Ever decided you don't want a knife before it even arrives?

E

Emspop

Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
793
Hello All,
I have a question. Am I the only one that has ever bought a knife, sold it to buy the same knife in a different handle material then decided you wanted something completely different before that knife even arrived?
That is the predicament I find myself in today. I recently bought a GEC #14 ( well two, one for me and the wife) and loved the knife, hated the jigged bone handles. Sold it and immediately ordered the same knife in OD Micarta and all was right with the world.
Then this afternoon I had an epiphany...I was grabbing my pocket stuff to go to the store and my daughter says " hey Pop, you have all these great knives, why come you always toss that Buck in your pocket even if you are carrying another one?" That's when it hit me...I spend so much time and money looking for that perfect everyday knife, money and time that could be spent on knives for my collection ( so many old Case knives out there) when it seems I've had the perfect knife for me in my pocket all these years! Actually I've had several of them but I keep giving them away to people that don't own a pocket knife.
So to celebrate this life changing event I shall sell my incoming and buy a new special last "perfect knife " for me! I've always wanted a vintage version of it so nows the time.

Oh, so what's the perfect everyday knife for me? The venerable Buck 303 Cadet!

Now your turn...
 
i believe variety is the spice of life. In the early days, I sought only single blade trappers. in fact thats why i cam back to the forums. I was eventually only interested in the GEC 48 big clip. But that interest eventually spread to 15, and then I found the blade forums jack 2014. All preferring their single blade forms. And now Ive included the 54 pattern as well. There is no one perfect knife imo. I believe the hunt is what drives us.
 
Its funny, i always carry my sak hiker with me while at work. It has every single tool i need on a daily basis, with the exception of a pipe wrench and channel locks. But ive also always got either a peanut or gec coyote in my back pocket that handles all cutting tasks, including food prep. On weekends i dont even carry the sak. Honestly, if it werent for my job, id be perfectly happy with a 3" or less slip joint. For me, the thing is to find which tiny knife fits the bill best. Glad you found your perfect knife bud.
 
I have never had buyer's remorse while a knife was still inbound. I am at the point where I no longer want to buy any more knives and have just a few that I like to actually carry and use, so I do have cumulative buyer's remorse about all of the others that stay on the shelf or in the drawer.
 
My interest for something new waxes and wanes. If I can generally get a single spring knife with a clip or wharncliffe blade on it and about 3.25" to 3.5" inch closed I'm generally satisfied with the cutting tool in my pocket. I try to look at whatever I have in my pocket as just that, a cutting tool. Function in just the roundabout form that I find perfect.

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Same here fishcakes! My wife gently reminds me often that I have too many knives but really only use a few of them. I keep thinking I'm going to sell off the less used ones but then the only thing that comes to mind is to buy another knife with funds. The cycle perpetuates itself.

jc57 said:
I have never had buyer's remorse while a knife was still inbound. I am at the point where I no longer want to buy any more knives and have just a few that I like to actually carry and use, so I do have cumulative buyer's remorse about all of the others that stay on the shelf or in the drawer.
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I really never have buyer's remorse ever. If I get something I don't care for once I have it in hand, then I learned something going forward. I may lose a couple bucks here or a couple bucks there selling something that I thought I would like, but ultimately ended up not really caring for. That is an acceptable loss for the privilege and experience of handling so many different knives. I am old enough to know that there is no such thing as perfection (even in a knife) and also wise enough to own my possessions and not let them own me. In the end, as long as you keep it light and enjoyable and not get too serious about it, it's all good.
 
I understand completely what the OP is saying. Recently, I was having second thoughts about a knife I ordered. It was a SM 69 in burnt bone. I have always been attracted to clip blades, and thought I'd try this sheepsfoot. I was a little worried after reading about some of the issues people have had with SM. Well, it arrived in the mail the other day and it has quickly become one of my favorites. I now have two SM knives and they are both perfect in F&F. Long story short, yes, I do get buyers remorse but that usually only happens while the knife is in transit. Once it's in my hands, any remorse quickly disappears. :)
 
I've had buyers remorse on a knife while it was in transit, but once it hit my hands I fell in love with it. It's my GEC 66 stockman that I was considering selling to the forum member that called seconds once it arrived, but it quickly found a permanent place in my collection.
 
I've had a number of GEC's where I naively got caught up in the hype. The beer scouts, the 18s the 14s. These were all either cancelled before dispatched, sold on arrival or given away. I have a collection focus and sometimes I forget that I like what I like and I don't need to buy the latest fad all the time.
 
