Carrying my Knife collection

Hvactech

Hvactech

It's only the tip
Platinum Member
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Aug 22, 2021
Messages
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I just came to a realization that it's silly to buy a bunch of knives, but never carry the majority of them because you don't want to get a scratch or smudge on them. A year ago I only had a small handful of cheaper Kershaws, $50 dollars or less. Then I purchased a Kershaw Dividend with the olive Drab handles and composite blade. Man I thought that composite blade was the coolest knife ever. Then I started buying all kinds of older composite Kershaws and leek and Damascus versions. I finally saw the light and found the Forums here and started seeing what all the knife lovers on here were buying. Now I have quite a few Zero Tolerance's, Spyderco's, Hinderer's, and others. But I still would only carry a small handful of knives, compared to what I own. Well I finally realized that they don't do much good sitting in my knife folders looking all pretty. I'm sure a bunch of other folks on here does the same thing. Has anyone else had the same ah ha moment as me ? Today I'm carrying my brand new Tuff that I purchased months ago but never carried one time. Also in my side Carpenters pocket is my newly purchased from the exchange Half Trac. It actually feels good to carry these. And I will keep rotating them for other neglected ones that don't get carried! Yall have a great rest of your day!!!1649268658509.jpg
 
I've never had that kind of ah-ha moment, and it's unlikely that I ever will. Long story short, I'm a terrible collector. If I own it, I want to use it. I gave up on trying to preserve collector's items a long time ago. If I find out I own a collector's item, I need to either sell it or make peace with the idea that I'm about to ruin its collector's value. If it's a gun, I'll shoot it. If it's a knife, I'll sharpen it. Given that I only have about 4 pocket knives suitable for carry, it's pretty easy to get them all in the rotation. I have a few others, but they're sharpening practice fodder.
 
Yeah I've always shot my new guns as quickly as possible lol. But I guess I've never had really nice knives in the past, so I just put them in my folders and admired them. Well those days are over, I'm going to start enjoying them more than looking at them here and there!
 
Every knife in my collection has been used, in some way or another. There are a few I rarely carry, for one reason or another. I generally make sure to rotate through my modern one hand openers so no one gets lonely, though my badly battered Brous Bionic sits 99% because since buying and using it heavily years ago, I no longer care for it. Its too beat up to sell. Its the knife I give people when they are over and want to borrow a knife.

I also rarely carry my Viper Novis. I bought it last year, and its seen a little time but the lack of clip is the killer. It will be on the exchange in a few weeks.
 
With the exception of what I will call "special interest" knives (daggers and switchblades), every knife I have ever purchased was purchased with the intent of carrying it, and using it, mostly at jobs that required a lot of knife work.

My problem was (if you can call it a problem) I kept seeing, and buying, something I thought I'd like better. So now I have several users just lying around, but nothing to use them for. I've thought about giving some away, but I always get the feeling that if I give one away I'll end up regretting it.

I don't consider my knives a "collection". I consider them an "accumulation", or an "assortment". :)
 
Hvactech said:
I just came to a realization that it's silly to buy a bunch of knives, but never carry the majority of them because you don't want to get a scratch or smudge on them.
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Opinions differ. LOL :)

There are over 360 knives in my "collection." I carry a few of them but dont really USE any of them. The knives that I use don't cost $200-$1k+ (which is the value of most of the knives in my collection) and IMO it would be really STUPID to use any knife that expensive for any purpose.

I've got A LOT of other knives that cost me nothing (because they were inherited from my sous chef father) or very little and I have no problem using any of them for any purpose for which they would be suitable.
 
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Well I confess that I collected but didn’t carry the “nice” knives in my collection for a few years. I’d even go as far as to buy a second copy of a knife I already had just so I could carry it. Started with Kershaws and moved all the way to CRK’s, Hinderers, ZTs and finally Rocksteads. Finally realized it was a crazy plan and sold half of my collection over the course of six months. All I have now are users, with zero safe queens…..and no regrets whatsoever.
 
CHNeal said:
Really? Wow, I pity you.
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Why?

My knife collection is worth somewhere between $50-75k, which is MORE than what I paid for it.

That's NOTHING to pity and, as long as I keep the knives in "good" condition, I (or my executor) should be able to recoup all of that $ whenever it needs to be sold. So, pity me if you like but I'm sitting pretty. LOL ;)

BTW, the value of my knife collection is only surpassed by the value of my art and LP collections, about equals the value of my car collection and exceeds the value of my gun/ammo collection.

So, collecting is in my nature and I make no excuses about it.
 
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sgt1372 said:
Opinions differ. LOL :)

There are over 360 knives in my "collection." I carry a few of them but dont really USE any of them. The knives that I use don't cost $200-$1k+ (which is the value of most of the knives in my collection) and IMO it would be really STUPID to use any knife that expensive for any purpose.

