I finally figured it all out.

roughneckrob

roughneckrob

Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
1,213
Hey guys, I have been a member here for a couple years now and since I joined I have accumulated a large number of knives, all of them very high end and alot of money invested in these things. I love them all, but I finally realized that I don't need all of this. For a long time I thought that the more blades I have the better off I would be. I got them with all intentions to use them all. I have spent thousands of dollars in the past two years and by thousands I mean a minimum of 1 knife per month at a minimum cost of $300.00 and up. So today I got a new edc pack and I sat down to load it up. This time I actually though about the things I was putting in there and only wanted useful items. In the end I decided all I needed was my Emerson Super Commander, my Leatherman Wave and my Fallkniven A1 survival knife all of them are carried on my person. So I am left with three average blades that will be used and a huge pile of high end customs and semi-customs sitting in the closet never to be pulled out of the sheath, hell some of them never even came with sheaths. So, the question I asked myself is "am I retarded"? and I the only answer I can think of is "yes" I have some sort of mental problem with buying knives. Well, thats it. No more, other than the Busse SAR 6 I may actually use that one so I will get it. Anyway, do I really need anything more than a good multi-tool, good combat blade and a good survival knife? Nope. Now that I have this figured out I have decided to start buying more firearms and useful items....sorry, just had to rant a bit.
 
That's allright, Rob. Rant away. You just figured out the puzzle, that's all. We'll only use a couple or three, so why do we have them? Well, because........
 
I know where Rob is coming from on this. Most of the knives I’ve bought are small folders, and any one of them would be a perfect EDC. I could have stopped with my first Emerson or Reeve or Spyderco and never had any regrets. But I love the little beggars (and I still spend less on knives than my wife does on her handbag collection).

What still amazes me is how impressed friends and family are by the large fixed blades that I’ll never have practical use for, while still expressing horror that I’d own such a thing. Non-knife people are strange.
 
I have come to the same conclusion several times, and i figure that if i am going to be addicted to knives, i had better just make them myself. as soon as i get that new bench grinder.....
 
ive come to some similar conclusions myself. so ive gone off on another tangent for now and dont have plans for another folder past one or two i might get or might pass on. getting back to my first love which is my guns. and for now am concentrating on that and have been dabbling in working with kydex and have done a couple spyderco mule team knives handles and sheaths. Plan on a pistol sheath soon. this all has helped me taper off the knife buying craze i was locked in for some good many months now.
 
I realized the same thing myself last year. I have spent untold thousands over the years on knives I will never carry much less use. I do/did the same with traditional archery equipment and now I find myself doing it with guitars and amps etc.etc. So I have told myself no more. No more expensive knives I won't use, no more expensive guitars I just lock up and put away for fear of damaging them. No more expensive amps I won't play for fear of wearing them out. No more knives I won't carry or use. So that's it. I have my sights set on a wide glide shovelhead to go with my bagger and that's it. The rest will be gravy me thinks. keepem sharp
 
I'm in the same place to a lesser degree.

I've been selling off a large chunk of my accumulation, but I still occasionally do buy a new knife that looks interesting. BUT, if I decided to keep the new one I try really hard to make a space for it by selling of the knife it's meant to replace.
 
roughneckrob said:
Hey guys, I have been a member here for a couple years now and since I joined I have accumulated a large number of knives, all of them very high end and alot of money invested in these things. I love them all, but I finally realized that I don't need all of this. For a long time I thought that the more blades I have the better off I would be. I got them with all intentions to use them all. I have spent thousands of dollars in the past two years and by thousands I mean a minimum of 1 knife per month at a minimum cost of $300.00 and up. So today I got a new edc pack and I sat down to load it up. This time I actually though about the things I was putting in there and only wanted useful items. In the end I decided all I needed was my Emerson Super Commander, my Leatherman Wave and my Fallkniven A1 survival knife all of them are carried on my person. So I am left with three average blades that will be used and a huge pile of high end customs and semi-customs sitting in the closet never to be pulled out of the sheath, hell some of them never even came with sheaths. So, the question I asked myself is "am I retarded"? and I the only answer I can think of is "yes" I have some sort of mental problem with buying knives. Well, thats it. No more, other than the Busse SAR 6 I may actually use that one so I will get it. Anyway, do I really need anything more than a good multi-tool, good combat blade and a good survival knife? Nope. Now that I have this figured out I have decided to start buying more firearms and useful items....sorry, just had to rant a bit.
Click to expand...

