You are correct sir, it is not specific to the knife world BUT- AND ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF A FEW POSTS THIS WEEK, I think that the basic motivations of collecting is a good read and as importantly, Smithsonian listens and I am on something they call the "Curiosity Council". I think it would be great if anyone else interested brought the knife collecting hobby to the attention of the institute and we are a wealth of information on Bladeforums.
If we could raise awareness of how much passion we have, and how many people are involved in the hobby aspects alone, it might help raise awareness and benefit collectors like our friends up in the Great White North that have had a hard time of things.
If enough people are interested, we could approach administration of the site about creating a forum for us to work together on this. It would be a positive way for us to work together as a community.
At this particular moment in time, I think that the knife world has a lot of momentum- companies like Civivi and We have shown us that quality products can come out of China, we have a lot of great stuff from the Russian Federation, and US manufacturers have been doing incredible things. We have people like Larrin of KnifeSteelNerds that have given us a treasure trove of scientific data and Zviad of Zknives (the app is incredible- and 100% free plus zero selling of personal info) have done a spectacular job at collecting and providing us with detailed and interesting information.
If anyone else is interested I would be willing to contact Smithsonian and Bladeforums about adding our collecting to their exhibit, even if we only intend on a digital-only format. I feel like it would be a positive thing for everyone involved- manufacturers, this site, knife enthusiasts, and the general public. Bringing new people into the fold would be great, but ultimately my agenda is to fight the absurd laws that prevent Canadians from being able to own what they want (I'm in the US, but the few knife people I am close with from Canada are truly terrific people) as well as the laws here in the US that prevent us from owning certain knives. Obviously that's an uphill battle and I would expect it to take decades to change, but it has to start somewhere. I think banding together here is one of our best opportunities to organize and start fighting for our rights.
