Becoming Minimalistic

I had many knives of many different makers…all over the place, no theme or focus, purely random…..
all kinds…all styles……sold all of them this year and used to money to make a collection of hard to find varients and rare models of
110 and 112 Buck only knives and a few fixed blade models….Its the only maker I own now, just Buck. Much happier.
OOPS..I fogot..
I did keep one spyderco endella…
I carry that or a Buck 112 automatic.

https://flic.kr/p/2mRBbMj
 
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I'm not there yet. I could carry a different knife every day for two months and would love it. I like having many different things to choose from. At one time I was using a random number generator app to pick my knife of the day. 😆 Call me crazy but at least I'm still having fun.
 
Jaygti said:
There’s a lot to be said for keeping a collection narrow and focused.
One make ,or one style, or one country of origin etc etc.
It helps keep the size of the collection down and surprisingly isn’t necessarily less interesting either. 👍🏻👍🏻
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Not always, of the 145 I had when I stopped116 of them were Buck 303 and all of them were Buck stockman.
 
emjay said:
Around the end of last year I opened up my knife draw to be greeted with the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed with the choices of knives I have at my disposal for EDC, kitchen and outdoor use. Just too many. So many I'd never be able to wear any of them out in my lifetime. So many to choose I'd get a mild panic attack at wondering if I'd make the right choice for the day. So many that have never even cut anything, let alone have been carried. So many that have been bought due to a romantic idea of a certain situation I might see myself in. I know I'm not alone here.

So I started whittling down the collection. First the duplicates, because in this day and age I'm likely to be able to buy the exact same or similar knife if I lose one. Then the ones I have never used. Then the ones that share the same role as others, but not as suitable for the task. All gifted or sold. Sometimes I'd relapse and buy a couple extra on impulse, then come to my senses and remember the path I'm on, and quickly sell or gift those.

It's taken a long time to whittle down the collection, and to be honest, I'm not quite done yet. I really can get rid of a few more. There are some that I will never get rid of for sentimental reasons, however I am more open to using those sentimental knives now.

The thing is, I feel more free not having the burden of so many choices available to me, which was the point of it. Every morning when I wake up, the same EDC knife is on the table next to me that I will carry everyday. There's no thought behind it. It's like grabbing your keys, wallet and phone and heading out the door. That feeling is more valuable to me than a draw full of forgotten, barely used knives.

Just putting my thoughts on paper here, but I'd like to hear your stories of cutting down the clutter if you have any. We really don't need much to get by everyday.
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Well now I need to know what you’ve settled on for your daily edc!
 
I was once a knife minimalist or something like it, until I caught the knife collecting bug a few years back. Other than the nine or so knives that are still currently on their way to my location, I'm definitely planning (like that'll happen) to slow down on collecting everything in sight to focus more on a few quality items. We'll see how that plan goes when knife companies present their new creations for 2022. I keep detailed records about every knife I own, but at any time can't tell you how many I own, but it's well over a hundred.
 
emjay said:
Around the end of last year I opened up my knife draw to be greeted with the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed with the choices of knives I have
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I think you're worrying about it too much.
If you aren't about to be evicted because you can't pay your rent then you don't have to justify the number of knives you have to anybody. If you like them then keep them, whether you use them or not. Collecting an item doesn't mean you have to use that item. If you no longer like them then sell them. I'm far from a minimalist but I don't have hundreds of knives either. I have more than I need but I try to use most of what I have, at least the EDC type folders. I've also been in a position where I thought I had to whittle down, and I sold a few, only to wish at some point in the future that I still had them. So I try to stay away from the minimalism concepts for that reason.
 
I have about 14 knives presently.
Some nice and about $200 and a couple of beaters.
There are a couple I want to get.......
I do to give away knives that I find myself not carrying.
 
zippo123 said:
I had many knives of many different makers…all over the place, no theme or focus, purely random…..
all kinds…all styles……sold all of them this year and used to money to make a collection of hard to find varients and rare models of
110 and 112 Buck only knives and a few fixed blade models….Its the only maker I own now, just Buck. Much happier.
OOPS..I fogot..
I did keep one spyderco endella…
I carry that or a Buck 112 automatic.

https://flic.kr/p/2mRBbMj
Click to expand...
That's minimalistic my way :^D
 
Covid and unemployment have devastated my collection over the past year and a half. The whole of the collection will never be replaced, but that’s ok. I got cash when I needed it. Plus now I only buy knives that can be carried every day. No more large fixed blades lol.
 
I have /am sort of going through this myself. I don't like having things I don't use and really love and having a large-ish collection sort of stressed me out also. I'm down to like 7 knives and still trying to reduce further. It is getting tough now though because I want minimal options but also like variety. I'm doing monthly carries now to settle on which ones I really enjoy most.
 
Over the past two years I've had the opportunity to have a pretty wide selection of folders through my hands, kept some and sold some. There's 5-6 knives that I'd like to pickup next year (2 being fixed blades) that I've been looking at or have been on order for a while. Total blade count now is around 30 with a wide variety that fills what I need/want that particular day (in or out of work), single blade or combo. More than what I probably need but like having the a wide selection of tools to choose from. Don't feel the need to go beyond that at this point but I still like to look.
 
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