Do you ever buy decent cheaper knives just to expand your collection?

I have several expensive knives like the sprint run manix 2s, m4 ritter and paramilitary, but I also have some cheaper ones some red class benchmades, an opinel, and have strongly considered a svord peasant (carbon steel folder made in New Zealand, i'll probably end up getting it eventually. I do carry some of the cheaper ones, I was surprised at how solid the Benchmade Vex felt, and the N690co on the BM Monochrome has turned out to be one of my favorite steels. Both of those "cheaper" knives I would say are interesting designs with decent steels, they may not be your favorite edc's but I think they would be worth adding to your collection.
 
tuffthumbz said:
Do you ever buy decent cheaper knives just to expand your collection?
Im thinking of getting a Svord Peasant and a Opinel Folder.
Should i just wait and save for better quality more expensive? i always hear people wishing they got 1 great knife instead of buying 20 ok/cheap knives.
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I would NEVER buy a cheap knife just to expand my collection - why have 100 knives but only 3 that are not junk?

I definitely wouldn't buy an Opinel as a cheap way to add a knife to my collection. I would buy an Opinel because it is a good knife though. I have 4 Opinels and I have used some of them more often than my dearer knives - they just slice so damn well!

I don't see that more knives = higher score = winner in life, I don't think that is how things work. Get what is good and would be a pleasure to own and use - if it makes you happy then it is worth owning. I would rather pay $100 for a knife I really like than $1 for some junk that I never want to use.
 
I just ordered a Boker Plus Eskelebur 1 G10 this morning so I'd say yes, I'm open to well made, well reviewed lower cost knives for general EDC and variety. A little more spice of life. I can't wait to play it and carry it a little!

But - I have a lot of much more "expensive" knives. My main rotation over the last few month has been a Sage 2, Spyderco GB and a Manix 2 CTS-XHP. But my full "stash" consists of some super nice knives too, IMO anyway
 
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I don't care about the collection thing at all, I buy knives that I like and some of them are inexpensive, Like the Mora and Opinel, I don't consider them cheap knives. However A knife that costs 100.00 and is no better than a Mora, thats a cheap knife.
 
I had a Q when they first came out and it was a $40 knife if I remember correctly. Talk about a cheap knife, the pivot screw would come loose and fall out and the wire "lock" wasn't dependable. The clip would catch on things and pop off. It looked cool but it wasn't worth the asking price then or now.
 
If I like a knife and can afford it, I buy it. :) There are some great knives that are very affordable, like the Kershaw Skyline or Spyderco Tenacious or Case slipjoints with CV blades (the ones with chesnut or red bone handles are my favourite).
 
I've never thought to myself "i just want a new knife, what can i buy for $10?" I have however said to myself "wow, that knife is awesome and it's only $10!"
 
I buy throwaways from time to time. I like to have a knife with me for various reasons. Every once in a while I have to go through a metal detector and it's more trouble than it's worth to hide my knife behind my belt buckle or put it in my shoe behind the eyelets or whatever. I'd rather just be able to toss it in the garbage and go on with my day.

It can be embarrassing to have to go back to the car with a $60 knife when a $2 knife can just be left behind without regret. I can open a box with a $2 knife, even if it's cheap chinese crap with a bad heat treatment etc.

Sometimes what you own ends up owning you.
 
No, I don't buy cheaper knives just to expand my collection. I prefer quality over quantity. I prefer custom knives as well, and that is what I buy and use.
 
I never buy a knife just to expand my collection, be it cheap (i.e., low priced) or expensive. I always buy knives because I like them and want to have them.
 
Yes, for sure. I have a drawer full of kershaws, benchmades and spydercos all in the $40-$120 range, just cause I think they look cool, or I like the shiny colors. I like to play with them, flick the blade open and closed while reading a book or watching the tube, and rotate them around in edc tasks (which are very few for me).

I have a couple of pricey ones, that are a little too big for me to carry around, so I open boxes with them once in awhile. My next few will be small, expensive gentlemens type folders.
 
tuffthumbz said:
Do you ever buy decent cheaper knives just to expand your collection?
Im thinking of getting a Svord Peasant and a Opinel Folder.
Should i just wait and save for better quality more expensive? i always hear people wishing they got 1 great knife instead of buying 20 ok/cheap knives.
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I have a number of less expensive knives.

