Stored in a collectors vault.....

DeSotoSky

DeSotoSky

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
6,642
"Fresh from the vault"
"Only removed from the vault for photos"
"Making room in the safe"
How many times have you seen some reference on eBay to the knife having spent its life stored in a vault or safe.... they say it like it has some special meaning. Question, how many of you actually store your collection in a safe or vault. File cabinets and drawers for me, I can't imagine how many safes I'd need to store what I have, it would be prohibitive. My guns are stored in a safe for grandchild reasons but my knives are worth a whole lot more. I'm screwed if I ever have a home invasion, the guns are locked up in the basement.
 
Mine are in the Mushroom Closet. The ones in my safe, 1 is my Grandpas hunting knife, the other is my Dads hunting knife...
 
My firearms and maybe six knives are kept in my gun safe because the knives are too long to be stored in drawers.

Some of my knives are kept in a kitchen drawer; one time my female, semi-snowflake cousin was visiting and opened the drawer... she gasped and said, "Oh my god, why do you have so many knives?!!"

I replied, "Same reason you have so many shoes."
 
Wallace Mutt said:
Simple sales tactics.
Click to expand...

Like the "Vietnam era" claim. Trying to attribute special meaning where there is none.
I can't imagine either matter to a potential buyer but always good for a chuckle.
 
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Good question. The protection of your knives, in effort and cost, should increase along with the value of your knives and there number. Limiting the question to do you use a safe or not is just cutting off the corner of this entire subject. Everyone should realize from watching the commercial on the outdoor channel, NO safe is fireproof or burglar proof. Yes, I use a safe, but I don't have a collection of ivory or stag scale knives, Yellowhorses or really valuable early Bucks. I am counting on my cheap safe to halt the 'fast' thug from grabbing the collection and just taking the EDC's as they ransack the house.
It will be more than you may want to read on a phone but let me list my thoughts on the second part of DeSoto's subject.

1. Fire - Remember former Buck forum member Oregon and the fire department letting his house burn and totally destroying his knife and gun collection. The same will happen to any of us with dozen boxes of ammo (or more) when it starts popping off they will pull back and let it burn. Those of you with small department (or none) fire protection will see a slower response time than some larger towns from the fire department.
2. Theft - as shown in the outdoor channel commercial about cutting into safes with simple tools. A crook who knows you have a valuable collection or display, via word if mouth (friends, get togethers and kids) will case your coming and going to make time in house. Do you leave your windows open after dark ? Do you park outside ? Be suspect of anyone who knocks at your door, I never invite anyone inside, no matter the weather or purpose. These are the folks that will come prepared to cut open your safe, locked closet, metal footlocker, etc. Your nice display will be smashed also. Its just the chance you take building a valuable collection. Talk to your family if needed. We can't live in a concrete bunker.
3. Environmental protection - if you store in a basement or some other dark airless corner consider effects on metals and leather sheaths. You may need to work on reducing moisture in the area. My cheap safe is not air tight but I am still getting tarnish and some Delrin off-gassing on my 300s I never touch. Especially the ones stored in boxes.
4. Insurance - You say I only have two dozen knives, but what is their value. Let's say you have 24 nice Bucks. To replace them it might cost you $100 each, $2400 dollars and that is likely low in actual replace of some old knives. You can investigate whether your homeowners or renters insurance covers even that amount. I have spoken to my insurance agent and friend and he said a rider will likely be needed for most folks.
5. Alarms - I would like to have a system, but all we have is the door bell camera that rings your I phone. The dog here and the dog across the street barks anytime a car(or UPS) even stops at either house. That sets off another half dozen dogs in the neighborhood.

I did some LE work for 28 years and I try to be careful, I constantly talk with my wife to lock doors and close blinds when it gets dark. We leave timers on lights and TV when gone overnight. I don't talk about my collection of 300's or ever show it to anyone. Except now half the world.
I have small little adhesive dots stuck inside most blade wells. Hoping a crook will not see them when they sell some at the pawn shops. You likely would have to search for this method yourself as LE likely won't search past city or county lines. All that said you can only prepare for the worse in a reasonable manner and not be too paranoid or you lose the enjoyment of your knives. After all in the end you can't take them with you...…….300
 
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I have 3 gun safes for my guns, I would need at least that many for my knives. Then I would be outside sleeping with them...Ha!Ha!
 
I thought it was Buck forum policy to NOT believe anything said about a Buck on the bay...….

Having a 'known' large gun collection only adds to the thief attraction. No one knows what guns I have either, only the one on my hip. The bottom line, there is no easy answer. Its a sad world, country folk use to leave their door unlocked, guess that's why my wife does. But, she runs a weedeater so I have to be nice.
300
 
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some folks actually do. buddy of mine has one built into his home. it's almost like a small version steel cargo container. huge you can walk in and pace around. I couldnt believe until I saw it. his is mostly firearms...but he keeps some randalls and such in there too.

I have a small safe I keep a pistol in right by my bed anchored in. legal to stop child tampering or visitor etc...but opens fast for any issues. I'm close to the big city and trouble galore has grown here as the size has grown. big city problems I call it.

