My problem with traditionals.

cchu518 said:
It continually goes back to consumerism for me. So for work, I work in and around Wall Street. I have done so for the past 15 years. Stuff like Rolexes and Mercedes are not status symbols in this arena as the low level sales guys have these toys. Anyhow I'll tell you guys a story without naming names. There was a certain publicly listed Company from Scotland that was a darling stock in the US from 1997-2004.

The CEO was so wealthy from being CEO, that he would only come into NYC to do a non deal roadshow (NDR). An NDR is when you take a public Company to go see the people at places who control investments at an investment firm like a mutual fund. Anyhow the guy wouldn't come into NYC unless he got to stay at the President Suite at the Plaza hotel. At the time it was $12,000 night. He one time needed to be in NYC and paid off the people who were staying there so that he could get the room. The people hadn't checked in yet, but they were bumped. The hotel bent over backwards for the guy. So I've been a little mentally damaged by being around this excess.

I also had a really bad paintball gun addiction at some point. I would buy guns that I didnt' even bother to take out of the box. The same with watches to a degree. As soon as I discovered knives about a year ago, I knew exactly what was happening in my mind, serotonin and endorphin began firing off signals like crazy in my brain. Just trying to keep the knife enthusiasm sane. So I guess what I'm asking, with traditional patterns being so well thought out, do you guys ever feel a little guilty for having too many in your collection when there are people starving in China? I know it must seem like a bloody idiotic question and I'm a tree hugger or something but in all seriousness has these thoughts ever floated through your mind?
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Buying knives keep people employed. I do keep a minimal collection though. I keep the ones I really like and sell the ones that don't get as much love..... so I can try others. I don't buy just to have. I don't see anything wrong with it either though. You've earned it, you spend it.... in the end it actually helps keep people in work. I don't see the wrong in that.
 
cchu518 said:
Good call Peregrin think I'm going to lock this down. I was having some guilt from picking up a few new knives just because I wanted them.
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If not for collectors, hoarders, and other enthusiasts most of the companies would go out of business.

And my sincere appreciation goes out to all of the past hoarders, collectors, and accumulators who kept so many vintage knives in unused condition for me to collect today. :thumbup:
 
cchu518 said:
It continually goes back to consumerism for me. So for work, I work in and around Wall Street. I have done so for the past 15 years. Stuff like Rolexes and Mercedes are not status symbols in this arena as the low level sales guys have these toys. Anyhow I'll tell you guys a story without naming names. There was a certain publicly listed Company from Scotland that was a darling stock in the US from 1997-2004.

The CEO was so wealthy from being CEO, that he would only come into NYC to do a non deal roadshow (NDR). An NDR is when you take a public Company to go see the people at places who control investments at an investment firm like a mutual fund. Anyhow the guy wouldn't come into NYC unless he got to stay at the President Suite at the Plaza hotel. At the time it was $12,000 night. He one time needed to be in NYC and paid off the people who were staying there so that he could get the room. The people hadn't checked in yet, but they were bumped. The hotel bent over backwards for the guy. So I've been a little mentally damaged by being around this excess.

I also had a really bad paintball gun addiction at some point. I would buy guns that I didnt' even bother to take out of the box. The same with watches to a degree. As soon as I discovered knives about a year ago, I knew exactly what was happening in my mind, serotonin and endorphin began firing off signals like crazy in my brain. Just trying to keep the knife enthusiasm sane. So I guess what I'm asking, with traditional patterns being so well thought out, do you guys ever feel a little guilty for having too many in your collection when there are people starving in China? I know it must seem like a bloody idiotic question and I'm a tree hugger or something but in all seriousness has these thoughts ever floated through your mind?
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Chris,

It's not an insane question. It goes through my mind all the time. How we all come down on this is deeply, deeply personal and I'll try to share just a bit of how try to cope with it without getting to far off track or pushing anything.

One book I go back to and reread occasionally is "The Freedom of Simplicity". It was written by a Quaker and they take (or took) their simplicity a LOT more seriously than I could. The author was happy to have a hand-me-down 3 speed bike and I have 2 nice bikes, both of which cost more than my first car did by a long shot. But still, I find the book and the basic thrust that I'm less owned by stuff when I press into simplicity and freer in a very real way. For example, about 2 years ago, I dramatically simplified my wardrobe. Brown shoes, belt and socks. Khaki colored pants. Plaid shirts. Blue jackets. I don't find it boring. I find it freeing. I just don't worry about what I'm going to wear. Another entry point for simplicity has been backpacking or ski/bike touring. Less is more.

