How many of you use your custom knives???

S

stefanj

Joined
Aug 5, 2007
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I was wondering how you felt about the use of some of these collector pieces??
I have seen some nice pieces for sale which are just safe queens. Does anybody ever take any of these out to the woods??
 
I have 5 customs: Ranger RD-4; Whittmore D-2 Hunter; Tanguay Customs Little Prick, Big Prick and LUK. I use and abuse all of them. The Rd-4 gets the most abuse since I've had it the longest. The others see regular use as fixed blades in an EDC rotation. The Big Prick and the Hunter work especially well.
 
Depends on if you mean customs, or are limiting it to collector's pieces.

All my Himalayan Imports blades are customs and all have seen use.

IMO, by definition a "collector's piece" is one that was bought for collector value, and since use would be detrimental to that, they don't get used.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
Depends on if you mean customs, or are limiting it to collector's pieces.

All my Himalayan Imports blades are customs and all have seen use.

IMO, by definition a "collector's piece" is one that was bought for collector value, and since use would be detrimental to that, they don't get used.
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True, there is a difference between using collector pieces and customs which are built for use!
I just a custom/collector piece that I would like but I can not justify owning a knife that I won't use and ruining the finish on such a nice piece would be for lack of a better word "bad"!
 
I tend to separate customs into 2 groups,

1. Handmade knives intended for actual use and tend to be fairly "plain jane" looking.

and

2. Handmade custom pieces that are more artistic and very elaborate and not really meant for use, but are more bought for acquiring a collection, or as investment.

I only buy knives in the first category and have little interest in the second one. But some knives could fall into a gray area between those two and to me would be a matter of personal preference, i.e. the Stag handle that I may see as a user, the next person may see as to nice to get scuffed up.
 
I have an Appleton knife I use (the one in Darom's book with an Ed Fowler blade). My view is that they are all user's that I just haven't gotten around to using yet. That may be due primarily to my idiosyncratic view that what makes knives a unique artform is that they can be used.
 
Gabe Newell said:
I have an Appleton knife I use (the one in Darom's book with an Ed Fowler blade). My view is that they are all user's that I just haven't gotten around to using yet. That may be due primarily to my idiosyncratic view that what makes knives a unique artform is that they can be used.
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I couldn't of said it any better Gade great post. I have somewhere around 50+ custom knives and have used most of them just haven't gotten around to the rest of them yet. Of course I don't buy the fancier "art" style of knives I buy the knives that look useful to me.
 
Some I buy for the collection. Others I buy to use. I know when I buy it wheather it will end up in the display case or be a user. I like having a nice well made custom knife to use. Kinda like watch collectors, they have their safe queens, but are also not wearing a timex either.
 
I just got two customs recently (my first two) and I reprofiled/sharpened them to make myself use them! I got a Cousin Jack one of a kind "traditional" and a Tom Krein TK-8 in 3V. I plan on using the Cousin Jack this deer season and using the TK-8 for hiking/camping. I am low on funds, and probably should have kept them in mint "just in case", but they are too well made to put in a drawer!

I put a bunch of oil on the Cousin Jack, it's not scratched.
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Nope. My few custom knives, as well as any factory knives that can't be easily replaced, are set aside for safekeeping. In fact out of 300 knives I have exactly two designated users - two is all I need.
 
Bob W said:
Nope. My few custom knives, as well as any factory knives that can't be easily replaced, are set aside for safekeeping. In fact out of 300 knives I have exactly two designated users - two is all I need.
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I understand the replacement issue, but I just can't see my Hinderer XM-18 as a safe-queen. However, when traveling, I usually default back to my Military and Emerson because of fear of loss under less-than-ideal conditions. Other than that, my XM-18 gets plenty of use. Outdoors, I'm less concerned as I can control most of the conditions...don't have too many problems using them, that's why I buy them:D

ROCK6
 
michaelmcgo said:
I just got two customs recently (my first two) and I reprofiled/sharpened them to make myself use them!
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Nice TK8 you have. A TK8 was the first custom knife I ever bought. I've been thinking about picking up another one; they are such great cutters!
 
I don't usually buy customs {lack of money more so than lack of desire} but the few i've had i've used. A couple were from local maker who did pretty darn good work, a Ruana, etc. nothing really fancy but after all it's a knife, use it. ahgar
 
In my pocket every day is a Kit Carson lockback. I usually carry a smaller slipjoint also that could be anything from a 100 year old factory knife to a modern handmade slippy.

Today the smaller knife is the 2006 Blade Forums knife that Canal Street made for a group of us that hang out in the Traditional forum. Others would be small knives made by P.J. Tomes, Richard Rogers, Joel Chamblin, Bailey Bradshaw or Tony Huffman.

As far as bigger folders a Lochsa (Scott Cook) and a Carson Model 21 in damascus also see carry occasionally.

It is nothing short of a pleasure to use them. Some were made by friends for me, so it is hard not to use them because I have no intention of selling them.
 
Right now I am carrying a one-of-a-kind R.J. Martin Havoc with a flamed Ti frame, and DLC blade coating facilitated by a friend in the industry. It was made to be used, and can be reworked should it require.

I would say to Gus that the Lochsa CAN be used, but scarcity dictates NON use from my POV. It is quickly becoming irreplaceable, and both e-mails and phone messages to Scott have not been responded to. When these things happen-it goes in the "looks pretty" pile.

I won't use knives from deceased makers that I intend to keep.

My daily rotation includes a Sebenza, J.W. Smith folder, and the afformentioned Havoc, as well as 4 different production knives. My EDC slipjoint is a Mark Laramie 3 blade stockman.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I'll have to agree, but my Lochsa is heading into it's 4th year of use.

If I had purchased one in the last year or so it would be a safe-queen.

I have some friends that call me a little wacked for carrying the Carson lock back and maybe they are right, but Kit made the knife for me specifically after he had not made one in over 20 years. I have to carry and use it ;). After a while, I might send it back to Kit for a refurb and then find a space for it to rest.
 
I carry a Burt Foster Blue Collar Hunter every time I hunt or go pick mushrooms in the woods. The blade and sheath are both rain-stained, with many scuffs and marks. I have another on order, as I have two boys and each will be getting one when they take their first deer (at which point I'll be treating myself to something special). Both will have stories to tell, and I suspect both will be appreciated long after Burt and I are gone. Were they safe queens, they would just be investments. As users, they become part of the family.
 
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