Long Term Knife Collecting?

How old is the average knife you collect?

  • 1 Year

    Votes: 2 5.1%

  • 2 Years

    Votes: 4 10.3%

  • 3-5 Years

    Votes: 13 33.3%

  • 5+ years

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • 10+ years

    Votes: 15 38.5%
  • Total voters
    39
Okay Quiet Quiet I thought about it and here's how I see it.

Firstly, you want to avoid titanium and aluminum. They can say what they like about the aviation industry, but if the Wright brothers didn't need it when they took to the skies then neither do you.

Secondly, you might have heard tell of new fangled materials such as plastics and suchlike. If God had meant us to use plastic for knife handles then He never would've given us hickory, dammit. If you can't hunt down an elk for the horn or cut down a tree then you don't deserve a knife with a handle anyway.

Thirdly, you might read reports on something called stainless steel. Well steel that doesn't stain is steel that I don't trust, plain and simple. In fact, even carbon steel that takes a good stain can rust out on you. So my advice is to take that piece of hickory and tie a sharp rock to it, which you can replace whenever it wears out.

See, you really don't need a knife at all! :p
 
Pilsner said:
Okay Quiet Quiet I thought about it and here's how I see it.

Firstly, you want to avoid titanium and aluminum. They can say what they like about the aviation industry, but if the Wright brothers didn't need it when they took to the skies then neither do you.

Secondly, you might have heard tell of new fangled materials such as plastics and suchlike. If God had meant us to use plastic for knife handles then He never would've given us hickory, dammit. If you can't hunt down an elk for the horn or cut down a tree then you don't deserve a knife with a handle anyway.

Thirdly, you might read reports on something called stainless steel. Well steel that doesn't stain is steel that I don't trust, plain and simple. In fact, even carbon steel that takes a good stain can rust out on you. So my advice is to take that piece of hickory and tie a sharp rock to it, which you can replace whenever it wears out.

See, you really don't need a knife at all! :p
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A sharp rock? How in hell and tarnation am I gonna fit THAT in mah bib overawls? I mean, I'm out all the live-long day doin' real knife usin' like hunt'n an' farm'n, so I need sumpthin that can really fit in a pocket. I usetacould carry my Buck 110, but I hurt my back so I can't carry a 40lb. knife no more. I need sumpthin lighter!
 
mtngunr said:
As for suspecting a saturated market is as suspecting the ground is made of dirt.

As for investing, you must accurately forecast what others in the future will find historic, market changing, world shaking, and a good dose of nostalgic and even useful. Good luck on that.

As for knives over 10yrs old, and what you see here, keep in mind who lives here...the habitual latest and greatest buyer, and shallow poorly exposed often 1st or 3rd time owner....there are gazillions of other knife blogs, groups, and places where folk talk anything BUT what you find here, the latest trendy pointy arty useless thing complete with bell and training wheels...

MOST of my knives are over 30yrs old, not 20, and I do not spend my life taking posed photos of them, and bragging about them to total strangers. Not even my first knife from early 1960s.

If they are good, I keep them, regardless of era, but the majority of new is flashy trendy cheap garbage, made to sell the lastest paper slicer or magnetic levitating frictionless pocket fidgit tool flipper for folk who otherwise never use a knife, at all. They do not hunt, fish, farm, work outside, nuthin'...

Knives are here to stay, no matter the foreseeable advance, as they need no batteries, charger, or powerpack, unthought of by most trendy citydwellers where everything is battery powered until things do not run perfectly...and them ever more dependent on a less and less reliable system.

Good ones are here to stay, while most of today is forgotten by tomorrow.
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You say this as if it's fact. It's just your opinion and your perpective; nothing more, nothing less. Who cares what people want to carry as a knife? You want to use your 30 year old knives, that's fine. But don't say that knives newer than yours are any less capable or trendy garbage. I hunt, fish, camp, trap, volunteer rescue and do lots of things outside! Do you drive a 30-40 year old car everyday too? What about wearing a loin cloth? I bet you even have a TV with a remote control! Fact of the matter is, knives are what brought us all here together in this one place. No right or wrong in what you carry, as long it works for you. That's what's wonderful about the knife world, there's something for everyone out there! Don't go bashing something until you've tried it.
 
I've been a collector, customizer, hammer forged blade maker and knife crafter for over 65 years. You name it and I've likely had it. Oldest is a Luristan dagger ca 1200 BC, medieval knives, knives from around the world, antique folders ca 1700 - 1900, modern folders both traditional and modern. I love all sharp pointy things: knives and swords. I hope to die with a knife in my hand or pocket.

