High End knives for collecting or use?

The quality is what I pay all the money for. How can I appreciate it if I don't use it? If I lost my Umnumzaan that I carry everyday, including when working on grease covered trucks, getting in the occasional septic tank for repair, etc. I don't feel I would have gotten my moneys worth if it sat in a safe.
 
I've always bought knives to use, even the expensive ones. Before I ever heard the term "safe queen" my Dad said guns were either hangers or bangers. We never had any hangers and that carried over into my knife collecting. But I've changed, lately. It was my wife that caused it. She's never given me any grief about spending whatever I wanted on knives, but one day I saw a sad expression on her face while looking at my well worn Rodent. I asked her why she was sad and she said "it used to be so beautiful" it had a weird effect on me and I've decided I'm going to find a knife that we both like and, while it has to be capable of handling hard use, I'm going to keep it as nice as possible. This is why I wanted to know how strong the coating on the ZT0100 was :-)
 
I have yet to buy a knife of any price that has not been used. Granted my small sebbie is my most expensive knife by more than $100. I would feel bad abusing a super expensive knife, so if i did something like batoning I'd use a cheaper knife. Any use up to that though is expected.
 
I EDC $400 knives that I couldn't afford to replace without months of saving. I use them too. I've re-ground the tip on my Sebenza, opened cans, accidently had it ran over by a car...etc.

Knives are one of the few expensive items that I feel a full-time student can actually afford to own--other expensive items have on-going costs like time investment, gas, insurance, and the like.
 
It's all individual prefrence. Take Busse knives for example, they are made to be used and abused, but because they are made in limited runs and the price point some people prefer to collect them rather than use them. Others don't mind using them for their intended purpose and if that means breaking or loosing, it just means the possibility of getting a new knife and new design next time.
 
I have very expensive knives that get used, and 100+ year old Colts and Winchesters that get shot. If I'm not going to use it and just will be looking at it, I might as well just have a picture and not have to store the damn thing.
 
most of all i want to look at my bug out bag,and feel confident in my knifes, i dont want spend my lets call it surviving,having to sharpen it after using it a bit,or worry about it breaking,or catching a cold if i take it out,a la sunday picture show,sheesh,yeah peace of mind can come with a price tag,not 100 percent of the time but more often than not,you get what you pay for,ive cycled through a bunch of knives,and replaced when ive found better,so ihave used em and know what to expect
 
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I look at it this way, if you bought a $700-1200 pistol or rifle, would you just throw it in the safe, or would you want to go out and shoot it?

Same goes with most of my knives.

I do have some that I haven't used yet, and I do have some art pieces though.
 
I say use em....youve only got one life to live, if u constantly baby all ur stuff, you wont ever get to experience the joy of actually putting it all through its paces
 
The use or not use decision is one that most of us probably wrestle with. For the most part, I am very hesitant to use a knife that costs over $300. But I am starting to think that I have these blades, maybe I should use them. What good will they do me when I dead? And do I really care if the "value" is reduced as a result of regular usage?

Recently purchased a new Fallkniven F1. Cost was around $300. Am I going to use it? That is a question I have not answered yet, but I think so.

I have the same internal conflict with firearms. Would I be willing to shoot a NIB Nickel Colt Python when I have a perfectly functional Ruger GP-100? Probably not...
 
High-end knives are like high-end girls... You need to take them out every once in a while to keep them happy
 
I have some pretty rare knives where if I were to want to buy another one it would be very difficult to find. In the beginning I told myself I would not use them to keep them in mint condition, but after a while I realized I am not fully appreciating or "connecting" with the knife by just having it sit in my display case. The one knife I fondle/carry the most is my customized Sebenza, and I feel like I am fully appreciating/connecting with that knife.

So now I take turns playing with and carrying all of my knives and I feel like I am getting more out of the knife than just letting it sit there.
 
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