Grampa's shotgun to stir our fond memories and excite our imagination. "

Odd as it may seem, one day, some of our grandkids will say to their kids: "This was your great grandpa's Glock 17 with hi-caps. They dont make 'um like this anymore, back then, they actually used real plastic..." ;)
 
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