MacHete
Hair Cropper & Chipmunk Wrangler
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
- Messages
- 2,559
1) What do you collect and why?
2) How broadly or narrowly do you restrict what you include in your collection?
3) At what point would you consider your collection "complete"?
4) Would it ever be "complete"?
I come from a family of collectors. Mom has virtually every Avon bottle ever made. Dad collects old movie cowboy memorabilia. Two of my brothers collect superhero comics and related merchandise. My oldest brother collects Legos. My sister collects Fenton art glass.
I have collected many different things over the years, but knives in general and Khukris in particular have always held my interest. The reason I'm asking about this now, is because I am trying to decide how to define the parameters of my "collection".
(BTW- I am deliberately posting this here, and not in the Cantina, because it is about Khukris. I am merely discussing from the general to the specific, and I thank you for your kind indulgence.)
I used to collect pipes. Decent pipes can be very expensive, so I found it useful to be very specific about what I would collect. I only collected smooth, straight-stemmed, canadian shanked billiards. No carved or rusticated, no bents whatsoever, no pokers, pots or dubliners. I would look for new or estates, in any size and any color, but I never varied from those restrictions. Even narrowing the field down that much, I still couldn't afford very many.
I used to collect Coca-Cola stuff. -Much cheaper than pipes, but there is a ton of stuff out there. Again, it was useful to limit my collection criteria- this time for the sake of space and effort if not expense. I was not interested in the nostalgic advertising reproductions or the "merchandised collectibles" such as the plush bears or pins or limited edition bottles. I wanted weird stuff. I looked for goofy, off-beat and downright incongruous stuff with the Coke logo on it. For example, I had a pool float/raft shaped like a Coke vending machine. I had a pair of house slippers shaped like two puffy cans of Coke. I had an umbrella that folded up and slid into it's Coke-bottle shaped handle.
The way I see it, most of us do not have the money, time, space or even a use for every knife we would like to own. So, how do you decide? How do you prioritize?
By pattern? I have some favorites, but I can't imagine having an "all Malla" or "all CAK" collection. There are quite a few versions that I do not own that I really would like to have represented in my collection.
By maker? I have not been disappointed in any maker's work I have seen come out of HI. I happen to have more by Kumar than any other maker, but I also love my Shers and Buras. Plus- Kumar isn't working for HI anymore.
By purpose? To be honest, of all my Khuks (HI and GH) and other HI products, less than half have seen any use, and only three or four see any regular use. But, I enjoy knowing that I could use any of them, and I enjoy handling them, looking at them and simply having them around. I also enjoy knowing that whenever I buy one, some very deserving people benefit from it.
By material? Well, we don't exactly get to pick our steel, so that leaves us handle materials. I greatly prefer wood. This is a matter of taste more than function, but it is a very strong leaning. I just love the look of wood grain. Some HI handles are very artfully carved, but I prefer the natural figure and contrast. Just as I mentioned about my pipe collecting above, I don't want anything to obscure the woods natural beauty. I have three horn handled Khuks that are simply magnificent and feel great in the hand, but I always look at them and wish the grips were wood instead. I occassionally consider redoing the handles, but I am too afraid that I would never recapture the same feel. Whenever I think about unloading a khuk or two, these are always the leading candidates.
I realize question 4 kinda negates question 3. If we were talking stamps or coins or comic books, you could consider your collection complete when you had one of each version ever made. Even then, though, you would always be looking for a better quality example of each of your pieces. As dynamic as the product line for HI is, it would be impossible to have "one of each".
So, when would you be satisfied?
Would you ever be satisfied?
2) How broadly or narrowly do you restrict what you include in your collection?
3) At what point would you consider your collection "complete"?
4) Would it ever be "complete"?
I come from a family of collectors. Mom has virtually every Avon bottle ever made. Dad collects old movie cowboy memorabilia. Two of my brothers collect superhero comics and related merchandise. My oldest brother collects Legos. My sister collects Fenton art glass.
I have collected many different things over the years, but knives in general and Khukris in particular have always held my interest. The reason I'm asking about this now, is because I am trying to decide how to define the parameters of my "collection".
(BTW- I am deliberately posting this here, and not in the Cantina, because it is about Khukris. I am merely discussing from the general to the specific, and I thank you for your kind indulgence.)
I used to collect pipes. Decent pipes can be very expensive, so I found it useful to be very specific about what I would collect. I only collected smooth, straight-stemmed, canadian shanked billiards. No carved or rusticated, no bents whatsoever, no pokers, pots or dubliners. I would look for new or estates, in any size and any color, but I never varied from those restrictions. Even narrowing the field down that much, I still couldn't afford very many.
I used to collect Coca-Cola stuff. -Much cheaper than pipes, but there is a ton of stuff out there. Again, it was useful to limit my collection criteria- this time for the sake of space and effort if not expense. I was not interested in the nostalgic advertising reproductions or the "merchandised collectibles" such as the plush bears or pins or limited edition bottles. I wanted weird stuff. I looked for goofy, off-beat and downright incongruous stuff with the Coke logo on it. For example, I had a pool float/raft shaped like a Coke vending machine. I had a pair of house slippers shaped like two puffy cans of Coke. I had an umbrella that folded up and slid into it's Coke-bottle shaped handle.
The way I see it, most of us do not have the money, time, space or even a use for every knife we would like to own. So, how do you decide? How do you prioritize?
By pattern? I have some favorites, but I can't imagine having an "all Malla" or "all CAK" collection. There are quite a few versions that I do not own that I really would like to have represented in my collection.
By maker? I have not been disappointed in any maker's work I have seen come out of HI. I happen to have more by Kumar than any other maker, but I also love my Shers and Buras. Plus- Kumar isn't working for HI anymore.
By purpose? To be honest, of all my Khuks (HI and GH) and other HI products, less than half have seen any use, and only three or four see any regular use. But, I enjoy knowing that I could use any of them, and I enjoy handling them, looking at them and simply having them around. I also enjoy knowing that whenever I buy one, some very deserving people benefit from it.
By material? Well, we don't exactly get to pick our steel, so that leaves us handle materials. I greatly prefer wood. This is a matter of taste more than function, but it is a very strong leaning. I just love the look of wood grain. Some HI handles are very artfully carved, but I prefer the natural figure and contrast. Just as I mentioned about my pipe collecting above, I don't want anything to obscure the woods natural beauty. I have three horn handled Khuks that are simply magnificent and feel great in the hand, but I always look at them and wish the grips were wood instead. I occassionally consider redoing the handles, but I am too afraid that I would never recapture the same feel. Whenever I think about unloading a khuk or two, these are always the leading candidates.
I realize question 4 kinda negates question 3. If we were talking stamps or coins or comic books, you could consider your collection complete when you had one of each version ever made. Even then, though, you would always be looking for a better quality example of each of your pieces. As dynamic as the product line for HI is, it would be impossible to have "one of each".
So, when would you be satisfied?
Would you ever be satisfied?
), and putting them side-by side, you can tell the differences. Some I buy because they have carved handles or engraved blades that I just like.
