I have a serious problem.

I started with a Cold Steel Counter Point II.

That was about a year ago.

Now I have an 0777M390BLK, limited edition Hogue EX-02, and half a dozen Mcustas on the way. I have a Microtech Whale Shark in my front right pocket, a Kershaw Super Gold / Ti Junkyard Dog off having its lockface carbidized, and I have a Gayle Bradley as my go-to EDC on dry-weather days. Then there's my Svord Peasant, Kershaw Tanto Zing, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, Kershaw Junkyard Dog Composite Black Blade, and Ka-Bar Becker BK11.

All of those were purchased in the last two months, except for the Tuff Lite. Little bastard is hard to replace! So, I'm having a custom framelock flipper version made.

I've had knives ranging from $5 to $475. Literally hundreds of them. I only have ~60 posts in the exchange forum, but a good chunk of those are me selling knives that I purchased on eBay and other sites to recover funds. Typically at least 3 knives per post, very often more.

My knife budget expanded from $40 for my whole collection to close to two grand, just in the span of a year. I've since scaled down, and am just hunting dedicated users that I can keep and enjoy, but I can't tell you how many times I've told myself "this is THE KNIFE. I will carry this until the end of my days."

Cut to a week or two later, it's on eBay or the forums.

Right now, the Whaleshark is everything I could want.
For now. Last week, it was the DOC. The week before that, it was a ZT 0566. The week before that, it was an Emerson Mini CQC-15. The week before that, it was the Gayle Bradley. A week before that, it was a ZT 0550BLK. Most of those knives never even saw pocket time.

It's a sickness, sure, but at least if you deal-hunt, it almost pays for itself. Every dollar I put in to the hobby is a dollar I get back, because I never buy unless I can resell it used at the same price I paid new.

The most ridiculous part is that I'm 25 and work retail. I'm a young, fit, poor man with an unfortunate taste for expensive sharp things.
 
Recreation can be expensive. I get a lot of enjoyment out of knives. The thing for me is that I pretty much HAVE to use them. I have one knife that I don't use -a Shirogorov. I don't use it because it is too pricey. Eventually I will sell it, but I'm super stoked to have it. I have 20 knives right now and some spendy Hawks. All but three are Midtech or custom. It's super easy to drop $200/day on recreation and I'm nowhere near that over the years. Sure, I'll take a vacation here and there but its usually a private rafting trip or camping, so nothing outrageous. With my knives, there are a few "keepers," but most I just consider "rentals." I decide how much I rent them for based on what I want to do with them. The more fun I have with them the more I pay. I don't have much for savings but If I were broke I could sell them for $5-6K at least. That's cool because I dig this hobby.
 
Comeuppance said:
I started with a Cold Steel Counter Point II.

That was about a year ago.

Now I have an 0777M390BLK, limited edition Hogue EX-02, and half a dozen Mcustas on the way. I have a Microtech Whale Shark in my front right pocket, a Kershaw Super Gold / Ti Junkyard Dog off having its lockface carbidized, and I have a Gayle Bradley as my go-to EDC on dry-weather days. Then there's my Svord Peasant, Kershaw Tanto Zing, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, Kershaw Junkyard Dog Composite Black Blade, and Ka-Bar Becker BK11.

All of those were purchased in the last two months, except for the Tuff Lite. Little bastard is hard to replace! So, I'm having a custom framelock flipper version made.

I've had knives ranging from $5 to $475. Literally hundreds of them. I only have ~60 posts in the exchange forum, but a good chunk of those are me selling knives that I purchased on eBay and other sites to recover funds. Typically at least 3 knives per post, very often more.

My knife budget expanded from $40 for my whole collection to close to two grand, just in the span of a year. I've since scaled down, and am just hunting dedicated users that I can keep and enjoy, but I can't tell you how many times I've told myself "this is THE KNIFE. I will carry this until the end of my days."

Cut to a week or two later, it's on eBay or the forums.

