If you had to cull your collection.........

Sticky

Sticky

Joined
May 11, 2002
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Suppose you HAD to make a decision to weed out some knives(God forbid), Let's hear what your top 10 keepers are Regardless of knife type.
What about your top 5?
What about THE ONLY KNIFE you get to keep, and why?

I know this is sort of like those questions where ya have to pick one parent to die, but let's hear it!

These are mine...since I don't really own more than 10 good knives(I own a million junk-O.K. knives), I'll start with my top 5 and #1 list.
In no particular order at all:
BM940
BM556
SAK
Spyderco Navigator(edged out an SOG Sculptura)
Spyderco Mouse

Some that didn't make the cut:
Outdoor edge wedge and wedge II....very cool, but I like folders.
CRKT S-2.....I thought these locked up like vaults at first, until a little bit of oil got on the lockbar and proved me wrong. Plus I've had trouble from day one with them staying closed.
CRKT ApacheII, I nice knife for $25 to be sure, but just not in the same league as my BM's which already cover my 3"-3.5" blade needs.
several nice little Buck LB's, they just seem too small anymore.

#1.....hmmmmmmm, It's a VERY tough call here, but I think I'm leaning towards the Mini Griptilian believe it or not. Money aside, It's just become a must-have beater tool for regular day-to-day stuff, and it shows virtually no sign of wear whatsoever after a full year of every-single-day use, there's no end in sight. That addictive Axis lock is still as fun and easy-to-use as when I first got the thing.

The 940 is just too pretty and expensive for me to use and abuse like a good EDC should be, it's more for show-and-tell. God I like the way this thing is put together though, My purtiest an funnest-to-fondle knife...just gorgeous!! It's actually my favorite, but I couldn't
use it like my mini-grip.
The Mouse would be right up there for EDC pick too, save for the extra inch plus slick Axis lock the 556 has on it. Although I do believe the Mouse to be the single most hands-down reliable folding knife I own for Lost-in-the-woods type scenarios.

Sorry for making you think about such a repulsive subject!
But now it's time to cull that collection...
GO!!
Sticky
 
I just went through that!

I went actually selected 4 piles:

Ones that I like, and I wouldn't get anything for anyway.

Ones that I wouldn't mind selling at all.

Ones I'd really hate to sell, but could go if someone twisted my arm.

Ones that I just wouldn't sell, no matter what.

The last two piles kind of merged though. I mean, "it's not for sale" -- but everything has it's price. Or at least I do with my knives.

I did manage to hang on to the Dozier K1 & Damascus TnT. They're just awesome.

Mike
 
These are hard decisions to make, but here´s my short list:

1. Jens Anso 2" Damascus City Edges (first custom and really beautiful)
2. Chris Reeve Small Sebenza (this one needs no explanation IMHO)
3. Hill Knives Folding Knife (Dutch semi-custom, gift from my wife, engraved with my initials)
4. Benchmade CQC7 (wanted this knife really badly, one of my first ´expensive´ knives)
5. Spyderco Jot Singh Khalsa (to me the most beautiful Spyderco ever)

If it had to be just one knife I would say my Jens Anso. Just because this is the latest addition to my collection and it is my very first custom.

Knives that did not make it.... well a lot ofcourse :(
But here are some that I would rather not miss: David Boye small fixed blade, Buck 110, Spyderco Cricket, Boker Bud Nealy and my Kershaw Black Gulch.
 
My keepers would be:

Benchmade 941D2CF
Al Mar Sere 2000
Microtech Socom
Kershaw Boa
CRKT M-16

I can't afford customs so I will opt for the production models.
 
Top 5, easy

921 Switchback
551 MDP Griptillian
two Cold Steel El Hombre's
806D2 AFCK

Single knife:
921 Switchback. It just rules and my just ordered a 710HS for me this morning. :p
 
Top Five:
BM 806D2
BM 940
Buck/Strider Large Tanto
CUDA Maxx
Large Classic Sebenza

Only one? The sebenza, all the way!
 
what your top 10 keepers are Regardless of knife type.
Click to expand...
Let me start by saying that my answer to this question would have been very different six and twelve months ago. It may well be different in the future. As an active knife collector and user my tastes, interests, and opinions continuously change. That is what makes it fun and interesting.

Top ten knives is too easy, since my collection is still quite modest. Let's do top five plus:

Survival/BFK:
Chris Reeve Project II. This was a tough choice. I would have selected the Busse Battle Mistress except that I'm still working out how to sharpen it (it seems a bit complicated).

