Anyone else just stopped buying knives?

91bravo said:
I’ll stop buying knives when I stop buying guns, ammo, yarn, and truck parts!
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I knew you looked familiar, Granny!

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I'm in a "quiet period" for knives. In mid-January I added a Ti scale to my XM-18 3.5, and I haven't wanted to carry any other modern folders since then. I've been reducing my collection for the past couple of years, and while I've had quiet periods before I can't remember many in the past 6-7 years that lasted longer than a month.

I'm giving serious consideration to selling the rest of my small modern folder collection. I probably won't! But it's tempting. 🤔

I still look at for-sale threads and knife retailers, mostly out of force of habit. I'd like to try a Hinderer Firetac before putting more knives on the block, but every time I get close to snagging one I ask myself, "Would I carry this instead of my XM?" So far the answer has been no.

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Spillproof said:
I suspect this hobby attracts a lot of OCD personalities. The compulsion to buy far outweighs necessity, practicality, or utility.

Don't try to keep up with the Joneses.
Use what you have proudly and buy more hunting/fishing gear.
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I'm not OCD. But it's true that my knife obsession may exceed practical boundaries.

However, I'm also currently enrolled in an experimental life extension therapy experiment, with the hope that it will allow me the extra time to use all the knives I own.
 
Spillproof said:
I suspect this hobby attracts a lot of OCD personalities. The compulsion to buy far outweighs necessity, practicality, or utility.

Don't try to keep up with the Joneses.
Use what you have proudly and buy more hunting/fishing gear.
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This forum is mostly about acquisition.
Discussion about usage is a distant second.
If you are active here, it's hard not to hear the constant drumbeat of buy, buy, buy...
I'm not complaining, but it is what it is.
 
LostCause said:
But, steel is steel, and all cuts are the same in the end.
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I generally don't agree with that sort of reductionist thinking. There are objective differences between steels and while those might not matter for every application a knife can be put to, they matter for many of them.

But I have stopped buying certain classes of knives. I pretty much ignore anything that is limited edition/sprint run. Anything sold in "drops". Fake scarcity is not really my thing. I typically avoid coated blades especially coated stainless. Beyond grippiness and looks I don't fret much over handle material. Knife makers that don't do what they say, either in terms of quality of lead time, I ignore.

That excludes a whole lot of new knives I think. I see things on the secondary market that I didn't even know existed, and I used to buy some of that stuff but I stopped caring a while ago.
 
Yes. But it seems that for me the decision to buy another knife comes suddenly out of nowhere. Sometimes I shrug it off. Sometimes that works. No plans for any new knives. Looking around at knives is just a hobby itself. Don't need or really want any.
Problem is, see above about decision process.
 
Citori said:
But I have stopped buying certain classes of knives.
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Becoming picky is a big part of it for me. (Not calling you picky; I'm calling me picky.) I've found a handful of knives that are close to perfect for me, and I've finally figured out that buying knives which don't meet or clear that bar leads to selling those knives at a loss later on, so most potential purchases just can't make the cut.

So far, this has been a good thing! :)
 
Dadpool said:
Becoming picky is a big part of it for me. (Not calling you picky; I'm calling me picky.) I've found a handful of knives that are close to perfect for me, and I've finally figured out that buying knives which don't meet or clear that bar leads to selling those knives at a loss later on, so most potential purchases just can't make the cut.

So far, this has been a good thing! :)
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Picky applies to me as well.

I was actually looking at a knife this weekend with a profile that really appealed, steel was nice, priced right, but it ended up being 1/4" thick stock, and I like slicy. There was a time I would have tried it anyway but that time is gone.
 
LostCause said:
and I fail to find another small fixed blade I'd like better
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I'm guessing you mean production. There are some great customs I would take over the Izula.

LostCause said:
steel is steel, and all cuts are the same in the end.
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Well...

Citori said:
that sort of reductionist thinking.
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Thank you for saving me the trouble!

Dadpool said:
I still look at for-sale threads and knife retailers, mostly out of force of habit.
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Same here.

Dav1 said:
Nope never will although if I lived in the US my "obsession" would be a whole lot worse with all the great makers you have there!
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They're my inspiration.
 
LostCause said:
I reduced the number.

Sold K390 Endura and Recon Tanto and traded Glock, Mora and so on...

Newest acquisitions were:
Recon1 spear point S35VN.
D2 Leatherneck tanto.

It kinda all stopped for me at this point. I carry Recon1 ever since I got it. And I still look at other knives from time to time, but it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Every time I hold my Recon1 I feel that same joy I felt when I first got it, and I had it for months, and I take it everywhere with me. So it stopped me from buying other folders.

About Izula - hands down the best small fixie I have, and I fail to find another small fixed blade I'd like better, it just does it all for that purposes.

AK47 field knife, what can I say - CPM3V steel, and I got it custom sheath. The more I use it, the more I like it. It's the first thing I'll grab when I need to do something outside.

Leatherneck is here mainly just because it looks cool...


But, steel is steel, and all cuts are the same in the end. And nothing I can see at this point is giving me even nearly as much joy as the stuff that I have.
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I think you'd have to jump up in price a good amount to find anything that's going to stand out. At least that's how it was for me.

I'm not a collector and I'm not into "pretty" knives. They're tools and I use them. If I have to baby them at all, they're not worth keeping. Since I didn't want to pay premium prices for features I don't care about, I started making my own knives. I decided I was done buying knives I could make.

Then I found out about Carothers Performance Knives (CPK). The heat treat and grind work they use is beyond me and it's worth paying for.

Get a Carothers (CPK) if you can. It's worth it.
 
Yes I stopped buying knives almost completely and even sold off my once small or large folder collection depending on how you look at it. I make my own fixed blades and have a few Spydercos in S35VN that do my folder work. I have a couple other Spydercos in a drawer that I'll eventually sell. Whenever I do buy a new knife now, which is not that often, it's usually to mod or otherwise experiment with it. And then it ends up in the hands of someone new who would otherwise have never had a knife in that exact configuration (like a cold steel tanto turned wharncliffe, or a manix 2 or Military with cutting edge where the choil used to be, etc)
 
It goes in fits and spurts for me. Recently I haven't been buying as much, even getting the opportunity to buy a couple of knives that I wanted and then just not being compelled to pull the trigger. Then again, at any moment I'm liable to go on a buying spree.

Right now, I'm buying and remodeling a house, and I have a love for design, so I'm using that as an opportunity to shift my obsession a bit. That's not saying that I won't buy any knives in the near future, it's just that I have other things to occupy that mind space.
 
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