My thoughts on my knife collecting...

When I first began getting into knives (read: inundating self with all the info and pictures I could find :D ), I went through the same dilemma. My own personal dilemma, though, was of a conscience or pseudo-conscience nature; namely, "How can I justify spending money on things that may never see any use beyond being pleasing to my eyes?" At first, I cooked up a "top number" of kives that would fill specific roles. For me, they were:
1) large survival/camp knife
2) stout EDC folder
3) hunting knife
4) river/water knife
5) kinetic activity neck knife (mainly for biking, in order to not lose my pocket EDC)

Well, what happened to me was this. I was looking at the knife section of "Ron Hoods' survival web site. I had found this thoroughly awesome TOPS knife and was contemplating buying it. Then, I started thinking (I can hear you say "uh-oh" as you sit there reading this! :eek: :D ) My thoughts were along the lines of, "I have only two hands. I already have a large-ish survival knife. Even if I was out in the woods, I could only use a maximum of 2 knives at a time. Therefore, if I buy this really nice knife for $200, then I wion't get optimum use and, therefore, optimum enjoyment out of the purchase. I can spend the dough and have a new knife or I can invest the money in knife-making tools and supplies and, eventually, learn how to craft my own awesome knives."
Well, this thought really grabbed hold of me and I haven't bought a knife in over a year now (yes, that may be considered an apostasty :) ). However, I can now do something with a hunk of steel, a hunk of wood, some epoxy and some tools, that I had no previous knowledge of. Plus, I get to design my own knives, test them, and design, make, and test even more! It's been a real eye-opener and horizon expander. Plus, I realized that even though I'm not terribly mechanically inclined, I can take tool in hand and effect a positive change in my environment. Plus, I see learning the craft as in investment. In time, I would really like to be a custom knife maker for a a carrer. My own knives aren't yet at the level I want them to be in order to sell, but I'm working at it.
So, that's what happened with my knife collecting. I still see a knife hear and there that I would like, but, as many others have stated, it is cost-prohibitive for me. I have also come to the conslusion that there's nothing wrong with knife collecting, so long as it's kept in perspective.
 
Vote for Hilary.Automatic knife collections will be pared down,saving you time thinking about downsizing.
 
I have also sold and traded away several dozen knives over the last few months. I have decided that I can do without the large quantity, and focus more on quality pieces. And yeah, I also like to carry most of my knives. Most have been purchased with the hopes of THAT ONE being the ONE for EDC. Once I have figured out that a particular knife is not for me, I trade it off or sell it so I can try something else. I have a core group of knives that I always go back to ( AR, SnG, Sebenza, CQC-7) and the rest just come and go. Excellent Thread! :)
 
I've always, as far back as I can remember, had more knives than I needed.
In the past couple of years, when I started getting my own money, I began adding huge numbers of them to my collection.
I use most of my knives, I have what I call "mood swing EDC rotations". Some times I feel like using classic slipjoints, or just Opinels, or only one-hand folders, so I have a good selection of each. The same happens with fixed blades.
My work and hobbies requiere a variety of knives (my girlfriend says that I would take any job or embrace any hobby that requieres them), so I get an excuse to have lots of knives.
My non users are more sentimentaly valuable than anything else. My family has allways been fond of knives, and as I grew older I became the "guardian" of old family knives (like my grandfathers Spanish penknife collection, my greatgrandfather's bowies, etc.). The families of some sadly gone friends, have also given me thair knives to care for.
Only two of these knives still sees action. My best friend's grandfather used to take us hunting and camping all the time. He was a really cool man and he taught us a lot. He was also one of the bravest, most honest men I´ve ever met. A few years ago he died in his sleep. In his weapons room we found two crates, one with a note for me and another one for my friend. He said that whatever happened to the rest of his stuff was up to his daughter, but that he wanted his grandson and me to keep the things in the crates. He gave me his bow and two of his beloved hunting knives, and asked me to use the hell out of them. My friend and I keep hunting at his grandad's favourite spots, and we always set an extra plate for dinner.
Anyway, I love knives aesthetically, so I would see no problem with buying beautifull pieces just to look at them.
 
You know half the fun in collectin' is commin' across stuff like this:

SOG Leather covered Attache's
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or this uncut Colonial General Motors Key Knife
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This is the kind of unusual stuff that makes collectin' any knife fun, I just love tryin' to get the old oddball stuff, in a few years even the cheap stuff will disappear.
 
I'm the same way. I dont collect knives or anything else. I will buy, test and and sell knives until I find "the one" (or maybe 3). :D
 
I'm going through a phase which consists of two elements. One is after getting some higher end stuff (for me anyway) like a Sebenza, which I carry ALL THE TIME now. It dawns on me. The old quality vs quanity thing. Yes I could have a large and small by Sebenza by now, and all the others seem lackluster. SO is it better to have a 2 week rotation of EDC knives or a couple really nice knives?

Second is a bit of a "burn out". For example I like Case's Russlock. I've got 10 of them. There are ~ 160+ types. After wanting this one that one....trying to save for this one that one...etc Gets a bit old. SOME times. I generally use/carry what I buy and I no deep down that a Large Sebenza and one Shadley folder I already have are all I need to make it through the day.

