I've come to realize I'm "That Guy"

[Planterz]

This isn't W&C dude. Keep it PG.

 

[unklfranco]

Yes, you will overcome this.

I had a typical relationship with tools for most of my career. You take care of them and they take care of you. Buy once, cry once. Then I got introduced to Busse knives. Some of them had higher price tags than I had ever considered paying for a knife. This placed them in a special occasion category for a spell. Fortunately, I realized they are just tools. If I didn't use them the same way I use all my other tools, I would NEVER appreciate their full potential. From that moment on, every tool I come across will be used as intended. I don't collect safe queens, I cut stuff. To each his own though.

 

[22-rimfire]

I continue to buy new knives and the price has stabilized at the $100-$200 range for folders and $100-$400 on fixed blades. Have way more knives than I will EVER use in two lifetimes. Yes, I think this is "normal".

When I first joined BF, I was "into" SOG knives then. Bought quite a few of the moderately priced ones and liked them. None were particularly tacticool at least to me. But I did go through the Rambo survival knife stage 10 years before joining BF. So, I understand not wanting to use certain knives. Can't really explain why as I know when I'm dead, most will probably get dumped into a trash bin. But that is life. The whole point of it is to have fun. And to me this is fun!

 

[unklfranco]

I agree with this statement.

I'm moving into the first house I ever bought last weekend and I got myself a CRK Sebenza as a congrats gift to myself for finally getting it done. While moving I was laying on the floor in the garage and I rolled over and heard the clip scrape against the concrete floor. My stomach knotted up so hard. Then I pulled it out and looked at it... really not so bad. Kinda embarrassing to have a 500 dollar knife that never looks like it's been touched lol. These 2 performed all weekend and each time I pulled them out I got much more than just a good tool, the sense of satisfaction and love makes it so much better. I don't have safe queens... not using your knife cause you want to keep it in good condition for trade value is like not fucking your girlfriend so her pussy stays tight for her next guy. So buy the one you love and use it, cause you could die tomorrow and have spent your whole life using $10 Chinese knives.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[The cow]

Learn to sharpen a knife and enjoy it. You'll never have to worry about using a knife for basic cutting tasks ever again. You'll learn that most modern knives have too obtuse of a grind and which steels are a royal pain to sharpen.
Buy a knife with a bombproof warranty. The company explicitly encourages you to use it and you know you won't worry about it.

My first nice knife was a ESEE Junglas. I was a bit hesitant to chop with one of the best choppers made. But after that, it was all downhill.
Only buy knives that you WANT to use. Not one you think might like. Accept that it'll get buggered up. Use it for all the tasks that you'd use your $10 knife on.

 

[NJBillK]

I am always more impressed with a pricey knife that earns it's keep then one that rides in a pocket and stays shiney.

You bought the knife to use. If that isn't the case, get into art to hang on your wall and actually have something to sell later on down the road.

I have only one Sebenza, and it was made on my daughters birthday. Since there was only 7 made on that day, I consider it irreplaceable. That being said, I still use it, to the tune that it currently has three chips in the blade and plenty of snail trails.

 

[on_the_edge]

One of the world's premiere and most sought after pocket knife makers, Tony Bose, makes slipjoints often costing a few thousand dollars. Last time I checked, the waitlist to have him make a knife for you is years long. Tony, and his son Reese, can command those prices not because they make art knives adorned with precious metals and jewels, but because they make absolutely fantastic, beautiful, functional pocket knives. Tony has also been a tremendously helpful and respected member of the knife community for decades. Many folks will not use a Bose slipjoint if they are ever lucky enough to acquire one. However, if you were to ask Tony about use, I think he would smile and tell you to go ahead and use his knives and use them a lot. Yes, it is hard to use a $2,000+ knife knowing that the second you do, its value will go down who knows how much. BUT...there is also a hell of a lot of satisfaction using a knife made by one of the best in the world.

Will cheaper knives cut, possibly as well or better than a Bose? Maybe. Is having a knife solely to look at without ever using it wrong? Certainly not. If you can afford an expensive knife (whatever expensive means to you) and you really like and want that knife and buy it, will you derive joy from using it or will you have regrets? More often than not, I think the user will derive a huge amount of joy from using it. That's not to say that they have to use it; only that there is a lot of satisfaction in using a knife that you love so much.

 

[sabre cat]

All of us have been "That Guy" at some point. I still am sometimes. Buying used has helped some. Because the knife is no longer perfect I don't stress as much. And I save a bundle!

