So, how many knives...

sharp_edge said:
After reading this thread I feel less guilty because I have only about 30 folders of about $5k in total.
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Thanks, me too, feel much less guilty now by only owning 12. Just sold one too. I do not like having stuff I don’t use. Cut my gun collection down to 6 too. Maybe it’s because of my age, 61. I get the whole minimalist philosophy. Less is more. I can’t watch the show Hoarders. It upsets me. And I’m not saying people with dozens of knives are hoarders. To each his own.
 
Isn't a "kitchen knife" whatever knife (or knives) you have in your pocket and/or on your belt when preparing the meal?

I don't know exactly how many knives I have, other than it's probably more than I'll ever need.
 
5881 said:
I'm relatively new here and have not looked at the no doubt numerous "how many knives do you own" threads but when you answer are you really counting ALL of the knives you own or just the "nice" ones? How about that sweet Shun or Miyabi chefs knife, or the Sears utility knife in the garage (you have at least 2 of them, right?) , or that tiny Swiss Army knife you got as a kid, or your diving knife etc. What about that nice Exacto set you have... And multi tools. Looking at it that way I must be close to 50 and I don't view myself as a knife nut, especially around here.
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No way. You can't make me count them. :)

These threads come up often and I can never understand the fascination with a running knife count. Does it really matter whether you have a knife or a thousand? It most hobbies, it either about what you do or know about the activity that counts. Does anyone ask a photographer how many cameras he has, or is it enough that he captures good images; do we care about the number of golf club sets or tennis rackets or is it enough that you play a good game? I know that in a sense we are trying to quantify an activity that really has no scoring system. Perhaps, some try to assuage themselves; to reassure themselves that they are no where near as crazy as that guy, because he has 200 knives and you only have 10. But, it doesn't really work that way; there may be people with a sole knife, who's lives are more centered on knives than any of those with a large horde; and who is to say whether it is healthier to have a knife, a mountain of knives or no knives at all? Also, remember that each of us started with a first knife and once you get that first knife you are a full fledged member of the club and likely on your way towards accumulating your own small pile. Does he have 10 knives because he has parsed his collection down to his essential tools, or is he merely a new collector waiting on his next addition? :rolleyes:

Knife collecting/use should be qualitative rather then quantitative. It is about having good tools for the tasks that interest you and knowing how to use and maintain them. It shouldn't really matter whether you have a knife or thousands.

n2s
 
I have more bicycles than knives and I have more guns than knives. I really need to get rid of most of the guns but I'm lazy.
 
13 is my lucky number so there you go.
11 folders and 2 fixed blades.
 
I own over 200 knives currently.

The rough breakdown is: 50+ Spyders, 50+ Kershaws, about 30 CRKTs, about 30 ZTs, about 10 BenchMades, about 10 Cold Steel, about 10 Gerbers and 5 MicroTechs plus a variety of others (some expensive/some not).

BTW, I'm 68 and I'm buying more stuff, not cutting back, because I have more disposable income now than I ever had. The executor of my estate will have a heck of a time sorting the stuff out but that won't be my problem.

Like they say, "You can't take it with you." LOL! ;)
 
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:) I don't think just the numbers alone mean much . More important is how much satisfaction and fun does it provide you ? Entertainment value ! :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Quite often it is suggested by others that nearly everything I own can be weaponized or has a sharp or pokey edge on it. One friend says she refuses to bring her kids over because she fears for their safety (unfounded caution on her part). I don't have a number on my knives but suffices to say I have been collecting edged items since I was 5 and Ive nearly celebrated my 25th birthday twice ;)
 
Every time I think I have them all accounted for I remember another one I have stashed somewhere but as I sit here it's 25 folders 2 machetes 3 fixed blades 1 sword and 1 bayonet. Add another 25 if you count the knives in my kitchen draw but I don't. Lol I just remembered 2 divers knives I have in my gear closet.:) I've only bought 10 since I started hanging around here in April and if my math is correct at that rate by this time next year I will be broke or divorced, or both:eek:
 
not2sharp said:
No way. You can't make me count them. :)

