Boy, did I screw up. :-(

ziggy925

ziggy925

Joined
Oct 4, 2009
Messages
105
I just came across two old knives I have. One is a Gerber fixed blade Model 450, with the leather sheath and the wood handle with finger grooves. Believe it or not I found it about 35 years ago and thought I would use it a lot -- I fly fished. Anyway, the knife wound up going from drawer to drawer as I favored a Buck 102 for cleaning fish by the side of the river. I don't think the Gerber has ever been sharpened and it slices paper like new.

While both knives are beautiful, IMHO, I had a habit of engraving my initials on everything I owned, including these knives. My question is when you permanently mark a knife like this, how much does it reduce its value?

Thanks.
 
None if you plan on keeping.. May increase value if your famous....decrease if your are not and plan on selling,
 
ziggy925 said:
While both knives are beautiful, IMHO, I had a habit of engraving my initials on everything I owned, including these knives. My question is when you permanently mark a knife like this, how much does it reduce its value?
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The value might be increased, in the eyes of your distant ancestors who might pass down the knives from generation to generation. ;)

On the retail market though, yeah, it's a pretty big hit. No one's going to buy a knife with someone else's name on it unless it's ~really~ cheap.

To me, there's no drop in value; I don't buy used knives, so there's no difference in one that's lightly used or one that has initials carved in it. :D
 
Yep. Older Gerber knives, like discontinued Buck models, are often highly sought after by collectors. But like any mass-produced knife, collecting is mostly limited to unused examples, preferably with the original packaging and documentation.
 
Personally, if I came across an old knife with a mark like that I'd likely pick it up :) I think it adds character
 
False Cast said:
That's not true. Are you aware of the Gerber Mark II? It looks like the OP's 450 is worth something to some collectors out there.
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Wow, I never would have thought. I guess they have been putting out crap so long I didn't realize .
 
mmarkh said:
It's Gerber. It will never go for a lot of money regardless.
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That isn't true. The old (30 years+) Gerber LMF knives used to be made out of S60V. Price one of those, if you can find one and you will be pretty surprised.
 
If keeping reduces none like said above and can even add sentimental value to yourself, if your not sure whether you will keep an item do not mark on it, simple as that.
 
Seems like you're stuck with it, like licking a piece of chocolate so no one else will eat it. May as well start using that knife. :thumbup:
 
The exact knife is going for about $175 on eBay -- sans initials. I like the poster who said he'd pick one up like that. I agree, after about 100 years. There was a time in my life when I was putting my name and initials on everything, like I was going off to summer camp. Fortunately, all my old guitars just have name tags hanging on the case handles. :-)
 
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