How many knives does a person really need?

I think its impossible to have too many or too many different types. You just rotate them based on what conditions dictate and mood.
 
How many knives does a person need? Well, that depends on what that person does and what they use knives for. For many people's basic EDC cutting tasks, one good folder could be sufficient. But there are still reasons to have other knives. Some reasons could be that if you sometimes travel to a jurisdiction that has stricter or different laws, you might need a different or smaller knife for that. If you want to carry a substantial blade for serious tasks, but are often around sheeple it might be a good idea to carry a smaller, friendlier blade so they don't get scared by the serious one, but you still have that in case you need it. If you carry for defense, there are reasons to carry more than one knife, e.g., one strong side and one weak side, or one (or more) for utility and one (or more) for defense. Sometimes you also want to have more knives on hand for people who don't carry their own. I've been camping with people who didn't bring any knives. Since each person should have at least one, it was a good thing that I had a few extras, so I could give my buddy a knife to use and I wasn't left without one. A few years ago my mother told me that she was at work and needed a knife to cut something but no one had one, so she asked me for a knife to keep in her purse. It was a good thing I had an extra knife, so I could give her one and I didn't have to go knifeless. There have been other circumstances where a friend of mine wanted or needed a knife and I could loan one out because I had others. If you want to carry different knives for different occassions (e.g., dressy knife to go to a wedding, serious cutter for camping, stainless for food or fishing, different shapes for different types of cutting, etc.), then you need more than one knife. If you carry a SAK or multi-tool for the dozen tools on it that are not a knife, you're still carrying the knife in it in addition to the dedicated knife (or knives) you're carrying, so your "blades on the body" count goes up inadvertently. If you're a collector, by definition you'll acquire more for for your collection. Whatever you use knives for, eventually a new knife will come out that will serve your purposes better than what you currently have; at that point you may not need the better knife, but you'll have a very good reason to buy it anyway. It is possible for knives to get broken, lost, stolen, confiscated, etc., and having more will ensure that you're not left knifeless if something happens to one of your knives. So even if you only need one, you may need more than one to make sure that you always have one. I always carry more than one pen. I never need more than one pen at a time, but I carry more because I have lost pens and didn't want to be left penless when something happened to one of my pens.

You ask how many knives a person needs, I know people (you might know some too) who don't own a single knife, and they don't have a problem with that. How many knives do those people need? I own lots of knives, and still find reasons to want (and, when I can afford it, to buy) more. Necessity is hard to determine, but you're here in the company of knife knuts who have lots of knives and want lots more. Ask this question on a different forum and you'll hear very different answers.

Try asking on a computer geek forum, or on a watch forum, or on a lesbian forum, or on a flashlight forum, or on a political forum, or on a druggie forum, or on a vampire forum, or on a christian mom forum, or on a BDSM forum, and you're sure to get very different responses, though even at those places the most likely people to answer are the knife knuts there so you'll still get a biased response. Actually, if anyone's got the time and energy, I'd love to see someone go to all those forums and post the question, "How many (non-kitchen) knives does a person need? And how many do they need to carry at any given time?" and post links here to the particular threads so we can follow them.
 
I was thinking about that yesterday while trying to sell a SOG and 3 BM's at a gun show. I managed to sell all except for an M2 Ascent. While I was there, I saw a SERE 2K with a black blade and had to have it. I got it from the only all knife booth at the show. Now I have 9 knives and am waiting on a Larry Ramey Ti necker. The knives I sold were ones I never used or was to afraid to f*** up. Odds are they would only gather dust.

I've found that I have been buying progressivley more expensive/higher quality knives. When I bought my first MT/Emerson/Dalton/Al Mar, I realised that CRKT or other like brands are nice and all, but I'm starting to like things a little more upscale.

The bottom line is just "go with it", only you know what's right for you.
 
Yeah, I definitely get there every so often.

I think if I actually had ALL my knives together at once, I'd make a little more progress.

As it is, I'm usually on a waiting list for a custom knife and / or waiting on a custom sheath.

I'm big on IMMEDIATE gratification, so I wind up buying something cool to get me through until I get my other knives.

I do think I could eventually narrow it down to 10 or less. In fact, I'd kind of like to.

Mike
 
i agree with everyone... you can never have too many

i've just very recently started my teeny tiny collection, and i also just recently found my EDC (my spydie native) but i'm still looking for other options... i'm always looking. and now my friends plan to get the Gunting... sigh... so many knives... so little time... and even littler cash!

but as long as i'm interested in knives, they'll keep on rolling in, i get satisfied from looking at my small collection... i can't wait until i get into the double digits and even triple digits! :D

i say, there's always room for more

aXed
 
And the correct answer is.............3,456,987.

So...seeing that nobody will be alive or have enough money (except maybe Mr. Gates?)You can never have too many knives.

It is not a case of how many you need.......it's how many can you physically store and collect and carry :D :D

pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant....

Have knive/s.....must travel;)

Too many knives...is barely enough....:D
 
I WANT EM ALL

BIG OR SMALL

THE ONES ON LINE

OR THE ONES IN THE MALL

THE ONES IN BLADE

OR THE ONE IN TACTICAL

WHO CARES IF THEY ARENT PRACTICAL

I WANT EM ALL :D
 
I could probably live the rest of my life NEEDING only two or three knives. The trouble is I WANT them all... :D

Andrew Limsk
 
Well, need is just a higher degree of want, so for me there have been a few events that have DRAMATICALLY reduced my "need" for knives.

Buy a nice quality knife, then you can ask, is this new knife I want better or more handy than this one I already have?

Recognizing though that since novelty is important you will buy new ones, honestly answer if you like the knife once the novelty has worn off. If not get rid of it, sell or give it away.
 
Originally posted by DaveH
Recognizing though that since novelty is important you will buy new ones, honestly answer if you like the knife once the novelty has worn off. If not get rid of it, sell or give it away.
Click to expand...

That is EXACTLY what I mean.
 
"Need" as you are asking about it, is a commmunist/socialist concept.

I choose.

Liberty.



I choose to have more than one.

I choose to carry more than one.

Because I like knives.

And that satisfies any reasonable inquiry.
 
Good question :)
In theory I need three knives:
  • Medium sized utility folding knife for daily carry in urban environment
  • Big utility folding knife to use around household and going outdoors
  • Fixed blade for outdoors use
Being pressed, choked and tortured heavily to keep only one knife in each category I would remain with SPYDERCO Delica or Calypso Junior Lightweight for EDC, SPYDERCO Military for around household and outdoors big folder and SPYDERCO Bill Moran Featherweight as outdoors fixed blade.

Am I somewhat biased? No matter, this is the theory only...
In real life I need all knives of the world because:
First – I like them :D
Second – I write about them and this is both my liking and job :D
 
****, its sunny out! Brb... :p :D

Seriously, there have been lots of good points made here.

Just depends on the sort of person you are, and the sort of bank account you have. I give in fairly easily to the "Its so cool I just gotta have it" syndrome. BUT, I won't buy something COMPLETELY useless. (YES, 9" blades ARE useful...for butchering steer? :rolleyes: )

I really want a Strider GB and a MT UT D/E. Believe it or not, I actually don't have an EDC blade!!! Can you believe that!??? :eek:

I mean, I'm wearing my BT right now, but just 'cause I'm at work and am wearing long pants. I always wear it to work. Otherwise, I don't carry anything. Which is why I *NEED* the GB and UT. :(

Drjones
 
Hey! This forum automatically censors words like **** and ****!!!

No fair!!! I'ma call the ACLU!!! I swear!

**** this ****!

:D
:p
:rolleyes:
:footinmou
 
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