Anyone use their customs or more expensive knives?

This is clipped to my belt every day and it does get used, It is pure joy when I get looks when either cutting boxes or steak. A custom Fong in a Paul Long sheath.
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I buy expensive knives (ok, even $80 is expensive to me, but I'd do the same for a $200 knife) so that I can use them.

Why buy $200 knives to look at but use a $10 knife to do all the work?

I get high performance knives so that I can use their high performance. If I didn't, I'd just go to a flea market and get a made-in-china knife.

I buy knives to use.
 
I don't have a custom yet but my main carry is more that $200 and I have two others of the same knife (one ZT 0302 and two 0300's). Now granted my EDC does not entail survival tecniques but I love the attention I get when I pull the ZT 0302 out of my pocket to zip open an envelope or box in front of others :D I use them everyday amongst a few select others out of my collection.
 
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I collect rare/odd Buck 112's with the intetion of displaying them after I have about 40 or so [28 right now] Some Neaver get used, a few go into rotation...But when it comes right down to it's just a tool...
 
This custom chef's knife in D2 from BL Goode gets used everyday. Even my wife uses it :eek: It holds a beautiful edge for a really long time, and is graceful and efficient to use in the kitchen :D I bought it to use it and it wasn't cheap but is worth every penny :thumbup:


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i have never understood why someone would buy knives, expensive or not, and never use them. knives are a tool. enjoy them.

i remember when i was younger, i never thought i would spend over $50 on a knife. my how times have changed.

it is kind of like owning a car. why buy a car when a bicycle can do the same thing? it accelerates, brakes, and gets you where you need to be.

i think you get the idea...
 
Today I carried my to-order Sebenza (~$400) and my Wilkins Leafstorm Lightweight (~$600). My Sebenza gets used for everything, and is starting to show some beautiful wear. The Leafstorm gets less use, but the way I look at it, unless I'm going to keep it completely pristine I might as well use it properly, and it's a knife — I don't feel right not using it at all.
 
I don't think it's a beneficial attitude to look at things from investment point of view, especially in knife business. You acquire your knife either you like that piece of metal or you need it for whatever reason. Consider everything else as bonus. Just imagine how much you will get for your car when crude oil price is over US$200/barrel. Don't expect those collector knifes will earn you any profit 10 or 12 years later, even you keep them in mint condition. Then life will be less frustrative and you won't have any hesitation to use whatever knife you have.
 
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hell yah use that fu???r i use my randall,busse,siegle,ect you cant take them to heaven so use that bitch,,,,that my opinion,,,,aloha
 
biggerjon said:
i have never understood why someone would buy knives, expensive or not, and never use them. knives are a tool. enjoy them.

i remember when i was younger, i never thought i would spend over $50 on a knife. my how times have changed.

it is kind of like owning a car. why buy a car when a bicycle can do the same thing? it accelerates, brakes, and gets you where you need to be.

i think you get the idea...
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I can't agree with the majority of replies on this thread. If you enjoy using your customs then go for it - but not for me! Why think of a knife simply as a tool?

I get a lot of pleasure from handling and looking at the knives I've collected over the years. I appreciate them for their art, design & techhnology. I don't feel the urge to use them and prefer to keep them mint or near mint so they retain their value. There's certainly no way I'd have used a $1k knife when I was harvesting zuccini's at $12.47 per h - the $5 Woolies special was entirely satisfactory and went all week without a touch up - zuccini's aren't really all that tough after all.

I have enough knives for everyday use - these range from cheap (including the $5 Woolies ) to mid price and they cover just about everything I need a knife for. Some I've had for over 30 years and they're all used regularly. Some I've had to replace because my kids have taken a fancy to and "borrowed" and a couple got lost with the vege peels but never from abuse.

The last 'using' blade I bought was a couple of weeks ago - a $30 machete (Ralph Martindale 'Crocodile' bolo) for my son. Spent some enjoyable time re-profiling the edge and re-shaping the handle then made a leather covered wood scabbard for it. I'm sure that I could have spent several magnitudes of $'s more for a 'custom machete' but to what practical purpose?

I don't see the need to "destruction test" my knives or any of my other tools - If I need a blocksplitter I use a blocksplitter - not a knife. I suppose it might be a different if I was really stuck out in the bush but these days, roughing it means stayin in a 3 star motel.

Every now and then I'll buy a quality pre-owned knife that's already had some use and these I am happy to add to my 'using knives' category. This way my collection stays pristine and I can still enjoy the use of my working knives
 
My strategy has become, buy two of them if possible and use one then put one away. If I purchase a rare and beautiful knife and can't bring myself to go whack something with it I do like Antonio Luis and find a used one of that model and then I can check out the performance. I remember when I would use a $20 and store the $50 one away but now I use the $500 knife and put the $800 one away.
 
I couldn't justify not using a more pricey knife, and sold a Wilkins Leafstorm as result(other reasons as well, but that was a major factor). For everyday use, my Seb has seen a couple years of pocket time. But for harder use-the kind of use that can potentially damage the knife, I stick with more moderately priced, but equally capable knives.
 
So far my only two customs are daggers with no practical purpose and a CRK Green Beret that I really don't need as an old KaBar takes care of that sort of work around these parts. There are some custom folders on my want list these days and when I get them I WILL use 'em.
 
paua said:
I don't think it's a beneficial attitude to look at things from investment point of view, especially in knife business. You acquire your knife either you like that piece of metal or you need it for whatever reason. Consider everything else as bonus. Just imagine how much you will get for your car when crude oil price is over US$200/barrel. Don't expect those collector knifes will earn you any profit 10 or 12 years later, even you keep them in mint condition. Then life will be less frustrative and you won't have any hesitation to use whatever knife you have.
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That's one way to look at it. ;)

Doug
 
I'm slowly coming around to using custom knives. It is hard for me to make that decision. As long as they are not all beat up, you can get them cleaned up these days by the custom knife makers should you want to sell them. However, used is used.
 
Yup, I use the more expensive/custom knives. Right now I have approx. $2300 of knives in my 5-knife EDC rotation, with one of them worth approx. $800. While I'm not as rough with them or beat the crap out of them, they still all get used. However, there are too many in my collection to go into my regular rotation. That's the real reason some don't get used.

- Mark
 
Mark J said:
Yup, I use the more expensive/custom knives. Right now I have approx. $2300 of knives in my 5-knife EDC rotation, with one of them worth approx. $800. While I'm not as rough with them or beat the crap out of them, they still all get used. However, there are too many in my collection to go into my regular rotation. That's the real reason some don't get used.

- Mark
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You know, I had never thought about how much I had spent on my "new" collection of knives. I added it up the other day - full retail and the discounted prices I paid. I have not shown those figures to the wife. :)
 
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