The Struggle of being a "New Guy"

[addylo]

it's a slippery slope man... You'll go from 20 to 50 then 80. From 80 you'll jump to 100+ then 200+ then customs and midtechs...

QFT!

Welcome to the forum!

I remember shopping for my first modern folder. I looked at the mid-grade Spyderco line (i.e. Manix, Sage, etc) and thought, "Wow! Who pays $80+ for a knife?" I settled for a Tenacious and thought I was "splurging" at around $30.

Fast forward a couple of years. My last several purchases have been in the three-digits. Just today I pulled the trigger on a William Henry E10. And I'm eying a Sebenza 21, Strider SNG, and William Henry Atlas.

So many knives, so little time.

 

[Cereal_killer]

Nopyo so I should go with the ZT 0350 off my list next?

No, do your self a huge favor and get the 0566, much much better of a knife. I'm not a ZT fan, don't dislike them, just not my thing, but if your looking at the 0350 you really aught to atleast consider the 0566 for just about $25-30 more your getting so much more knife.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

You've got a good list overall but take your time. The list will grow, you aren't going to buy every knife you want. The ZT is definitely a good start.

 

[nicksullyboi]

Cereal _ killer I'll definitely look into it man thanks

 

[rsngfrce]

Jeez... I had a relatively small collection (mostly made up of stuff my grandfather gave me), but I started collecting a lot a few months ago, and I CANNOT tell you how to control yourself... the more you see, the more you like. TRY to maintain control, or you will end up with knives and think, "Why did I need this one?". PAY ATTENTION to the size of knives you are purchasing, or you will undoubtedly end up with knives that 'looked' MUCH bigger in the picture! SAVE YOUR BOXES!... I didn't at first and now very much regret it. If you are an obsessive collector (like I am), try to limit yourself to some certain type of knives that you really like (brand, color, whatever) rather than just feeling the need to buy everything that looks great...

(Oh, by the way, I am a huge Kershaw fan, but I personally think the ZT's are a little much... expensive and generally very large. Not saying they aren't nice, but do you need a knife that large/sturdy/heavy? There are cheaper options in this category, lessor steel but otherwise just as nice, IMO).

 

[Haiduke]

I think I'm about 2 months ahead of you (on knives - I started on flashlights a decade ago and guns 6 years ago) and you are on a wild ride! If you want to try out a few, check out Dave, AKA KershawGuy. He has GREAT service, really good prices and - especially - he sells "blems" which are Kershaw knives that have some cosmetic blemish on them and they go for much less than a non-blem. They are less expensive (but just as functional) and you don't feel guilty carrying and using them. I picked up a blem ZT 0350 for a great price to see if I liked it...

If you do decide to collect, I'd suggest choosing a small "family" of knives - beware of trying collect all variations of the Leek, Chive or Blur - you could go bankrupt doing that!

Welcome to Blade Forums!

 

[nicksullyboi]

If you are an obsessive collector (like I am), try to limit yourself to some certain type of knives that you really like (brand, color, whatever) rather than just feeling the need to buy everything that looks great...

All the knives on my list I have watched multiple reviews on and done my research. I would never buy on looks alone. That's what I was doing with the cheapos from the mall and head shops lol. Learned that lesson for sure

 

[nicksullyboi]

If you do decide to collect, I'd suggest choosing a small "family" of knives - beware of trying collect all variations of the Leek, Chive or Blur - you could go bankrupt doing that!

Welcome to Blade Forums!

Lol one is good enough for me. I'm gonna find what I like and stick to it. Eventually I'll find what I like best and stay with a small family as u say. And I've looked at his blems and am seriously considering it with a S30V Blur for $55

 

[Haiduke]

Dave is good people, he'll take good care of you. Sigh - I want to like the Blur, but, being left handed I've learned that if it isn't a flipper, I just can't use it. I wish the Blur had a flipper instead of just a thumb-stud to open it. I recently picked up a Kershaw Avalanche - and not only does it not have a flipper, it only has a stud on the right-side of the blade - I have to open it like my old-skool lockbacks with two hands...

