I've an odd dilema, what would you do?

J

J. MacDonald

Joined
Jun 8, 2000
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3,140
I've been wanting a Benchmade knife for a while, specifically, to check out the Axis lock. So I bought a Limited Edition 941 with red scales and a BC1 coated blade numbered 123 out of 500.

Then I started to feel guilty about carrying an LE blade as it might be collectible. But I really liked the size and ergonomics of this knife so.... I thought what I needed was a plain production edition of the knife for EDC and then to put the LE in the safe would be the appropriate answer.

Long story short, I now have two 941 LEs and a black handled plain edge/ non coated blade 943 (same blade pattern, handle and lock) or basically three copies of the exact same knife (two of which are identical Limited Editions, with different serial numbers).

While my wife is very understanding, I feel a bit guilty for having three of the same thing. What I'd like is to have one to save and one to carry. The question is; do I off one of the LEs and carry the production version while saving the other LE, or do I carry one LE and bank the other LE while offing the production version.

To complicate matters further, my step son is about to turn 21. He's a Gunner's Mate in the US Navy (proud we are) and likes knives. His taste so far has been Cold Steel tantos and unusually styled Spydies. The wife suggested saving one of the three BMs to give to him as a birthday present (yes, she knows about all three) and keeping the other two (he has a tendancy to lose his EDCs or at least a couple so far). Here the question is which to keep and which to give?

I had planned to get him something more signifigant than a Benchmade pocketknife for his 21st (like a stereo for the car he plans to buy next weekend, probably $500- $600) and was confounded by her suggestion.

What would you do?

jmx
 
Hi there.

Gosh that's a tricky one....let me see.......

Forget him and post ME one of them...my address is.........HAHAHAHA

Seriously, I have no idea. I'm afraid this one's your call. Go with your gut feel.
 
Simple solution. Your Son needs to be spoiled. Give him the Benchmade AND the stereo. You can never show your children you love them too much.
 
You keep both Limiteds. You use one, you put one away. You then give your son the production version AND the stereo.

You have 2 fine knives and a fine (well equipped) son. Win/Win situation if I ever saw one.:)
 
Simple solution. Your Son needs to be spoiled. Give him the Benchmade AND the stereo. You can never show your children you love them too much.
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Exactly. It's not money. You've already bought the knives. They're paid for. And you've already, apparently, got money for the stereo.

Take one of the LEs and have the blade engraved with something like "To our beloved son on his 21st birthday from your proud mother and father."

Give him the stereo in a big "public" way. Then, later on, take him out for a drink, just the two of you, tell him how proud you and your mother are of him, and give him the knife. Both of you will cherish the moment more than the knife will ever be worth.

Oh, and as for the wife who's shaking her head looking at your pile of 941's, tell her, "Dear, you married a knife collector. Get used to it." (And don't even think about asking her how many shoes she has or why she needs sixteen lipsticks that are all shades of red. I'm not even married and I know better than to even go near that subject.)
 
Oh, and as for the wife who's shaking her head looking at your pile of 941's, tell her, "Dear, you married a knife collector. Get used to it." (And don't even think about asking her how many shoes she has or why she needs sixteen lipsticks that are all shades of red. I'm not even married and I know better than to even go near that subject.)
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You are a wise man, Chuck.
 
Well, it seems the real cause of your dilemma is, you haven't bought enough knives! You should have bought five 941's. Then you could keep the limited edition for your collection, carry one yourself, have a spare for yourself, have one to give your son and still have one left over in case your son lost the first one....
:D
 
I feel guilty about buying duplicates only when I know that we are stretching the budget. You do not seem to be in that condition. If you truly love all three knives, buy him a FOURTH and the stereo.

I think back to the decisions and the equipment I bought 20 years ago. I don't even remember what some of the prices were, but in today's standards it seems like peanuts. Your son is more important than that.
 
Personally if it were me in that dilemma I'd go with the wife's suggestion. Don't get me wrong, car stereo's are cool, and worth looking into also, but a knife is a timeless gift. By giving him the knife you'll first off be giving one helluva nice gift, secondly you'll be following your wife's suggestion and making her happy, thirdly you'll have that "done somethin' good feeling" for yourself, seems everyone wins that way.

I think alot of folks have a tendency to lose knives in their younger years, but I have found the more valuable a knife is in either sentiment or monetary value, the less likely it will be to get lost.

Hope ya' reach a decision you can rest peacefully with.
 
Get one of the LE customized (like engraving mentioned above) and give that to him. That'd be what I'll do if I'm in your situation.
 
Ok, give him the radio and Then Mail me the knife. I will hold it and take care of it until his 30th birthday, That way you are covered if you have a bad year. Or I will hold it for you until BM goes out of business or that model is a collectors item, then I will mail it to you so you can cash in on the value.
 
I heard a couple common themes in the replies I got to this question:

First, let me disregard the guys who posted, "Hey, just send the extra knife to me".

Perhaps if I hit this week's California Lotto, you'll see me online here just handing out knives. If I the get whole 115 mil, you can hold me to giving away at least $100,000.00 in give-away knives in the first 5 years.

If I don't hit the lotto I think a couple more suggestions make more sense.

A couple guys posted that I should engrave one of the LEs and present it to the young Mr. while keeping the other LE in the safe and adding the production version to the EDC rotation. I think there is a lot of merit in that sentiment. I am concerned that it might be hard to engrave on the (very hard) BC1 coated 154CM blade. With a lot of Logos (Benchmade and Osborne Design) and numbering (#123 of 500)already on the blade, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of room lrft for more engraving on the blade.

The handle on the 941 seems to be too contoured to make for easy engraving of a message like," Happy 21st From Mom & Pops".

Are there any reliable engravers out there who can do a job like this on the inside curve of a Benchmade 941 handle for a reasonable price?

At this time I'm leaning toward getting the production model engraved (looking for suggestions as to sentiment) and presenting it to him for his birthday if I can find a suitable engraver.

Car stereo is now a whole different issue.

jmx
 
I don't know how much it costs, but heck, a good engraver can engrave what you want, darn near anywhere you want.

My wife and I had our wedding rings hand engraved, and what a phenomenal job! I'm not talking about machine scratches, but hand tool nice deep engraving on the inside of the rings! The outside of a knife handle should be a piece of cake.

Talk to a good jewelry store in town as to who they use, or let your fingers do the walking in ye old yellow pages.

Regards,
Cedric

PS the hand deep engraving will last a life time, where with hard use, the pressed machine scratches may not. (esp on a alluminum handle).
 
I think the engraving is a nice idea... but I'd stick with just his initials. Seems to me that would be personalized enough without being tacky, or adding on to any "problems" with engraving the steel.
 
I had a friend in the navy who went through a total of 16 knives in 8 years! Consensus is , after consulting a few friends with sons or daughters in the armed forces, that knives will come and go but car stereos are not as easily misplaced! Go for the stereo, I know when my dad bought me my first for my 1st car I went nuts and got lots of use out of it. In fact its in my shop now as I removed it when I sold the car.:)
 
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