ChazzyP
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
- Messages
- 8,300
I started out replying to this thread but my post has become such a wall of text and pictures that I decided to post it as a random thread of my own...
2019 brought me further into a sea change in my knife ownership, use, and transactional habits that began in 2018. At the beginning of that year my purchases had slowed a little but I was still buying around a couple knives per month and accumulating more than I sold. Around May/June I picked up my F95R after selling off a favorite and fairly pricey drawer queen and bought only one more, aside from a pre-order, the rest of the year. As I was trending more toward the retired side of semi-retired I determined to try to keep my knife transactions closer to zero-sum and began to ponder selling off knives that I somehow liked but that didn't get carried or used. It took me a while to get that going and 2019 has brought me to a point where I'm selling off multiple pieces mostly in the $100-200 range and picking up knives, generally more expensive, that I particularly want and intend to carry and use.
Anyway, I think I bought no more than these 9 in 2019 with the intention to carry and use all and sold off quite a few to fund them (though certainly not completely). I find it hard to pick a favorite, so here they all are:
Cheburkov Voron, a stock pattern, custom ordered from Alex for its stonewashed blade finish. I think of this one as my Russian Military--
Full-size Crooked River, long on the want list, subsequently modded to lose the awful orange backspacer--
Ace Biblio in natural Micarta, way smaller than my usual, but a sweet little chunk of a knife in a favorite steel and scale material--
Shirogorov Tabargan, picked up in partial trade, letting go of my PJ large 25 (one of 7 full-size CRKs) and cash to replace the drawer queen beauty I'd sold in 2018 to get my F95R. This one's just 2D G10 in 440C but is a great work user. While I miss the Tabargan I sold, this one suits me much better getting into my pocket more frequently and without worry about how it might be employed--
Being a great lover and multiple owner of Griptilians as well as a great hater/replacer of their stock Noryl handles, I'd always wanted Ti Wilkins grips to complement the G10s on my Ritter pair and had long coveted a Wilkins replacement blade as well. I was excited to find this one on the Exchange and glad to have it even though the slabs are hardcoat aluminum. The package is completed by KW's deep-carry clip--
I passed on this Andrey Biryukov Sigma back in March of 2019 and PM'd @ScooterG to thank him for saving me from depleting the PP funds I was hoarding for my Voron. We messaged a bit about the knife, he got back in touch before listing when he decided to let it go, and let me have it for a nice price. I'm pleased to have it in a rare case of procrastination paying off. Thanks, bro--
This one's an outlier--a Spyderco Kapara bought on a whim off the Exchange. This purchase was much like the knife-buying habits I abandoned a while back and yielded a similar result to many of those of yore--I just can't make up my mind if this one's a keeper or not. My wife likes it so it's still hanging around--
I finished up the year in grand style with two knives right in my sweet spot.
The first was my second Biryukov, found at a Spanish dealer after searching for more of Andrey's work and re-visiting many times. I finally pulled the trigger after selling off a few even though my correspondence with the dealer gave me more than a little pause about buying. I have not seen this un-named model anywhere else and the seller's pic dates to 2008. I'm really glad I threw caution to the wind as I love this knife, but more often than not the little voice that says "don't" is right--
--two pics 'coz I like it so much--
And the last ordered and to arrive (on Christmas Eve) is my CKF MILK. This is another that had been on my want list for a long time, and given their rarity I thought this was one that would likely elude me. After finding a sweet deal on his, @WValtakis spent weeks plastering pics of the knife and his mods all over BF and got my juices flowing again. Oddly I stumbled across one at a well-known re-seller's website that was not a great deal but not too stupidly expensive either. It's a prototype in LNIB condition and, while I'm carrying and have cut with it, it's gonna take time not to baby it. Couple pics here of this one too--
I wonder what things knifely 2020 will bring?
2019 brought me further into a sea change in my knife ownership, use, and transactional habits that began in 2018. At the beginning of that year my purchases had slowed a little but I was still buying around a couple knives per month and accumulating more than I sold. Around May/June I picked up my F95R after selling off a favorite and fairly pricey drawer queen and bought only one more, aside from a pre-order, the rest of the year. As I was trending more toward the retired side of semi-retired I determined to try to keep my knife transactions closer to zero-sum and began to ponder selling off knives that I somehow liked but that didn't get carried or used. It took me a while to get that going and 2019 has brought me to a point where I'm selling off multiple pieces mostly in the $100-200 range and picking up knives, generally more expensive, that I particularly want and intend to carry and use.
Anyway, I think I bought no more than these 9 in 2019 with the intention to carry and use all and sold off quite a few to fund them (though certainly not completely). I find it hard to pick a favorite, so here they all are:
Cheburkov Voron, a stock pattern, custom ordered from Alex for its stonewashed blade finish. I think of this one as my Russian Military--
Full-size Crooked River, long on the want list, subsequently modded to lose the awful orange backspacer--
Ace Biblio in natural Micarta, way smaller than my usual, but a sweet little chunk of a knife in a favorite steel and scale material--
Shirogorov Tabargan, picked up in partial trade, letting go of my PJ large 25 (one of 7 full-size CRKs) and cash to replace the drawer queen beauty I'd sold in 2018 to get my F95R. This one's just 2D G10 in 440C but is a great work user. While I miss the Tabargan I sold, this one suits me much better getting into my pocket more frequently and without worry about how it might be employed--
Being a great lover and multiple owner of Griptilians as well as a great hater/replacer of their stock Noryl handles, I'd always wanted Ti Wilkins grips to complement the G10s on my Ritter pair and had long coveted a Wilkins replacement blade as well. I was excited to find this one on the Exchange and glad to have it even though the slabs are hardcoat aluminum. The package is completed by KW's deep-carry clip--
I passed on this Andrey Biryukov Sigma back in March of 2019 and PM'd @ScooterG to thank him for saving me from depleting the PP funds I was hoarding for my Voron. We messaged a bit about the knife, he got back in touch before listing when he decided to let it go, and let me have it for a nice price. I'm pleased to have it in a rare case of procrastination paying off. Thanks, bro--
This one's an outlier--a Spyderco Kapara bought on a whim off the Exchange. This purchase was much like the knife-buying habits I abandoned a while back and yielded a similar result to many of those of yore--I just can't make up my mind if this one's a keeper or not. My wife likes it so it's still hanging around--
I finished up the year in grand style with two knives right in my sweet spot.
The first was my second Biryukov, found at a Spanish dealer after searching for more of Andrey's work and re-visiting many times. I finally pulled the trigger after selling off a few even though my correspondence with the dealer gave me more than a little pause about buying. I have not seen this un-named model anywhere else and the seller's pic dates to 2008. I'm really glad I threw caution to the wind as I love this knife, but more often than not the little voice that says "don't" is right--
--two pics 'coz I like it so much--
And the last ordered and to arrive (on Christmas Eve) is my CKF MILK. This is another that had been on my want list for a long time, and given their rarity I thought this was one that would likely elude me. After finding a sweet deal on his, @WValtakis spent weeks plastering pics of the knife and his mods all over BF and got my juices flowing again. Oddly I stumbled across one at a well-known re-seller's website that was not a great deal but not too stupidly expensive either. It's a prototype in LNIB condition and, while I'm carrying and have cut with it, it's gonna take time not to baby it. Couple pics here of this one too--
I wonder what things knifely 2020 will bring?
Last edited:
