Knife collecting and phases

bobusx said:
There certainly are phases for my collecting. For me it went like this.

Phase 1: Curiosity. I go to knife stores in malls an poke around. Eventually settle on a Kershaw Chive as my first knife purchase.

Phase 2: Exploration. I start picking up cheap knives from multiple brick and mortar's. Mostly CRKTs and no-name knives.

Phase 3: Investigation. I start researching knives. I see a Spyderco and remember when my dad got one from the Fire Department. This nostalgia triggers my first Spyderco Purchase.

Phase 4: Enthusiasm. I find Bladeforums. Purchase my first Benchmades, and expand my Spyderco Collection. I start reading about knives online very often, watch Nutnfancy videos on Youtube.

Phase 5: Snobbery. Trade every knife I own for some Sebenzas. Spend a few months sneering at other knife companies. Eventually realize that a $400 dollar knife does nothing really extra for me, and I am even unwilling to really use them due to cost.

Phase 6: Practicality. Trade my Sebenzas for some Spydies and Benchmades. Continue to trade around and purchase knives in the $60 to $150 range. Slowly try out all the knives I am curious about, begin to really figure out what I like in a knife.

Phase 6: Enjoyment. Have my knife bases covered. I know what I do and do not want. Feeling much less pressure to acquire knives. Dabbling in some nice traditionals, but don't really feel a desire for more since my Sway Back Jack. Ritter Minigrip has locked down EDC role. More of a focus on enjoying what I got than on getting more knives.
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This is pretty close to mine. I didn't hit the snobbery one as badly (I was unemployed for a bit and selling guns/toys at the time - that probably kept me from going down that path), but I'm nearing the point where there is very little in the way of knives out there that I just can't live without.
 
Phase 1: Mall ninja!!!
Phase 2: Lots of cheapo "tactical" folders ($1-10)
Phase 3: First medium-range folders($30-50), some traditionals in the 5-15 dollar range
Phase 4: Sell all cheapos/buy medium-high end production folders ($50-120)
Phase 5: Sell all low-medium range folders/buy medium range fixed blades
Phase 6(current): Sell everything not worthy of carrying and using, down to about 10-15 good production knives
 
I'm a metalworker so...

1. See expensive (and mediocre quality) fixed blades at festivals and such. Think "I could make that.". Spend a year or so making (assembling) many (mediocre) fixed blade knives and giving as gifts, keeping the best.

2. Realize "I can't carry these anywhere." and become more interested in folders. Spend a year modding Opinels.

3. Figure "I could use my comprehensive knowledge to buy the very best folder for the money." Buy enough value knives (Mercator, Douk Douk, and the like) to defeat the purpose of that.

4. Realize I actually know diddly sh*t and have too many mediocre knives. Buy a few nicer folders, Queen and the like. Getting into slipjoints now. Only carry them on weekends 'cause "They're too nice for work.".

5. Begin the hunt for older slipjoints which still have life in them. Realize how nice these "grandpa knives" actually are. I may stay right in this stage for a while.

I just got a few older slipjoints at a gun show. I looked at them and told my lady "Wow, these need a lot of work... COOL!).
 
Lol I Know A Little About Phases.

1.) Cheap Knives - Collect Any Cool Tactical Looking Cheapo And Any Cool Looking Spring Assist For <$20.
2.) Trade Cheap Knives For First Decent Knives.
3.) Trade Those Knives For Other Better Knives.
4.) Sell Cheap Knives And A PSP Go For Money To Buy Some Better Knives.
5.) Collect Everything And Don't Use It Because It's Awesome And Who Wants To Mess It Up?
6.) Get As Many As Possible.
7.) Slip Joints Are Awesome, And Who Doesn't Love SAK's?
8.) Folders, Folders, Folders. - Keep Trading Up And Up.
9.) Have A Bunch Of Nice Expensive Knives Just Hanging Out.
10.) Had To Sell Nice Knives.
11.) Folders - Use The Hell Out Of Them!
12.) Ooooh SAK's And Slip Joints.
13.) Oops.. A Lot Of My Folders Are Gone.
14.) Get More Folders.
15.) Keep What You Need Or What Means Something And Ditch The Rest.
16.) Get Good Nice Folders For Use. - Still Here.
17.) NEED A BEEFY HARD USE FOLDER - Still Here Lol.
 
