Building a knife collection without busting the bank

nikshichu said:
Haha this thread is gonna make me buy all things that I can't afford, not just knives (that I can't afford) 🤣💀
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You just need one Seiko. Maybe a Citizen. Then a couple of G-Shocks. Perhaps a Longines. Then a Hamilton finally. Then your watch collection is complete. Don’t forget the dress watch you’ll never wear because you hate formal wear.

Then months later you convince yourself than an Omega for only $3950 on the secondary market is a fantastic value.

Apologies for the off topic comments. Back to knives now.
 
Keep what you use, sell what you don’t.

No one really cares about what knives you own besides yourself, knife companies and a bunch of knife nuts on the internet.
Try to limit your exposure to materialistic based social media and hobbies and you’ll find yourself wanting less.

Buy a good knife, with a long lasting design, made by a reputable maker that can be maintained for decades.

Learn to sharpen and keep a good edge through stropping.

Realize more hard use happened back when the best knife steel was 1095 on a fixed blade or slip joint. Older steels built America.

Any modern steel should be just fine for anybody outside of certain niches. Most people just flick their knives, open boxes, and plastic bags.

What breaks the bank is not necessarily the price of the knife. It’s over consumption of any material good that you have no practical need for. Budget is important, and if you can’t afford something don’t buy it. But buying an excess of cheapo knives is going to cost the same as buying one generational knife.

Also a good quality knife will lose less value if you decide to part with it.

Let your collection be a reflection of your passion, not your longing. Fill your collection with knives you adore, not with emptiness.




Nice collection by the way.
 
norcalAF said:
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Wait OP was serious with the title? I've mortgaged my house, maxed out my cards, and am riding a bicycle to work due to this knife thing 😁
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Ive got a friend whos in borderline financial trouble and in the last 2 years has bought enough knives to open a good set up at an indoor flea market; he went through alot of if not most of his savings doing this; I told him about 25% off sale last week ,he couldnt get to the laptop fast enough; hes gonna wind up in a refridgerator box in the street filled with him and his knives.....
 
Depends on your category/catagories of interest. Estate sales, garage sales and pawn shops might be places to look for knives at good prices.
 
RPZIP said:
Depends on your category/catagories of interest. Estate sales, garage sales and pawn shops might be places to look for knives at good prices.
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Right now it's the ad20.5 vs mini adamas for me. Still can't make the decision. The Demko is on sale, the Adamas is not. I don't think I've ever seen the Adamas on sale btw
 
nikshichu said:
Right now it's the ad20.5 vs mini adamas for me. Still can't make the decision. The Demko is on sale, the Adamas is not. I don't think I've ever seen the Adamas on sale btw
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Go for the DEMKO, every adamas I've had has had some lock rock. I'm on my third, and yep some lock rock. My 20S is fantastic
 
norcalAF said:
Go for the DEMKO, every adamas I've had has had some lock rock. I'm on my third, and yep some lock rock. My 20S is fantastic
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Mine had that too, and some blade play. Not an issue with the other Benchmades I owned. Since the release of the new magnacut version, I was thinking they'd fixed all of them 😆💀 I guess I'll just buy both and keep one, return the other 🥲
 
goldie said:
Ive got a friend whos in borderline financial trouble and in the last 2 years has bought enough knives to open a good set up at an indoor flea market; he went through alot of if not most of his savings doing this; I told him about 25% off sale last week ,he couldnt get to the laptop fast enough; hes gonna wind up in a refridgerator box in the street filled with him and his knives.....
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Why would you enable someone like that? The last thing I'd do if someone had a drinking problem would be to mention the happy hour at the bar down the street.
 
Buy what you like. Use them and care for them. Some will eventually go up in value.

When buying any vintage collectable, condition is everything.

Knives I wish I had bought: Chris Reeve had a line of one piece hollow handled knives. I wish I'd taken out an equity loan on the house and bought multiples of every model . . .kept new in the box stacked in a safe somewhere.

Currently, I am looking at picking up some of the GI utility knives issued to the Marines in WW-II.

They have been discontinued for several years now and have gone from a few hundred each to several thousand apiece.
 
VorpelSword said:
Buy what you like. Use them and care for them. Some will eventually go up in value.

When buying any vintage collectable, condition is everything.

Knives I wish I had bought: Chris Reeve had a line of one piece hollow handled knives. I wish I'd taken out an equity loan on the house and bought multiples of every model . . .kept new in the box stacked in a safe somewhere.

Currently, I am looking at picking up some of the GI utility knives issued to the Marines in WW-II.

They have been discontinued for several years now and have gone from a few hundred each to several thousand apiece.
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That's a good investment. I don't think any of my knives will reach that price though. Apart from the Sebenza maybe 😄 when they release the new 41 and discontinue the 31, then it might go up i value but no way in the thousands range
 
I don't have an Adamas but I have several 20.5 versions. I love the lock mechanism and the knife itself but I have to admit the blades are a bit thick. This is emphasized with the saber grind on the blade. It makes for a fairly thick behind the edge cutting profile. My wallet would hate it if they made a full flat grind version with thinner blade stock.
 
nikshichu said:
That's a good investment. I don't think any of my knives will reach that price though. Apart from the Sebenza maybe 😄 when they release the new 41 and discontinue the 31, then it might go up i value but no way in the thousands range
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Let me be clear (no, I am not running for office), I did NOT do that> It would have been a good investment to hve bought any one of tose CRK knives . . . but I didn't.

The Randall I bough our son was modified by beadblasting the polish off and the top, false edge was sharpened. This is now only a family heirloom, not a collectable. The CRK Green Bert is twenty years old and made from a now obsolete steel alloy, S30V and was used hard. Online offerings of newer vrsions of this knife are sold for way more than pre-owned . . . .and the pouch, sheth, box and papers are long gone too.

At the time I bought the CR
K, I also bought a Camillus licensed version of the Dsrral Ralph "Madd Maxx: folding dsgger. It cost me $125 at that time (say 2002). Camillus went out of business. That knife is now offered on e-Bay t several hundred dollars now . . .who knew?

And that is sort of point. One can rarely buy a knife with the expectation that it will increase in value in any way. Raqndall and CRK have made untold thousands of knives. How many of the RTandall Made knives are kept prestine and mint as prized possessions or used for years field dressing deer and elk? How many CRk knives have been used in hard service and worn out or kept safely put away in a sock drawer? Fifty years from now or maybe more, the relative abundance of survivor knives from each maker will be a factor as will their condition and perceived desirability.
 
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Collecting as an investment is always a big risk, most things lose value and somethings one never thought gain by their rarity. For me collect what you like, use it , and if you do not want it any more sell it.
 
Something I've thought about, but never acted on: Every time you want another knife, take that same amount of money and put into a high yield savings account or invest it. At the end of ten years compare the value of a collection vs the savings/investment account. Compound interest is the best collectable. Do as I say, not as I do! 🤣😖
 
Landshark99 said:
Collecting as an investment is always a big risk, most things lose value and somethings one never thought gain by their rarity. For me collect what you like, use it , and if you do not want it any more sell it.
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One should NEVER collect anything as an investment, only for personal enjoyment.

And like stocks, you should NEVER spend any more to buy a collectible than you can afford to lose.

Good taste & good luck help but TIME is your greatest ally in terms of realizing any increase in the value of whatever it is that you collect.
 
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