These threads come up often and I can never understand the fascination with a running knife count. Does it really matter whether you have a knife or a thousand? It most hobbies, it either about what you do or know about the activity that counts. Does anyone ask a photographer how many cameras he has, or is it enough that he captures good images; do we care about the number of golf club sets or tennis rackets or is it enough that you play a good game? I know that in a sense we are trying to quantify an activity that really has no scoring system. Perhaps, some try to assuage themselves; to reassure themselves that they are no where near as crazy as that guy, because he has 200 knives and you only have 10. But, it doesn't really work that way; there may be people with a sole knife, who's lives are more centered on knives than any of those with a large horde; and who is to say whether it is healthier to have a knife, a mountain of knives or no knives at all? Also, remember that each of us started with a first knife and once you get that first knife you are a full fledged member of the club and likely on your way towards accumulating your own small pile. Does he have 10 knives because he has parsed his collection down to his essential tools, or is he merely a new collector waiting on his next addition? :rolleyes:

Knife collecting/use should be qualitative rather then quantitative. It is about having good tools for the tasks that interest you and knowing how to use and maintain them. It shouldn't really matter whether you have a knife or thousands.

n2s
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I've been meaning to clarify what I was getting at in my original post. I was not asking so much about how many knives one owns but what we consider a knife when thinking about all those knives laying around . I spend much more time with my kitchen knives than any of my folders and when asked about a favorite knife I could easily answer a chef's knife vs. a folder. That probably takes us to the jewelry vs. tool discussion.
 
not2sharp said:
No way. You can't make me count them. :)

These threads come up often and I can never understand the fascination with a running knife count. Does it really matter whether you have a knife or a thousand?
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No it really doesn't matter but it's "human nature" to count "things," particularly $.

I keep a Word file w/a listing of every knife that I own because I need to know (at a glance) what I have or not so that I can buy one that I still want/need w/o buying one that I already have. I don't keep a running count but I do occasionally count the # of knives I have off of the list, just so that I know. This doesn't affect how many more knives I may buy; it just satisfies my curiosity as to the exact #.

I already know about how many knives I have because I keep them in knife cases w/a specific # of slots and it's easy to estimate the growing size of the collection by the # of knife cases I've got and the remaining open slots. I guess I could keep an Excel file that would count the # of knives for me automatically but I'm too lazy to bother w/that.

BTW, I also know exactly how many guns/shotguns and rifles that I own but I lost track of the # of LPs because there are over 2k of those and I'm not about to count each one of those. LOL! ;)
 
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I have over 250 in my collection and 12 knives I use for bushcraft and just general hard use.

I know some will bristle at this but most of the knives have never cut anything or been carried outside. They are collection knives that I thoroughly enjoy maintaining and admiring. I can let my OCD run free and rearrange the display every month or two.

This spring I’m planning to sell about half of them and only keep the really high end models and the $200 range knives I just like.

I’ll then take a chance on a Medford, Strider, Hoback, and a few other knives I’m curious about.
 
I just did a partial count of my knives for the first time. I keep them stored in three places depending how much I use them. Users, former users, and duplicates of ones I really like still in boxes.
I m up to about 150. I ve got more of a problem than I realized!
I should sell some of the former users, but I ve never sold a knife. I have given away a few to family and friends.
 
I don't count kitchen knives, multi-tools, gardening implements, wood working tools, leather working tools. Throwing knives, tomahawks, hatchets, double bit hatchets, single and double bit axes are recorded but don't really count as part of "the count".

I have been collecting sharp (and allegedly sharp) objects since I got my first knife pushing 60 years ago. Some years, I collected just a few (like when deployed overseas for 9 to 10 months at a time with the Navy). Some years, I averaged over a knife a day. I think my best (worst:D) year was nearly 1000 knives.

When someone asks me how many knives I have, they get one of several answers, depending on who they are.

"More than you."
"Not enough."
"A bunch."
"A big pile."
"Over X thousand." where "X" = some integer between 0 and 6.

The real answer is "I don't know." I really don't. They are all listed in several Excel spreadsheets by brand and/or type, along with purchase data. Western and Kabar have their own pages. Military knives have their page. Buck, Becker, and Case are combined on a single page. Bayonets and swords have their pages. Axes and hatchets fall into their own separate category. And then there is the catch-all pages - other fixed blades and other (than Kabar or Western) folders. I suppose I could go count them line by line, but I don't have the time. I can't just "sum them up" under a total column because some of the are simply list as "Set of 8" or "Set of 6."

My niece calls me a steel dragon because I hoard steel.
My mother calls me "a little warped".
One of my sisters calls me obsessed.
Most of the rest of my family calls me weird.
Real-life friends call me strange.

But the most important thing is..... nobody calls me late for dinner.:D:D
 
I've cut down recently to only the ones I really love. I only hold onto the ones I use to, safequeens always get sold. So now I only have about 8.
 
I don't have many knives. I only keep the ones I'm going to carry/use. My collection sits at 14.
 
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