NEW knife: It's perfect!!! I don't want to use it :-(

[AF]

I know the feeling.
But only by using the knife will you discover if it really is as good as it appears. Through use you may like it even more or you may find a design weakness that wasn't apparent when simply fondling the knife.

 

[Lapedog]

Just got a ZT 0452CF and I have to say after inspecting it that it is flawless. It is beautiful, perfect finish and awesome action. Detent is not too stiff, not too weak, just flip and "click!", locked it place. The CF has no imperfections. The grind, edge and tip are ground perfect I must say too.

But now....


I don't want to use it.


Now I need an "user" 0452 'cause I like the ergos and size. Oh well, it's only money.

I will give you the same advice I have given to many others who are feeling the same way about an
expensive knife.

Life is too short. Who are you saving it for? If you don’t use it then your kid will just sell it to a pawn shop after you die for $30. Either that or your spouse will sell it in a garage sale as part of deal. 1 zt 0452 + 2 kitchen knives for 20$, she might even get talked down to 15$

Pretty pristine knives are nice but you can’t truly love a knife till you use it. Even if you are going to pass it to your son or grandson what do you think they would prefer? A like new knife, or a knife marked with your history? It is seeing the use you put on a favourite knife that makes it truly special.

 

[mt666tm]

This is why lately I prefer buying knives on the Exchange, because they are used so I don't feel bad using them myself.

Sometimes it's like there is an invisible force field preventing me from using the knife... like touching the blade to something is equivalent of trying to push two neodymium magnets together.

I have a few knifes that I've bought doubles of to keep one minty fresh while using the other. I feel like such an idiot doing this, but it's the only logical solution to the problem.

 

[mfm22]

Been on the lookout for one myself. Have an 0450 & 0220 these ZT's are just an unbelievable value !
Quality is way above price point .. I have knives that cost 3 times that if the ZT 's ... they may be somewhat better but not 3x better

Use it!! You want know how good it really is unless you use it. Use it , don't abuse it

 

[NJBillK]

Just got a ZT 0452CF and I have to say after inspecting it that it is flawless. It is beautiful, perfect finish and awesome action. Detent is not too stiff, not too weak, just flip and "click!", locked it place. The CF has no imperfections. The grind, edge and tip are ground perfect I must say too.

But now....


I don't want to use it.


Now I need an "user" 0452 'cause I like the ergos and size. Oh well, it's only money.

Think about it like this: This "Perfect" ZT will be handled and fiddled with until you kick the bucket (or drop the knife). At which point, this will be just another knife for.your loved one to part with. It won't matter that it is perfect, that it feels right (for you), that the detent is just firm enough.

It will be just another knife. Nothing special.

Why not make it more special? Make some memories with the knife. Carry it to a wedding, or a picnic at a park for a child's birthday. Bring it fishing in hopes if landing an old brute.
Make the knife "yours", instead of just being something else that you own...

 

[Wolverine666]

Well , unless it's a unique collectors piece , to buy a nice knife and never use it is insanity. If you're that OCD then you could :
a) Just carry/use it once in a while for light duty
b) Since it's a production knife and not terribly expensive , you could buy another to use and keep this one mint.

Just my opinion. Otherwise you just blew some good money on a sweet decoration for your drawer.

 

[Ajack60]

Don’t do an injustice to the knife, it is meant to be used as well as adimired. Using it will make you happy and at the end of the day, you can still pull it out and be amazed that you own it. You’ll come to appreciate the ZT0452CF even more once you use it.

 

[Lapedog]

This mentality always struck me as buying an Aston Martin then leaving it to die in the garage.

“It’s too nice for me to drive it.”

Who are you keeping the knife in good condition for? Only yourself really is impressed by it. (I know non knife nut friends can’t be made to care any more than you can be meant to care about stamp collecting) So you are only keeping it pristine to impress yourself. Trust me, you will be much more impressed using it.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Use it, the most useless knife is the one you don't carry and use. I use them all, regardless of value.

I have a custom Fletcher Knives Custom Karniboro Cleaver from USA Made Blade. This is a $500 cleaver that most people never use. Not me, this cleaver/knife get's the most use in the kitchen. Is it a great cleaver? You bet it is. Would it be a better cleaver if it sat on display or in a safe? Hell no! Knives are meant to be used.

Someone here a long time ago, one of the older members from back in the early days of BFC once said to me an unused knife is nothing more than an expensive paper weight and it's a disservice to the maker/designer/manufacturer who made/produced the blade.

I think it all comes down to this, if you have to ask yourself whether or not you can bring yourself to use it you should get rid of or my answer is gonna always be use it. If all you want to do is look at it get a high resolution picture for wallpaper. Still in the end, it's always your money, your knife, do what ever you want with it.

My favorite example and my blade manglin' hero will always be Charlie Mike and the time he waved a Sebenza for a GAW. A true maverick when it came to takin' a Dremel to an expensive blade. I looked for a pic of the waved Sebenza but Matt was usin' photo bucks**t and the pics aren't loading. You might find a video on his youtube channel.

One quick question and it's always a personal line, how much is too much, too expensive to carry a knife or is rarity the determining factor. The inability to replace the blade if it's lost or broken. This also leads to the question if you're afraid of breaking your blade, don't you think a more appropriate knife would be a better purchase?

I've been collectin'/accumulatin' knives since the 70s, there were so many knives that in retrospect I woulda bought at entry prices and saved to sell but that's an investment strategy and is always gonna be unpredictable.

