Yeah, it really is different for everybody. I've handled a Sebenza, carried it for a brief spell, and frankly...it didn't impress me. Yes, it was well made, but the differences between it and a good $200 ZT or Spyderco were pretty negligible, and not anything that will make a lick of difference to me in the real world. Combine that with it's bland appearance and a handle material I don't care for, and, well, you could call me today, offer me a custom Sebenza of my choice, or a $200 Spyderco Karahawk, with the caveat that I had to keep it, and I wouldn't even hesitate, I'd take the Spyderco. There are some nice customs out there, but I haven't seen many midtechs I'd want even if they were free, much less having to pay $400+ for them.
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The Struggle of being a "New Guy"
- Thread starter nicksullyboi
- Start date
Yeah, it really is different for everybody. I've handled a Sebenza, carried it for a brief spell, and frankly...it didn't impress me. Yes, it was well made, but the differences between it and a good $200 ZT or Spyderco were pretty negligible, and not anything that will make a lick of difference to me in the real world. Combine that with it's bland appearance and a handle material I don't care for, and, well, you could call me today, offer me a custom Sebenza of my choice, or a $200 Spyderco Karahawk, with the caveat that I had to keep it, and I wouldn't even hesitate, I'd take the Spyderco. There are some nice customs out there, but I haven't seen many midtechs I'd want even if they were free, much less having to pay $400+ for them.
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A lot of us got into this hobby before the internet & wasted a lot more time & money with a lot less access to information. It was great.
I started young with literal flea market knives & loved them. One day a knife magazine at a convenience store caught my eye & that changed everything. I bought every knife magazine I could find for years after & ordered most of the catalogues offered in the magazines. Only my income limited my hobby for a bit. The catalogs were knife porn & I always had half of my check spent before I got it for a bit until I had a well rounded collection & good sharpening gear. Then I started looking at more expensive stuff & had to space out my purchases.
I don't have any constructive advice. If we're alcoholics, this forum is a huge bar where the waitresses keep putting the bottles to your lips while your friends cheer you on to chug more & more expensive brews (btw, you really need to check out a Para 2 before you read 20 more threads on them here).
Welcome to Bladeforums!!
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"How to control yourself" I dont know , haven't found the answer yet , but my new Emerson cqc 15 will keep me busy for some time .
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Do you truly want advice on how to control yourself?
#1 - When you buy a new knife, carry that knife exclusively for a month. During that time, don't buy another knife, or spend all of your time researching the next one. Get that knife sharp, learn its uses and features, determine what it is you do and don't like about it. Don't be overly picky, see how well you can make it adapt to your needs.
#2 - Don't spend a lot of time on Internet knife forums, looking at everyone else's pictures. It just creates desire and envy where none existed before. Ideally, leave here and don't come back until you are ready for the next monthly knife purchase. If you really are unable to control it, stop visiting knife forums entirely.
If the only rule you can make yourself follow is #1, at least you will limit yourself to 12 knives a year.
I doubt you will listen to me at this point, but those suggestions will work. In other words - if you want to stop drinking, don't hang out in bars.
#1 - When you buy a new knife, carry that knife exclusively for a month. During that time, don't buy another knife, or spend all of your time researching the next one. Get that knife sharp, learn its uses and features, determine what it is you do and don't like about it. Don't be overly picky, see how well you can make it adapt to your needs.
#2 - Don't spend a lot of time on Internet knife forums, looking at everyone else's pictures. It just creates desire and envy where none existed before. Ideally, leave here and don't come back until you are ready for the next monthly knife purchase. If you really are unable to control it, stop visiting knife forums entirely.
If the only rule you can make yourself follow is #1, at least you will limit yourself to 12 knives a year.
I doubt you will listen to me at this point, but those suggestions will work. In other words - if you want to stop drinking, don't hang out in bars.
The best way to control yourself is to get into a more expensive hobby like photography or high-end audio/visual. Then that $100 knife you're looking at now will seem cheap. 
All kidding aside, you do NOT have to spend a lot of money on this particular hobby. Take a look at the thread "How many knives have you owned and whats your favorite 3". One thing you'll notice is the frequent mention of inexpensive SAKs, Ontarios, Bucks, etc. right alongside much higher-end knives. You can't beat a good SAK for versatility and usefulness. Same goes for many of the "low-end" knives people often look down on simply based on price.
