Can't seem to satisfy the itch

C

Clay1

Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
217
I grew up with a father that always had a knife on him. He was always making knives as well out of antler and old files from work. Maybe they are not what we call super high tech these days but I still have one that is probably 35 years old.

I don't know why but a year or so ago I bought an introductory level Benchmade (small Griptillian) and I have used it for everything for about 9 months or so. Then I bought an Emerson Raven, then a Mach 1, then a Benchmade Tether knife then Microtech Mini Socom Elite and today the UPS guy delivered another Microtech a LCC. It's Christmas eve and I'm on the computer looking for the next purchase.

I'm married, 3 kids, two dogs etc. I keep this up the wife is going to trade me in for some sheeple fella. You guys might even come across a bargin or two when she sells off my goodies.

So what is the cure? How do you get over it. How many knives does one man need? I keep thinking that if I only get this next knife life will be grand. Before the next one is even delivered I am shopping for the next. Help. Maybe I should quit buying hardware and learn more about how to use what I already have in the most effective way.
 
Originally posted by Clay1
So what is the cure? How do you get over it. How many knives does one man need? I keep thinking that if I only get this next knife life will be grand.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can get it through your head that knives are fun to own, use, and seek, but that they only improve a very teeny portion of the quality of your life. If you can, tell me how you did it.

You're in the asylum with the other lunatics. I just bought an expensive folder and I'm trying to get a more expensive one. You know what, though? It's nothing worth risking your marriage over. Paul Bos can't heat treat relationships and it'd be creepy if anyone else tried, too.

As cool as that 'next' knife is, and it's cool, it is
N O T H I N G
compared to your family and your friends.

One thing that may help is to paraphrase that "Beware the man with one gun" saying. Hasn't worked for me, but it may work for you.

Good luck and Merry Christmas.
 
As a happily married (and I'm not kidding!) man, I know the feeling, bro.

:)

When your wife decides to sell off your stuff, could you please tell her to look me up first?

:)

Allen
aka DumboRAT
 
Clay1:

I have a few possible suggestions:

Quit everything else and devote the rest of your life to knives.
That’s not really practical and more than a little insane.

Quit buying knives and be satisfied with what you already have.
That’s not much fun and not very likely, since you have ‘feet of Clay’. It’s instinctive for a man to search for and collect things. I think it comes from our hunter ancestors.

Make up (and live by) a set of arbitrary knife buying rules. Make it like a game. For example:

Only buy one knife at a time. If you have a deal on a knife pending, you can’t plan to buy, or deal on any other knives. Not until the first knife is actually in your hand.

Limit (and keep track of) the amount of money you can spend on a knife each month. Pick a number of dollars and stick to it. Borrowing money from future months is not allowed. Saving money from month to month for an expensive knife is allowed.

Using work overtime money, pop can money, etc. is not allowed for knives. That money should be shared with your family. Money you receive as a Christmas or Birthday gift can be spent on knives, above your monthly budget.

I’m sure you (or your wife) can think of more rules. I hope this will help you. I always feel sorry for someone with ‘The Knife Sickness’. To be honest, I should warn you that it’s all theoretical. I’ve never tried any of these rules myself. Remember that just because you hear voices in your head, you don’t have to do what they say. Good Luck. :D
 
Monthly knife budget? I've got the disease, but I don't exactly have a monthly allocation for a knife purchase. I'm mostly into higher end production folders and luckily I've mostly run out of models that really interest me. I own at least one of, and in some cases a couple of all the designs that really light my fire. I was doing really good and being pretty content with my collection for a few months and not really lusting after anything until I saw the Benchmade 941Ti a week or so ago. I really love the 941 and already own two variants of it, but the Ti and S30V looked really sweet. Lucky for me my loving wife got one for me for Christmas, so I have no knife purchases of my own to justify or feel guilty about right now.:)

Of course I've heard Benchmade is coming out with an auto version of the Benchmite, and I did see a really cool Microtech D/A LCC last week that another forumite had while I was visiting Plaza Cutlery (just looking!).

I'm doing my best right no to put any hobby money into building a small shop so I can try making some of these things..:)

Welcome to the club.

jmx
 
It is a lot of fun to get a new knife. The thrill is in the search, the wait, and opening the box and feeling it for the first time in your hand... Then testing it out and comparing it.


But eventually you will find the knife (your "EDC" or "Fav") that just ends up on your person all the time. And every knife will be compared to your Fav.
It will still be fun to see new designs and buy them, but they will never quite live up to your Fav. You will buy new designs and play with them and then put them back in the box and put your Fav back in your pocket.


The fun is in the fact that there is no "perfect knife". Every knife has its strengths and its compromises. So there will be countless new designs and every one will be cool in its own way.

I have bought quite a few knives lately that I bought just for the thrill of buying them. Spyderco's Gunting and Chinese are a couple neat designs I just wanted to hold. Also, Sal's "Lil Temperence" is very cool and is a great expression of what a good design should have. It almost made it into my pocket. But in the end they all just went in the safe and my Fav stays in my pocket.

Fortunately, I find that this is quite a cheap hobby compared to others.
 
I'm kidding about the wife leaving me. At least I hope so. We have been together twenty three years, married nineteen and I see no reason we can't hit the 40 year mark. By 50, I'll be lucky if I am still alive.