Right now, the Whaleshark is everything I could want.
For now. Last week, it was the DOC. The week before that, it was a ZT 0566. The week before that, it was an Emerson Mini CQC-15. The week before that, it was the Gayle Bradley. A week before that, it was a ZT 0550BLK. Most of those knives never even saw pocket time.

It's a sickness, sure, but at least if you deal-hunt, it almost pays for itself. Every dollar I put in to the hobby is a dollar I get back, because I never buy unless I can resell it used at the same price I paid new.

The most ridiculous part is that I'm 25 and work retail. I'm a young, fit, poor man with an unfortunate taste for expensive sharp things.
Click to expand...

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Very interesting.

BTW, OP needs to get some fixed blades too.
 
agile_1 said:
GOOD LORD MAN!

You need more ZT's:eek:. 200, 300X, 560 - this list goes on. IMO they are some of the finest large overbuilt folders in my collection.

And forget the sex drugs and Rock and Roll - too distracting and expensive. Firearms and machetes hold their value better. :D

(BTW - I am not doctor. This comments in this post are not to be construed or taken as medical advice.)




I'd have to agree with that. Collecting is fun but as someone said, your hobby should not come before financial obligations.

But consider, you pay certain bills every month of the year. Does that mean you are addicted to utility services; electricity - internet, phone, cable? Rent/mortgage payments. Car upkeep and insurance. Could you get by without one of these things? Some people do/would in order to fund their hobbies. Some else's priorities may be (and very likely are) quite different.

The issue that needs to be resolved is that (IF) YOU FEEL COLLECTING KNIVES IS PROBLEM FOR YOU. You are the one that needs to resolve this. But it sounds like you DO think it is a problem for you. Easy solution - stop buying knives. Spend less time online. I find that the more online time I log the more likely it becomes that I will end up in a shopping cart or two.

Good thing is lots of BF folks are chiming in for ya - a great safety net!
Click to expand...

Yes you have all given truly good advice. This really shows that you aren't just knife nuts! Like i said, may 2014 i'm gonna buy a new knife. I should just cherish and USE what i have on shelf currently. And that's more and nicer knives than i had ever dreamed of as a child. The ZT0301 is something like a nice car in terms of design, a BMW or something. So owning a ZT301 is like having it made to me. And it should be enough to enjoy for a good half year.

Funny how the mind can take of on a complete bender every now and then. I guess it's ok to go crazy once in a while as long as you can reign yourself in afterwards, i believe i'm capable of doing that. After all i'm just a guy with some crazy guy hobbies that tends to spend too much on gadgets once in a while. That's not playing it down or anything, it IS a problem. But one i should be able to manage.
 
As long as you sell and buy, and not make a loss on what you sell i guess you're doing allright. If you're making a loss, maybe not so right.
I sold some stuff at a 33% loss and i decided not to do that anymore, if it's not profitable i'm better of keeping it. I find great deals on Ebay, stuff that i can resell here in Europe for a profit. For example i can buy Benchmade on ebay at 60 or 70% compared to EU prices. Leaving room for a small profit.

Comeuppance said:
I started with a Cold Steel Counter Point II.

That was about a year ago.

Now I have an 0777M390BLK, limited edition Hogue EX-02, and half a dozen Mcustas on the way. I have a Microtech Whale Shark in my front right pocket, a Kershaw Super Gold / Ti Junkyard Dog off having its lockface carbidized, and I have a Gayle Bradley as my go-to EDC on dry-weather days. Then there's my Svord Peasant, Kershaw Tanto Zing, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, Kershaw Junkyard Dog Composite Black Blade, and Ka-Bar Becker BK11.

All of those were purchased in the last two months, except for the Tuff Lite. Little bastard is hard to replace! So, I'm having a custom framelock flipper version made.

I've had knives ranging from $5 to $475. Literally hundreds of them. I only have ~60 posts in the exchange forum, but a good chunk of those are me selling knives that I purchased on eBay and other sites to recover funds. Typically at least 3 knives per post, very often more.