Belt Knife:
Strider MT. This category is in flux for me right now. The bargain price of my SOG X-42 Field Knife with a custom sheath from Survial Sheath Systems means that I tend to take it out and use it. I just got a couple of Busses (a Satin Jack and an Active Duty) that seem ideal for this role, I just haven't worked with them yet. (There is something about putting an expensive knife into service that I find difficult).

Large Folder:
Al Mar SERE 2000. No contest here.

Small Folder:
Chris Reeve Small Classic Sebenza. The Sebenza is good all around. I'd also be happy with my BM705 or BM940.

Gentlemen's Folder:
William Henry T10 Lancet. The Delta-Z Osprey with Red Maple Burl handle would win this except that the black blade and curved lines put it just out of the "people friendly/take anywhere" category.

If it came down to one knife:
Al Mar SERE 2000. Tough call. I'll bet the Busse Active Duty will fill this role once I have a chance to work with it.
 
I brought this up because I too am right in the midst of downsizing, and ditching my unused knives.
It really forced me to objectively weigh things in my knives that really matter to me and it looks like ease of use, and a heavy inclination towards practicality with at least some degree of the "oooh-ahhh" factor are the name of the game for me anyways. I know what all you custom owners are thinking right now..."BORING!" but I guess that's what being semi-poor does to a feller. :(
If it's usablity/abusability that pretty well rules out high dollar beauties , for me anyways.

If strictly for the beauty, fit-n-finish feel etc, then fondling knives is probably more important than using them.
there's million different reasons for your keepers, I guess mine have proven to me that no matter what, I have to be comfortable with using my knives, which pretty well rules out a big collection of big $ beauties. One nice custom would do me fine to satisfy my occasional knife-fondling urges.:eek:

I've also found that 2" blades seem to be getting more and more of my interest lately.
I think culling once in a while helps to define exactly
what you look for and actually winds up getting you off the mindless purchasing of knives, which I'll admit I have done since I was a kid.
 
I need some cash. Money. Money. Money. So sadly, I have been thinking about exactly this a lot recently. The basic problem is that I think my knives are all worth a lot more money than anyone would ever pay me for them. As the artist Gaugin once remarked when asked why who would not sell one of his paintings to a collector for a significant sum: 'because then I would have only the money, and He would have my painting'. Art and money are just not always something one can equivocate. At least not rationally.

I have over thirty custom knives worth many thousands of dollars. My wife really does want me to sell some of my assets. I really could use some extra cash. The problem is this, I really do not want to sell any of them. Most of my knives are unique, one-of-a-kind, and would be impossible to replace. And I am not starving. Yet.

I've sat down with my knives several times, trying to decide which ones to offer up for sale. I start by setting the ones I could not bear to give up aside (all my Winkler's for example) and then look back at the remaining pile. I move my Crowells, and my Warenski, and some others into the keeper pile and look back again at the pile to be culled. No, no way am I going to sell Ed Caffrey's Mastersmith test hunter, and into the keeper pile it goes. Some agonizing thinking, and I move a few more into the keeper pile.

I continue this process for some time until the keeper pile is basically the same as when I started. Then I start thinking about other stuff I have that might be worth some dollars.

Anybody interested in buying a couple of spare children? :)

Para
 
My top 5 knife "keepers":

Ontario/Bagwell Hell's Belle
SOG Trident
SOG Seal 2000
Spyderco SS SE Police
Spyderco SS PE Delica

THAT was a tough choice, as these might not be my 5 "best" knives, but they ARE my favorites.

...Oh, and I'd also want to keep my SOG PowerLock multitool.:).
 
Sometimes today's Keepers and tomorrows Loser's Weepers.

For the present, my keepers include:

* Dozier small utility
* Mayo medium TNT
* Mad Dog Operator and Mini Operator
* JSP Pocket Tanto
* Crawford KFF neck knife

Some are exceptionally useful, some covert, some very comfortable and some simply cool to have.

The real user out of the bunch?

Dozier!!

The one carried daily regardless?


Dozier!!



:)
 
I recently had to streamline because I got fired from my highest revenue source without warning because they didn't want to pay me anymore. As spiteful, vengeful behavior would have it I replaced them with a competitor and already got back almost half the business in 3 months. Lesson: Do not **** with me, ever. In a flicker you'll be off the map. My dream collection is taking shape. It will soon be, barring me pissing off any maker:
1. Camillus Talonite EDC
2. Buck Mayo TNT
3. ADV/Pirela Ishazi
4. Corkum Kozuka
5. Polkowski CQ
6. Russ Andrews Bowie
7. RJ Martin Tanto
and maybe a small JW Smith Folder if the right one pops up.
"I'll cut ya."
Might have to add a Strider SnG.
 