 

[BD_01]

Cbrstar,
A year ago I went theough the same thing you're going through, with some of the same knives. I remember buying a Rat 2 and an Ignitor on the same day, getting home and realizing that if I combined the cost of those two knives and added $20 more, I could jump into a whole different class of knife..so I returned them and did just that.

Like a dam breaking, I found myself in a frenzy of buying knives of increasing price and quality without stopping to enjoy what I already had. It was unsatisfying! So, I decided to curtail acquisition (which is hard!) and enjoy my small collection.

I think the knives you mentioned are fine! My Flash II goes with me any time I'm camping, backpacking, or fishing. I've put a mirror edge on it and it's a great slicer with a great primary grind, light weight, and an excellent deep carry clip. Some of my purchases from the "next tier up" have been much less satisfying!

I have a SOG Zoom Mini that proudly mixes into my rotation with Benchmades, ZT's and CRK's. In fact, it's even on the lock screen of my phone:

Next time you feel like buying a knife, hold off, save up, and step up to the "next tier" if you'd like. In the mean time, enjoy the knives you have! Take pride in them! Heck, take pictures of them like I do. Most of all, enjoy them!

 

[Herlock]

Hi. Funny and interesting discussion . I think this boils down very much to the kind of relationship one has with knives, rather than to their value in money. I believe the difference stays in either considering all knives as tools or as collectibles/art objects or either tools or collectibles/art objects, depending on their purchasing value. I think this is what really matters when assessing the different behaviors and feelings towards knives.

I mean, I bought a fine lawnmower years ago, which costed me some good money . Am I afraid to mow my lawn with it? Certainly not, I bought exactly for this reason. Could I have bought a cheaper one? Sure. It probably wouldn’t have last that long and likely would have performed "less". But I don’t keep in my garage to look at it and admire or just to fondle it, starting it up just occasionally and with extra care to hear its roar . This doesn’t mean I drive it into a scree or something but I use it for what it is designed. Same is for knives, if one sees them as tools. I have a totally different behaviour and feelings towards art objects, which, most likely, I’ll pamper, protect and enjoy keeping pristine and display.

To be fair, at the moment no one of my knives cost more than 250 EUR on average and I consider this as a kind of limit after which the "law of diminishing return" starts to kick in heavily, if we are talking about cutting tools . Sure I can get dinosaurs’ tooth as a handle and handmade hammered Damascus steel forged by Hephaestus himself , but what’s the point for a usable cutting tool? Would this perform better? My answer is no and, at this point of time, my behaviour and perception towards this object would have changed. It’s not a cutting tool any longer for me, it becomes an art object which I will pamper, keep pristine and display rather than use it as a knife.

Since the best part of this hobby for me it’s going out and "play" with my knives, I almost unconsciously end up buying what I consider good quality cutting tools by my own standards, but not art objects or “man jewellery” as such on purpose.

 

[Armadew]

Take your safe queen/s and prepare a whole meal with it. You'll get some good, light use out of it that way and will help with your hesitancy.

Then find a large cardboard box and cut it up into little pieces.

Then sharpen it back up.

This will break the spell

 

[F22shift]

Buy a more expensive knife used. It'll be cheaper and have some marks already.

 

[GermanyChris]

I live in a community of well large ego's not one person here cares one iota what knife I have so I buy and use the stuff I like. I would imagine even if they were interested they probably wouldn't be much impressed with a shiny band new knife.

 

[Bladegunner]

Knives are tools meant to be used. I bought and carry a shiro Neon I am not worrying about preserving it for my son or the guy who steals it at the yard sale they hold to get rid of my guns and knives. You bet I am going to use it and enjoy it.

 

[Bluearcflash]

Alot of people get this. I didn't want to use my Sebenza for anything for the longest time other than cutting threads. But trust me use your knives, you will be happy you did.

Just think of it this way, imagine you have a kid. You want to give him your knife as a memento. Do you think he will be happier with a knife that looks like it just came out the box or a knife with a bunch of marks on it that came from his dad? Obviously the knife that looks like his dad used it will be more special to him, because it was your knife. So make your knives yours, use them. There is nothing wrong with keeping some special knives as safe queens, and essentially art pieces. However you should use your knives you will enjoy it. That is why you bought them after all. I often end up feeling more attatched to the knife I am using.

I'll take the new in box knife and he can keep the beat up user

 

[T.K.C.]

Personally, I get a lot of joy out of carry AND using my custom knives, mid-techs. Bit, to each his own.

 

[Mo2]

I use $400+ knives, I don't like using cheap knives at all. get a spyderco pm2 sprint run or manix2 in a super steel, then use it, you will love it! delica if you want to get a cheaper one.

you won't want to use anything else, they are pure work knives!