 

[nicksullyboi]

Damn that sucks. I've noticed most knives are right hand oriented

 

[cop911]

Quickly...take your credit hide it, give it to a friend to hold, melt it. Because you can burn through a lot of cash searching for 'your knife' and it will take a long. long time...just because you'll always find another, and another...

 

[spydercobenchmadekai]

I've always liked knives and owned a fair share of shitty ones. For the longest I was that guy who bought those $15 head shop knives and thought they were so "cool". About a year ago my dad bought me a Gerber Torch II Tanto as gift. This to me after owning all those junky want to be knives was awesome. I used the heck out of that thing until just recently I decided it was time to get something new. I stopped in to my local scheels and the guy working there talked me into a CRKT Shenanigan for $20 on sale. After using it for a few days I was amazed at the quality of the knife for the price so I just had to research CRKT. This led me to BF and opened up a whole new world to me. I have a spyderco resilience in the mail that should be here tomorrow and I'm already wanting to order another knife. When you guys were new did you have a sudden urge to buy tons of knives? How did you control yourself? There's just so many nice blades and different options out there its tough not to spend every dime I have at once.

Question one: as soon as I bought my first Kershaw, a Brawler. Question two: I didn't. How did you think that I ended up with over 60 knives in fewer than 6 months?

 

[Blackie Scantling]

I grew up such a steady diet of cheap but good knives like Cases that finally carrying an expensive Gerber lockback I felt overdressed. Like running a jackhammer wearing a Rolex Mariner.

 

[immolatus]

Oh man...I don't know if you guys just made me feel better or worse. I can tell you that after only joining the forums last August: I've got a wall full of fixed blades and a 50lb box of folders. I think the knowledge and hospitality of the forums has saved me a bit, as my tastes (there are a few) in blades have become much more refined.

 

[DShiflet]

One thing that can help(slightly), is decide what you like in a knife, then focus on that area. For example, if you like assisted openers, you should devote a lot of your browsing to Kershaw/ZT, while if you prefer manual openers, Spyderco may be more your thing. If you like BIG folders, the folks at Cold Steel got what you need. And so on.

The sad fact of the matter is unless you win the lottery, inherit a fortune, or otherwise come into vast sums of cash, you're never likely to get *everything* you want, so figuring out an area to focus a bit more on can at least help you get some of your favorites.

 

[treeshaker]

[video=youtube;NPjhEsZr8Nw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NPjhEsZr8Nw[/video]

 

[Firestrike]

You will like most here buy knives that you can afford (phase 1), then you will start to want better knives and then save up a little for next purchases (phase 2), then you will drool over what you can't afford (phase 3), then you will start trying to sell the crap you started with so you can get the drool covered grails (phase 4), and then will be when you learn that you should have skipped the first four phases and bought your grail in the beginning (phase 5).


Then (phase 6) comes and that's when knife companies make a brand new design, or come up with some new super steel, and the cycle starts again.

Now I bet you wish you were still ignorant of what good knives are, welcome to the forums, now kick back and enjoy.

 

[leghog]

Just apply a little common sense to your purchases and you'll be fine. You will probably notice if you continue an interest in knives and continue visiting BF, the price will steadily increase until you sort of plateau. The important thing is to have fun.

Not necessarily. I now will only rarely spend more than $20 on a knife and then not likely over $30.

 

[Cursum Perficio]

One day I decided it was past time I got a quality pocket knife, you know, spend a hundy buck and get a good one. So I did. And the bug bit me.

Now I have 19 (so far), and most of them cost more than a hundy.

The only advice I can think of to give you is, a lesser number of good quality knives are so much better than a higher number of cheapies.
With the odd exception, like my nifty little Oso Sweet.
I enjoy researching and reading and comparing and pondering before I buy, it can be time consuming and informative and helps to avoid the impulse buy thing, and help to extend the time between purchases.

 

[leghog]

Depending on what you get into, it need not be very expensive. Many old out of production USA made Camillus, Schrade, Ulster, Imperial, etc can be had for a song and can keep you in the hunt and in research for years to come.

Camillus No. 41s

Stockmans.