JITDC said:
Same here fishcakes! My wife gently reminds me often that I have too many knives but really only use a few of them. I keep thinking I'm going to sell off the less used ones but then the only thing that comes to mind is to buy another knife with funds. The cycle perpetuates itself.
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I know what you mean. If i find myself not using a knife for long periods of time, ill usually just give them away. I use the excuse of still trying to find that "one" tiny knife as my excuse to buy more knives but realistically, the peanut or coyote would do me just fine for a long long time. In all fairness though, neither knife makes me smile like a little kid when i pull it out of my pocket. I guess thats the feeling im after with a knife, not necessarily the knife itself.
 
mrknife said:
i believe variety is the spice of life. In the early days, I sought only single blade trappers. in fact thats why i cam back to the forums. I was eventually only interested in the GEC 48 big clip. But that interest eventually spread to 15, and then I found the blade forums jack 2014. All preferring their single blade forms. And now Ive included the 54 pattern as well. There is no one perfect knife imo. I believe the hunt is what drives us.
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I agree completely about the hunt...it's what keeps me interested in collecting. I do mainly collect vintage Case but all patterns not just one or two so I agree about the variety as well. I am however completely different when it comes to the things I carry everyday. For whatever reason I can only have one(?) one knife, flashlight, wallet, set of keys. I'm even so strange about one having the one of each I only own one pair of boots one coat and even one sidearm! Ya just a bit of OCD! So for me the hunt for that perfect carry knife ( or boots or coats or wallet or flashlight)becomes all I can think about. I'll buy 20 to find it and then another 20... that's why it was such a jolt to see I already had it!
Sorry I'm rambling now.



Ok so I just re-read this and I'm really not as crazy as this makes me look/sound. It's not that I have some inner voice saying I can only have one it's that I look and look for the one product that is what I consider the best for me then I stick with it. Then when I try something different/new for what ever reason I always feel like I don't have the " thing " that I've determined to be the best with me and...oh hell maybe I am that crazy! /rant
 
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fishcakes said:
I know what you mean. If i find myself not using a knife for long periods of time, ill usually just give them away. I use the excuse of still trying to find that "one" tiny knife as my excuse to buy more knives but realistically, the peanut or coyote would do me just fine for a long long time. In all fairness though, neither knife makes me smile like a little kid when i pull it out of my pocket. I guess thats the feeling im after with a knife, not necessarily the knife itself.
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THAT^^^ that is exactly what I already had in my pocket all along!
 
pmew said:
I've had a number of GEC's where I naively got caught up in the hype. The beer scouts, the 18s the 14s. These were all either cancelled before dispatched, sold on arrival or given away. I have a collection focus and sometimes I forget that I like what I like and I don't need to buy the latest fad all the time.
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I completely understand that!
 
on_the_edge said:
I really never have buyer's remorse ever. If I get something I don't care for once I have it in hand, then I learned something going forward. I may lose a couple bucks here or a couple bucks there selling something that I thought I would like, but ultimately ended up not really caring for. That is an acceptable loss for the privilege and experience of handling so many different knives. I am old enough to know that there is no such thing as perfection (even in a knife) and also wise enough to own my possessions and not let them own me. In the end, as long as you keep it light and enjoyable and not get too serious about it, it's all good.
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So very well said. I'm honestly going to take that to heart. Thank you.
 
Emspop said:
I recently bought a GEC #14 ( well two, one for me and the wife) and loved the knife, hated the jigged bone handles. Sold it and immediately ordered the same knife in OD Micarta and all was right with the world.
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Clay, just a matter of curiosity. Do you dislike jigged bone in general or just the jigged bone on that particular knife?
 
You were putting two knives in your pockets till this epiphany hit you though, correct? There's hope yet, soon you can be OCD like me, and carry a knife in every pocket. Much to your wife's dismay
Thanks, Neal
 
I've done what you're describing. Guru says that, when it comes to knives to carry and use, I really only need one or two for my purposes. I actually feel overwhelmed when I have knives that I don't carry. So, Guru continues, what I'm doing is looking for an outlet for energy in "building a collection," and looking outward for a feeling of satisfaction that can't match what I'm capable of generating from within. That's a nice, heady way of saying that "I'm not served by having more knives than I need." The "...than I need" part is what seems to be subjective, as that's a user or collector defined number, and not a standard I'm going to find anywhere out there in Google.
 
I always get the "Should I REALLY have bought this?" a lot, in fact I have it right now over some knives I just won on Ebay, mostly just for the heck of it. I'm only in 24 dollars on a lot of four old timers, two USA and two foreign made. The two US ones are small stockmans, and I've never had a stockman pattern before. I figured this would be a great way to give it a try since I'm fairly sure that I can get my money back selling the three others individually and just keep the one for myself, or sell it too if I don't like it.
 
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