Well...If you're havin some trouble getting rid of all those knives, you can send them to me and I'll see to it that they're, uh, disposed of properly ;):D
 
I just ordered an Al Mar Sere 2000 and I am now looking at getting my first Kukri. I'm confident that neither will probably be used for much of anything. Very cool knives just the same. I expect that I'll get most out of what I've put into collecting all of the knives eventually. FWIW, I use two knives, a Spyderco Endura and a small Kershaw folder multiple times every day, everything is is just sitting around, alternately collecting fingerprints and dust.

pete
 
Admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery. Congrats! I'm not there yet... but someday...
 
I am still learning and buying right now. Trying to figure out exactly what works for me and the balance of how many material things I want in my life. I have noticed that I seem to be taking a slower pace than some. Since joining BF and becoming familiar with blades I still don't think I have purchased more than three blades a year and so far almost all are under a hundred.
 
Wow, I guess i'm not alone after all. Someone should set up an institution where we can receive therapy. I have already fallen off the wagon. I got to thinking that that Leatherman wave would be better off used as my work EDC and I went and ordered a Swiss Army SwissTool Plus for my new everyday EDC. Yeah, to hell with logic.
 
To me, knife collecting is a hobby like any other hobby. Whether it's stamps, marbles, sports memorabilia, comic books, guns, motorcycles, cars, boats, or knives, it's a hobby. Try to collect as much or as little as you want. Buy what you like or buy what you need. It's all the same as long as you enjoy it.
 
roughneckrob said:
I have already fallen off the wagon. I got to thinking that that Leatherman wave would be better off used as my work EDC and I went and ordered a Swiss Army SwissTool Plus for my new everyday EDC. Yeah, to hell with logic.
Click to expand...

As I read the first post, I was thinking "i bet this post was impulsive and he will change his mind later." i was right :p

I did the same thing. I had a modest spyderco and busse collection and sold them all when i decided I dont really need them. It was hard to sell my user D2 millie but no regrets. I have been slowly building a new, more diverse collection. My only rule is to get knives I would be willing to carry (but not necessarily use).
 
I guess the first thing to say is: It is definitely cheaper to buy and sell than accumulate. That's probably the one thing I would change if I could go back.

I have a similar sized collection (probably a little smaller, and built much slower), and every once in a while I look at the dozens of knives and scratch my head wondering what I was thinking. I've considered selling most of them too. But in the end, I realize that nearly every one of them was my primary EDC for at least a few months, and I based my next purchase on the things I wanted improved, or just different from what I had.
The knives I would sell have been used hard enough to not be worth anything (most people would cry if they saw my 710HS), and the ones I could sell, I can't bring myself to part with. Much as the ZT0200 is inferior to the Military or Volt (according to my preferences), it is still separate and individual enough that I like to have it around.
That knife is incredibly photogenic as well.:p

The lesson that I have learned most recently is to look at all the knives hanging on the wall every time you think of buying something new (pegboard is your friend, it makes everything accessible at a glance), and make absolutely sure that this new knife is tailored to your preferences significantly better than your current favorite.
The true "must have" designs are not terribly common, and when they do come around they scream at you from miles away, like the Kershaw Volt did for me last year. I got two of them, and almost wish I had bought three, since that was a one off production run and the only way to get another is an R.J. Martin custom.
 
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