Are you more of a shelf-collector or a "user"?

Warthog

Warthog

Joined
Oct 6, 2000
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What a mean by shelf-collector is that do you buy knives with intent to use them or do you stick them on a stand and polish them daily?

I kind of do both with my beginning collection...the huge knives that I really don't have much use for (huge pig stickers), I keep on the shelf - even though I have used them several times just for fun and take them on hunting trips "just in case I run out of ammo";). Any of the others I use...I really can't imagine NOT using a knife of mine at any point in it's life. I suppose if you had some "decorative" knife uber high priced knife.

Any folders I have are either carried everyday or stuck somewhere for certain occasions.....ie I just "retired" my Wenger Mountaineer from active duty after several years on the job in favor of the monster SOG Tomcat II cocobolo I just got. The Wenger won't sit in a box somewhere at all...it'll be going on target ranges to adjust my scope (screwdriver) and on hiking/camping trips (saw). As I said in another thread, I might buy a smaller synthetic grip folder for occasions where the huge Tomcat is not good for. I guess I'm a "user" collector and not really at all a "shelf-stand" collector (for lack of a better term).

I guess the bottom line is, do you have knives you DON'T use at all and/or buy JUST to sit on a stand? Basically, what kind of knife collector are you?

Hopefully I'm being clear enough.
:)
Warthog
 
i'm pretty much a user, all the knives i own have been in or still is in my daily edc rotation. i try not to buy anything that i know i'll never use
 
I'm definitely a user. I only buy knives that I intend to use, although I do have a custom laser engraved Spyderco Endura II PE that I've kept in the box since I got it. ;)
 
i lightly use mine, but i enjoy polishing and keeping them in good order. never use my knives hard though.

Daniel
 
Never had a knife I did not use.
That could very well change someday soon :)
 
I'm definitely a user but have purchased a few knives for my sons when they are old enough to appreciate them.

So far that's a Randall Knife Society Model 4, a Camillus Fisk Bowie, A Microtech Hawk, and a Randall Model 13-6. It will be up to them to decide to use them or just admire them.

I have a 600 year old Japanese Katana that is special since I was lucky enough to find it at a gun show in 1986 for $ 175 (an old blade in Gunto WWII fittings) and my best friend, a professional sword polisher, cleaned it up and remounted it in his own handmade fittings. I've used it for sword kata for more than 15 years. I feel that I don't own it, I'm only care taking it as many did before me.
 
I use all my knives. Some I baby a bit. Others I beat the heck out of them. It seems that as the price goes up, my willingness to thrash them goes down. Still though, I use even my most expensive knives.
 
I use them, and carry all of them. But I also take care of them and maintain all of them. Some just end up getting more shelf time than others.
 
I would consider myself to be a user. When I buy a knife I fully expect to use it and use it hard.

But there are a lot of knives that I bought with that intention in mind but in the end I found that they weren't working for what I needed them for. An example of this would me my EKI CQC7...Love the design, love the knife. But it's not what I need a knife right now. So it just sits in my collection.

So I guess I'm a little bit of both.
 
I'm a light duty user, but await the time to visit the parks upstate and go "mountain man" with the knives. For now, I rotate my favorites, whatever winds up outside the rotation will be sold or traded. So, my collection is not so much for display or keeps, but in search of my favorite one or two knives.
 
Yes.

I use a big fraction of my knives, but collection definitely contains some shelf pieces.
 
I'm a 50 / 50 kinda guy. . .

I have quite a few that rest behind glass and do a very good job at being nothing but eye-candy ! :D

On the other hand. . .I have quite a few that are carried and used on a daily basis. That's why I call them. . .EDC's. :p And they also do a very good job at being nothing but tools !
 
Calyth put it pretty well. I collect mainly slipjoints - some sit, oiled up in there Sack-Ups in deep storage, some get carried and used, so I would say both. When buying a knife I usually know if the purchase will end up on the shelf or in my pocket!
 
I have only 1/2 dozen knives that are used on a reg. basis. This of course is not counting the kitchen knives. I have never bought, or have been given a knife that I could display. I do find it hard to also spend a lot of money on blades because if I loose one I dont get upset and kick puppies. My current brand are the Cold steel knives. I know a lot here dont like them but I just love my Master hunter, SRK. Large and Med Voyager, ready edge, and Med filet knife. I have owned the majority of them for several years and they are used and abused. Plus If I do loose them(my first Master hunter is in a 4 year old gut pile in Maine)I dont get too upset. I dont know what I would do if I lost something like a Sifu, or a Chris Reeve.
 
When I pick up a new blade it is for use. I carry all of my blades and use them as needed, but I never abuse them! I love the feeling of carring a well made knife that is ready for some hard use if needed.
 
I'm pretty much a user but I have a few knives that are in my special knife box not for monetary value but for the sentimental value. IMO, the Cold Steel Voyagers are some of the most under-rated knives around. I had a medium tanto that I used quite a bit. The AUS-8A takes a great edge and stays sharp (not shaving, but sharp) for a good while. The locks are also strong and can take abuse. The only thing that I didn't really care for is the small clip that just doesn't seem to fit any of my pants right.
Matt
 
I will not buy a knife unless I can use it. I've sold many that didn't fit my needs. I have an Umfaan that has seen minimal use because I haven't carried it much. Mr. Graley is solving that problem with a new sheath that will put the Umfie into action.
 
I guess I'm a combination of the two. I started out collecting antiques, MOP's from mid 1850's - 1940's, most of which I've carried at one time or another although with minimal careful use, Celluloid Flappers from 1910 - 1930's which I don't carry (old celluloid is to unstable) and old bone/stag folders from 1850's - 1930's of which most are for trading/selling. All of my tactical/custom folders/fixed blades I've used and when I find a good deal on them I'll buy multiple which I won't use as they're for sale/trade.
 
I have a very few that I don't use, but for the most part I buy knives to use. I am attracted to a knife by its potetial performance more than anything else, not that a beautiful piece of stag or other natural handle material goes unnoticed.
 
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