How do you rotate your collection

I live in a metropolis, and my daily main user is a Victorinox Mountaineer, which is totally utilitarian and won't raise any eyebrows even used in public. The steel is super easy to maintain, and quite stainless, so I won't have to worry about it getting rusty by pocket carrying it.

Usually I pair it with a favorite of the day, carried in a leather slip, it could be anything from a range of Buck, CRK, Hinderer, ZT, Strider, WE, etc.
 
Korean Hog said:
I have some that I kind of save for every now and again as a special treat
My Chris Reeves, some Spyderco sprints, Busse& kin
I organize my EDC like this:
I love all my knives.
I need a small knife for small stuff, medium - large folder for most stuff, fixed blade for big stuff
Then I need ones I can abuse, I've got ones I care about enough not to abuse but if it gets messed up, oh well whatever.
I haven't been able to find an organized schedule or method of rotation. Honestly, it becomes an annoying OCD where I can NOT decide what to carry the next day.
After a few hours of cleaning, stropping, and test cutting on paper I usually settle on 3-small, medium, large (HVAC tech with a tool bag I carry, not all in my pockets)

Every now and again my girlfriend catches me staring off into space looking deep in thought. For a while, she thought something was wrong between us.
I explained to her my knife nerd OCD and now when she sees me like this she says: "Baby just carry one of the Delicas, you love it and its the most practical, and how about your new Tendick?
or ooooh I know...the Inkosi!"

I've gotten as far as keeping my Nick Chuprin kiridashi and Boye boat knife permanent in the pocket and rotating a medium-large folder as much as possible
to make sure everything gets carried and variety is more fun. I find that having the kiridashi and boat knife cover 99% of my cutting needs and the consistency
of them being permanent EDCs makes it easier to choose a normal 3-4" folder to carry for the day. Or if I can't decide I'm pretty much covered by the dashi and boat knife.
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She sounds like a keeper :):thumbsup:
 
At work I always try and have a locking blade of some sort. Preferably one handed opening. It's almost always a spyderco tenacious, good enough and not so expensive I'm worried about losing it breaking it. I do have several others but that's usually what I'll have with me. Usually have a multitool of some sort but will depend on what I'll be doing which one I'll carry. I have a few locking blade sak as a compromise between the 2.
When not at work I'll carry something small and non locking mindful of keeping within legal limits. Usually a sak or a leatherman that fits the criteria. I have a lot of sak to choose from its usually random which one gets taken with me.
 
I mostly carry slip joints, and pick what I want daily.

For the past five months, I have been trying something different. Just to have a smaller group to choose from, and carry the same knife 5-7 days. Then I bought a new knife this month and carried for about three weeks.

Eventually, I’m just going to go back to what I want when I want. Much easier.

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Sadly, I rotate out of boredom. I carry a knife for a while, then just grab something else. I usually make some petty excuse that the first knife "didn't properly fit my pocket."

The truth of the matter is simply "boys like toys." If we sat together having coffee I'll bet I'd want your knife and you'd want mine.
 
Conscious rotation? Almost never.... I tend to only rotate carry-knives if I am unsettled as to what I prefer. I don't change often. But changes happen. I changed my carry approach over a year ago to a smaller regular carry (Vic Small Tinker) versus a 111mm SAK I carried for 10+ years. I got a small fixed blade in October '19 and decided to give it an edc try and I have liked it. I forget about it and if I go into a customer's office, I generally keep it covered or take it off for a few hours. I've had customers give me odd looks if they see the fixed blade and I don't want to make a customer uncomfortable because of some knife. The knife is not that important and the SAK can handle most of the cutting jobs I encounter.

The vast majority of my knives never get used or used for a very short time.

I have carried a SAK almost continuously for over 20 years. I just find them very useful. If there is a rotation, it is with another knife.
 
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Mood, weather, what kind of pants, where I am going, what I plan on doing. That's about it.
 
I don't rotate much any more. It's taken me more than two years, and ten folders later (including Reeve, Cheburkov, Burger, and a few Laconicos), to narrow my EDC choices to what works best for me. That became one of a couple of 85mm drop point flippers. A Russian and a Dane. Shiro and Anso. Neon and Neo. In my case, a carbon fiber scaled HatiOn Lite and a bronzed Custom Neo. They're so similar as to invite comparison.

