Temporary Deprivation

Nah. I use most of my knives from time to time, but mainly rely on whatever my current EDC is, currently a GB2.
 
As my tastes have developed, I find myself wanting to cull the collection of stuff I don't really use, so this would be an interesting experiment.
The issue I have is that what I carry when I'm wearing a suit to work is a lot different from what I carry at home or on the weekend.
Maybe I'll try to cut it down to one of each and see how that goes...
On the other hand, variety is the spice of life.
 
Hmmm, wearing a suit to work. That might be your problem. I bet your tool belt really bunches up the pants, too. Have you considered giving temporary suit deprivation a try?

Parker
 
I have done something similar in the past to try to get a better feel for how much I really like some knives to keep them around or not. Sometimes you like the idea of a knife more than you actually do in practice. It can be illuminating to get an uninterrupted time with a selection of knives and see if you find yourself wishing you had something smaller, larger, better lock etc or not.
 
catspa said:
Hmmm, wearing a suit to work. That might be your problem. I bet your tool belt really bunches up the pants, too. Have you considered giving temporary suit deprivation a try?

Parker
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I could, but people tend to be more responsive to legal advice when the lawyer is wearing a suit rather than jeans... Changing careers would likely be very bad for my knife-buying budget.
 
GatorMedic GatorMedic If the first knife you'd bought was a Bugout, would you have liked it as much then? (I know, they weren't available yet, but please indulge a thought experiment.) Or did having lots of other knives help you figure out what you cared out, then allowing you to land on the Bugout as the one and only? I am very much not a collector (of anything) - I tend to acquire, use, learn, and then give away (or very occasionally sell) things. So, while I've probably owned a few hundred pocket knives in my life, I don't think I've ever had more than 10 at any one time. The knife that seems to be turning into my primary EDC is a GEC Allegheny 97, but if I'd had that knife 10 years ago, I don't think it would have lasted as long. Having the knives I did helped evolve my taste.

I've owned a large number of electric guitars, both factory made and custom, but once I settled on "the one" about 25 years ago, that was it. I own two now (my main one, and a fixed bridge so I can do alternate tunings). But owning a bunch of other things helped me figure out what works and what doesn't for me. I'm still in that process with knives, but I feel like I'm getting it pretty well narrowed down.

-Tyson
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
I could, but people tend to be more responsive to legal advice when the lawyer is wearing a suit rather than jeans... Changing careers would likely be very bad for my knife-buying budget.
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Fair enough. I don’t show up to a kitchen remodel job in a suit, either.

I probly couldn’t earn enough as an attorney to buy a latte, much less any more knives.

Parker
 
Tyson A Wright said:
GatorMedic GatorMedic If the first knife you'd bought was a Bugout, would you have liked it as much then? (I know, they weren't available yet, but please indulge a thought experiment.) Or did having lots of other knives help you figure out what you cared out, then allowing you to land on the Bugout as the one and only?
-Tyson
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Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I would hypothesize that if I got the Bugout as my second knife, then yes I would love it just as much as I do now. Because my first real EDC knife was a Kershaw Blackout, and that’s how I found out I love 3.25” blades. I was into the all black tactical look back then though so I’m not sure how I would have taken to the blue of the Bugout at the time. Other than that, I firmly believe I would have enjoyed it from the very beginning if it was my first knife. It really does hit all of my needs, likes, and wants. And I was lucky in the sense that I didn’t need a lot of trial and error to realize what I liked from a knife. However, you do make a good point because I think in some other areas I’ve needed trial and error to figure out what I really want and like. Relationships for instance lol

Billy The Hungry said:
Doing that now, actually.
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Awesome! How’s it going?
 
jstn said:
That is very interesting that out of 300 plus knives the two that find your pocket are the Advocate and Megalodon. What makes them your favorites? I've owned both, and I liked the slim profile and especially the M4 in the Advocate, but neither really clicked with me, mostly because I'm just not big on metal handles and framelocks. They are both really great looking knives though, and very well made.
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Just personal choice. The opinions of others will of course differ.

I have folders made w/a wide variety of handle materials but I lean towards carrying what I consider "well designed" Ti handled knives w/at least 3.5" blades and I like flippers.

The Advocate is flat and slim and easily fits in the pocket. A simple and elegant design. The Megalodon is a little fatter than the Advocate but also has an elegant design and likewise slips/fits easily in my pocket. Both flip easily and briskly.

The Wayfarer 247 that I just bought also fits in this category but because of it's price/cost to me, I am unlikely to carry it reguarly for the reasons previously mentioned.

The steel really doesn't matter much to me because I don't use the knives that I carry to cut much, if anything, because that would reduce their value for re-sale. I have other knives that I use that are much less costly and more suitable for "real" use.

So, while I have many other knives to choose from, only the Advocate and Megalodon (along w/a few others) ever spend much time in my pocket.

There are many other Ti knives in my collection that I choose not to carry. Not because they are not "good" knives but because they just don't appeal to me for daily carry for the reasons previously mentioned.

These include all of my ZT Ti handled knives (like the 0200/0300), other Spyderco Ti knives (like the Nirvana, Drunken, K2 & SpydieChef) and the limited edition all Ti handled CRKT Hi-Jinx (the 2014 Blade Show "Knife of the Year; only 525 were made).
 
