Carry or Collect?A Conundrum

I collect to use, and use all of my knives. The knives I appreciate most are the ones I've used the hardest.
 
I really like knives and although I have just got through selling most of my really nice knives to help fund some purchases for another hobby I have I still have 83 knives and that's way to many for an old man to have in his EDC rotation. That said most of my knives are subject to be carried and used but I do have some that have special meaning to me that I won't carry because I just don't want to take a chance on something happening to one of them. I have a S&M Barlow gifted to me by Mrknife who I consider a good friend I won't carry and the same for a WW2 era Camillus Radio Jack BigBisquit gifted me and a couple of pen knives gifted me by Jack Black. Then there's my first knife that Glennbad brought back to life and knives given to me by family as presents. You can see where I'm going with this. A lot of my knives are old users and sometimes I just like to look at them and think about the people that might have owned them, those that made them, where they've been, what they have cut who first created the pattern what was the inspiration for it and so on. I also love to gift knives and just make someone's day. Yes I have too many knives to use them all and yes I will continue to buy them but they bring a little bit of joy to my life and that's perfectly alright with me.
 
Put me in the use/carry column. Admittedly, as the collection grows, it is tough to carry them all (and I'm not particularly fond of carrying a different knife every day; I like to give one 3 or 4 days at least). There are also certain knives that are less likely to get carried than others, but none that are simply there to be looked at. They're tools, and I try my best to use them like they should be used.
 
It really comes down to what you have, why you own it and how much you have tied up/how many knives!

I own so many more than I could carry and the use of them is in the enjoyment of ownership for most and the carry/deployment of a few.

The vast majority of "collectors" have less than 50 knives at any given time.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
No conundrum here...

It might look like I collect, but I try to give pocket love to each one of my 25s. (that can take a while...) There may be 1 or 2 that see more than the others, but I ain't just sitting on them.

Now, Alice's knives and her Dad's? I don't pull them out, there's too much sentimental value attached to them (particularly Alice's) and I don't want to risk losing them.

The Forum knives? Now those, I'm kinda collecting. I have carried them occasionally, but mostly it's to have them and support the idea of traditional solidarity.

The Cases? A thoughtful Xmas gift from the SIL, certainly no collector value there, and I prefer to carry a 25 most of the time.

That said, I do think there will be a peanut harvest in my future...
 
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I like to cut stuff with knives. I love to admire them, but they turn me on so much more when they cut stuff...
 
I'm a user. I don't have the means to buy collection pieces. I've used some nice midrange knives. 1k or less.

But I doubt I'll ever have the funds to buy high end collection pieces.

I get a lot of enjoyment from production pieces.

I had to sell off my only custom slip joint (didn't "have to" but was closing on a house, and wanted emergency cash).
 
mike Berkovitch said:
They are all queens, but not safe. I use each and everyone of my knives and enjoy every moment.

Mike
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Yes! That's what I'm aiming for, although I would like to sell off some (not so easy in Europe...).
One thing that's really enjoyable about having a load of knives is that you keep on making new 'rediscoveries' finding knives you'd almost forgotten about, Knives Reunited:D:D

Thanks, Will
 
I guess it depends on if you are collecting to one day resale or pass down. I use all of mine. I even sometimes carry "heirloom" knives that were my father's, grandfather's, and even one that was my great grandpa's. I have every intention of one day passing all of my knives, new and old, to my son. I enjoy the old used knives more then those recently made because I know they were used by the men in my family that came before me. I'm not sure if an unused knife passed on from one of them would have as high of value to me. Thus, I don't hesitate in using the GECs, Queens, Case, etc that I purchase new. I believe one day that my son and grandchildren will enjoy knowing that those knives spent some time working in my hands.
 
The Viper will pass the doorway tomorrow. She is out of her wax paper and the GEC leather sheath is ready to go.

Thanks for all the input.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
Both for sure. You don't want to use a 60 year old mint knife or a knife that is a newer short run that can become very valuable. But also you should carry what you love.
 
Duper said:
...
Got to get past the beauty and get to the utility.

,,,Mike in Canada
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I had/have that issue sometimes as well. My solution was to actively seek used knives: sharpened, carried, with patina, no box/tube, whatever, so long as it had been pretty well taken care of. So all of the extra collector value was gone, and the only thing I was paying for was a used pocket knife. Which meant that my using it would have little impact on the value. Even if I had no intention of ever selling it, there is some psychological thing about immediately decreasing the value of something by merely using it for the first time.

Some of my favorite carry knives came right off the Exchange forum here. It also helped that I like some of the less sought-after patterns so there wasn't the mad scramble to snag a rare SFO in the most popular knives.
 
Nice thread...Congrats Mike. The Viper is a nice knife. Please let us know your thoughts about the knife, and also what you think of your decision, after you' ve carried and used it a bit.
 
IMG_0670.jpg

The Viper is baptized now. Got used yesterday for opening some bags of earth for gardening. And then beauty and utility fell together in one swipe. I purchased a dozen roses for my lovely wife today and used my new Snakeskin Viper to trim the ends. Man that knife was plenty sharp!

On an added note the juices from the rose stems seem to have reacted with the 1095 steel and added some patina instantly. You can see the streaks in the attached photo link. I had wiped it down right away and it had some mineral oil on it to start with. Interesting. I guess it is personalized now.


,,,Mike in Canada
 
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