I'm the type of person who has trouble reading new books, for fear of breaking the spine, bending the pages, etc. I can't explain this even to myself, but there exists an absurd "barrier" between myself, the book, and why the book even exists.
The old "scratch it when you first get it" has never worked for me to overcome that barrier. Buying used books sure does, though. A used book is like a friend's (beat up) book. I don't care a whit about it, so guess what? I start treating it like a book, and just read the stupid thing.
The same with anything new, most certainly knives. Here are two recommendations from an old hand at fighting obsessions:
1. Buy it used, for cheap. The cheapness is a consolation for not getting it new. The used condition guarantees that you won't care about dings, since they're already there.
2. Buy a MUCH better knife, in addition to the one you want to use. I mean, if you just bought a $100 BM 750, go get a brand new large Sebenza. The BM starts looking like a "knife" at that point, while the Sebenza retains its spirit-dwelling status.
Then, once you've beaten up the BM (because you don't want to trash the Sebenza), resell the Sebenza. This is a proven way of tricking yourself into not caring what you own.
After all, ownership is all in the head, anyway. In reality, any tool is solely identified by its FUNCTION. Otherwise, we're talking about a work of art; and if one buys knives as works of art, it likely changes where the money goes (and how much). A BM 750 is only a artform if you're only used to SAKs.
Perspective. Obsessions are like a thick weed that can survive only in the soil of odd perspectives.