Then the catalogs and Blade Mag arrive.
>Repeat cycle
 
I lack the funds to put into a great many knives, so I limit my purchases lately and recycle some (sell them) to maintain a certain amount into the hobby. Some are soooo beautiful that I can't make the decision to use them; others are more functional and get used a lot. An example of a user is the Seb, purchased with the tumbled finish on purpose. Another example is Mnandi, which is just so damned pretty, I carry it, show it off, but will seldom think about cutting with it. My customs see very little action, if at all. So when I do sell them, people get a pretty good deal dollar-wise.
 
I went through the same sort of thing recently. Had a number or nice customs, but barely used most of them. Decided to sell off most of them. Kept one custom folder, one fixed and one balisong. Sold the rest and bought a nice watch. Now I carry my Hinderer Firetac every single day and couldn't be happier. I'm even going to Blade show this year with a $1000 budget and I have no idea what I'm going to spend it on....there just isn't that much that I really want. I'm sure that will change once I get there though.
 
I have way more than I would ever 'need', but all of them are truly users. I don't even buy them if I can't somehow talk myself into thinking they'd be useful. Fortunately, I seem to be good at convincing myself..... :D
 
If it's NIB and out of prodo, it stays NIB. (hey, I want the next gen to see what today's stuff was like) Maybe I should be a museum curator
 
GarageBoy said:
If it's NIB and out of prodo, it stays NIB. (hey, I want the next gen to see what today's stuff was like) Maybe I should be a museum curator
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LOL GarageBoy - I think there are a lot of "closet curators" here. :p
 
"What is the purpose of owning a knife you won't use?"

"An unused knife is pointless and serves no purpose"

These are ideas that make an assumption, that knives are tools only. If indeed knives are tools and nothing more, then owning them and not using them doesn't make much sense, think about it this way. If you knew a guy who scoured the Home Depots buying every hammer and screwdriver available, took them home, never even removed them from any packaging, kept all tags intact, etc, well, he'd be a bit of a nut. What is the point of collecting simple, readily available tools? But knives are more than that, aren't they? Isn't the world of knives, both production and custom much more diverse and interesting than the world of hammers? I don't recall ever seeing a custom made hammer, where the handle was the finest, english walnut carved by a world renowned artist, the wood inlayed with 24K gold wire, the head forged, multi-bar, heat blued damascus with more carving, rubies set in gold bezels down the handle's top, I could go on, but you get the point, yes, knives are primarily a tool, but, not all knives are made and meant to be merely tools, many are made, bought and admired as works of fine art, and so, yes, I do very much enjoy collecting what to me are amazing works of art, by some extremely talented artists, it's just that this art happens to also be a knife. And many knives frankly, you'd have to be nuts to actually use, either because of their cost, or design.

There are knives I will and do use, there are many I will never use, but I do see knives as something akin to fine art, and much more than a simple tool.

So, it seems to me that when these threads pop up from time to time, and people say they don't understand why you'd buy/collect knives not to use, these people are making what I feel is a false assumption, that all knives are tools and nothing more, to me, they can be much more than that, and that's why I collect them.

Would you use these 2 $6500 folders by Stephen Olszewski? If they never do cut so much as a hair, are they without any purpose? I suppose one could argue that Art serves no purpose, but I believe it does. (Pics and knives from Knife-Art, hmmm, knife-ART. :) And, no, I only WISH I could afford knives like these. :) But, they nicely illustrate my point, that a knife can be much more than just a tool. )

PS. I hope I'm not coming across as snooty, the truth is, of the knives I collect, only a few, like maybe 3 or 4 would be considered high-end art knives, but I did want to make the point that once you accept that a knife can be more than just a tool, the idea of collecting, and not using becomes easier to understand.
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I did want to make the point that once you accept that a knife can be more than just a tool, the idea of collecting, and not using becomes easier to understand
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Y'know, your post actually makes me reconsider my own stance on knife ownership. I believe that the issue is one of perspective - does the person view the knife as a hand tool, or does the individual view the knife as an aesthetic piece? I am suddenly able to accept a perspective shift. Now, I can see that an art knife really can be art. In fact, I think most any art knife has gotta be better than a good portion of the so-called 'art' that's out there. For example, would y'all rather look at those cool knives previously posted, or a boring ol' painting like the Mona Lisa? For me, I'll take the art knives any day! :eek: :footinmou :D
 
I'm more of a pack-rat than a collector; I just don't like losing the stuff I've already got, even if I later buy something else which is better.

For me it's an engineering aesthetic. A knife is only beautiful if its form follows its function.
 
Trout Tamer said:
Y'know, your post actually makes me reconsider my own stance on knife ownership. I believe that the issue is one of perspective - does the person view the knife as a hand tool, or does the individual view the knife as an aesthetic piece? I am suddenly able to accept a perspective shift. Now, I can see that an art knife really can be art. In fact, I think most any art knife has gotta be better than a good portion of the so-called 'art' that's out there. For example, would y'all rather look at those cool knives previously posted, or a boring ol' painting like the Mona Lisa? For me, I'll take the art knives any day! :eek: :footinmou :D
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Well, let's forget about the Mona Lisa for a moment, have you seen some of the horrendous art out there, and what people will pay for it??? :eek: I'm with you my friend, give me an art knife any day and twice on sunday. :) Besides, you can't sit there methodically opening and closing the Mona Lisa while watching TV, or going to the bathroom. :)
 
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