I don't like techno-freak franken-knives: they may cut (never tried one), but they are just darned ugly!
Rich
 
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91bravo said:
You say this as if it's fact. It's just your opinion and your perpective; nothing more, nothing less. Who cares what people want to carry as a knife? You want to use your 30 year old knives, that's fine. But don't say that knives newer than yours are any less capable or trendy garbage. I hunt, fish, camp, trap, volunteer rescue and do lots of things outside! Do you drive a 30-40 year old car everyday too? What about wearing a loin cloth? I bet you even have a TV with a remote control! Fact of the matter is, knives are what brought us all here together in this one place. No right or wrong in what you carry, as long it works for you. That's what's wonderful about the knife world, there's something for everyone out there! Don't go bashing something until you've tried it.
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Well put. :thumbsup:

I read a novel last year that was penned at the beginning of the 20th century. The main character purchases a knife while travelling through Germany, which the author takes time to describe as a top quality clasp knife of the kind that locks. My guess is that this was a reference to a Mercator K55K, or similar Solingen product. Clearly locking folding knives were rare in the rest of Europe and this design was highly desirable. I daresay there were nay-sayers back then who didn't appreciate that new-fangled, fancy-pants design! :D
 
Gideons said:
Hey BF,

How many of you have/use knives from 10+ years ago? Most knives I see on this forum are modern knives, not many from the 80's or 90's. It would appear to me modern technology and materials have led to a lot of advances in the knife community in recent years, especially in folding knives. So, this makes me wonder a lot of these high-quality knives will last a lifetime, but how relevant/practical will the knives be in the future? Looking at your knives now, in 2030 and beyond will your current collect just be out-dated and worthless?

-Gideons
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I am partial to, and use, this oldie which I would imagine is 70s vintage if not older. Still functional, and is not "high end."

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A moderately well made knife, new or old, will last a lifetime. But who wants just one knife?
 
I suppose if I have any issues with the current crop of knives, particularly folders, its aesthetics and geometry rather than materials and technology.

Too many "heavy duty hard use" slabs. I want folders to slice. I think people will always want folders that do that.
 
SpySmasher said:
Probably not. As the few remaining authentic humans like yourself are replaced by robots, drones and useless city-dwellers, there'll be no more need for knives. Even the things in the city will that currently require cutting with a knife will be replaced by battery-operated, electronic, self-cutting versions of those things. The last real generation of people will pass away unnoticed and unmourned. Their inflated sense of importance blown away by the winds of history like so many helium balloons. Their old-timey, high carbon knives left to rust.
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That's basically London when you think about it.
 
Pilsner said:
That would explain it.
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I get all 3 of the lads so I'm well informed on life in the UK.

I think the wording of the OP's post and the breaks in this poll aren't well though out. I would hazard a guess that most of the posters in this sub are knife accumulators instead of knife collectors.

I'd go out a bit further and hazard that the majority of serious collectors have older knives. Because those have been determined to be collectable. For sure there is a subspecies of collector who gets "every" PM2/ZT/Kershaw Leek/Etc. sprint and the will have a large collection of knives but I would still kinda consider those folks as accumulators maybe a bit more specialized but not quite there. It's not black and white for sure.
 
Oh, yeah. I think that describes my knife collection perfectly. It is an accumulation of knives and axes I find pleasing and useful. I don't speculate on their potential future value. I buy because I like them and want to use them. Even my few vintage knives and axes get to do what they were made for. I enjoy those activities just a little more when I use a tool with a history of performing that task and the connection I have with the others whose hands have worked with that tool. Even the newer ones, as it may happen that someday in the future someone else will feel that same connection while using a tool that had been in my hands. I guess it is the intangible value of my accumulation that I really enjoy.
 
SpySmasher said:
As my finances have improved, my knife collection has grown.
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..... I am just shy of 50, I still have and regularly use knives I got in the 80s (as in at least one folder from then has been all around the world with me and is on my belt whenever I hunt or fish plus others remain in the rotation). The main thing is that over the last 10 or so years my "disposable" income has increased and better allowed me to indulge an "interest" in knives (this forum is bad for me I did actually just type "knifes" - so I gave myself an uppercut and corrected it). I suspect for many this is a bit of a right of passage - actually being able to afford to splurg on blades.
 
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