GEC Question

For a user knife, anything goes. Use it and make it your own and don't worry about it.

If it is going to be sold in the future, anything less than mint/new hurts the value quite a bit.
 
abcdef said:
Over time I accumulated a number of used as well as new knives. Since I rarely need to use a knife at all, it is seldom I break in a new knife. As a result, I have lots of full tubes and boxes stacked in darkness. I doubt I am alone in this.
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I'm kinda the opposite.
If I don't use it, it goes on down the road.
Every GEC I've kept is either a "user" or a gift.
 
Yeah, I felt kinda bad when my brush hog ran over and did this to this knife:eek: but I just shrugged it off, put it in my pocket, and kept mowing.:rolleyes:;)

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I love my GEC knives. Beautiful, well made, a joy to own. That being said, my main user knife out of the dozen or so I own is one I bought that was pre-owned, with a minor patina already on it (which I polished off). A #12 Powderhorn Jack.

Two reasons it is pretty much the only GEC I carry and use: #1, I just love the pattern. #2 - It was already used, so the "too pretty to use" issue was already taken care of by the previous owner.

It's really a moot point. I "need" about 3 or 4 pocket knives. I could get by with 2. I own about 150. So the fact that I only carry and use a subset of that is a testament to my over-consumption during a brief time in my life when I had what I thought was excess disposable income.

But honestly - if you have something that gives you joy in the owning and use of, don't worry about the resale value, or what it would take to replace it. Just use it, get that joy. It is very satisfying to own and use a quality tool, if you are knowledgeable enough about the tool in question to appreciate it.
 
I value and treasure all of my knives. I do worry about damaging them but I could not stand just looking at them. I carry most of them in a slip. With some, I don’t bother with the slip, such as an old Al Mar Hawk Ultralight or a new Spyderco Dragonfly in G10. I didn’t always use slips, but wanted to slow the wear a little so I do now.
 
I agree with all of the "use it" posts above. But then, I'm a terrible "collector"... if I can't use it I get no enjoyment out of it whatsoever. The first cut/ding is the hardest, but after that they go in the pocket with my keys. To me, they only gain beauty with use and wear.
 
Nothing like a mint knife. Put me in the either it’s a user, or it’s a treasure to admire camp. If you really use them, they will get beat up and being pinned vs having and adjustable pivot, a traditional slip joint will get loose eventually. I suppose if all you use it for is delicate tasks it would hold up perfectly fine. Yes you can restore them, but it isn’t like you can maintain them like a modern with little skill and a simple bit driver.

I personally think it would be great if Case and others started make some versions that were more maintainable like lionsteel does. Would be great to be able to easily take apart to clean, swap out a back spring or blade, pivot, whatever. But then again, part of the allure of a mint traditional is that it is un or lightly used and isn’t worn out like the Majority of them that were well used and loved but much worse for the wear.
 
Put me in the terrible collector category. Aside from one mammoth northwoods that’s in a slip tucked away, my few dozen other GECs are all piled together out of their tubes so they can be instantly picked up and played with. My wife calls them my adult fidget spinners. Most of my knives have atleast cut something and have scratches on the bolsters. Many either have patina or have had it that I’ve flitzed off. If I can’t “play” with them I don’t really see the point of having them. Not a dig on guys that keep theirs pristine, it’s just not really for me.
 
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