Do you collect...or use

yoko

yoko

11+% ABV
Gold Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
12,109
Just wanted to see who uses what they have as much as possible

And how many are collectors

I try to use everything I have, seems if something sits for a while I try to sell our trade it
 
A bit of both for me. I have a few knives I keep as a collector but I try to use what I buy. Otherwise, as you said, I try to sell them. Someone might as well get some use of the knife.
 
I have a few that i keep safe but they were my grandads.

I use everything i buy now, no sense in buying a cutting tool and not cutting anything with it.
 
I use everything. Anything that doesn't get used gets sold or traded so i can buy something i will use.
 
My interest in knives as a hobby goes back at least thirty-five years. If I'd continued to use every knife I purchased during those three-plus decades, I'd have an absurd accumulation of hopelessly redundant and devalued tools; the functional equivalent of a carpenter with several hundred beat-up flat head screwdrivers :rolleyes:.

Fortunately, I learned long ago that I can only use so many knives before I OD on supernumerary excess, so I'd say that around 15% of my collection consists of users (still way more than I need) and the rest are safe queens.

My collecting tastes have changed direction at least five times since I started, and all those valuable mint knives free up a hell of a lot more cash for my next purchases than they would if I'd used 'em. YMMV, but I'd rather have a semi profitable and semi self-perpetuating hobby than a drawer full of redundant beaters (and I still have a drawer full of redundant beaters!).
 
Last edited:
Both. I have a far larger collection of knives than I could ever practically use, but I do use multiple knives every day, including kitchen cutlery.
 
I have a handful of antiques that aren't users, same with a couple of limited editions I came into. Everything else is a user, though. I buy 'em to use 'em. Most are pretty budget friendly, too. I love bargain blades. :)
 
No safe queens here either. While I certainly have more than I actually need (~30 folders, ~20 fixed blades), I still try to use them all. There are a number in EDC roation, and although some haven't seen pocket time for awhile, every one has been carried and used at some point (including rarer ones like my first production BM 630 Skirmish and my Kershaw Ti JYD 2). I stash others in various places around the house where I might need one, and still others get stuck in bags and stuff like BOB, hunting, fishing, or camping gear so they're always there if needed (or if someone else possibly forgets one). I have all of TWO knives in my safe which have never been used (both SRKW Chopweilers), and one will be getting sold really soon for that reason. It is the same wrt guns for me. I don't have the money to be throwing away on something I will not use. If I see something as an investment, maybe, but that would be my only reason for a safe queen.
 
What is the definition of use/user in regards to knives? Perhaps this is a subject for another thread.

I can count on one hand how many knives I have that I consider collectors. That doesn't mean they hold any kind of collector value, but they are collectable to me...and that's what counts. My other knives I consider to be users, but I have several that just haven't been used, yet. Again...what is a user? If you carry a knife in your pocket and never cut anything with it...is it a user? Or maybe it's a collector that just got 'carried' for a day. Sorry...if you took that knife out of its box and clipped it in your pocket and walked 50 ft. from your collection...then that knife is no longer a collector, it's a USER!! LOL.

I apologize...I'm being sarcastic, but I think it's funny.


Seriously, I have one knife...correction...TWO knives that go to work with me everyday. I carry a Buck 303 in my left pocket (most of time) and a Strider PT in my right. For more delicate cutting chores I use the slip joint. If I need to slice through insulation or whittle away at some sheetrock or anything else that takes a little more umph...then I use the Strider. My other knives that I feel like carrying get "carried" on weekends. I have a slip joint and a locking folder on me at all times. It just depends on my selection choice for the day as to what get carried. Some knives I've had for 15-20 years or longer and I rarely carry them anymore. They are disco'd and are no longer made, and the chances of getting another one are slim to none. So just because I may not use it anymore, doesn't mean that it is taking up space and has got to go!! I guess those would be in my collection of 'past' users. LOL!!

If I see a knife that I like and would like to have...I buy it. It may get used right away...or it may not.
 
Everything I have has "signs of use" even though I care for them we and their all in good knick, so I guess I use more then I collect. I tend to sell the ones hat sit to long in the draw, can't afford not to or maybe I'd collect a little more.
 
I found the more I make knives the less I want to buy or own any. I actually just thinned my collection from around 150+ blades to now around 25. The ones I kept either are users or will be once my current ones are retired.
 
knives i spend my hard earned money on get used. there's not a single piece of "art" on any wall of my house because i can't bring myself to pay good money for something i'm just going to look at and never touch. my knives, guns, tools, and motorcycles are the same way.

BUT! i do however have a small collection of crap knives friends and family have given me over the years that have never been used, but that's because i value my fingers and my dignity.
 
I do not believe that using many knives is any cooler, than using a few...
So I use a few. I could use more - for I have got quite a number of them. But why should I? I have probably 10 knives in the rotation, I just do not need any more. And I have got probably another 200 that I have bought at some time, which I like, and have no intention to part with. I have used some of them, when they were new for me... Some of them were not used at all... Some knives I bought new, some I bought used - for I do not care that much about boxes and such, and used knives are very often a great value...
I know that may not sound that cool here. But I am sort of too old to worry about that. I just do what I like - if I believe I can afford it. ;)
 
Last edited:
My enjoyment of knives is perfectly described by Rick and CWL in their posts above. If I really like a particular knife, I buy 2 or sometimes if funds permit, more. One becomes a user and the others go into storage. I too have more knives than I could really use, but I do enjoy admiring the designs, craftsmanship, and the thought that goes into each design. If I see something that catches my eye later, i have something to sell in order to fund the new interest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top