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I'll go ahead and just use Boker GoBag for everything, until custom sheath for Viper Berus 1 is done, then I'll switch on that one and see how long I can do.

I realy like this idea.
 
There are times when culling a few sounds nice, but do not ever get to doing it, and I want to use more of the ones I have, especially ones I thought would be my grail knives. I have tried to use a knife for a short period as the only one, and while it meets my needs, and learned a few lessons, I missed the variety.
 
I never stop rotating between multiple knives for two major reasons:
1) Different weights and shapes carry better in different types of clothing, and my dress is a lot different between work/church/casual every week.
2) I can't ever discipline myself to get around to sharpening often enough, and I can go longer between sharpening if my use is split up among different blades 😅

With that said, I am paring down my collection as well.
 
I have participated (or tried on some occasions) in "one knife challenge" events on another forum. It was painful! It did not motivate me to reduce my collection in any way. It only made me miss the variety and in some cases utility of a nice selection of cutting tools.
 
I have far to many things to contemplate and many different uses for my knives for any time or use quotas. If I use one particular knife once a year for slicing a turkey or another one for skinning just one deer it still has value to me.
I have a tool box as tall and long as I am full of tools and for over 40 years I’ve used them all several times some more than others. I don’t get rid of the ones I seldom use because I just might come across a time when I really need them. They’re bought and paid for and no subscription fee so it’s no problem to have them around.
 
GatorMedic said:
Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I would hypothesize that if I got the Bugout as my second knife, then yes I would love it just as much as I do now. Because my first real EDC knife was a Kershaw Blackout, and that’s how I found out I love 3.25” blades. I was into the all black tactical look back then though so I’m not sure how I would have taken to the blue of the Bugout at the time. Other than that, I firmly believe I would have enjoyed it from the very beginning if it was my first knife. It really does hit all of my needs, likes, and wants. And I was lucky in the sense that I didn’t need a lot of trial and error to realize what I liked from a knife. However, you do make a good point because I think in some other areas I’ve needed trial and error to figure out what I really want and like. Relationships for instance lol



Awesome! How’s it going?
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I'm going through withdrawals. My knives are at my parent's, which are two hours away, so I can't just swap it out. Haha
 
rhino said:
I have participated (or tried on some occasions) in "one knife challenge" events on another forum. It was painful! It did not motivate me to reduce my collection in any way. It only made me miss the variety and in some cases utility of a nice selection of cutting tools.
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This isn’t exactly the same as a one knife challenge. You can choose how many you want to pare down to for the temporary period. If you have 120 knives you use regularly, that might mean you pare down to your 100 favorites temporarily. In my current stint, I have 22 items (plus backups) but I’m paring down to 5 for this temporary deprivation period. I know with almost certainty that 2 others that didn’t make the cut of the pare down group will be staying with me. But this is just an exercise to gain a different perspective so I can make more thoughtful choices in the future. It doesn’t mean I will only keep those five forever and get rid of all the others. That’s why it’s called temporary. Maybe if you tried it with a number more in line with your personal situation, you might be able to gain some useful insight versus the basically cold turkey route of only one choice.

Billy The Hungry said:
I'm going through withdrawals. My knives are at my parent's, which are two hours away, so I can't just swap it out. Haha
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Can you have them mail some of them to you? How many do you have with you now?
 
GatorMedic said:
This isn’t exactly the same as a one knife challenge. You can choose how many you want to pare down to for the temporary period. If you have 120 knives you use regularly, that might mean you pare down to your 100 favorites temporarily. In my current stint, I have 22 items (plus backups) but I’m paring down to 5 for this temporary deprivation period. I know with almost certainty that 2 others that didn’t make the cut of the pare down group will be staying with me. But this is just an exercise to gain a different perspective so I can make more thoughtful choices in the future. It doesn’t mean I will only keep those five forever and get rid of all the others. That’s why it’s called temporary. Maybe if you tried it with a number more in line with your personal situation, you might be able to gain some useful insight versus the basically cold turkey route of only one choice.



Can you have them mail some of them to you? How many do you have with you now?
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I have one, my Spyderco Endela. I also carry a Milwaukee Fastback box cutter at work, but that doesn't really count. I'm seeing my parents this weekend, so I think I'm going to swap out my Endela. I wanted to try for a full month of one knife carry, but I don't think I can do it. Haha!
 
I used to do these challenges on instagram sometimes. #marchofmillie (Spyderco Military all March), #7daysofsebbie and the like. I havent done one since #30days1knife - I carried my inkosi all month, and while it's a fantastic knife, I was so sick of it I ended up selling it. So no more (at least not long challenges). On a side not, I want an inkosi again:rolleyes:
 
Chuck_Nunface said:
I used to do these challenges on instagram sometimes. #marchofmillie (Spyderco Military all March), #7daysofsebbie and the like. I havent done one since #30days1knife - I carried my inkosi all month, and while it's a fantastic knife, I was so sick of it I ended up selling it. So no more (at least not long challenges). On a side not, I want an inkosi again:rolleyes:
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You took your anger out on that poor Inkosi 🤣 Have you tried a challenge where you could have five knives at a time to choose from? Or 10 knives? I'm curious if you'd have the same experience with a little more variety to choose from.
 
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