1) dad bought me an opinel in france. Collected those for a while.
2) Flea market old-timey knives with carbon blades
3) Went though a void with no knife. Those were dark times indeed.
4) Spyderco and mora's for camping
5) Just started to toy with small fixed blades for EDC. Have a BRKT on order.

The focus has always been on function first, then economy. I think i'll eventually buy a custom or two off the forums, but I can't see spending $200+ on a knife. I am very satisfied with the $60-150 range. If I break it, its not the end of the world, and they are "cheap" enough that I don't mind using them.
 
davek14 said:
1. See expensive (and mediocre quality) fixed blades at festivals and such. Think "I could make that.". Spend a year or so making (assembling) many (mediocre) fixed blade knives and giving as gifts, keeping the best.
2. Realize "I can't carry these anywhere." and become more interested in folders. Spend a year modding Opinels.
3. Figure "I could use my comprehensive knowledge to buy the very best folder for the money." Buy enough value knives (Mercator, Douk Douk, and the like) to defeat the purpose of that.
4. Realize I actually know diddly sh*t and have too many mediocre knives. Buy a few nicer folders, Queen and the like. Getting into slipjoints now. Only carry them on weekends 'cause "They're too nice for work.".
5. Begin the hunt for older slipjoints which still have life in them. Realize how nice these "grandpa knives" actually are. I may stay right in this stage for a while.
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Are you sure you're not me or my life-long lost twin brother? because I am kinda starting to doubt my individuality here.
If you can confirm me you spend 14$ on an used buck301 on the flea market on friday, I will enter into panic mode.
 
My phases have just been getting more, and more expensive!
First phase: Began to get a basic interest in knives. Bought Gerbers, no name crap, CRKTS (thought they were really good! haha), and some low-end Kershaws.
Second phase: Started doing more research (part of which was lurking around here). Bought Mid-range Kershaws, Spydercos, some Benchmades. Also got into some Cold Steel stuff cuz it looked "cool". :rolleyes:
Third phase: Mostly the same stuff but began buying some more expensive knives in between cheaper purchases.
Fourth phase: Joined here. Started learning/realizing what sort of features I liked and didn't like. (didn't like pinned construction, didn't like serrations etc.)
Fifth phase: After about a year here, I wasn't buying as many cheap/inexpensive knives. Almost exclusively mid-range knives ($50-$100).
Sixth phase: Fast forward to my fourth year here (current day) I am beginning to get worried :p. Only really interested in higher end knives. Not buying/trading knives NEARLY as frequently as I used to. At this point, I am doing more research and enjoying my current collection and "planning out" my purchases since they are becoming more expensive. The only knives on my "to get" list this year have been the ZT 0561 and a Hinderer (was lucky enough to score a 3.5" XM-18 yesterday at the ECCKS for a great price). In 2011, my only two major purchases were a CRK small Insingo and Strider SnG. The rest was trading with my less expensive pieces and I bought a couple cheaper (<$50) knives. Going to begin selling off my cheaper knives and just keep the few high-end pieces I have.
Seventh phase: probably broke with a bunch of cool blades :D
 
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Hmmm. I've been doing this a long time. It's going to be a lot of phases...

1. When I was a little kid: anything I could get my hands on.
2. Butterfly knives as a teenager.
3. CRKT -Just a brand I discovered back when they were doing the Commanders & Mirage, etc. Good knives for the money.
4. Discovered the Benchmade Ares and didn't need anything else
5. Misc. bought/traded a few times a week - had about 300 knives
6. Autos
7. Chris Reeve
8. Customs
9. Unemployed, then very underemployed and dirt poor - sold nearly everything.
10. Got a good job - bought back a few favorites that made me sad to sell in the first place
11. (Current) While I'm keeping those from #10 above, I'm on a strange plastic-handle kick (Cold Steel, Spyderco, Sog) because you can get a lot of knife for the money if you'll accept plastic as a handle material and, frankly plastic pocket clips don't look like knives clipped to your pocket or backpack and I live in Washington, DC now so having a knife that doesn't look like a knife is a big benefit.
 
aside from pride of ownership, there is always the investment return aspect to collecting. the rule is to buy low- to mid-priced units (whether production or custom) whose quality and desirability at the present is universally aknowledged. these are likely to become valuable in the future. so collecting for eventual return has a conjectural factor to it.

buying a rare and fully valued piece whose maker is either deceased or no longer active rerpresents the last phase in my opinion (a bit like buying a painting by a renaissance master.) this kind of investment will likely retain its value over the years but further appreciation is minimal. your money is sunk for good. this is purely for pride of ownership and the satisfaction of having the "wealth of selection," in the words of ayn rand.
 