Like others have said, make intelligent decisions on where you put your money. Whenever possible go to a store that carries your item and handle one. What looked cool on some webpage may not work as well in your hand. Either way, one thing you'll find is that the hunt and decision-making process are often the funnest part of collecting.
All kidding aside, you do NOT have to spend a lot of money on this particular hobby. Take a look at the thread "How many knives have you owned and whats your favorite 3". One thing you'll notice is the frequent mention of inexpensive SAKs, Ontarios, Bucks, etc. right alongside much higher-end knives. You can't beat a good SAK for versatility and usefulness. Same goes for many of the "low-end" knives people often look down on simply based on price.
Like others have said, make intelligent decisions on where you put your money. Whenever possible go to a store that carries your item and handle one. What looked cool on some webpage may not work as well in your hand. Either way, one thing you'll find is that the hunt and decision-making process are often the funnest part of collecting.
Somehow my knife addiction hasn't caught up to how much I've invested in watches. Not sure how that happened as I love knives a LOT more than watches. Ok maybe I do know, but it's only because I see it as a long time investment as I am sick and tired of replacing watches so I bought a Citizen eco-drive, one of their cheapest models to test it out when it was on sale for around $70. Loved it, than this last black friday picked up another less than a year after the first purchase for around $220.
As for knives, I go cheap. I just spent around $50 on knives which is my largest purchase to date and that was for 4 pocket knives and one cheap kitchen knife to practice sharpening on as well as a bunch of smaller parts from that store. My most expensive knives cost me around $25, so far from what I've seen you hit a point and than your paying a lot more for small incriments in improvement in certain areas such as edge retention, fit and finish, etc. I take apart all my knives that I can disassemble and fine tune them, so fit and finish doesn't bother me much. As for edge retention I don't worry about it all that much as I don't mind sharpening knives, a Rough Rider Canoe which uses 440a is my favorite EDC and that probably has among the worst edge retention of all my knives in my rotation.
My advice invest in some sharpening equipment, it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to get the job done. Practice and get your skill down. This way you hopefully don't feel the need to buy high end knives just to get super steels to avoid sharpening. It takes me about a minute to touch up a knife and bring it back to being sharp, not a big deal in my opinion. And pick up some oil, learn to do maintenance on a knife, center blade, etc. I found learning all these killed my desire to go high end for the most part. I still want a few high end knives but it's generally not for edge retention, fit and finish, but mainly because no one else makes what I want.
As for controlling your knife purchases, thats somewhat easy. Buy a knife and force yourself to use it for a few months, take what you learn from it in terms of likes and dislikes and try to use that knowledge to find an knife that suits your needs even better. If I bought every knife I wanted after I joined here I would have bought a Spyderco Delica/Tenacious/Dragonfly, Kershaw Cryo/Cryo II/Skyline, ZT 0566/0350/0560, Ka-Bar Dozier/Mini Dozier/Phat Bob, etc. That is the short list, but out of it I own the Dozier and Cryo before finding my way to traditional slip joints as I found they fit my needs more after using those 2 knives and what I already had extensively. Do I still want the above knives, yes. But not enough to invest the amount of money to buy them all.
As for knives, I go cheap. I just spent around $50 on knives which is my largest purchase to date and that was for 4 pocket knives and one cheap kitchen knife to practice sharpening on as well as a bunch of smaller parts from that store. My most expensive knives cost me around $25, so far from what I've seen you hit a point and than your paying a lot more for small incriments in improvement in certain areas such as edge retention, fit and finish, etc. I take apart all my knives that I can disassemble and fine tune them, so fit and finish doesn't bother me much. As for edge retention I don't worry about it all that much as I don't mind sharpening knives, a Rough Rider Canoe which uses 440a is my favorite EDC and that probably has among the worst edge retention of all my knives in my rotation.
My advice invest in some sharpening equipment, it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to get the job done. Practice and get your skill down. This way you hopefully don't feel the need to buy high end knives just to get super steels to avoid sharpening. It takes me about a minute to touch up a knife and bring it back to being sharp, not a big deal in my opinion. And pick up some oil, learn to do maintenance on a knife, center blade, etc. I found learning all these killed my desire to go high end for the most part. I still want a few high end knives but it's generally not for edge retention, fit and finish, but mainly because no one else makes what I want.
