think im going to quit collecting

My advice: a sensible woman. My lady will use my knife to remove an ear if I overspend on something so simple as a knife. All things in moderation. The one knife for a year seems like an excellent suggestion. I mean no offense whatsoever, but it sounds as if you kind of went overboard on a new hobby.
 
I just recently made a new rule for myself. I will only buy a new knife when I have saved up enough money only by collecting change and $1 bills. This will give me time to truly use the knives I already have and also really appreciate any new knives I buy. I still get to enjoy this hobby without feeling any financial strain.
 
Look through my stash and i realized i'm running out of space. Hence i only go for users and i sell/trade as keeping the number even or less.
After a while it makes total sense.
 
So stop calling yourself a collector. I collected when I was a kid(wish I still had all of those). Now I just buy what I want when I want and use them as I see fit. I never get rid of anything because I bought all of them with a reasonable vetting process and never on a whim or to feed instant gratification impulses. That goes for everything else I have. You can build up quite a stock, but not a collection in my opinion.
 
Indianbladenoob said:
A friend of my old man who is a very experienced outdoorsman, hunter etc, apart from being a counter insurgency soldier for many years told me to get 1 good knife and use it for at least a year or to death whichever came first. I did not completely take his advice then but it sounds a lot like what UR saying now. Its a good way to go.

My circumstances led me to realise I might be able to make cost effective knives because it is (I wail, ad infinitum) phenomenally expensive to get decent knives in India. My Kershaw Scamp and Crown ran to near $40 each delivered to my door. The SOG NW Ranger ran over $110. The knife I am currently working on will not be comparable just yet but its costing all of $20 and bringing me incredible experience enriched by the people and info on this forum. Shorttime, Mr.Apelt, Cam and many others. It was gratifying to receive a post from Ethan Becker just because I bought one of his knives!

Making my own seems better than buying chinese knockoffs (seriously claimed 60-62hrc, D-2 Sebenza and Hinderer clones for $70) and as long as I state whose designs I was inspired by, I don't feel so bad. It seems beyond my creative abilities to create a truly original design.

And lastly its a very relaxing thing to do. My father is a ex-combat pilot and an accomplished yogi and even he says there is no better meditative or peaceful activity than working with your hands at something you love. And I know you love knives. So try it. Make a knife, modify an existing knife. It will definitely improve your cost benefit ratio for your hobby and make you feel a lot better.

Edit: I have seen someone on this forum who has "A very relaxing way to make my hands ache" on his title bar...............
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Nice post.

There are lots of fairly inexpensive ways to "obsess" over "collecting" knives.

You can rescue old knives for instance and put as much time and effort in to searching flea markets, yard sales, antique shops, etc. and then cleaning them up and sharpening and fixing them as you like. All this for an occasional small monetary outlay.

You can mod and pimp Opinels. You could just get one and work on it over time.

You could do all this and still hang out here and endlessly discuss knives (maybe starting a few less threads).

It takes a bit of will power, maybe just setting a rule or two.

I love USA made Schrades also. I already yard sale, the not-so-little woman likes antique shops. I'll probably keep an eye out for them indefinitely and put out as much time as I feel like at the moment doing so. I "obsess" over getting good knives for cheap.
 
I'm a mild knife/gun collector..My wife approves and the family,bills and house come first..Everyone has hobbies/vices/obsessions??? I know guys who race cars,quads and one motocrosser...I raced motocross years ago, you talk about a "money pit"..Entry fees,fuel,new parts,injuries,tires,chains,sprokets,traveling everywhere,,$$$..I work with guys who hang out in bars all the time,, others who drink "at least" a case of beer a week...Chain smokers,,some order out every day spending $10-$15 just for lunch..

Knife collecting is one of the safest,cheapest vices to have..Consider yourself lucky...
 
You know, this is a problem for me. I've always told myself I'm a user, but then I got into making knives, made a few, and now and then this knife pops up, and how can I not buy it? So now I'm one knife away from double digits, and I'm making 3 more at the moment. 9 probably doesn't sound like a lot, but to me, I don't know what to do with more than 9... but I want more than 9! :D I have a knife for more formal occasions, EDC knives, outdoor, harder use knives, a fixed blade... pretty much all I need, but I still stick around and keep buying... I swear someone's puttying drugs in my knives, cuz I'm getting addicted. :p Not too worried.. but sometimes I just think I shouldn't buy all of this.
 
So you chucked all your knives and then went out and bought a Spyderco Chokwe as your one and only? Wow...just wow. I think maybe there are some impulse control issues at play here.
 
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HoosierQ said:
So you chucked all your knives and then went out and bought a Spyderco Chokwe as your one and only? Wow...just wow. I think maybe there are some impulse control issues at play here.
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possible... but i dont plan on more purchases.
 
Dude...you're probably gonna have to buy another knife...a practical knife...to actually use! Now had you chucked it all and bought like a small Sebenza or some sort of SAK or one single multi-tool that might have been different. A very usable, all-purpose knife. A knife like the Chokwe is really there...it exists...to appeal to the collector. I say, step back into the light, and keep collecting. There's now way a Chokwe is going to server as your one and only.
 
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