I can't get to simplicity right away. It seems when I pick up a new activity, I have to pass through a period of consumerist experimentation to figure out what works for me and what doesn't. I think of it as a mental storm I need to pass through to get my bearings. But once done, I try hard to push back to less. I find my mind is more free that way. It was that way for me when I came back to knives. Tried a bunch. Found something. Now, I try to not think about my knife carry much anymore and it's freeing. An example, I needed to finish off a quick job at the house yesterday. These two knives were in my pocket, as they are pretty much every day and I after the job was done I noted that I no longer think of the knives as I use them. I just cut. The simplicity of a single carries creates muscle memory and familiarity that constant twisting and turning can't produce. Skiers and cyclists talk about getting into a zone where the skis or bike disappear under them. I find this sort of harmony to be freeing and blissful and easier when I stick to a single bike, single ski, single knife and such...


EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

Last thing, regarding the starving. I don't delude myself that by carrying a single inexpensive knife that others will have more to eat and to live. But, I do hope and pray that my meager attempts at simplicity help make me better and bind me to them in solidarity. I know a lot of rich folks. I feel the tug and desire of being richer. For me, the Opinel has become something of a talisman or icon for reflection. "This is all I need." And that leads me to the hand of John the Baptist on the Opinel's marque. One of the original hair shirts.
 
What does this have to do with traditionals? You think the guys here are the only ones with more knives than they need?
 
Kamagong, I think it's an issue that gets discussed on any "gear" oriented list. Skiing list.... How many skis? Bike lists... How many bikes. Backpacking lists... How many stoves? Camera lists... How many cameras. I've seen this same basic thread since reading rec.backcountry in the 1990 on usenet. Cyclic topic. IMO, unavoidable question.
 
pinnah said:
Kamagong, I think it's an issue that gets discussed on any "gear" oriented list. Skiing list.... How many skis? Bike lists... How many bikes. Backpacking lists... How many stoves? Camera lists... How many cameras. I've seen this same basic thread since reading rec.backcountry in the 1990 on usenet. Cyclic topic. IMO, unavoidable question.
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A traditional issue for sure. ;)
 
cchu518 said:
See ... maybe that makes me rethink things....maybe I having tried enough patterns yet? I have to think long and hard about this any suggestions?
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My general feeling is that you would benefit from visiting a large knife store where you can see many kinds of knives. I am somewhat fortunate in that there is a particularly large store in my state and I stop by when I'm in the neighborhood. I'll spend hours looking and handling knives. Yes, I buy from them as feel it is appropriate that you're using their stock to learn, fine tune your interests, or just have an opportunity to look at a lot of differnt stuff in one place rather than looking at pictures.
 
Kamagong, it has everything to do with traditionals. I was trying to pay traditionals their just respect. But I'm afraid the compliments only came off as seemingly backhanded. Inherent in the body of traditionals that are being produced today and pieces that have sustained the journey through time intact. You have incredibly, incredibly useful pocketable cutting instruments. Look at a trapper, stockman, jack and canoe. I'm going to leave out my favorite most revered traditional the peanut because as much as I love the peanut out of ALL of my knives it is lacking in size, lmao.

If one were to carry a trapper, stockman or canoe they could arguably do 95% of what any knife modern or traditional could do. Much like a simpler time when the knives were used in the field by the folks who were in those industries. Each of the knives are in essence molded to somebody's hand or fit for another person's uses perfectly. Traditionals have excellent design built into them. So the question is how do we go about owning so many perfect tools that all do the exact same thing perfectly?

We don't all go out and buy 5 minivans in different colors. Or go pick up the 4cylinder and 6 cylinder models of the same car? But with traditionals we do that and its perfectly ok. Or is it? That answer is personal like Pinnah said, who usually always has something wonderful to add about something that does personally bother me to one degree or another. I'm going to order Freedom of Simplicity. I enjoy philosophical books and find myself re-reading the Art of War, Book of 5 Rings, and Hidden by Leaves often. I think you can find a lot of that philosophy in the knives that you own and especially traditionals that like their namesake harken back to a different time, with more simplicity in life just as Pinnah has eloquently pointed out. (I say this after buying a Titanium framelock not three days ago). And then someone in the traditionals showed everyone their beautiful Purple Jigged Sodbuster Jr. and the alarms started going off in my head. I felt like a lemming about to jump over the cliff again. :D

