How many of you have never gone back?

flipe8 said:
I've only had one custom and I ended up selling it as it really didn't impress me that much and was nowhere near the fit&finish of my Seb. That said, I did buy it off the secondary market so it was a knife from a maker of interest to me, but not the knife I would've ordered form him had I a choice.
This is a question that might offend, but that's not the intent. I'm assuming most of you spend a fair amount on customs each year, but is this where you spend most of your disposable income? I ask this as I simply cannot afford to spend too much each year on knife purchases as I'm very active in many other activies as well. As result, my play money is spread out a fair bit. For example, the price of a custom, I could buy a nice carbon kayak paddle or ice axes. A carbon/kevlar seakayak runs four grand while a drysuit costs $700.
For most of you, is this your "thing" above any other interests(if any)?
I'd like to have a custom again, but it will likely be something very rare as opposed to the norm. I just couldn't afford having this kind of money tied up if it wasn't used regularly. In the future maybe, but not yet.
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Just speaking for myself, I have other interest too.
Custom knives rank near the top.

I also mess with classic and sports cars (not as much now as in the past), however as you can imagine custom knifes are much more affordable.

In either case, I know if things were to turn south, I can at least break even and most likely make quite a bit on my toys.
Not sure that can be said about golf, gambling, ice axes, sea kayaks and such.
My buddies who are into the nice boats seem to take a bath (and I don't mean jumping off their boat :D ) every time they sell one.

Anyway my friend, to each their own. That's what makes the world go around.;)
 
I tend to wonder about where each of us is on our journey as well. With a 7 year old demanding most of our disposable income, I imagine it will be some time before I'm able to afford some the finer pieces, but it doesn't mean sit on the side until I can. Maybe one custom a year? Who knows? And the reality is that as a firefighter, I'll not likely ever be in a position to afford some really high-end hobbies, the fun is just the same:) . The reason I got into kayaking was because I knew I couldn't afford a sailboat years ago. Now nothing brings me more enjoyment than being in my little boat.
 
Oh yes, the kids come first. I have three daughters from 13-23.

We all benefit form what you do. IMO, Firefighters do not get near the appreciation and praise they deserve.
 
Whenever I go to knife store, I like to ask if I can handle as many knives as possible. This is my way of getting to know the quality of what is being offered to the knife buying public. Ifter having taken up the time of the person behing the counter, I would never consider leaving without purchasing something. This is where I end up purchasing a lot of my production knives.

There are also some things I do with a knife where a beater is more appropriate than a custom knife. When clearing brush, the machetes I use tend to hit a lot of rocks and take a lot of damage. This doesn't bother me in the least when it happens to a $20.00 Martindale, but if it happened to a $500.00 custom, I'm pretty sure I would not be able to accept it quite as easily. I do have customs that I use, but not for the really nasty stuff where the knife is almost guaranteed to be damaged.
 
I have used my customs in the past to open the occasional box or cut some string and I carried my Sentz folder for a while and used it for such mundane taks as cutting long soda straws to length when 7-11 was out of the shorter ones:D But when I got my Caffrey EDK, I pretty much retired most of the factory knives because this is a knife that didn't really cost me a whole lot more than a real nice factory folder and it is made as an everyday hard use knife. It has lived a pretty good life for a little knife so far. I has gotten to go on vacation to New York, Cancun and Europe:D
 
I have several production knives and those are all I'll ever need. So, I guess I'll never need nor desire to ever buy another production knife. However, I don't think I could ever stop lusting over customs. I need to find a nice little custom folder for everyday carry. Once that happens, my production knives will most likely sit on the shelf.
Bob
 
I still collect both. It's probably 50%/50% based on the number of knives, but probably 80% customs/20% production based on cost. While my "pride and joy" knives are customs, I have many productions that I use on a daily basis. They just fill a certain niche. I'd also rather goober up a $300 low end WH more than a $2,500 Warren Osborne (call me thrifty :D ). I hate wait times, which also means I feed my knife addiction on productions between the high-dollar custom purchases. Plus, you have to be able to give gift ideas to relatives from the production spectrum, or you get tube socks and radiator fluid for Xmas.:eek:

