Cured the Addiction

bpeezer

bpeezer

Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
2,078
It's been over a month since I've posted on here, and around two months since I've purchased a knife. I still have the 801CF on preorder, but I don't think I will buy any other knives any time soon. I don't have the guts to sell off most of my collection, but that may come with time. If knives have consumed your life (and your wallet) I wish you the best of luck in kicking the habit. If you're not dangerously addicted, I wish you the best of experiences with this hobby. Even after curing the addiction, I can still admit that knives are frickin' sweet.
 
I understand completely.
Luckily, I go in cycles...and I'm getting better about breaking myself out of them. A word of warning: out of nowhere will come temptation...and, if you don't shun it completely, it will suck you back in to this. A knife catalog on a friend's table did me in a few years ago - I hadn't purchased a knife in 6-7 yrs, and had no desire/interest. He didn't even know I'd had an interest in knives; he got a call he had to take, and slid the catalog toward me as he stepped away. I flipped through a few pages, then set it aside. Nothing...or so I thought. Over the next few days, I found myself thinking about one of the knives; and, one evening, I looked it up online. Next thing I knew, I was spending all my free time looking at knives on the internet. After that, the buying started.

Anyway - best of luck in your endeavors, it's amazing how productive we can be when we break free of our addictions.
 
It comes and goes in cycles for me too. I have gone YEARS without posting on here. Then I'll feel the urge to come check it out. Mainly wanting to see the progress in designs, see what a few folks are up to, etc. The knife buying monkey has been on my back long before I ever found BF. Don't know if I'll ever shake that, but it is better than a lot of other stuff I could be buying.

Every once in a while you just gotta take a break.
 
I noticed you hadn't been around man, good for you.

I havent purchased a knife this year and sold off all but 8 of my collection, it feels good to finally be happy with my small set of knives and not need to but more all the time.
 
Over the last two years I've shucked a few monkeys off my back that not only affected my wallet but my health, good standing with the law and relationships. (Alcohol, cigs, drugs) I'm totally sober now (and enjoying it thoroughly) and being a member here for a couple months i can see that for one, this is a hobby that you for the most part have to have your life together to partake in. It definitely costs a lot of money! But as we all know knives hold their resale value very well, so even if you push your hobby too far you can always slow down and sell off something if you made a decision too quickly and misjudged your priorities.

Drug and alcohol addiction doesn't allow that opportunity.
Besides, cutlery is a physical thing that you possess, something you have to show for your hobby. Drugs and alcohol don't offer that either.

And ultimately, you can hit the summit of the hobby and start making your own knives and really hone your trade, whereas the path I found myself on had no positive endings.

This is a very healthy community in my opinion! The posts are kept clean and most people are friendly!

If you find yourself thinking you are too far into something, I find it helps to stop and think about self control. I never did that before and the cravings that hit me the hardest these days are cigarettes. I stop and think about self control, knowing that it's in me somewhere and I simply have to invoke it to be above many other people that forget it's ever been there.

I just wanted to share that, we're all alright I think. Congratulations on realizing how your habit had affected your life and using your self control to grab the reins back and live your life the way you think it should be!
 
jill jackson said:
Drugs, alcohol and knives, what more could you need? :)
Click to expand...

Self control...something I lack once my state of mind becomes altered lol.

It's what I don't need, like court cases and fines to prevent me from buying more knives :p

Ultimately, for me, it wasn't about the fun anymore but staying high in general, whatever the pleasure and unbeknownst to me in hindsight a place to hide from my problems.

Now I just buy knives and it ain't a problem!
 
I seem to function within my limits of self-control. I sell in order to buy. Not a bad deal.
 
For the past several years, if a knife catches my fancy, I tend to wait on it...sometimes up to several months or a year. More often than not, I find that I don't really want it after all. Very rarely will I purchase it. It's a trick that works very well for me.

I've recently gotten a few SAKs that I've wanted for a while, but they are very inexpensive, small purchases to me. And even then, I rarely buy anymore. It also helps to be extremely picky.

Many years ago, I used to buy maybe a knife or two a month. I'm talking about mostly $60 to $150+ knives. Luckily that grew old for me after a while. Now I enjoy what I have a lot more.

Jim
 
Anything in excess is bad, but excess is a personal perception. I think rewarding yourself with a hobby to celebrate your winning battle with addiction is brilliant.
My wife is a financial genius. I'm allotted a certain amount of money each month for hobbies and anything. That's it so I'm always making sure I REALLY WANT IT!
 
Only thing I could think when I saw this:
giLJltI.gif

But seriously, congrats? :D
 
I think many of us here have at one time or another bought or owned more knives than we needed as we got caught up in our passions or knives . I know I have . But I realized after a while that I was NOT a collector , but a user of knives and you only need a few knives to cover all possible knife needs .
That said , I still find myself selling off knives and buying others in what seems an endless search for the none existent perfect knife for each job lol . I am getting it narrowed down though ;)

On a side note , Mrdabble I congratulate you on overcoming your addictions and truly hope your temptations are few and that your new life is lasting and rewarding .
 
Mike-The-Knife said:
I think many of us here have at one time or another bought or owned more knives than we needed as we got caught up in our passions or knives . I know I have . But I realized after a while that I was NOT a collector , but a user of knives and you only need a few knives to cover all possible knife needs .
That said , I still find myself selling off knives and buying others in what seems an endless search for the none existent perfect knife for each job lol . I am getting it narrowed down though ;)

On a side note , Mrdabble I congratulate you on overcoming your addictions and truly hope your temptations are few and that your new life is lasting and rewarding .
Click to expand...

I was going to post pretty much the same thing with some minor details, so I'll just quote this.
 
I have more knives and guns than I could ever use in 10 lifetimes. Who cares they seem to never go down in value. In fact they for the most part keep going up. I wish everything else I spend big bucks on did the same!
 
That's the great thing about BFC, sure it can be addictive, but the price of a membership is cheaper than a tank of Taxoline. The fun, friendships, interests and information found here are priceless. :thumbup:

I'm 555 and I'm a BFC addict. :D
 
I myself replaced an addiction with knives, making them, or at least putting handles on blades, many, many moons ago. Some of us have to have our obsessions and knives are relatively harmless.

The great thing about knives is that it is a many faceted hobby and it doesn't have to be expensive. You could get into sharpening like a ninja, wood carving, knife rescue, etc., etc.

I've gotten pretty good at being cheap about this myself. Looking for old users at flea markets, yard sales, pawn shops and fixing them up a bit feeds that acquisition monkey pretty cheaply. You can get an Opinel for 8$-15$ and sand and stain and play with that thing for a month and then give it away when you get it just right (or mess it up real good).

Congratulations Mr. Dabble. The first year or two is hardest. If you totally stay on track it gets better and easier slowly, but it never stops getting better and easier. Your knife hobby is one set of new neural pathways and you'll find more. After a pretty good while you'll be able to be around triggers without issues, go to a bar and just listen to the band for instance. After a long time you won't see how you could ever go back. Don't rush it.
 
Good job bpeezer!

Ive sold off a lot and have a few orders that are in process. After that my goal is to not buy a knife for one full calendar year.
 
davek14 said:
The great thing about knives is that it is a many faceted hobby and it doesn't have to be expensive. You could get into sharpening like a ninja, wood carving, knife rescue, etc., etc.
Click to expand...

Can't advocate this enough.

My passion for Japanese blades started my study of the history and culture behind them. It will no doubt be a lifelong interest of mine and it all started with knives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top