PS 22, I wish we had stores like that around NJ but they don't really exist. I really would like to try to hit up a knife show at some point! The one store in NYC that has a ton of knives sell has only walls of showpieces of Japanese cutlery that sell for $3K and up.

kamagong said:
What does this have to do with traditionals? You think the guys here are the only ones with more knives than they need?
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If you enjoy this stuff, it really isn't a cliff (negative), it is more of a leap upward toward the skies (positive). We like to joke about it being a cliff, no not a Wharncliffe :) , but it really is a positive thing as long as it does not cause financial hardship. A person needs to have fun regardless of age.
 
Or go pick up the 4cylinder and 6 cylinder models of the same car? But with traditionals we do that and its perfectly ok. Or is it?
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Having engine variations of the same model would be perfectly reasonable to someone who collects cars. Why wouldn't it be? :confused:

Personally, collecting knives is better suited to my budget and storage space than collecting cars. But to each his own. :thumbup:
 
I used to collect Morgan silver dollars...I say used to because they are next to impossible to find on the market, and pristine examples are way over priced; and that's fine with me because it makes my $1576.00 face value Morgan's worth a whole lot more. Then there were the stamps I used to collect as a kid, and the small collection given to me by my Father, most notably a CIA Invert $1.00 stamp in pristine condition, and 50 1962 $0.04 Dag Hammarskjold Invert stamps, also in mint and unused condition. I lost interest in stamp collecting once I realized it is extremely easy for counterfeiters to reproduce older stamps. So, now I collect knives, specifically Case and related Case family, Crandall, Platt, etc knives....why, because I can, and while they may never reach the heights that old US coins and stamps have reached insofar as collector values, it would be safe to say I have several in my collection worth at least 5 times what I have paid, if eBay is any indicator; besides, my knives easily fit into my gun safe.;)
 
I think I have tried about every traditional pattern from peanut to daddy barlow. I have way more knives than I could ever need, but I'm not stressing my family's budget or cutting needful corners anywhere else. I tithe to my church, give to good causes all the time, have two daughters that constantly need financial help, etc., so no guilt here. I just like knives and like to find out what makes a pattern unique. The philosophical answer to your questions only you can decide.

On the other hand, if you really want to know what other patterns might do something for you that your current two don't, please tell us which traditional knives you already have. There is a lot of selfless wisdom and experience on this forum and you would get some very pertinent suggestions.
 
black mamba said:
On the other hand, if you really want to know what other patterns might do something for you that your current two don't, please tell us which traditional knives you already have. There is a lot of selfless wisdom and experience on this forum and you would get some very pertinent suggestions.
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Absolutely. :thumbup:
 
You might like the GEC #65 Ben Hogan which is a dressy single blade 4.25" closed. It is very slim and carries nicely in the pocket even though it has a longish blade.

Another is the Northwoods Madison Barlow which is another single bladed slip joint that carries really nicely.
 
Take a look at Jay Leno, Will Smith and Jerry Seinfeld with their car collections. A good friend of mine likes to tell everyone about the time he was at a local car show, and couldn't get a 68 Chevelle Super Sport because Will Smith was buying them all up. He is a gregarious guy and was teasing the heck out of him, making him laugh. These are just guys with more $ to spend. They like the upper echelon of car shows. My buddy was at Carlisle, a big spot on the east coast for car shows, but this wasn't Barrett Jackson with multiple celebrities or their bidders in attendance. Drop by the New Jersey show this weekend cchu, you'll see some celebrities there picking up knives. These guys have the funds to do so. They are mentioned on the forums and written about in knife magazines.

As long as you can pay the bills, keep a roof over your head and keep your kids/pets fed and taken care of, do whatever you want.
 
I use and enjoy a peanut and trapped pattern. That soddir jr is really appealing to me but I had already given away two soddies to forum members.

I was thinking a one bladed knife about he size of a canoe or congress knife but narrower with a spear point and about 3 inches of blade...
 
cchu518 said:
I use and enjoy a peanut and trapped pattern. That soddir jr is really appealing to me but I had already given away two soddies to forum members.

I was thinking a one bladed knife about he size of a canoe or congress knife but narrower with a spear point and about 3 inches of blade...
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Then your search has ended, get a Case/T.Bose collab Tribal Spear Zulu knife and you're done...

 
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