- Mark
 
i like customs i aint afraid of carrying-of coarse they arent over 550
and if a production like the zdp mini cyclone comes around i enjoy that also
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone! WoodWorkGhost's answer caught me off-guard:

WoodWorkGhost said:
While I have been given several as samples over the years. These I pass on to clients small children.
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It just reminded me of a spoof thread about a guy passing out Swiss Army Knives for Halloween.

Was thinning out the blade of one of my production knives this evening and was thinking "I can probably get the end result of what I'm doing in a forged, damascus utility and enjoy how it looks as much as how it cuts." Was thinning out another production knife and was very happy with the oppurtunity. Hmm....
 
Kevin Jones said:
Oh yes, the kids come first. I have three daughters from 13-23.

We all benefit form what you do. IMO, Firefighters do not get near the appreciation and praise they deserve.
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Ah......so there is a practical aspect to your knife collecting hobby in that you always get to show the more intimidating pieces you own to the boys who come over to take your girls out on dates:D
 
I look for great designs, blade grinds and mostly infallible folder locks first - what shop it comes out of doesn't matter that much to me.
 
Factories have done very little innovation on their own over the last decade. Almost without exception every innovation has been directly related to working with a custom knife maker.

Imagine where the factory knife industry would be today without the custom knife makers. Factories like Kershaw wouldn't even be around today.

WWG
 
jdm61 said:
Ah......so there is a practical aspect to your knife collecting hobby in that you always get to show the more intimidating pieces you own to the boys who come over to take your girls out on dates:D
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Very true.
The first young man to pick up my middle daughter for a date was checking out my knife displays while waiting for her. I told him that if she was not home by midnight, I would give him a much closer look at them. :eek:

I think we thought I was kidding. :confused: ;)
 
I love knives, period. As factory knives get better and better, I really enjoy using them for my life-threatening tasks of cutting tape, packaging, cardboard, rope, and the often misuse. :o

I don't find the need for a black and white statement, nor do I need to apologize for my current factory knives.

WWG, my current fave is the Benchmade Ruckus designed by Neil Blackwood. Right to your point.

Every custom knife lover starts with acquiring production blade(s).

Kumbaya! ;)

Coop
 
thombrogan said:
I do, at times, and then Spyderco and Kershaw make some stupendous knives that break my will.
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That would be my attitude. You have summed it up for me perfectly.

Of course, I'm pretty 'loose' in my definition of 'custom' -- for example, I'm happy to call a nice Busse blade at least a 'semi-custom.' I definitely still collect those.

So, almost all of my limited resources go toward custom or semi-custom knives. But...once in awhile...my 'will is broken.'
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
Factories have done very little innovation on their own over the last decade. Almost without exception every innovation has been directly related to working with a custom knife maker.

Imagine where the factory knife industry would be today without the custom knife makers. Factories like Kershaw wouldn't even be around today.

WWG
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Thanks mucho for that un-necessary commercial break. What does your post have to do with this thread?

And what the heck do you know about "factory" knives? We have been down this road before.
 
I have to agree with WoodWorkGhost.
And think it was an extremely valid addition to this thread. :thumbup:

Anywho,the last production I bought was a Camillus/Fisk c.maple handle Bowie,got it right here from HD Charlie,Sept '05,don't know if he's even still around.

I only buy customs now but I have a ton of older production models.
Even have the boxes for all of them,in various states of disrepair. :o

Doug
 
Architect,

It wasn't a commercial break, it is a fact. Name one factory in the top ten that does not feature designs and/or innovations from custom knife makers.

My limited lack of knowledge with regards to factory knives is only exceeded by your lack of knowledge of custom knives and the custom knife market.

WWG
 
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