Ever think about downsizing your collection?

[6speed]

Great thread and since I joined this forum it makes me want to fix and rotate out my non users. Received my replacement "Blackout" from Gerber and ordered a clip and screws for my CRKT M16-03Z today. The assist has been broken for over two years on the black-out. I want to get rid of all my combo blades like the black-out for PE edge and get down to 3-4 edc's and a nice slip-joint. Need to add one smaller fixed blade 5"-7" also.

 

[338375]

I guess I have seen the light. With work being kinda slow, a few days ago I sold a couple knives that I have had for a few years to help fund a new knife..
Nothing wrong with them but I had never used either one... After shipping them off I realized I don't miss them ...

Got me to thinking so I went and started pulling out some of the knives.
I have quite a few that are nice, but my real soft spot is for earlier Case red bone and green bone knives and some vintage knives of other makers.

So I started going through them and put some up for sale. I have more that I will list later but this is a start.... After they are gone, I'm just going to focus on the kind that I mentioned above. I will occasionally pick up something new to me, but not in the volume that I have in the past.

Funny thing is, I did the same thing when I was collecting Winchesters and Colts. It got to the point where I had so many it was crazy..

I may be wrong, I certainly have in the past, but I think that this might not be so bad.

 

[STDK]

This is actually my second go around with collecting knives. My first venture was from about 1982 until 1995. I collected mostly Fight N Roosters and Bulldogs then but then the gun bug bit and I traded my knives for guns. Now I am back to knives. It is a Viscious cirle.

 

[Getahl]

I downsized my collection by about half about a year ago. Most of what I had were SAKs, and I saw a boatload of redundancy in their functionality. Most all of them were given away. I didn't really acquire any slipjoints until mid-last year. I don't have a lot of those, either (4 total, 5 tacticals, but still about 20 SAKs and MTs), but I can see a purchase or two in the future. Sadly, I don't really collect. I accumulate. Most of my knives see little to no use. I carry maybe 5 of them regularly (that includes the Ramble on my keychain hehe). Maybe I should think about going through them and reevaluating my needs vs. wants.

 

[555]

I have not sold any that I collected so far. I have given away a couple. I am relatively new to collecting, so the fascination of all the different patterns and knife blade shapes are still exciting for me. I do agree that after awhile (my original plan) that I would use all I collect becomes almost impossible. I am past 20 knives now, but I do not want to down size my collection. I can leave them to my 4 boys when I am gone. It is a hobby, and for me it does not have to be rational. I think the joy of the hunting of certain styles/makers makes it all the more fun. The end product- the collection is secondary to collecting- if that makes any sense......
CJ

Thats the way I look at it. When I'm gone my kids will have them to keep or sell.

I really enjoy the Hunt for a knife that I'm interested in, sometimes more than owning it.

BTW I use most of what I own.
(Because I carry a slip joint and a Tac everyday, with a Multi-tool and or a Fixed Blade many days of the week in outdoor or field work.)

Other than some Kershaw's and Slip Joint here and there to buy, the only thing I really need for where I live are a couple of Fixed Blades 7 inches and over.

I could live another 40 years and not buy another knife and be happy with my collection, as it stands.

 

[APerna]

I have around 50 custom tacticals that I will slowly sell off or trade. My focus is on sj's now.

 

[338375]

I really enjoy the Hunt for a knife that I'm interested in, sometimes more than owning it.

I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way..
Thats kind of what I'm going through now, I spend a lot of time lookin and when it gets here, I fondle, clean and put away.

 

[navihawk]

I really enjoy the hunt myself.I have too much going on now to do any hunting.Like that Samual Barlow I found in an antique store for three dollars. It's hard to beat that feeling. There out there too. I started going into Ebay, but it's not as fun, although i did enjoy looking for the little no name easy openers. Having a bunch of those look cool all lined up.

 

[555]

I must say, I really enjoy finding an old hardware store, which can a hunt in itself.

Just last Summer on my way to Bradford PA, the Mecca of Slip Joints (Case).

We stopped at a Hardware store and I saw they had Case Knife Display, Being the shy guy that I am, I asked if I could see the stock inside the case. Inside the knives were just thrown in a box at random. As I expected, there were models in the box that were not displayed and 555 ended buying a couple discontinued trappers that day that he didn't intend to when he started out on his trip that day.

To me it's this kind of hunt that keeps my hobby alive, never knowing what one will find in your travels.
These are the good times in the Knife collecting hobby.

 

[Bastid]

The majority of knives in my collection (and the users too) were made by friends and or people who I have great respect for or have been given to me by good friends and family members.

I hope that I do not get in a position to thin them out, but who knows. I do keep a list of what goes to who when I am no longer around to enjoy them.

 

[orca8589]

I started going into Ebay, but it's not as fun, although i did enjoy looking for the little no name easy openers. Having a bunch of those look cool all lined up.

I did almost the same thing that last year, for a couple of months, when I realized I didn't have a single celluloid handled knife in my collection. (One of the members here calls them "Mother-Of-Toilet-Seat". ) Bought seven or eight, including a neat little end-of-day piece, and they look kinda neat all lined up, as you say. All for about $21., including shipping.

Those are the kind I'll probably never get rid of; that's what I'm enjoying more & more these days.

thx - cpr

 

[navihawk]

I must say, I really enjoy finding an old hardware store, which can a hunt in itself.

Just last Summer on my way to Bradford PA, the Mecca of Slip Joints (Case).

We stopped at a Hardware store and I saw they had Case Knife Display, Being the shy guy that I am, I asked if I could see the stock inside the case. Inside the knives were just thrown in a box at random. As I expected, there were models in the box that were not displayed and 555 ended buying a couple discontinued trappers that day that he didn't intend to when he started out on his trip that day.

To me it's this kind of hunt that keeps my hobby alive, never knowing what one will find in your travels.
These are the good times in the Knife collecting hobby.

When I was down in Columbia S.C. on buisiness, I was driving aroun looking for antique shops and I came into a town and I swear I went back in time. Old art deco type buildings and red brick everywhere.I went into a variety type store and it was filled with old cardboard displays with combs and every whatnot you could imagine.I didn't buy anything expecting to go bach there later when I had more time. Never made it back. Someday though.