I don't let untrusted folks in my home and don't show folks what I have or don't have. course I don't have what some of you folks do size wise or value wise.

most robberies are inside jobs in some way. simple as neighbor pr mailman or landscaper etc knows what ya got from chit chatting with ya or seeing it come in etc and your schedule etc. tells his cousin or drinking buddy or whatnot in passing one day......who robs....and there ya go. criminals are looking for easier deals. one where they know they'll get good stuff for sure and also know they can do it....time wise and risk wise. course there are exceptions.....but sheriff office buddies always tell me 9 times out of 10 it's drug addicted family members......friends of friends/associates etc. basically inside jobs.

old saying...locks keep honest people honest.
 
As far as the phrase "safe queen" in sale ads I take it with a grain of salt and inspect whatever I'm buying if possible or ask for specific pictures if I have a concern ... but I don't use Ebay and most on here are pretty open and honest are some sales you need to dig a bit deeper or if you have doubts walk away ... I think quality pictures say far more than catch phrases like "safe queen"...

I won't go in to specifics but other than a few EDCs all my knives are locked up be it in a safe or cabinet and they aren't out on display with a few exceptions that are more replicas for decorating and have no real value ...

having kids around at unknown times and just to deter the casual break in and grab what's easy to grab ...

and I will second if you have a collection of any value guns and or knives most likely your home owners won't cover with a seperate rider ... just as artwork or even golf equipment ...so it pays to ask questions ...
 
As far as insurance, my wife has worked in a regional office of the largest for 36 years, you can add a rider for knives and guns or whatever. It is cheaper to value that type of stuff and increase the personal property contents of your policy than a rider. That's what we do...

As far as for break in's, JB Monkey is right, I've been a license mobile Locksmith for 30 years, man I'm gettin' old, anyway, any break in that I was involved with was due to an inside job. Real crooks won't break in somewhere hoping they'll find something, they know what's there. They're not taking a chance of going to prison on a maybe. Residential breaks in's are mostly relatives or friends of relatives who know whats inside and where it's at. Commercial, it's usually a disgruntled employee that either still works there or has been dismissed/fired. Relatives are the hardest to lockout, they know everything about the person they are targetting, it's nearly impossible to keep them out. It's usually a grandchild or a friend of that grandchild. If you can have them, dogs do wonders, just don't let them become best buddies with people that don't live with you, they can be friends but there is a limit. Keep your doors and windows locked when your not home, be vigilant watch any stranger in the neighborhood and let them know they're being watched. Teach your kids gun safety and how to fire a firearm, take them target practicing, hunting or whatever, just teach them. My Dad's guns were kept in an unlocked gun rack hanging on the outside of my bedroom door and they never got up and shot by themselves...I have a gun hidden in every room of our house and there is a knife hanging on every wall. Never had a problem. There is a sticker on the kitchen window that anyone coming up to the house can read. It's an NRA Benefactor sticker. A no soliciting sign helps also, no trespassing signs are only good if you follow the Local Codes on wording and placement otherwise they are not legal, to the point of having someone arrested. If someone is on your property and you tell them to leave they are trespassing and can be arrested...
 
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Good post and good reminders. My last house had a bomb shelter built in. Water, drain and concrete on 6 walls about 10x15. Wish I still had that.
 
sassafrassdogs3 said:
As far as insurance, my wife has worked in a regional office of the largest for 36 years, you can add a rider for knives and guns or whatever. It is cheaper to value that type of stuff and increase the personal property contents of your policy than a rider. That's what we do...

If someone is on your property and you tell them to leave they are trespassing and can be arrested...
Click to expand...

My wife’s step-sister, her fiancé, and a friend of theirs broke in robbed us years ago. Caught the MF’ers red handed in a jewelry store trying to sell one of the watches they stole. They didn’t touch any guns or knives, but made it out with $35k worth of jewelry.

We learned a valuable lesson in dealing with the insurance company. Read carefully...

Jewelry and guns are not personal property! There are separate riders for those things for a reason.

Despite having more than $200k in personal property coverage; the only thing the insurance company paid for was the pillow case the scumbags stuffed all our jewelry in.

Yeah... get the rider to cover your stuff. Don’t trust a thing an agent tells you. What’s in black and white on the policy is the only thing that matters in court.


As to the asking someone to leave, just last fall we found some junky sitting in the front seat of my truck working the GPS to figure out where the hell he was.
I didn’t ask him to leave. I held him at gunpoint until the cops decided to show up.

I think my new attitude is “shoot first, ask questions later”.

We now have 2 safes. One for guns and knives, and one for everything else that’s important.

Moral of the story, take steps yourself to protect your stuff. The law and insurance companies don’t really GAS about you.

The Commonwealth Attorney taught me what to expect when she told me “This isn’t ‘MT_Pokt and wife versus Scumbag #1 & 2, it’s the Commonwealth of Kentucky versus these two”.

That should sum it up for everyone. You don’t have laws that get broken. Only the State and Fed do. Your idea of justice is quite different than theirs.
 
This has turned into one of the most informative threads I've read here in a long time. Really good stuff. Thanks guys! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Take every step to protect your Buck Knives and everything else you own and yourselves and your family BEFORE something happens. :thumbsup:
 
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