How do you track your knife collection?

orca8589

orca8589

Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
6,518
How do you guys keep track of your knife collection? Notebook? Shoebox full of receipts? Memory? ;)

We just had a 4.2 quake today, and yet again I'm reminded of the fact that I really need to get my collection documented for insurance purposes. I'm not worried about an earthquake, as much as I am about a housefire or something similar.

So, I need suggestions for how I should go about 'logging' info on each of my knives. A couple years ago a member here posted a very thorough form he used for tracking, and another member had a giveaway thread here in the last day or two for a book of forms he used, but I can't find either one now for the life of me. (Even after almost an hour of searching. :grumpy: )

So, I'm interested in what the members here do.

thx - cpr
 
I don't personally do this, but a good way is to make a video tape or take pictures as proof of the items.
 
orca8589 said:
How do you track your knife collection?
Click to expand...
It's just not that tough for me. I have 10, including a SAK and a Leatherman.

If I were you, I'd make a spreadsheet. Include knife model, stats/specs (mainly for fun), and replacement value. Then, e-mail it to a close relative for remote backup.

Taking a video is a good idea, but then the storage space for that video is large.
 
I use an Excel spreadsheet.

Each entry has the name/company, price, date of purchase, overall length and blade length. All color coded too.

Yes, I have too many knives, and too much free time :o
 
axtalan0 said:
I use an Excel spreadsheet.

Each entry has the name/company, price, date of purchase, overall length and blade length. All color coded too.

Yes, I have too many knives, and too much free time :o
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to see your Excel spreadsheet ;-)
 
axtalan0 said:
I use an Excel spreadsheet.

Each entry has the name/company, price, date of purchase, overall length and blade length. All color coded too.

Yes, I have too many knives, and too much free time :o
Click to expand...

This is what I do as well. I also list the price I paid and the current market price. I added a formula which totals up the value as I change anything.
I back this up on a flashdrive with pictures of all the knives.The drive goes into a small firesafe.
 
Only got a dozen blades and tools so its no big deal. All my buys are online, so every purchase has a receipt in my mail inbox. The receipt also states color, bladetype, etc.

Ive also noted all my buys (not just knives) in my calendar which i put away by the end of the year. I can always pick it up and go through the pages to see my purchases.
 
I open a couple of drawers.
All my knives (except kitchen knives and my EDC) and knife-related gear are in two large four-drawer storage cabinets. They rarely go out by themselves. :)

Stitchawl
 
I do a spreadsheet, too. I have pix of a lot of them on Photobucket and I keep the specs in Excel. I have one workbook that has both knife and gun records in it. I back it up to a flash drive every time I update it and if I have to run out of the house quickly, I'll just pull the flash drive from the hub on the way out.
 
The knives and swords I have that are are actually valuable have been photgraphed along with
a brief written description of the item, where, when, who they were bought from and for how much.

The rest of the knives I have like my production knives are just in a few boxes. I have no records
of the who/what/where/when/why/hows but I am pretty sure I could name most if not all if I sat
down and really thought about it. Having my collection spread over two countries on either
side of the world isn't a great deal of help though.:p....:foot:
 
dalefuller said:
I do a spreadsheet, too. I have pix of a lot of them on Photobucket and I keep the specs in Excel. I have one workbook that has both knife and gun records in it. I back it up to a flash drive every time I update it and if I have to run out of the house quickly, I'll just pull the flash drive from the hub on the way out.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I do but I also store the file on a server to I can access is easier.
 
I keep an Excel Sheet too , shows the date bought , manufacturer , model and vendor. If I sell something I add a few columns to record the sale, ie date and the amount sold. I net it out versus what I've spent.

I'll warn some of you ahead of time ... if you decide to create a list you might be shocked to see how much you've spent over the years.:)
 
Excel spreadsheet also.

[DATE][BRAND][PATTERN][YEAR][COUNTRY][HANDLE][#BLADES][BLADE DESC][STEEL][LENGTH][SERIAL#][COST]

I keep the window narrow enough to hide the last column, in case of "prying eyes!"

You can do searches, sort by any of the columns, to see for instance how many Case, what steels, etc. Very useful.
 
I take a photograph of every knife that comes in, positioned on the invoice and the invoice has some extra data written on it if need be (serial# etc).
Backup my harddrive at work and at home (3 copies).
Had someone break into my house this year, no knives taken, but I am certainly documenting it better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top