Must have knives in every collection?

As already stated, individual tastes vary, so I will steer away from specific models. However if someone new to collecting were to ask me, I'd say a good place to start would be:

--Benchmade AXIS lock, of your choice

--Spyderco, of your choice (I'd venture as far as to say perhaps at least one US made and one from Japan)

--ZT Flipper, of your choice

--Victorinox SAK (personally I think everyone could benefit from having a Swisstool, but that's another thread)

--A good heavy duty/camping fixed blade like an ESEE or something similar

--In the kitchen, you owe it to yourself to buy a good quality chef's knife, and a utility knife. It doesn't have to be an expensive Japanese knife necessarily, but at least something like some of the Victorinox or Spyderco offerings.


All that being said, this is just one guy's opinion. I have been collecting for years and still consider myself quite the novice. I say buy what appeals to you and learn what YOU consider must haves as you go along.
 
Your off to a great start. You got the PM2 out of the way but perhaps a specialty steel version of the PM2?

A well made carbon steel stockman is a must. Stag or Bone preferred but I have my sights on some cocobolo goodness.

A field or scout sized fixed blade. 3.5" to 5.5" in stainless for wet jobs.

A full sized clip point bowie for "end times". Carbon steel for sure. Handles are a personal thing but I like stag, leather, micarta, rubber'ish stuff for mine.

I choose the shape based on what it will be used for, the materials are the embellishment because I can.
 
Buck 119, SOG Tigershark, Shrade Sharpfinger, Busse BM, Randall 18 and a host of additional treasures!
 
Pm2
Sebenza
Cqc7
Benchmade mini grip
Benchmade 940
Delica
Skyline
Buck 110
Case trapper


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DDDWho said:
I've not seen a Buck 124 mentioned but its one hell of a knife


70579e4c2e8f874cec39bd0ebf91cac5_zpspr4gfovi.jpg
Click to expand...

That's certainly a knife a guy could dream about😉
 
If you're a fan of d2 and fixed blades, you need to experience a Dozier. Just got my first and I wonder what took me so long.
 
I say that whatever you buy you should use! The nicest knives I have and the ones I like the best are the ones that I use.
 
There are old collectors knives and there are new collectors knives and there are todays possible collectors knives. Classics or sublime pieces of knife making excellence? Factory or Custom?

I prefer factory over custom because of my pocket and I started in the 80's. So for me it kicks off in the 80's early 90's:
Spomething from
Al Mar
Blackjack
Spyderco
Gerber
Puma
Benchmade
Chris Reeve
Cold Steel even.

Thing is its all a fashion thing. What are the important knives of any era? What was "The knife" that made a company? For Cold Steel it was their Master Tanto San Mai, which I have with brass fixings. What Al Mar or what Blackjack? Who comes next.

Think in truth too many to mention so any collector is best to follow their taste. There really aren't hard and fast rules and there really isn't much of a premium if any for the vast majority of knives made. Who would pay a premium for Steve Fillicietti? The collectors market hasn't firmed up yet as new stuff that comes along seems to grab the cash. A bit like flashy new cars. Will there be certain knives that grab a real premium in the future like an E Type Jag or Aston Martin DB5? Somehow unless a celebrity item then possibly not. The value just might be in the ownership.
 
I have been thinking about this a lot; it has been ruminating in my head. When you are new collector, it takes trail and error, to REALLY find out what YOU really like! You buy some knife, play with it, and decide you don't like it, or you do. Think of it as a journey of discovery! It is a fun journey, and you are lucky that you are in the time of Internet forums.
 
1 folder
1 fixed blade
1 slip joint

...take your pick and have fun!
 
I LOVE having a knife made by a friend, for YOU, there for, I have 3 customs that I can't live with out. But, it took a long journey to get here. I had to figure out what I like. It took many years. One of the things that I LOVE most about our hobby, is the friends I have made. You will have a great time,and make friends on this wonderful adventure.
 
It depends on what you like. I have several framelocks, xm18s, reate horizoncf, crk umnumzaan and inkosi. Fixed blades are all different makers ranging in size from blade lengths of 3 inches to over 14.

a CPK field knife, Busse SOB, a HI Ang Khola, and maybe one of the Ka-Bar 7in military knives would be a decent start for fixed blades.
 
I'm not sure there are any knives that every collector needs to have.

I was a collector of custom fixed blades. I picked a few iconic makers and styles that I thought I needed to have- a Dozier, a Randall, something in damascus, some kind of combat knife, a Loveless-style dropped point hunter. I wanted to have good examples of ironwood, polished micarta and stag.

I buy a lot of folders to use. I could say that a collection should have an iconic Spyderco and Benchmade, something assisted, and a flipper. A person could also say that you should have examples of the different lock types. But since I want to use my folders I found out that I couldn't buy and use that many different knives. And beyond that people have different size needs, so I can't come up with a single folder that I think everybody should have. Well I suppose I could say a Delica, that's pretty iconic and most people could come up with a use for it.
 
For my own personal collection, this would be:
Spyderco Military Ti
Strider SNG
CRK Sebenza
ZT 0100 & 0200
 
Benchmade Griptilian

Its a knife that screams to be used.


Kershaw Leek is also a must have i feel.try to find made in USA version if it exists.
 
I can only speak for myself. Hobbies are very personal and we all are in it for different reasons. For instance many are mentioning the pm2. While its a great knife its not suited to my tastes. So for me I kniw my collection is t complete without a microtech ultratech. Its not my favorite otf but its accessible and they are great little knives. Im more of a gadget guy. So most of my knives are going to either have bearings or springs.
 
A while back I would have said a Sebenza. Anymore, they still are great knives but the number of equally great folders for that price has risen drastically. The one knife I would suggest the most is a Spyderco Slysz Bowie. It's not perfect and I'm not in love with the blade shape for my daily uses but it is a build quality untouched at it's price point. Everything about the one I have makes me wish Spyderco simply made a $250-$400 line of that knife in different sizes, shapes, blade steels, etc. It doesn't fit every collection but it was a knife that opened my eyes to what was beyond the $50-$150 knife world and what extra money can buy. It is a knife I would suggest to everyone getting into collecting as a bridge between normal production knives and midtech/custom knives. It will let you know if there is interest in spending more on a folder than the typical beginning knives cost.
 
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