How to explain to women & wives who ask us but don't understand,"Why all the knives?"

its the "Hunter Gatherer" instinct. Men want to be men and knives, guns, and cars just fill that void. As was mentioned above it is better than chasing women..... I started my wife off with a Kershaw Chive and a Leatherman Micra, and now she always has a knife in her purse. I just got my daughter a Spyderco Bug to start with - I'm not saying you have to turn all the women in your life into knife nuts like us, but they might just see the value in em. We all have our things we like - books(those vampire things) - I dont care for em but I love getting my wife "her stuff", it really helps went I want my stuff.
 
After many years of marriage and of me collecting knives my better half announced one day, not long ago "knives are to you like jewelry is to me". Smart gal. She's getting some diamonds for Christmas, from me.
 
After 17 years with Mrs. Powernoodle (and 7 years of dating preceding that), we are long past the point of having to explain things like this to each other. She knows my knife/flashlight/gun fetish does not mean I am a revolutionary (though I am quite in favor of revolution), and that it is not going to drive us into bankruptcy. I know that her scrapbooking and Bible studies are cool, and that she is hanging out with the right crowd. So it balances out. We have reached this level of stasis that every couple should strive for.
 
knifezoid said:
The way I explain it is this (and you guys tell me if you agree): Knives are
not a socially acceptable hobby. People can only accept and compute in
their minds what is the norm.
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This is the key. The OP's girlfriend was not asking why he collects knives. She was asking: "Are you normal?"
That's the question the OP must answer.
 
autoopen said:
So my question to all of you guys is how do we answer our women when they ask us, "Why all the knives?"
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Think of this as a sentinel event. If you have to find answers to this now think what the future might be like. Feel fortunate that you got an early warning.
 
autoopen said:
My [new] girlfriend recently...sat me down and asked me, I quote, "Why all the knives? Just wondering."
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Ah, yes. Take her by the hand, look deep into her eyes and say, "The voices told me to do it!"

Then it dawned on me that she wasn't really asking me why I collect "things" but why I choose to collect ..."things" that for her have no value or meaning AND can be used as dangerous weapons.
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Hmmmm...is this going to be a problem? How does she view knives in general? And what does she think about guns? (I came close to dropping a galfriend years ago when, in Norfolk, VA, she spotted a Ruger stainless .22LR I'd bought at a local Wal*Mart and was taking home. She commenced crying and wailing, as if she expected me to do her in on our return trip and bury her in a corn field somewhere!)
 
stabman said:
I've found that they magically become socially acceptable once they are above a certain price-point.
Almost everyone I've run across cannot conceive of a knife being used as a weapon if it cost over $200. Truthfully, how many people ARE stabbed with knives costing that much? I've never heard or read of any instances.
If you want to gain acceptacnce for your hobby, roll out the priciest knives first.:thumbup:
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Lol, but what happens when the most intimidating ones also somehow turn out to be the most expensive? My Nemesis custom, for example. :rolleyes:
 
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autoopen said:
My girlfriend recently found out about my knife collection/obsession. We've only been going out for a few weeks but she sat me down and asked me, I quote, "Why all the knives? Just wondering."
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Gives me something to do when I'm not buying AKs.
 
after thirty years of marrige to the same lady i know that whtever we do thay think were strange dont sweat it shel accept it r leave eather way u will b ok cause u still got a good knife
 
I'm tellin' ya, hold out for the gal that will buy you the AK for a wedding present!:)
 
I haven't had to explain myself for a couple of decades now, but when I did, a simple, "Don't worry dear, it's a guy thing" would suffice.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Because it is cheaper than collecting women? And they take up less room than storing the women collection.
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They are also less dangerous than a women collection (thank my fiancee for that response ;P)

Also from my fiancee: she probably doesn't care about the collection itself, she basically is wanting to know if you are a psycho serial killer.

~Noah
 
They are also less dangerous than a women collection
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This is what I'm saying the next time a girl gives me grief about the knife thing. :thumbup:



True, you can usually placate the subject by saying 'hobby' or 'guy thing,' and it's especially important not to come across as an axe-murderer, but the most important things in my experience are just being reasonable and persistent. There's lots of people out there who just don't get it, and many of them never will - just ask my father - but there are exceptions, and they're not as hard to find as it often seems.

My best experience: the last girlfriend I had got a couple of Gerbers and an OCC Leek while she was dating me, and since we usually worked together on jobs that required knives, she usually had one handy. At one point we had matching SOG multi-tools. She even gave her knives adorable names, as was her way, but she never really saw knives the way I did. She continuously reminded me that she thought my feelings on the matter were wierd, and that she didn't know how I could be passionate about them, and that she considered owning as many knives as she did to be more or less my fault; a couple's exercise at best, and a bad influence at worst.
I saw knives as an elemental technology, and a medium of art, whereas to her they were strictly tools or toys, and in that regard were not unique among her gadgets.
One day, though, she bought a Kershaw E.T., and it looked to me like she was really taken aback by how much she wanted it. After a day or so of playing with it, making it dance open and shut, and wearing it like a carabiner on her purse, she looked at me sheepishly and said 'Wow, I completely get it.' I miss her.

Never give up hope, then, would be what I'm trying to say. Knife knuts make for odd company perhaps, but this doesn't make us bad company, and we don't have to put up with raised eyebrows if we don't want to. Sometimes it's luck, and sometimes it's just being diligent, but it's not impossible for people to come around.
 
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My answer is usually:
"It' s my hobby. Other people like to collect stamps or shoes, whatever. I just like to collect knives."
 
I explained to my wife that...

They are not weapons they are tools.
They are like functional, carryable, works of art that hold their resale value and in some cases go up.
In the case of my Sebenza excuse. I said it is my chance to own items of such a high quality, it is like owning a Mercedes or Bentley or something.
I show her and explain to her all of the various locks, the different clips, different grinds, blade shapes, handle materials... education is key. Make them all different, rather than just all categorized as knives.

I had it easier though because I was with her when I bought my first knife :D (for edc and not hunting)

The good news yours asked, and didn't turn tail and run.
Good luck.
 
After I had accumulated over a dozen knives my wife asked me the same question.I simply said that I have an appreciation for fine tools,knives in particular. As long as it doesn't interfere with our finances she is okay with it.She has even bought me knives for presents on occasion.
 
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