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Am I having a mid knife crisis?

RousingRabbles

RousingRabbles

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
396
I’ve used knives my whole life. Up until about two or three years ago it was mostly the cheaper variety of SOG, Buck, Gerber, Big 5 specials, etc. but in the past few years I’ve been collecting heavily, and have bought, sold, traded 100+ knives. I loved scrolling through the exchange and various dealers to find what was gonna be the next purchase.

In that time I have refined my tastes quite a bit and now have a cycle of about 10-15 knives that are keepers or soon to be sold or traded for the next knife. But now I find myself at another cross roads where a lot of my keepers no longer interest me either and I’m strongly considering selling half of what I have to get one “luxury” knife that I’ve had my eye on and possibly stop collecting new ones altogether after that.

My question is, have some of you had a similar experience, or gone through phases, or something different entirely?
 
It comes in cycles. Accumulate a bunch of knives that you like, or think you'll like, and after a while you realize that there's only a handful that are really keepers. So you sell off the rest, thinking you're down to just a few that'll last you the rest of your life. But then other knives come out you think you might like, and/or new steels, different handles, etc, and you start accumulating again. There's also always a good chance you regret selling something and you buy it again.
 
What I find after buying a few "grail" knives..... they usually aren't as nice as I thought.....
I like everything about them.....except this one thing......

Then the hunt for the NEXT one begins......
Sorry, It doesn't get easier. I just try to keep my expectations in order.
 
I think if that is what you are wanting to do, there is nothing wrong with just having one real knife that you use for everything. But, a good knife is a good knife, and practically, I would keep a few around to have. Even if I sold all my knives today and just kept, say, a Paramilitary 2, I would still want to keep my Opinels and RATs around just for utility. It's a little unnecessary to have three PM2s.
 
Yep, pretty similar path for me in some ways. Last year I sold 90% of my collection, funded some nicer knives, and have slowed down and stayed in that price bracket since.

I'd rather have one knife I love and carry than a dozen I love but don't carry.
 
I got a good chuckle from the thread title itself !!
I don't believe that I can offer any advice or
suggestions however, but when you say a 'Luxury' knife, I assume a higher end piece,
but will you be able to enjoy using it, or just admire and fondle it.😏...Not that there's anything wrong with that, Lol
I would like to pare down, whittle down,
cut down on my collection, as well.
-Hi, I'm Billy and I'm a knoifaholic...🙁/🙂
 
Agree to almost all what everyone has said in this thread.

To me this is a great hobby, meaning I always want to try out some knives that I have not handled. The problem is there are many such knives while my $$ is not limitless. So I have to control myself to some extent and here is what I think/do:

1. Set an absolute upper limit of the total amount of money that I put into knives and knife-related things like sharpening stones/systems. The actual limit of course varies from person to person due to various factors. I have to confess if that limit is set too low, it will be easily broken. But I think I am pretty much settled with it.
2. If I am about to run over that upper limit, I will have to sell some knife/knives first. So this will boil down to comparing how much I like the ones I already have vs how much I like the one that I want to buy.
3. When I see a knife that I want to buy, I don't buy it right away. I give myself some time, not just to research into it but more importantly to see if my desire to acquire it will wither quickly.
4. Think about other important things that I can buy with the money that otherwise I'd spend on a knife I want to buy, not just things for me but also everyone in the family. Things like guitars, computers, cell phones, books, etc. that are used on a daily basis, whereas most of the knives that I have are used very barely/rarely. For example, the money for a Sebenza or XM-18 is good for a decent guitar and if you play guitars, you'll pause and think hard (now if you collect guitars, that could be another similar or different story).
5. (This is something new) Think about the hassle of selling knives that someday you no longer need/want, with the new IRS bs. Do not swear that you will never lose your interest in keeping a knife that you so much desire to have. I have yet found a knife that I absolutely do not want to part way with it (except a couple of sentimental ones). Yes it is easy to gift $80 spydercos to friends or neighbours but very few can afford giving away CRKs, RHKs, or Shiros for free.
 
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