Poll: What are we currently collecting

[sgt1372]

I've been a pretty avid collector but then I aged and I changed. I'm not sure I bought a knife in 2025, I did receive a few ordered in 2024. Over the last several years most of my purchases have been Blade Forum makers, I love supporting them and even with a lot of customs the only ones displayed are from them. So far this year I've only gotten one custom, a Yakut from Marcin.

I'm retired & have nothing better to do with my time than to troll BF & other knife/non-knife sites daily.

Didn't think I'd buy any more knives in 2026 but I've already bought 15 more.

I obviously have more $ than sense.

 

[Ron Texas]

Mostly I have bought Spyderco. It must be the round hole. I also have several Kershaw Launch OTS autos, and a few other OTS autos. There are several Chinese knives none of which cost over $50. I use them as beaters. I don't know if this is collecting or acquiring.

 

[vjb.knife]

Im not a collector I have an addiction problem. Good thing I don't drink or do drugs...

Ditto

 

[sgt1372]

Post up some pics in the Bali group sometime!.. it’s like a ghost town in there.

If you care to look, i just posted a couple of pics & some comments about the new bali that I just received in the Photo Gallery in the Bali sub.

I also cross posted this info in the Latest Acquisitions thread in the General Knife Discussion sub.

 

[Ron Texas]

I'm surprised at how expensive Bali's are.

 

[BluegrassBrian]

I'm surprised at how expensive Bali's are.

I was too at first.. in many instances.
When you consider that many titanium Balis are comprised of two handles that are essentially machined from single billets.. it’s like an integral knife handle, and those are always more expensive.

 

[sgt1372]

I'm surprised at how expensive Bali's are.

You get what you pay for but few balis exceed the price of the higher priced commercial folders.

Cheap balis like the Lucha & Bradley are in the $100-250 range & the best balis can be had for $450-550, which is less than I paid for the high end folders (like the Oz XL Rosie & Koenig Arius) in my collection.

I've paid more for the rare & collectible Spyderco Szabofly variations in my bali collection but they were a special case.

 

[jmh33]

On a RoseCraft binge!!
John

 

[Ron Texas]

You get what you pay for but few balis exceed the price of the higher priced commercial folders.

That's how it is with a lot of things. I'm so clumsy that I'd probably cut a finger off opening one. Enjoy your Bali's. They are an important part of the knife world.

 

[chevyrulez1]

I am not a collector, I am conducting research on the attributes of all sorts of knives to obtain knowledge that will be invaluable in my own mind and completely useless to everyone else

 

[Bigbluefish]

Accumulator here. Hey, that looks nice! And it will cut stuff! “Add to cart.”

I do seem to be have acquired multiple ProTech Godsons, however. And I’m finding I like small 3-5” fixed blades in the kaiken, Persian and tanto styles The Pro-Techs have been establishing thense

 

[The Grendels]

When I first started the journey from tool using mammal to collector, I initially wanted to have at least one representative from every brand and type of knife. I didn't realize quite how many knife brands there were and that I'd end up getting a lot from a few knife brands or more from specific knife designers across multiple brands. I try to get practical knives for various uses, but also some historical based models, although there is some merit in having a couple big stupid knives that are less practical (like the Kizer Sheepdog XL). I also keep a number of budget blades around the property for anyone to use at various work stations around the home and sheds.