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Well, I'll admit it, I bought a 29 dollar Cold Steel Bush Ranger just to have something cheap on my jeans in case something "muddy" needed to be sliced. Then I fell in love with it.

Here's the reasoning. I have two drawers full of "pretty knives" that never get used. If you're a wealthy man, stop by my house and show me The Benjamins.

Then it dawned on me, why do I own pretty knives? What I need is a jackknife!

Yup, 29 bucks, made in China (it says that right on the blade), thickest spine I've ever seen and I have a spare being sent to me right now from my dealer.

 

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Generally I try to pick a carry for the week, often a pair.
Lately however I've just been carrying whatever I'm in the mood for.
I think I may keep it this way, I'll just keep the new week in mind but not pressure myself to make a choice.
 
4mer_FMF said:
For many months I kept to a strict rotation regimen.

Every Sunday I would look through my collection and choose 5 knives for the week. They would go into my top dresser drawer and everything else would stay locked up. Every morning (and sometimes more than once a day) I would look into the drawer and grab whatever spoke to me.

The following Sunday I would rotate out at least three of them.

More recently I’ve been on a multi month fixation kick with my tanto Umnumzan, Spyderco Southard, and Spyderco Rhino. In a way, I kinda forgot about the other cool knives I have. Two weeks ago I decided it was time to break up the ménage à trois; the Southard & Zaan are strictly off limits for a while. (The Rhino is such a handy little utility blade that I think it’s out to stay!).

I don’t have a system right now, other than whatever comes out of the safe stays in my pocket for at least a few days.




Ahhh-haaa! That explains why every now and again I seed a different 0801 daily in the EDC thread! I always love seeing those 0801’s, by-the-way.
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This is a great idea and exactly what I’m going to start doing.
Thanks!!
 
This is one of those philosophical things I've experimented -- and sometimes wrestled -- with for years. I enjoy thinking about it and trying new approaches. :)

Right now I just filter in stages: legal for where I'm going (cuts down about 50% of my collection) > specific task in mind (Am I going hiking? Will I be prying? etc.) > whatever strikes my fancy. Sometimes I'll switch knives 2-3 times a day as my mood changes.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Generally I try to pick a carry for the week, often a pair.
Lately however I've just been carrying whatever I'm in the mood for.
I think I may keep it this way, I'll just keep the new week in mind but not pressure myself to make a choice.
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Unless I switch jeans as I don't wash them after one wearing unless I get them dirty (or real sweaty in the summer), I already have knives in my pockets and I seldom even think about a rotation of any sort. Much more important things to think about.
 
22-rimfire said:
Unless I switch jeans as I don't wash them after one wearing unless I get them dirty (or real sweaty in the summer), I already have knives in my pockets and I seldom even think about a rotation of any sort. Much more important things to think about.
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I'm always Workin' on somethin' and just can't keep a pair of pants clean
 
I talk to all my knives and ask which one wants to be carried the next day, then I get the answer in a dream.:p
 
Like most BF Members, I own more knives than I can practically use. I have many excellent options, each suitable to cover all of my particular EDC needs, and this can overly complicate the simple act of selecting a pocket knife for the day. In my early days of knife collecting, I have been literally stun-locked for a good 15-20min trying to pick from my knife drawer in the morning. This is not good when you're short on time and have places to be.

Nowadays, I rarely switch things up during my typical work week. Once in a blue moon, I'll swap out what I carry but I mostly stick to the same set-up... mostly. I used to typically carry a large plain jane CRK Sebenza 21 Insingo and an alox Vic Pioneer, but for the past year or so, it's been my small micarta Insingo 21 and an alox Vic Cadet. I could see myself switching back at some point (the Pioneer is especially a favourite of mine--love that awl.) IMO, there is no better EDC set-up than a CRK and an alox Vic... :thumbsup:

I save the ol' switcheroo for days off when I have time to dither. Otherwise, when there's work to be done, my choice is based on the task at hand: fixed or folder, steel type, size, etc. The only thing that always stays the same is my keychain: a Victorinox Rambler and a little rechargeable Nitecore Tube flashlight.
 
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