As for controlling your knife purchases, thats somewhat easy. Buy a knife and force yourself to use it for a few months, take what you learn from it in terms of likes and dislikes and try to use that knowledge to find an knife that suits your needs even better. If I bought every knife I wanted after I joined here I would have bought a Spyderco Delica/Tenacious/Dragonfly, Kershaw Cryo/Cryo II/Skyline, ZT 0566/0350/0560, Ka-Bar Dozier/Mini Dozier/Phat Bob, etc. That is the short list, but out of it I own the Dozier and Cryo before finding my way to traditional slip joints as I found they fit my needs more after using those 2 knives and what I already had extensively. Do I still want the above knives, yes. But not enough to invest the amount of money to buy them all.
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Truuuuuueee. I like that lol
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Well, the only way to control the knife-buying habit is with self-control, because other knife enthusiasts are just enablers! In fact, it's not uncommon for a person to say "I want to buy this" (whether a knife, gun, guitar, watch, etc.) and for the first response(s) to be someone advising to save up just a little bit more money for something nicer.
I started out as a kid of about 13-14 years old, buying cheap daggers and boot knives. My first "good" knife was an Explorer tanto that I got on a family vacation, followed by a Victorinox that has sat in the same desk drawer for 20+ years. I had to stop collecting almost as soon as I started so that I could save money for a car, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I picked up where I left off . . . with the Internet at my fingertips and at least marginally more disposable income.
If you want to attempt to pace yourself a bit, find balance between "cool" knives you want to buy for collecting purposes vs. knives you'll use as tools. Decide where your money is better spent.
I started out as a kid of about 13-14 years old, buying cheap daggers and boot knives. My first "good" knife was an Explorer tanto that I got on a family vacation, followed by a Victorinox that has sat in the same desk drawer for 20+ years. I had to stop collecting almost as soon as I started so that I could save money for a car, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I picked up where I left off . . . with the Internet at my fingertips and at least marginally more disposable income.
If you want to attempt to pace yourself a bit, find balance between "cool" knives you want to buy for collecting purposes vs. knives you'll use as tools. Decide where your money is better spent.
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I am a newbie too. I started with a Kershaw Cryo, CRKT Moxie and a Syperco Tenacious.
I plan spend much more as I am as obsessed as anyone here. I am a chef. I have plenty of quality blades for work, but I have loved knives as a kid. (Parents made me throw them all out)
Now that I am back. I am back with a vengeance.
I have in my recent order list:
Benchmade, Griptillian
Syperco, Native 2 and Manix
ZT 0550 and ZT 0566
I will be getting a Edge Pro Apex to increase my side knife sharpening business, to help pay for all these knives.
I am really psyched to be on this forum.
Thank you everyone.
p.s. I will be buying a subscription soon to help support BF!
I plan spend much more as I am as obsessed as anyone here. I am a chef. I have plenty of quality blades for work, but I have loved knives as a kid. (Parents made me throw them all out)
Now that I am back. I am back with a vengeance.
I have in my recent order list:
Benchmade, Griptillian
Syperco, Native 2 and Manix
ZT 0550 and ZT 0566
I will be getting a Edge Pro Apex to increase my side knife sharpening business, to help pay for all these knives.
I am really psyched to be on this forum.
Thank you everyone.
p.s. I will be buying a subscription soon to help support BF!
Maybe you need to take a step back and figure out if you want to be a "collector" with a definite goal in mind when you look at knives, like having a particular pattern with all kinds of variances in handle material, blade shapes, etc.
Or maybe you're like me and just accumulate knives because they're sentimental or pretty more than practical for your use. That said, I don't have a big stash of fine blades. Three Ka-Bars, three Buck folders, half a dozen Case folders and a SAK that's my EDC and has seen LOTs of use over the past 15 years or so.
Heck, if I was being practical I'd have some good quality kitchen knives instead of the junky things that don't hold an edge for a week at a time. But then, these little "hobbies" of ours are rarely practical. Just fun.
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- Oct 22, 2013
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I absolutely agree with #1 but I think #2 is half the fun of being into knives. I mean, if you have an extremely addictive personality and by hanging out on the forums or reading up on knives give you the uncontrollable impulse to buy more knives, then yes.. step away. That being said, I find that I enjoy chatting with people and learning even if I'm not whipping out the credit card to buy a new knife. I don't like to make impulsive purchases because I really dislike finding that I was wrong and not wanting to keep it.
The funny thing though is that buying 1 new knife every month or every other month is pretty reasonable and shows restraint here and around the knife world. In my real life though, people are always like "you are buying another knife already??"
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- Dec 1, 2009
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- 472
- When you guys were new did you have a sudden urge to buy tons of knives?
