Expense vs. Use

Are you asking if you should use an expensive knife? Seems to be a common question.
 
Railsplitter said:
Are you asking if you should use an expensive knife? Seems to be a common question.
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If that is indeed what OP is asking, my $.02 would be to use it. Why drop a bunch of money on a knife that will just sit on a shelf? You get much more enjoyment from a knife when you use it. Now, the most I have ever spent on a knife is only about ~$90 on a new GEC that should be here soon, but I plan on using the heck out of it!

If you are asking something else, well, I am sorry for an answer that won't help ya :D
 
I meant do you use your expensive collection knives? Just curious as to what people who have money to buy those do with their knives. Also if the lower price the knife the more use it gets.
 
Unless you are a collector (i.e displaying your knives only) never spend so much on a knife that you are not willing to use it. Im typically an accumulator and not a collector per se so I use almost all my knives, probably to the detriment of their value.
 
Chef's spend thousands on a set of knives and they use them plenty. Why not use another expensive knife?
 
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Use them
 
Price is inversely proportional to use.

I don't need to use any of my expensive knives to cut things; I have an Opinel for that. :cool:
 
I have some $200+ knives that I use and some that I don't use. The ones I don't use are mint/near mint condition Case XX era knives (1940-1964) and I just can't bring myself to use such a well preserved piece of history. I do have duplicates of one of them and I have been very, very tempted to use one but I haven't broken down and done it yet.

I carry a Ken Coats custom Sheepsfoot Jack everyday regardless of what else is in my pocket. I have to confess that I did not plan to carry it when I first sent Ken my request but once I got it in my hands it was a no-brainer.
 
I think there is a line but a blurry one.
If you have a one of a kind knife that's hand engraved solid 24k gold handles and the finest feather pattern Damascus that's a knife that could be used but is more made to look at an art piece if you will
On the other hand thers knives like microtechs that are still expensive and are and made of high end materials but still made to be used. Get it?
 
i dont own any expensive knives. unless forty bucks is expensive in which case i own one. lol
i only buy knives that i would be willing to carry and use. an entirely unused knife seems like a waste somehow.
but ive lost a few knives over the years so i wouldnt want to carry a knife that i would be afraid of losing or dropping in the mud or something. so at this point i do not buy knives that are rare, highly valuable or irreplaceable.
although with the recently-passed holidays i have accumulated a good number of knives that i have not had a chance to carry yet. and i do have a few old knives from relatives that i dont carry because they have sentimental value and i would not want them to get lost. so right there you can see that im telling you both yes and no. lol

anyway, as far as the thread topic goes i would say to the op; how often do you lose other things like sunglasses or cell phones? given this general probability of you losing or not losing things how much of a blow would it be to lose an expensive knife? work up a cost-benefit analysis for yourself and theres your answer.
 
n8swag said:
I meant do you use your expensive collection knives? Just curious as to what people who have money to buy those do with their knives. Also if the lower price the knife the more use it gets.
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After revisiting your post, I understand your question a little better. My answer to the highlighted text is no in most cases. Once I decide to use a knife, be it expensive or not, the price equation pretty much disappears. I know how much I paid for it and that is always in the back of my mind but at this point the most important thing to me is that I enjoy the knife. Within reason, once it's in my pocket I use it as I would any other knife.

Having said that, I do have some beater knives out in the garage that my wife picked up at a garage sale for $2 each. I let corrosion have its way with them and I use them for things that I would not use my EDC knives for.
 
I have a couple dozen import knives like Rough Rider, Marbles, et. al. which cost from $7-$20 and are good quality knives. They come sharp, they have good snap and are attractive. Just about any of them would do everything a pocket knife should do, and do it well. But only a few of them have earned their way into my heart and my pocket.

I also own many dozens of high quality American made pocket knives, which cost from $40-$150, and these are what I carry most of the time. It's not that they work better, but they just give a higher level of satisfaction and enjoyment in carrying and using them. GEC's 440C doesn't cut any better than Rough Rider's 440A, but knowing it is better steel makes me feel better. I also own a $500 custom folder, and do carry it occasionally. I don't abuse my knives, and they are just more fun to use than to pull out of a drawer every few weeks or months and look at.

I think the BEST reason NOT to use a knife is if it is a rare and older one in near perfect condition. Preservation for future generations is more important than using it in this case, but that is always a personal decision. I also think the WORST reason NOT to use a knife is if it is expensive (but not rare or irreplacable). If you can afford to buy it, you can afford to use it and enjoy it. Maybe carefully, but still use it.
 
I don't have a lot of money. I do have some relatively (for me anyway)expensive knives. I'm not a collector, and most knives are not going to go up in value enough to be considered an investment although like anything else there are exceptions. That said I wouldn't recommend that anyone buy a knife that they wouldn't carry and use. Like I said before there are always exceptions. What you would use said knife for however is a different story altogether I TRY to use a really nice knife just for cutting. I have several like my old buck 110 or Gerber Gater that I use for stuff that I would rather not use my new GEC for... But I personally carry every knife I own
 
Railsplitter said:
After revisiting your post, I understand your question a little better. My answer to the highlighted text is no in most cases. Once I decide to use a knife, be it expensive or not, the price equation pretty much disappears. I know how much I paid for it and that is always in the back of my mind but at this point the most important thing to me is that I enjoy the knife. Within reason, once it's in my pocket I use it as I would any other knife.

Having said that, I do have some beater knives out in the garage that my wife picked up at a garage sale for $2 each. I let corrosion have its way with them and I use them for things that I would not use my EDC knives for.
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I mostly feel the same. Although, I just don't buy a knife if it costs too much, because I know I won't use it. I really don't get enjoyment out of just owning something, I have to use it to enjoy it.

I also have a couple rusted knives for when you just need to scrape or jab something you know you shouldn't.
 
My EDC cost around $80. I have a bunch of other pocket knives (around 60 or so), some a little more expensive, most less so. At the moment, they're mostly for fondling. If I carry any of them, I'm carrying my EDC too, because I get all twitchy without it!

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Look at it this way: If you were a knife maker, would you want your work to be used or would you want it to sit on a shelf? Knives and guns are meant to be used, with some exceptions. If I ever lucked in a Bose knife, I'd carry it. I carry one of my custom slip joints every day because they were made for me. That's part of the joy of using them.
 
My current favorite carrying slipjoint cost me just under $200. I occasionally carry one of my custom knives most of which cost more. I often carry something else, I have a couple hundred that cost considerably less. Point is, if I own it, and I want to use it, I do. I have maybe 10 knives that will never get used; out of over 500. I buy knives to learn from, but also so I can use them if I need to. I understand the "as new" and "Art Knife" collectors; I'm just not one of them.
 
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