Thinking about selling nearly all my knives. Anyone get that far out of collecting? How did it go?

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I like the piles approach. Your pile 1 would be those you listed as absolute keepers. Pile 2 might be those you’re not sure if you’d miss or not - I wouldn’t know for sure myself until I’ve handled them all at least one more time. Maybe put yourself in whatever mindset you were in when you first acquired them and see if they still have that same appeal. And pile 3 is anything you’re sure you won’t ever carry or have any kind of emotional attachment to, ie, you know you’ll never miss. You’ll know for sure as soon as you box them up and put them aside for packing/shipping, as that’s kind of the final goodbye before actually pushing them out the door.

Come to think of it, I kind of took a first stab at that just recently. Out of that came just a half dozen that went right up on the block, but if I was really serious about downsizing, I could probably come up with 10-20 more. A handful were kept aside as the likely daily users rotation. The rest got reorganized and put back in storage cases, to be re-evaluated some time in the future. Some of them have some kind of sentimental value that I know I’ll never sell, even if they never get used. Some will end up in the exchange.

That’s how I think I’d proceed to minimize the chances of having regrets.
 
Dadpool said:
Currently feeling the winds of change blowing through my life and thinking about paring back my daily carry options to like five or six knives, plus thinning the purpose-specific knife herd for good measure. 🍃

For carry options, I'd keep something along the lines of 3-4 modern folders (one medium "does it all," one lightweight, one rustproof serrated, one medium flipper just for fun) and two slipjoints (one Barlow, one SAK).

Even though I've had a scaled-down collection for the past several years, this degree of scaling down would be a first for me. If you've done something like this, how'd it work out for you? Any tips on avoiding regrets?
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I think it makes sense. This is similar to how our taste in knives and edc gear changes over time. Eventually you learn what it is that you really like to carry and what is sitting on the shelf.
You're not getting out of knives. You're refining your collection.
Maybe don't sell things that would be literally impossible to replace, if you really like it. But production knives can all go.
 
I'm pretty well down that road. Tried to think it through and what ultimately decided it for me was the realization that this collection would end up being an enormous burden on my family once I check out.

No regrets so far, but I had (and still have) several boatloads of knives that I want to convert to cash and space. I have a small pile that I'm keeping and a (so far) smaller pile that I'm reluctant to sell, but most are slated for new homes.
 
My rules for myself, may help you, may not….. i dont know your hobbies or your situation. 😁


First: go peel an apple

Second: go peel and whittle down a walking stick

Third: cut up a bunch or cardboard

Fourth: dig out a splinter

Fifth: open some mail

Sixth: cut up some cardboard boxes

Seventh: handle all them safe queens

Eight: use those big guys to chop up some kindling

Ninth: go fishing and keep a few fish

Tenth: Go camping

Eleventh: dinner

Then remember why you need all those fun little tools in various shapes and sizes and steels. Think about why you bought them in the first place. If none of that makes you feel like you need to hang onto a bunch then get rid of them.
 
marcus aurelius said:
I think it makes sense. This is similar to how our taste in knives and edc gear changes over time. Eventually you learn what it is that you really like to carry and what is sitting on the shelf.
You're not getting out of knives. You're refining your collection.
Maybe don't sell things that would be literally impossible to replace, if you really like it. But production knives can all go.
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Exactly!

What appealed tp me in my 20's was different than in my 40's. In my 60's, I had zero interest in what I was interested in, in my younger days. Taste changes, and most of all, outlook on life changes greatly. Values change. New interests take over as you age and you finally realize that you have a finite number of wake-ups left. So you start to prioritize things in your life that you value more than an obsession with inanimate objects that don't really care about you.

I still like a good knife in my pocket as I go through my day, but it's not that important what it is as long as it's sharp. I still like to look at the forums to see what everyone is up to, but as far as new knives, Meh. Nothing I see is advantageous to what I already have. for this red giant stage of life, I just don't need that much, not that I ever rally did. It was all about satisfying the wants vs Needs. Now I don't care about it. About the only thing I really care about anymore is the people in my life that I'm trying to make as well off before o go as I can. Take care of the loved ones and the heck with obsessions about things.
 
A few years back, I had to liquidate my entire collection out of necessity, with the exception of a couple of gifts. A good portion of those knives, I never thought twice about, but there are a handful that I’d love to have back. The reality is that a couple of them have skyrocketed in price, to where they are now unaffordable for me. There’s a couple others that I just NEVER see come up for sale. So, my advice is to think about “what if” you wanted to have certain ones back. Are they still in production? Are there a lot of them available in the wild? Hopefully this helps. Weigh your decisions carefully, because some you might have to live with forever. Best of luck, whatever you decide.
 