My knife budget expanded from $40 for my whole collection to close to two grand, just in the span of a year. I've since scaled down, and am just hunting dedicated users that I can keep and enjoy, but I can't tell you how many times I've told myself "this is THE KNIFE. I will carry this until the end of my days."

Cut to a week or two later, it's on eBay or the forums.

Right now, the Whaleshark is everything I could want.
For now. Last week, it was the DOC. The week before that, it was a ZT 0566. The week before that, it was an Emerson Mini CQC-15. The week before that, it was the Gayle Bradley. A week before that, it was a ZT 0550BLK. Most of those knives never even saw pocket time.

It's a sickness, sure, but at least if you deal-hunt, it almost pays for itself. Every dollar I put in to the hobby is a dollar I get back, because I never buy unless I can resell it used at the same price I paid new.

The most ridiculous part is that I'm 25 and work retail. I'm a young, fit, poor man with an unfortunate taste for expensive sharp things.
Click to expand...
 
Scurvy092 said:
You're doing it wrong!

Step 1: Buy a membership here

Step 2: Sell all of the safe queens, reduce the number of ones you want to beat on to 2-3 knives, not 8, then sell those too

Step 3: Take the money from all of your sales and use that to buy ONE or TWO really really nice knives. Let those be the safe queens. Get a Sebenza, get a custom, get something that can't be replaced in 10 seconds like the rest of your safe queens.

Step 4: Let the new safe queen(s) sit and admire them, play with them and enjoy them.

Step 5: When you are tired of the safe queen sell it for anywhere from a small loss to a small profit (depending on what you buy).

Step 6: Take that money and either use it or add to it and buy another really nice safe queen.

Step 7: Go back to step 4 and repeat ad infinitum.
Click to expand...

^ what this guy said. It doesn't have to ruin you financially as long as you stay willing to sell off what you aren't using. You have enough now that you can sell a few and just kind of keep rotating and enjoying without spending much more money. It's a fun pastime if you keep it fiscally responsible like that.
 
No safe queens
seriously go get on a top notch makers wait list for the most part its gonna be 1yr + wait
save for that knife because its gonna cost a pretty penny
receive knife
appreciate the knife
be absolutely blown away it will change your view on knives completely
 
Caution! Taste in knives change!
I never would have believed this back in the day.
 
Sonnydaze said:
Sir, you are still young. Give it time to develop.
Welcome to the Club.
Click to expand...

Listen to the Man boy!

Here is how it usually goes $30-80 (kershaws etc) range knives then $150-200 (spidercos, ZT, benchmades etc) then you sell all $30-80 and some $150-200 and get into midtechs and semi production $300-600 ( crk strider hinderer etc) then you sell the rest of your $150-200 and some of your $400-600 knives and get into full customs where sky is the limit.

and if you are like me same goes for fixed blades and guns and camping gear :)

at this point some may get out of the madness downsize dramatically and use the proceeds to buy a speedboat or something

some divorce

some are married to angels

some keep at it just because
 
Lycosa said:
Caution! Taste in knives change!
I never would have believed this back in the day.
Click to expand...

Yup!

Assisted to non assisted
Thumb studs to flipper
Tactical to gentleman's
Hard use to high art
Big to small

And vice versa
 
Scurvy092 said:
You're doing it wrong!

Step 1: Buy a membership here

Step 2: Sell all of the safe queens, reduce the number of ones you want to beat on to 2-3 knives, not 8, then sell those too

Step 3: Take the money from all of your sales and use that to buy ONE or TWO really really nice knives. Let those be the safe queens. Get a Sebenza, get a custom, get something that can't be replaced in 10 seconds like the rest of your safe queens.

Step 4: Let the new safe queen(s) sit and admire them, play with them and enjoy them.

Step 5: When you are tired of the safe queen sell it for anywhere from a small loss to a small profit (depending on what you buy).

Step 6: Take that money and either use it or add to it and buy another really nice safe queen.

Step 7: Go back to step 4 and repeat ad infinitum.
Click to expand...

A scholar and a gentleman, you are. I am currently doing exactly this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top