It is funny how quickly the satisfaction leave once I bought a new one. The latest M/A LCC has been a real satisfier though. I am so glad that I bought this one now and that I found a great price on it. I really love the last two Microtechs that I bought. I pulled out of the drawer an old Schrade knife. Solid, lock back, brass bolsters and some heft to it. I cleaned it up and sharpened it with the new Sharp Maker and that $35 knife seemed awfully nice to me.

Hopefully I won't buy too many more right now. I am just keeping my eye open for the great deals only. I want to run into a new Benchmade 710M2 or 806D2 for less than $80 each. I know that I am dreaming, but I keep looking. It's fun to get a new knife, It is more fun to get a great deal on a new knife.

I just have to slow down some, unless the great deals come my way and I can't let those go by me. Clay
 
I've limited myself to 4 folders and two fixed blades.
Thats my limit. If I want a new one.. gotta trade or sell one.
Works for me.
 
i cant find anything to replace my buck110. i have a chinook, delica, lots of knives, but i cant find anything that works better fo me than the 110. i just got a supertool200 and that might replace it, but i feel a seperation anxiety without my 110. ive been through so much with it i cant imagine its not being on me. i dont want to carry both the supertool and the buck, as that is a pound of knives, but i cant not carry the 110 and i really need the supertool.
 
You are fine, just on the high end of the enthusiasm curve.

For me, knife fever cools down once you get a portfolio of knives you like - everyone's number is different. Mine is 6 favorite folders and 2 fixed blades. Took a while to get the ones I really like though. Lots of buying and selling on the forums until I learned enough about what suits me.

Then as love4steel said, I have a "one comes in, one goes out" rule of thumb.
 
Ive had that same problem.... I couldnt even recieve my new knife I wanted to buy a new one... and the one I just bought had to be topped with somthing even nicer and more $$.. One day I just said STOP, I slapped myself and sold ALL of my stuff. I bought a Benchmade folder and use that as my sole knife. As I look back onto my knife buying days I think of how much of a retard I was spending all that money on something that fullfilled my needs with one knife... Is the Benchmade the favorite knife I ever owned? HELL NO! Ive always wanted a STRIDER, never got around to buy one of em though. If I were you and not to sound insultive to anyone here, cause hell everyone got a hobby, just keep a knife to use maybe one for a collection piece but you dont need a bunch to satisfy yourself. You just think you need a bunch. Hope my jibberish helps man, be cool:cool:
 
Originally posted by Aniketos
Is the Benchmade the favorite knife I ever owned? HELL NO! Ive always wanted a STRIDER, never got around to buy one of em though. If I were you and not to sound insultive to anyone here, cause hell everyone got a hobby, just keep a knife to use maybe one for a collection piece but you dont need a bunch to satisfy yourself. You just think you need a bunch. Hope my jibberish helps man, be cool
Click to expand...

Well said! I don't practice what you preach, but very well said! As a testament to your practices, we can see that your avatar has a BMW logo and not a 1974 Pinto, so you're on to something.
 
The only thing more fun than buying a new knife is making one. Once you have the tools (hahaha another bottomless pit), you can make anything you can think up-with a little practice.

The great thing about this is you can make new kitchen knives for your wife (once you get this disease, it doesn't matter what kind of knife you are making, they are all fun) and keep her off your back.
 
A year and a half ago, the only "real" knife I had used was a cheap $10 bali. I thought that spending $50 on a knife was an incredible amount.

Buying a BM Griptilian was my dream. Well, I got one. Then the AFCK became my dream knife. Got one of those, too.

Now, I'm making my own knives and am looking at a custom folder for my next purchase. :rolleyes:

Luckily (or rather, unluckily for me) I don't have a steady income, so my previous knife trades and purchases continue to fund my current ones.

It's fun, albeit addictive. Something nice about having a quality tool in the pocket.
 
Hi, my name is Clay, and I'm addicted ot knives!

It's OK to have a few knives but it is possible to have too many.

I don't want to offend anyone but it you're looking to purchase your next knife before you even received the last one you ordered...you have a problem!

Either, your needs are not being fulfilled in another area of your life or you have become addicted.

It's better to figure this out on your own before your wife points it out which it sounds like you are a bit too late.

But, you have realized this and have come to the right place to seek advice...A FORUM FULL OF KNIFE ADDICTS!

Welcome to the club,
Collecter
 
Brownie, did you realize that you are one sick puppy? I guess that I am too since I bought 6 knives in the last few months. Two Benchmades, two Emersons and two Microtechs. Send me to the funny farm.:p

On the wife thing guys, get over it. I've been married to the same woman, the only woman (no divorces here) for 19 years, been together for 23 years. The earlier statements about trading me in for a sheeple fella must have hit too close to home for some.

Oh, have the itch again, must go to therapy on New Grahams or Spoon River etc. Smile guys, life is good, I just want one more - maybe an 710M2 or should it be an 806D2, or a Busse Combat or Dieter CQD Mark I ........ :D
 
Start buying Chris Reeve knives and eventually reality will cash it's check. After 1 Umfaan, 4 small Sebenzas, and 2 Mnandis and still "itching" (don't get me wrong, CRK are the best IMO), I had to slow down.

Now I carry a Bitteroot on my key chain for sentimental reasons, and its good medicine, and the itching is gone. I now rotate a user knife from my CRK collection or carry a fixed Bark River. Hopefully the rash won't surface again until June in Atlanta.
 
You guys need help!:D

I never heard of Spoon River. It sounds therapeutic...I better check it out!

Collecter
 
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