I had to pack all my knives 2 years ago for a move so handling them all over the course of a couple days was eye opening. I sold some, set some aside for sale but damn if I don’t have a lot of knives I don’t think I can let go of, many are either rare, custom made for me or they’d likely end up like knives I’ve sold in the past, never to be seen again leaving me regretting letting them go.

Conundrum is I want to buy a tractor and should sell half my collection to try and pay for it but I just don’t think I can get there, too many I can’t bear to sell. WTF
 
I have had so many knives that I haven't carried or used in years. Then one day out of the blue, I think "I wonder where that one is?" and go dig it out. Suddenly I have cool memories of, and maybe the times that I carried it (in some cases 30 years ago)
This is why I don't generally sell guns or knives anymore. They are not costing me anything to keep, and every time I get rid of one I end up regretting it later and trying to find another one like it to buy at a much higher price.

I sold an Olsen boot knife / dagger probably 30 years ago, and I have thought of it many times. I think of it occasionally and will go looking for a replacement. When I can find them in decent shape they sell for a LOT more than I paid for the original, and are more than I am willing to pay. Just keep telling myself, "shoulda kept it"
 
I have quite a few nice knives, but only a handful get much use. Knives don't take up much room, so I see no reason to get rid of them. If I needed the money, well, that'd be a different story. I'll give a knife to one of our sons, or a friend occasionally, but that's about it.
 
Hey Dadpool, I been doing the same... not liquidating, just refining. moving stagnant stuff is a habit just start doing it.
People talk about the one in, one out rule. I think that's good, but I'm not building a museum, so I focus on getting better examples of the things I love and use the most- with the money from the ones I sell.
If you haven't seen the knife in a while and you pick it up and it does nothing for you, time to sell it here on the forum.
 
It was pretty easy to decide which knives I could let go. Finding the motivation to actually do it, has proven more difficult.

Cognitive-bias-speaking-wise, it sounds like this is something that hasn't advanced to the planning stage, yet.

My suggestion would be to sort your collection by use category. Even if some of them don't have a clear use-case, or fit more than one role, don't worry about it.

Carry each one in the role that you want it to fit. Treat it like a job interview, or preparation for doing a knife review. Carry it until you decide that it fits the role, fits a different role, or has something about it that makes you want to pass on it.

Keep going until you've got through all of them, found the Goldilocks knife for each role, or you run out of time and don't have to make a decision.
 
tltt said:
I like Joe Rychetnik's way of doing it, where he gathered up all his knives every few years, and divided them into piles after handling. Pile 1 were knives that he still really liked and weren't going anywhere, Pile 2 were knives he couldn't decided on, so they stayed around another few years, and Pile 3 were knives he didn't care for anymore. Those were sold or given away. Every few years he'd do this till the pile was small and manageable.
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This is a good method. I do my stuff much the same.

I have stuff I’d NEVER get rid of, stuff I could get rid of if I needed to, and all the rest which is trading fodder.

I have gone through many waves of wants/“needs” vs. what I have, and what I was willing to sell out of those to get what I wanted, lots of times.

I’ve sold off fixed blades and bought folders, got folder rich and decided I didn’t need so many, then parlayed what I didn’t carry back into fixed blades. Picked up a few traditionals here and there along the way… You can swap out knife types in that scenario in any order and I’ve done it before.

At this point I’m about as far “out” as I’ve ever been. I have around 4-5 folders, a few traditionals, and a manageable amount of fixed blades (they’re my jam, so I have a couple few).

Stuff still catches my eye, but I’m at the point where I can look at a design and specs and know if it’s not for me. Most stuff these days is not for me. It’s damn rare when I’m wowed by much.

I still do have a few irons in the fire on stuff I’ve been looking for forever and a bunch of them have paid off recently. When something like that pops up, I’ll almost always bite. Other than that I just oooh and ahh at a few things but am content with what I have.

So, I’m about as out as I’ve ever been after a point. I do regret some of the stuff I’ve sold or traded, but the regrets are very few. I got what I was after at the time. Sometimes that turned out to not work out, but it scratched the itch.

This hobby is something that I just don’t think I could ever fully turn loose. My “collection” is small-ish, eclectic, and for the time being, exactly what I want and need.

It’s up to every individual to decide their own level of “do I have a reasonable amount of these objects or am I f@ckin’ nuts and need to pare back?”
 
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