ETA: The Fletcher Knives Cleaver was from a GAW thanks to the generosity of USA Made Blades Thanks for all GAW s you host and the Lrg. Sebenza Ebony Inlay a gift from a friend and member of BFC.

 

[FullMetalJackass]

It's funny, I have the exact same feeling with this very same knife! And with a Chaves 228. Can't use. Too pretty.
Even if I heavily use more expensive knives, I am worried about not scratching it when I have it in my pocket.
I mostly homecarry haha!
It's nonsensical tho.

I perfectly relate to OP's anxiety

 

[midnight flyer]

I am firmly in the "use it!" camp myself. It hit me hard one day while helping a friend go through some of their old belongings and found all these wonderful tools that had never been used because he was afraid he might mess them up. For years, some great tools that sat on the sidelines while lesser tools were being used. He never got the enjoyment of using a really fine piece of equipment on his projects.

I could see how this apply to my knives. I couldn't reconcile that I had spent a good chunk of money (for me!) On a knife I was afraid to use. I looked at some of my knives and their excellent construction, their great steels, and their bulletproof warranties and wondered why they were sitting in the drawer. I bought those guys specifically for those reasons, and yet did nothing with them.

Now they all go to the job site, they all get used, and I love them all the more for it. Since they have all of the aforementioned qualities, I have found they hold up extremely well. I like knife with a few miles on it myself as it makes me less reluctant to use it when I think I should get something else instead! I never abuse them, but I do use them. My ZT 0909 comes to mind; it wasn't a pretty knife to begin with, but sparing it no task on the job site and cleaning it many times with charcoal lighter fluid to get crap off of it for the last several months it has remarkably little wear.

I think you will find your premium knife is much sturdier than you think, and a few road miles may make you appreciate it even more. At this point in my life I prize utility value and reliability more than pretty.

Robert

 

[NJBillK]

Just kick it down the driveway!

*Boom* ...instant user.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

I remember, decades ago, when I was a young whipersnapper on a jobsite. The masonary co. owner got a new Ram pickup for co. use. This was in the 70's. Everyone was guessing who was going to get the first scratch on it.
The owner calmly walked over, grabbed a trowel out of a masons hand and walked down the bed putting a scratch all the way down the side.
When he was done, he handed the trowel back and said, there use the damn thing.
So guess what my advice to you is?

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

Go outside, find the nearest sidewalk, street, or parking lot. Drop the knife from pocket height onto the pavement. As you bend down to pick it up, kick it so that it skitters across the pavement for a good 10 to 20 feet.

Then pick it up, wipe it off, and start using it. That will save you a lot of money buying user knives to protect your shrine knife.

Instructions unclear, cut my foot off

 

[22-rimfire]

I will give you the same advice I have given to many others who are feeling the same way about an
expensive knife.

Life is too short. Who are you saving it for? If you don’t use it then your kid will just sell it to a pawn shop after you die for $30. Either that or your spouse will sell it in a garage sale as part of deal. 1 zt 0452 + 2 kitchen knives for 20$, she might even get talked down to 15$

Pretty pristine knives are nice but you can’t truly love a knife till you use it. Even if you are going to pass it to your son or grandson what do you think they would prefer? A like new knife, or a knife marked with your history? It is seeing the use you put on a favourite knife that makes it truly special.

The 0452 is certainly well loved. I dismissed it because at the time I didn't want a flipper. That may change as I believe it to be a great knife.

I have bought backups if I loose a knife, SAKs in particular, because I'm not the most careful with them. But I'd be real careful with the ZT. Duplicates.... I understand the feeling. But generally speaking you're just wasting the money on the one you don't use because you aren't likely to break it. Do you actually think you'll still be using the same knife in 10 years? Then you have two that aren't being used and you can look at it and say to yourself "This was a great knife." Use it, but don't abuse it.

 

[BD_01]

The more I try to baby a knife, the greater seems the liklihood that I’ll screw it up in some bonhead move. Thus my users show honest wear while my cherished safe queens wind up showing stupidity.

0452 may quite possibly be my next purchase.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Just use it anyways.
Why admire the build quality of a knife when it means nothing to a knife that's just sitting around ?

The way I see it if a knife is good it should be used.
Rare and or collectable knives are a different thing.

 

[Cutlover]

Your knife is made from some of the best commercially available materials, you don't have to take handle it like jewelry. If it is as good as you think, you will have no issues using it for life (just don't do anything crazy like batoning it through a brick). Cut, whittle, slice materials and food with it. Learn to resharpen it, give it a better edge than the factory one. Do it all again. With each cycle, you will learn to give that individual knife the best edge possible, and that'll make the process of using it that much more enjoyable.

 

[Mo2]

Just use it. The thing is, it's just steel and titanium and cf. You can regrind the blade or get a stone wash or whatever, to fix anything that may happen in use. Same with the scale. Check our Josh's thread where he shows before and after of user knives turned brand new again.

How about this 650$ norsman used to dig with for four years.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I have a rare mid 1800s handmade pearl Lobster grooming knife. I don't carry it every day but it finds its way into my pocket very often. A well made knife will always stand up to to the normal wear and tear a cutting implement would normally be subject too. I would probably be better served by puttin' it away somewhere safe where the risk of misplacing it was great, (I'm certainly not afraid of breaking it) still it's meant to be used and as a user accumulator I'm happiest when the knife in question is being used.

By now you've figured out my position about whether to use it or store it and also have realized I'm a shameless picture whore and will take any opportunity to post pictures of my old knives.