I started thinking about buying some decent knives and started doing research, then found this website. So I went and bought mostly Benchmade folders. Good, solid first choice. I still have some of them (Grip, 940 remain). Then I started branching out into lesser known brands like Lone Wolf, Combate Elite, Bradley, etc and actually still have them as well. My fascination with folders waned a bit and I got into fixed blade knives, mostly bushcraft stuff in the 4 inch to 5.5 inch range. Now I am back into folders with the release of some very nice ZT offerings like the 0301, 0551, and 0560. I think for me it depends on designs that catch my eye and quest for quality and value.
 
When I was young, around 11 years old, I liked bigger folders. Now that I'm 56 years old, I still like large folders. I don't think I've gone through a phase.:thumbup::)
 
1-Grandpa gave me my first SAK and Buck 303 when I was like 7-8.
2-preteen years I bought a few cheap knives from stores
3-didn't carry knives anymore until I was 18 or 19.
4-Bought a Buck 112
5-Bought more slipjoints
6-Bought modern knives only
7-Now I buy a little of everything. Steels don't mean much to me anymore. I buy what has the best value/longevity/warranty.
 
Heavy duty, hard use, real world knives that i ain't afraid to use, break or lose at a good price point. This has been my quest from childhood. I broke a few getting here, never lost one. I buy mostly Made in the USA ones now, but not always. I wish i knew about Beckers when i was a kid.
 
1. Started either getting the basics, Leek, 110, rat1 etc.
2. Realize I don't use a lot of them anymore so I've sold them off (still working on that actually)
3. And currently have slimmed the stable down to ~10 folders plus misc fixed blades. but I've been asking myself of late, why the need for a large folder when i already carry a fixed blade? So my large folders have been turning into slipjoints (just ordered a sway back jack, excited is an understatement) and I've been working on expanding my fixed blades or making new sheaths for them in my preferred style of carry
 
i would say i collected knives until recently

PHASE1 i started young with knives maybe 6 or so, never anything specific, had a Vic SAK i think it was a tinker, and some random folders Bucks, Shcrade, cheap folders, and kitchen knives i would "aquire" from the drawers... i always used them and it didnt matter brand or anything if they cut i liked them. they always were used for the woods.

PHASE2 Kabar, i got a USMC for my 12th birthday and stuck with them and a sak until recently (about 2 yrs ago)

PHASE3 all purpose camp knives i started learning about full tang, grinds etc etc for camping, goe an ESEE 6 then a 3 and still had a sak, then traded around, Falkniven, Becker (still have my 2 2's, 7, 9), started modding them

PHASE4 now i am all over the place i want to test Busse so i got a couple and im getting into custom bushcraft knives like kepharts, and traditional knives like slip joints etc etc, basicly now that im overseas and have extra money to throw around im finally going to test knives i could never have... but i dont want a knife i cant use im looking for performance
 
My phase's are all over the place, one point I'll want tactical folders, then old fixed blades, then old timers, then small knives, then new folders again, slip joint, etc.
 
Folding knives

Phase 1- Early childhood, cheap crappy knives.

Phase 2- Late childhood through early thirties, Buck 112 and Buck 110.

Phase 3- Early thirties to late thirties, modern one hand opening folders with pocket clips ($100-$300 range). During this phase I also went through two short sub-phases, buying BIG folders and buying knives just to buy knives.

Phase 4- Late thirties to early forties, no more knife buying, that's it, I'm through, I've got more knives than I could ever use/need.

However, lately I've started what will be Phase 5, buying and carrying "old-fashioned" knives with carbon steel blades and stag handles. I've recently become VERY infatuated with that style. And so it continues...
 
Early Childhood:
SAK + Cheap Crappy Knives

Teenage Years:
Cheap Auto/Balisongs

Early 20's:
Kershaw Scallion (Black on Black)
Benchmade 557 Mini Griptillian

Mid 20's: (Now)
Mix of everything
Spyderco, ESEE, CRK, ZT, Benchmade, Case XX...

I'm currently in the "Production Knife" phase of my collection, soon moving to customs I'm sure!
 
Interesting :)
So far nobody mentioned the "And then I've learned how to sharpen properly and realized what a good knife can do" phase. May be everyone was good with sharpening from the start... Dunno, to me that came later on, after few years of learning/collecting. Gave a new perspective on the whole thing.
 
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