Collecting style

delmas2nd

delmas2nd

Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
1,071
was just curious and maybe because since i obviously have no direction what style or direction do you more experienced collectors use in collecting your knives. i use the "strike my fancy" method that and i love LB 7's and am looking to complete that set.
 
I started out with collecting all of the Uncle Henry and Old Timers, but that soon gave way to collecting older Schades and related manufacturers. Still always on the lookout for a "good deal". Most of my knives are Schrade, but I have a fair number of Ulster, Craftsman, and Camillus too. I really like Western Cutlery from Boulder Colorado too, but they are tough to find often. I also have a dozen or so Case knives, mostly recently made ones.

My collection now consists of mostly folders, and I really like the Schrade Waldens, picking up bone handled versions when available. I pretty much concentrate on knives in excellent condition for their age. I also like finding nice used ones to carry and use. I don't discriminate on pattern or size, and collect them all. I would love to collect the Schrade Cut Co era, but it is difficult to fine them in the condition I prefer.

For the most part, while I have my favorites from time to time, that changed with the wind. Any of my knives are for sale for the right price at the right time. No exceptions.
 
This is a great topic and have wanted to bring it up many times. When I first started I was an old timer hunter. Then Once I came to this site I was a hunter of all schrades, anything I could find. And then it moved into camillus, buck a few case etc. I have over the last year really thinned out my heard, as there was times we needed money for things that were more important than knives. It was hard to stomach at the time but now Ive really concentrated on my favorite schrades, mostly old timers and brown boxers too (Only got a couple). I do have other knives besides schrades, and now I try to do a little more trading than buying. I do carry a lot of my knives (no brown boxers) But I do love my old timers.

Although I only have a fraction of what I had some years back, I still love to collect and find good uses for knives that arent mint, which very few of mine are, LOL... And I try not to restrict myself to a certain brand or type if I see it and its cool and I can afford it Im in, regardless of who makes it

My favorite I must admit is probablly still the ot derlin handles, its what I grew up with and what most of my mentors carried, and I like em big. The UH's are great too and cant wait to find my mint LB8 its coming someday I can feel it. - Joel
 
My collecting started with a birthday gift from my son. I then bought my first knife as a collectible rather than as a tool, in late '07. It was a Schrade. :eek:. I am not even sure why, at this point. But it started an evolution and a.... umm... "disorder." Now I can say that my interests are perhaps similar to Hal's. Having lost my job, I am just beginning to sell off some items that no longer interest me. For a long time I just couldn't turn anything down. Yesterday I almost bid an absurd amount on an old Cattaraugus razor before I successfully recited my January mantra, "I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm...." Although I have examples of many different sharp pointy genre's, I guess now the core of my interest is older, larger, folding knives. Stockman, cattle, hunter, big jack, and especially really nice bone. Schrade, Case stand out as brands. Mostly Schrade, of course.
 
I grew up reading magazines and going to sportsman shows and using fishing knives. The Schrade displays I saw in the '70s and '80s got under my skin and I always regarded them as my favorites. As soon as I could I bought my first 167UH and put down my Rappala fillet.

Years went by and I only bought my first knife as a collectible rather than tool about two years ago. That's when I found BladeForums and as I researched my collectible I learned of Schrade's unfortunate demise in '04.

Larry's site displays all the old ads I grew up with and I decided I wanted to collect primarily Schrade knives. I decided I should have a general theme to my collection and I have always thought the Bear Paw Family of Lock-backs were what lock-backs should be so I decided I would collect all the LB series and then LB-7 and LB-5 style SFO's that caught my eye.

Like tongueriver I now need to remind myself that I'm broke occasionally before I over-extend myself but I never buy knives for more than I can sell them for in-a-pinch so I see them as a savings account of sorts.

At this point I am going to branch-out to eventually have one each of the whole Uncle Henry line before setting a new "theme" and I always am interested in nice stag Schrades.

I really like the Double-Eagle line and Frontiers in general too so I grab them when I can as well.
 
I started collecting two years ago this month. It started when I went to upgrade from the 108OT I was carrying to an 8OT. It didn't take me long to find out the unfortunate end of Schrade and it turned my heart inside out. Both of my grandfathers, my dad and three brothers and I carried were Old Timers and Uncle Henrys.

The stockman pattern has and always will be my favorite pattern and so that's when I started monitoring Ebay for good deals and steals as I began to do what i felt was my part to preserve a small part of a great american cutlery. I am up to 40+ Schrade stockman knives and even a couple of Ulsters and an Imperial. I try to get them all in mint condition, box has never been a deal breaker for me because after all I'm collecting knives not boxes. Natural handle materials always take precedent over synthetics and if it is a model that is out of my price range I always try to get a lightly used "place holder."

Chuck
 
Whether it's knives, antiques, whatever, you should always collect what you like. Monetary value and investing should never be the goal. Now as to why Schrade?

I'm always interested in local history and Schrade is local for me. It started with a 4th of July knife and has slowly branched from there. While I have my favorites, they don't follow any particular series or pattern. It is also rare for me to be actively "hunting" for a particular knife or tool. More often, I stumble upon them or they find me. I have and carry other brands but Schrades do have a special place for me. As I've said before, I don't have any safe queens. Everyone plays.
 
I started collecting Busse knives after I discovered them while searching for the ultimate survival knife in October 2007. Then I dug out the Schrade 34OT that my father gave me. I had no idea what it was, and after a little research, I was intrigued by the whole Schrade story, and found this forum. With so many knives to choose from, I knew I had to limit myself somehow, so I decided to start by collecting the Old Timers. That gave me a chance to learn a little bit about collecting Schrades, as far as what is desirable (American made) and what is not (Chinese made). It boils down to this... I collect new Schrades, mostly Old Timers. I have not gotten into the world of very old Schrades in excellent condition... YET!
 
I've been "Acummulating" knives since I was ten years old in the 1970s, and continue today. Buying a wide variety of bladed items for many different reasons: aesthetics, novel designs and materials, curiosity, closeouts and discontinued sales, historical interest, received as gifts...

I never really seriously "Collected" knives until 2004 when the Imperial-Schrade Corporation went out of business. Not only did I Accumulate a variety of Imperial-Schrades on super-duper closeout, but I also began to go crazy for Old Timers. It'll probably never happen, but the goal is to collect every Old Timer model and their variations. There are almost 70 knives in the Old Timer Collection now with no duplicates.

The other brand that I particularly collect is Bruckmann, a high quality pre-WWII German brand.
 
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