My 5 users would be:

1. Kershaw Boa, plain edge, multi-color handle. Just the right combination of size, shape, steel, and coolness factor.

2. Delta Z small drop point lockback w/ black micarta scales. Functional, well-made, and a great deal.

3. Delta Z large drop point lockback w/ ox horn scales. See #2.

4. Greco Raptor folder. Fantastic utility knife.

5. Greco La Duena. Great camp knife.

My favorite, though one that doesn't get a lot of use -- a Simonich Pikuni II in talonite with carbon fiber scales.

The first knives to go... Any CRKT made from AUS6. I've got a few that were among some of my earliest purchases. They simply will not hold an edge.

Doug
 
Top Five:

Spyderco G10 Navigator PE
Spyderco Rescue Jr.
Leatherman Juice S2
Victorinox Pioneer (three-layer model with pruning blade)
Becker Magnum Camp

Added For Top Ten:

Spyderco Micarta Jester
Leatherman Micra
Victorinox Tinker
Benchmade MiniGriptilian 555 PE
P.J. Turner uluchet

My list is a little boring, but I have to go with my everyday users.

Edited to add top ten.
 
Damn, this is tough and it changes fairly often. For example 2 or 3 weeks ago I would've sworn that my Brend/Cutter D/A was going to be my user auto for ever and ever...well its in Israel now and I'm definitely looking for a replacement EDC auto. So, for right now, my top 5 keepers would be:

1. DDR Bullnose Maxx
2. MT Auto Amphibian (while deciding on auto EDC)
3. Ken Onion Mid-tech Boa
4. R.W. Clark Mini Mau necker
5. Del Blue Bushido

If I could only keep one? It would be a real hard toss-up between Bullnose Maxx and the Mid-tech Boa.
 
Hmmmm, i too have been trying to scrounge up some $ to help pay for my wedding in 10 weeks. :eek: Oh my god, has it really come to this, its weeks now, not months or years?:( :) It seemed like the thing to say at the time though. :) Little did i know she'd actually say yes.

So, in any case, i did sell a beautiful Jerry Corbit Hawkbill folder with blued damascus, pearl, gold screws, file work everywhere, truly awesome knife, and my plan was to sell a few more customs, but im discovering, as one of the other posters above, that selling these things is like giving up your children and i havent sold any more customs, yet. Did sell several production knives though, including, and yes, it hurt, my NIB Stars and Stripes Sebenza.

So, if i absolutely HAD to pick 5 knives i would NEVER sell, i suppose they would be:

Corbit blued damascus dagger with checkered pearl handle, inlaid rubies, gold screws/pins, what a knife!

RB Johnson blue mammoth ivory folder, damasteel bolsters, spirograph blade.

Pease carved pearl handle folder with engraved bolster.

Dake pearl DA multi-bar twist folder

Chris Reeve Lg. Sebenza with box elder inlay.

All 5 of these keepers can be seen on my picture gallery web page, there's a link in my sig-line.

Fact is, i think im keeping the rest of my customs, but it'll be a while before i can afford to buy any more.
 
10 would be easy. 5 is hard, though, 'cause it's not about my favorites any more, but about what's most practical, seeing as how I've got a real wide variety of uses:
1. DDR CF ArcLite
2. BM 710HS
3. THR TTKK
4. Busse NO (well, I sold mine, but have another coming)
5. Busse Basic 9
I could live with that...
 
I have already culled my collection. A while back I decided to find other homes for the knives that I liked but really never expected to use (except for a couple from friends that have sentimental value). There has been some "mission creep" since then, but I am still down to a fairly basic set.

Here are my top ten, in order:
  1. Darrel Ralph Mini-Maxx: 4" spearpoint recurve in Talonite
  2. Bob Dozier Texas #6
  3. Camillus CUDA Maxx 5.5 Bowie
  4. Benchmade 710 with desert ironwood scales and horn backspacer by Frank Recupero
  5. Spyderco Salsa anodized blue by David Brunner
  6. Kershaw Boa
  7. Spyderco Micarta Mini Dyad
  8. Spyderco Micarta S.P.O.T.
  9. Spyderco Mouse
  10. Camillus CUDA Maxx 5.5 Stiletto

Does anyone else get twitchy just thinking about having to make do with only ten knives? :eek:

--Bob Q
 
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