I was working at Academy Sports & Outdoors and was very curious about the knives they had, so I started buying one here and there. Then, I discovered Rough Rider knives and started ordering half a dozen each paycheck. I wanted to learn more about the knives I was buying, so I joined this forum.
- How did you control yourself?
I eventually figured out what I liked and that kind of killed my urge to buy tons of knives. Now, I only buy the occasional limited edition knife (such as forum knives) and a Kershaw/ZT or two each year. It's kind of sad, but I know any other knife I buy will just sit in my knife case.
I was working at Academy Sports & Outdoors and was very curious about the knives they had, so I started buying one here and there. Then, I discovered Rough Rider knives and started ordering half a dozen each paycheck. I wanted to learn more about the knives I was buying, so I joined this forum.
- How did you control yourself?
I eventually figured out what I liked and that kind of killed my urge to buy tons of knives. Now, I only buy the occasional limited edition knife (such as forum knives) and a Kershaw/ZT or two each year. It's kind of sad, but I know any other knife I buy will just sit in my knife case.
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- Jan 27, 2014
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- 46
The Resilience is gonna blow your mind lol! Spyderco's are a whole addiction by themselves. I started with a Kershaw Brawler which was a bit bland, then grabbed a Tenacious. After the Tenacious I promptly grabbed a Yojimbo 2, and I just got an Endura 4 Super Blue Sprint Run on Monday. I'm already on the lookout for a Southard and a Paramilitary 2 
As for controlling myself, obviously I'm already a bad example but I've sorta been trying to stick to more unusual stuff, thus the Yojimbo 2, which is a harder to find and more unusual Spyderco, and the Endura 4 is 1 of 1200. I probably wouldn't have bought a normal Endura 4. Same will go for the eventual Southard and PM2, if I can't find them in a variant that's at least a little bit special, i won't jump on one(course all the southards are a bit special so I'm just doomed there once I have the spare change).
As for controlling myself, obviously I'm already a bad example but I've sorta been trying to stick to more unusual stuff, thus the Yojimbo 2, which is a harder to find and more unusual Spyderco, and the Endura 4 is 1 of 1200. I probably wouldn't have bought a normal Endura 4. Same will go for the eventual Southard and PM2, if I can't find them in a variant that's at least a little bit special, i won't jump on one(course all the southards are a bit special so I'm just doomed there once I have the spare change).
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Yea my resilience came in yesterday and is definitely a step up so I could only imagine what 200 to 300 could get me
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The only thing preventing me from going bankrupt buying knives is my wife. I suggest you get yourself one ot those 
Lee D
BANNED
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The only thing preventing me from going bankrupt buying knives is my wife. I suggest you get yourself one ot those
and be honest with her...im afraid that someday when I pass on my wife will sell my knives for what I TOLD her I spent on them and not what they are actually worth
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The only thing preventing me from going bankrupt buying knives is my wife. I suggest you get yourself one ot those
Awesome!
I'm looking at four digit knives now (as a grail of course) and it's really proving hard to stop the spending...
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Awesome!
I'm looking at four digit knives now (as a grail of course) and it's really proving hard to stop the spending...
I hear ya guys, I was impressed by my how much i like inexpensive knives, until i checked the "customs for sale" area of the forum... *sigh*
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Lol that's hilarious
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For like 15 years I was a SOG fanboi. After doing research on something (i forgets) I discovered this wonderful and deadly site in August. From August-to November I bought a Benchmade 530, Grip, Mini-Grip, 162, Kershaw blur,KA-Bar US Army, ZT0350, Spyderco Dragonfly ZDP-189, Gayle Bradley, Schempp Rock,ESEE Izula, Lionsteel SR-1A (I have loinsteel too, but thats another story), then took the big jump to a Strider SnG, then another jump to a Brian Tighe Mini Tighe-Rod. Then like last week I looked at all my knives and thought "holy mother of pearl (name that movie)" I've spent a lot of money. I'm selling the Brian Tighe to try and recoup a little money so my bank doesn't kill me. I haven't bought a knife since November, as I have found ultimate nirvana in the Strider, so for now my search is over, and my bank account recovering. Its been like -40 with the windchill lately here and cant afford to have the power or heat turned off. In truth, the only way to control it is to run out of money (or come close to it). When I bought the Benchmade 530 I thought wow, this is a lot of money for a knife. Here I drooled over Striders, sebenzas and Hinderers (oh my) but thought I could never drop that kinda dough on a knife. I was wrong.