Ive been collecting by accident since I was a kid, Christmas presents, grandpa's old knives, etc and have always loved old folding knives. I would now like to get into collecting more seriously. Besides the few good deals you come across I would like to stick to one or two specific patterns. I know from a little experience that toenails are good ones but most of the time a little too pricy for me to have many of the old ones. I was thinking of the canoe. It seems like every knife manufacture makes the canoe and the knife has been around for a long time. Let me know what you think. Im a newbie collector. Great site by the way this is my first post.
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trying to pick a pattern
- Thread starter byersj79
- Start date
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- Nov 4, 2006
- Messages
- 19,374
I would start out with whichever pattern you like the best.. I started with Case stockman and the went to trappers, and am now back to stockman, and getting an interest in peanuts too... I think once you get started you will find over time that other patterns will start catching your interest. Its very addictive. Have fun
If you can't decide on a particular pattern to collect, I have some alternative methods that might suit you better, at least until a pattern catches your interest:
- Don't collect anything. Instead, be an "Accumulator", buying knives of every sort without a strict method or guidelines. That will allow you to explore a wider variety of knives and take advantage of whatever is currently available.
- Collect by brand, age, national origin, handle material, or other characteristics besides pattern type.
I started off like yourself - knives from grandparents, other gifts, buying an occational knife myself, and finding a few. Before I knew it, it was a bunch of knives. I continued to Accumulate randomly as my budget allowed, whatever looked interesting, was on sale, or people gave me as gifts.
Since then I've began "Collecting" in a couple of different areas, but I'll never give up my old Accumulator habits.
Best Wishes and Good Luck!
-Bob
- Don't collect anything. Instead, be an "Accumulator", buying knives of every sort without a strict method or guidelines. That will allow you to explore a wider variety of knives and take advantage of whatever is currently available.
- Collect by brand, age, national origin, handle material, or other characteristics besides pattern type.
I started off like yourself - knives from grandparents, other gifts, buying an occational knife myself, and finding a few. Before I knew it, it was a bunch of knives. I continued to Accumulate randomly as my budget allowed, whatever looked interesting, was on sale, or people gave me as gifts.
Since then I've began "Collecting" in a couple of different areas, but I'll never give up my old Accumulator habits.
Best Wishes and Good Luck!
-Bob
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2007
- Messages
- 950
Another accumulator here. Don't even do it on purpose, really.
knowtracks
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2006
- Messages
- 3,881
Collect what you like, there's no rules. We will never get rich by the knive we collect. So you might as well have fun!
Dave
Dave
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2005
- Messages
- 857
I've found that my fat paws simply don't allow me to comfortably hold many patterns that look beautiful but have "protruding blade spines" (if that makes sense). In other words, with a pattern like a Barlow (my favorite slipjoint pattern), the two blades don't get in each other's way when one or the other is open IN MY HAND.
My point is, be prepared to encounter some patterns that are aesthetically pleasing but which won't make good users for your particular hand. I usually get a solid but cheap Chinese-produced version of a certain pattern to get an idea of how it works for my hand before investing in a pricier American-made version of the same pattern. You could also get a used American-made knife for the same purpose. This is how I've decided that Barlows, toothpicks, single-blade Coke bottles, and large deerslayers fit my hand very well, the classic medium three-blade stockman fits my hand "okay," and other patters are "display case only" for me.
My point is, be prepared to encounter some patterns that are aesthetically pleasing but which won't make good users for your particular hand. I usually get a solid but cheap Chinese-produced version of a certain pattern to get an idea of how it works for my hand before investing in a pricier American-made version of the same pattern. You could also get a used American-made knife for the same purpose. This is how I've decided that Barlows, toothpicks, single-blade Coke bottles, and large deerslayers fit my hand very well, the classic medium three-blade stockman fits my hand "okay," and other patters are "display case only" for me.
Appreciate it guys. I actually just ordered two knives neither a canoe! Got a 25th anniversary bulldog stockman stag handle and a fight'n rooster large toothpick smooth bone blue very pretty knife. Thanks for the help! Wasn’t expecting so many posts within hours! Great site.
Thanks. I actually have quite a few German knives. They're my favorite carrying knives. Bulldog is my favorite, hen and rooster a close second...almost all stockman. I was going to try to pick a specific type to put up but you guys have inspired me to keep on "accumulating". The only thing I’ll do different is not use them so they'll be nice for years to come. Thanks again for all the suggestions.