I've got A LOT of other knives that cost me nothing (they were inherited from my sous chef father) or very little and I have no problem using any of them for any purpose for which they would be suitable.
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I think “stupid” is a pretty strong word, lol.

Personally, I think it’s pretty silly to purchase higher end knives with the purpose of making a profit.

I can guarantee that the money I have parked in any number of my investments is strongly outperforming any profit I could make off of guessing which knives are going to gain considerable value in the next 20 or so years.

I use the crap out of every knife in my collection, regardless of cost, or that knife gets shown the door. I’m going to have to figure something else out soon though…. I’m almost to the point of carrying a knife once or twice a year if I want to keep a “rotation”. I’ve taken to swapping knives out a few times a day lately, lol.
 
Fixall said:
I think “stupid” is a pretty strong word, lol.

Personally, I think it’s pretty silly to purchase higher end knives with the purpose of making a profit.
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Well, "stupid" to me is buying a $200+ knife and rendering it essentially WORTHLESS by using (or beating the sh*t out of) it, as long as there are suitable alternatives to use. But, then again, opinions will differ.

FWIW, I don't buy anything that I collect for the PURPOSE of making a profit. I collect things that I "enjoy" owning. That's the ony reason I buy them. If they don't give me any enjoyment anymore, I sell them.

However, I generally keep what I buy a LONG TIME and, if I've purchased "well" (which is what I try to do) and keep what I buy in "good" condition, those things tend to go up in value (or in the case of my cars, at least "hold" their value).

I think of these things as an inflation "hedge" because, even though they go up in value, their value generally does not not exceed the rate of inflation but they still enhance my QUALITY OF LIFE because they give me PLEASURE.

I am a VERY EXPERIENCED collector of the "things" that I enjoy collecting and I have NEVER lost any $ of note after a reasonable holding period but making $ on those things was NOT the pupose of buying them in the 1st place.

The same thing applies to my house which I bought at the bottom of the crash in 2009 at around $300k and is now worth (according to my broker) around $900k but that's not $ that I can spend, because if I sold the house for a $600k "profit", I'd just have to buy another overpriced house to replace it.

So, those valuations are pretty meaningless to me.
 
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Use it or lose it is my motto. I’ve got two knives in my collection that I haven’t used yet and one is on its way out. They all see at least some pocket time but I don’t really put them through any hard use. I have a couple cheaper knives that I take fishing and everything else pretty much just cuts tape and cardboard. I did have a period where I was buying just to collect but once I started forgetting I had knives I started to sell them off.
 
sgt1372 said:
Well, "stupid" to me is buying a $200+ knife and rendering it essentially WORTHLESS by using (or beating the sh*t out of) it, as long as there are suitable alternatives to use.
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Go big or go home.


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I'll start by saying there's no wrong way to hobby, as long as YOU enjoy it. Nothing wrong with using your expensive knives, nothing wrong with "safe queens", "pocket jewelry", or a combination of both using some and babying others. You do you, and F the world if they don't like it. I personally enjoy carrying and using my knives, but that's me. I tend to take good care of my stuff because I was taught that's the proper way to do things, but I don't hesitate to use any of it. That's why I have it.

The beauty of it for me is that a well used knife (or watch, tool, truck, etc. for that matter) is no less attractive to me personally than a pristine example stored away and never used. On the contrary, I quite enjoy the added character of a little "use your shit stonewash", and look upon my well worn items with reverence and nostalgia for the times I've enjoyed with them. Furthermore, as someone with a tendency to customize things and make them my own, the thought of keeping something in original condition is often out the window as soon as I get my hands on it.
 
I don’t own any expensive knives. I have a few knives that are over $100 but under $150. I use, have used, or plan to use, every knife I have with with only a couple exceptions. If I have knives that aren’t getting used or carried its for a reason. For example, I have 3 that will never be used because of sentimental value, but those knives just happen to be something that isn’t practical for my use anyway. I have knives that I’ve bought duplicates for, that aren’t currently being used but will eventually. I have some that aren’t used regularly but are there to fill a specific role and used accordingly. Any others that aren’t used are around because I didn’t like them, I found something I liked better, or were gifted junk from other well meaning folks. Those knives end up being gifted to my kids, their friends, nieces and nephews, or whoever may need a knife at the time.
 
sailfish said:
Go big or go home.
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Your $, your choice.

Again, as I've said a couple of times already, opinions will differ.

My opinion definitely differs. ;)

If you have no problem trashing a $1k+ knife and can afford to do so. More power to you. I can afford it but I'd never do it.

I've got a couple $1k+ knives (and that's NOT what I paid for them) but there's no way they'd ever see any use.

My $, my choice.
 
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