I did not buy them "just to add to my collection".

I bought them because I was interested in the design or steel.

A knife does not have to be expensive to be a useful tool.
 
I buy inexpensive knives every once in a while to try them out and use them for specific purposes. The knives you mentioned, the opinel and svord peasant knife would be similar to what I might buy just because they trigger an interest and I think that I can use them. I use a carbon opinel exclusively in the kitchen for almost everything. I also really like those new zealand made peasant knives as they are an excellent value for a carbon steel friction folder. I also get a kick out of buying SAKs, Cases and Kershaws. But I don't buy them to display or to add another notch to the stock, I'll only order them if it's something that I'll actually use. Of course I definately am more about quality over quantity and hardly ever buy inexpensive knives because I'm too busy saving or searching for my next quality knife. However throughout my whole time collecting knives I've accumulated quite a few of these "bang for your buck" knives.
 
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I have several Opinels (one is my favorite apple knife) and Douk-Douks, SAKs and Bucks- price isn't what makes a knife worth having. None were bought just to inflate my collection- but they were bought to expand my collection. Every knife I buy is to expand my collection in one way or another- steel type, lock design, etc. I also have Busses, Fehrmans, WH and CRK- each one was bought for a reason and is either enjoyed or sold/traded.

On my want list are some Moras, Condors, ESEE, BRKT, a Lochsa, a Bagwell, and if I hit the lottery a Loveless or two. Why limit yourself or your experience because of a low price- these knives become classics for a reason.

One last example to make my point. My son wanted to get me a knife for my birthday last year. I didn't want to strain his finances, so I asked him to give me a Buck Vantage Avid. He could've afforded the Pro, but I've got plenty of S30V and none of the steel on the Avid, plus I wanted to check out "Dymondwood". I had seen the knife at Blade last year and thought it was a great design for that price. I really like that knife! I like the action and the feel in the hand and pocket, and it's a good, useful size. I've been using it for a couple of weeks on my patio, just being ruthless because I want to see how that steel holds up. I thought I had it pretty well thrashed, but after wiping it down good, it looked almost new- held it's edge well, too. I'm not sure my Sebenza would've held up this well!

Of course there's always different strokes for different folks, but for me collecting is a learning experience and a tribute to the past and an overview of knife design and purpose, and ....
 
I just sold 62 cheap knives to downsize my collection. The only China made knives I kept were Rough Rider, Sanrenmu, Buck, Kershaw, and Spyderco. I got rid of all the gerbers, remingtons, coasts, columbias, winchesters, and other various cheap junk knives I had. I am restricting my cheap Chinese knife purchases to these manufacturers from now on because they have been great so far. I do plan on trying out lots of other cheap knives eventually, like those from opinel, okapi, etc. and maybe a mora or two.
 
frontline29 said:
No, I wont buy cheap knives just to add to my collection.

I'll take quality over quantity every time.
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+2 Straight to the point and very well said.

If I find an inexpensive knife that I like the look of, steel, or just want to see what it is about I may buy it, or research it a little.

I personally do not care for the China made knives. They might be great, but I'll vote with my wallet. I will buy knives made/assembled in Japan and Taiwan. Just my personal preference I guess.
 
tuffthumbz said:
Do you ever buy decent cheaper knives just to expand your collection?
Im thinking of getting a Svord Peasant and a Opinel Folder.
Should i just wait and save for better quality more expensive? i always hear people wishing they got 1 great knife instead of buying 20 ok/cheap knives.
Click to expand...

Yep done that a couple of times. But then you need a gift for someone and hey presto! you have it!
Chirripa.
 
I'll buy inexpensive knives if they appeal to me, but not just for the sake of 'expanding my collection'.

For example, my last knife purchase was a Victorinox Pioneer. Inexpensive by most standards at under 20$, but a quality blade nonetheless. I bought it because I missed using a SAK and wanted something a little more people-friendly than my other knives. I didn't buy it because it was cheap or just for the sake of having it.
 
I buy for design and performance. As an example, I have a No.08 Olive wood Opinel that I love and an S90V Millie that has been a headache. Price is secondary.
 
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