Have your knife purchases been reflected by age?

I started collecting in my early 20s and now I am in my 40s! Been collecting for 20yrs. Still reckless when making purchasing decisions..

Only change is, I am comfortable sharpening most of my knives now that I use some of them from time to time.
 
I am 75.

Edit: Just remembered to add, at age 9 I traded my slingshot for a Buck 110. This was circa 1958. We moved and somehow I lost that knife.

I owned a couple of pocket knives while in the Army and my favorite was the Benchmade mini-Barrage, which I carried for years but gave to my brother. Then about 15 years ago my wife gave me below (first photo) William Henry damascus and Mokume Gane folder for my birthday. She bought it in a jewelry store. That started my journey into damascus, Mokume, and fancier knives.

Second Photo: Two of my newer knives is the William Henry with mosaic damascus frame/bolsters, damascus blade, and meteorite scales AND on the right a custom Emerson CQC-7 Mini.

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Well I certainly don't have as much "life experience" as many of you do...... but I do feel my needs have changed as I get older. It was SAK's as a child and teen. I got a Gerber Gator as a young adult because it fit my large hands well until the blade eventually broke and the grip separated. Then I moved to a few larger single blade folders because I needed a blade for work and those Olfa blades kept breaking. I still carry a Spyderco PM2 to this day because it fits my hand nicely without being overly large. When I started hunting I moved towards fixed blades when in the field. This site led me to Busse and I eventually settled on Boney Active Duty as my main hunting blade. Security work lead to collecting a large number of fixed blade tactical knives from various sources but they rarely get used. It also resulted in purchasing a few specialty blades like a Spyderco Rescue and a Gerber EZ out for working specifically around the water with ropes. Lately I have been getting back into working on my SAK collection. I have looked at a few older style folders as they look less intimidating to the masses these days.
 
The simple answer is yes, even if only because I can. I spend far more on knives today than I ever could have afforded to when I was younger. Also, I look at the vast assortment of expensive (and inexpensive!) knives in my collection these days and am overall quite happy with what I own....but when thinking about age, it makes me admittedly a little melancholy, if only momentarily. After all, I badly wish I'd had some of these knives when I was, say, twenty-five years younger, back when I had the sort of free time to get away into the woods, and I had more general reasons for using knives in my life. Man, just imagining traipsing through the woods of Southern Georgia with my CPK Behemother at my side with the energy and endurance I had in my early 20s....that would have been amazing. This thing cost what would have been an entire paycheck for me back then!

These days, my cutting needs are very few, and due to my professional life, and how much more full my personal life is these days, I don't have nearly the free time to get out into the wild spaces as I did when I was younger, so a lot of these tools I own, purchased while imagining the great adventures I'd carry them on....those adventures just never happened.

The greatest adventure that the knives in my EDC rotation ever see is being inpocket for a particularly "spirited" meeting with our client at the office, or what errands I'm running on the weekend, maaaaaybe the occasional brewery. You know, really rugged stuff!
 
ShaiHulud said:
This is a topic I feel strong about simply because it affects us all, in it's own way
For me---
I was serious serious about duty-built tactical knives, fixed or folding, I wanted to be prepared. I still do, but the choices readiness changed, instead of a bomb proof blacked out fixed blades, I went reliable folder/small fixed blade route.
How has it changed for you?
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Always been a traditionalist. Probably will stay that way as I reduce my collection.
 
Growing up I owned various slip joints until I bought a Buck 110 in my early twenties. That knife was my only knife for years and I couldn't imagine owning anything else. Today I am in my mid-sixties and still own that knife, but I just can't carry it. I don't "feel it" anymore. I have replaced it in my pocket with a collection of folders. I also have started collecting fixed blades and OTFs for the first time. One of the things that defines me today is you will find a EDC knife on my person at all times otherwise I feel naked.
 
Quiet said:
The simple answer is yes, even if only because I can. I spend far more on knives today than I ever could have afforded to when I was younger. Also, I look at the vast assortment of expensive (and inexpensive!) knives in my collection these days and am overall quite happy with what I own....but when thinking about age, it makes me admittedly a little melancholy, if only momentarily. After all, I badly wish I'd had some of these knives when I was, say, twenty-five years younger, back when I had the sort of free time to get away into the woods, and I had more general reasons for using knives in my life. Man, just imagining traipsing through the woods of Southern Georgia with my CPK Behemother at my side with the energy and endurance I had in my early 20s....that would have been amazing. This thing cost what would have been an entire paycheck for me back then!

These days, my cutting needs are very few, and due to my professional life, and how much more full my personal life is these days, I don't have nearly the free time to get out into the wild spaces as I did when I was younger, so a lot of these tools I own, purchased while imagining the great adventures I'd carry them on....those adventures just never happened.

The greatest adventure that the knives in my EDC rotation ever see is being inpocket for a particularly "spirited" meeting with our client at the office, or what errands I'm running on the weekend, maaaaaybe the occasional brewery. You know, really rugged stuff!
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I have more knives than I could use and am 55. I can afford a couple a year without breaking the bank.

Cheaper than therapy and will hold some residual value to boot (so I tell myself!)
 
JBoone said:
I have more knives than I could use and am 55. I can afford a couple a year without breaking the bank.

Cheaper than therapy and will hold some residual value to boot (so I tell myself!)
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Heck I have more than even my grandkids could use and I'm 39! I do sell/trade some every now and then when something catches my eye though! And motorcycles are the best therapy! Followed closely by knives and guns of course 😁
 
I've recently picked up some pocket fixed blades, despite having a decent folder collection. Also a few fixed blades in the 4-5" neighborhood. I'm carrying my fixed blades more.

I'll be honest, I don't know how folks that live in restrictive states and countries can stand it; almost never getting to use or carry your favorite blade... it'd almost be enough for me to change my zip code. Today, I was sporting my Boker Dragonslayer.
 
norcalAF said:
Heck I have more than even my grandkids could use and I'm 39! I do sell/trade some every now and then when something catches my eye though! And motorcycles are the best therapy! Followed closely by knives and guns of course 😁
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I have an aprillia Tuono V4 as well. Also a husquvarna 300 dirt bike. Throttle therapy!IMG_7288.jpeg
 
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GPyro said:
Me as well.
Or at least the knives that were available, because I couldn't afford them all then.
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I did that for a bit when I bought a lot Swiss army knives, because most of the other companies that make small slipjoint knives are gone, Swiss army knives are ubiquitous, cheap and durable. But i found blades with locking mechanisms cut just as well and add additional advantages as well
 
Not a lot, I feel like I the knives that appealed to me 20+ years ago still do now.

What has changed is instead of buying a lot of knives that may or may not be really good quality, I'm way more picky about what I'll spend money on now. I probably spend about the same, but have fewer but much higher quality pieces now.
 
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