User or safe queen?

I'm an engineer and sit at a desk all day. My main need for a knife in my typical day is for opening a package... either from Amazon or another knife I bought LoL. I have 3 or 4 knives I use for working around the house and another couple for hunting and fishing. That leaves about 300 that I do not use. I love vintage / antique knives. I collect them, I appreciate them, I preserve their history and I learn about them. It's also an investment... some people buy stocks, I buy old knives that are collectible.

My favorite chore knife... takes a super sharp edge without much effort
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My favorite hunting knife... blade length and handle shape suits my hand perfect. Also super sharp...
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And my EDC's... I have these two knives with me as long as I am wearing clothes LoL
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I go by the old adage "Use, don't abuse." 👍

I don't have any safe queens. I do however have some that are only carried on special occasions. (Like weddings, funerals, ect) They are meant to be used & enjoyed 😉
 
No safe queens for me. I don’t begrudge anyone their safe queens, it’s just not how I enjoy knives. A couple of times I bought a backup for a knife I really enjoyed. The backups sitting unused bothered me so I eventually gave’m away. I am sure I’ll kick myself if I ever loose the originals.

I have some that I carry and only use lightly.
 
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I have a lot of knives that I have never used. They were not purchased with the intention of being a safe queen, but at one point during my accumulation phase, each knife was purchased in some kind of mental isolation room where thinking "this will be a great knife to carry and use in so-and-so situation" without choosing to think about the fact that I already have 2 or 3 or more perfectly good knives for the exact same situation.

Then time comes to actually use the the thing, and the opposite thought was "why mess up a beautiful new knife when I have this other one I have been using for a while that will do the job just fine."

Sanity returned eventually, and the thought processes merged, so that it became "why BUY a beautiful new knife when I already have a dozen users that will do the job fine, and a dozen dozen* more still waiting their turn."

So yes, I have a ton of new knives still in tubes / boxes that have not been used, but it was not supposed to work out that way. They are all users, with usage count still sitting at 0.

* Not an accidental word duplication.
 
I made the conscience decision years ago to Collect Barlow knives both old and new . I also decided to collect Northfield and various other brands of knives but mainly Northfields . This is an old Cattaraugus that I bought strictly because it was a Catt that has blade protrusion when closed that nobody would ever buy it and it would eventually be thrown away . A bonus was the Cocobolo covers were some of the best that I have ever seen . I had no notion to ever use it but to put in my meager collection of Cattaraugus knives .
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I carry many of my Northfields but use very few of them . I have many knives that I just want to keep Like New for many reasons .

Harry
 
Old Engineer said:
I made the conscience decision years ago to Collect Barlow knives both old and new . I also decided to collect Northfield and various other brands of knives but mainly Northfields . This is an old Cattaraugus that I bought strictly because it was a Catt that has blade protrusion when closed that nobody would ever buy it and it would eventually be thrown away . A bonus was the Cocobolo covers were some of the best that I have ever seen . I had no notion to ever use it but to put in my meager collection of Cattaraugus knives .
FRIoAwk.jpg


I carry many of my Northfields but use very few of them . I have many knives that I just want to keep Like New for many reasons .

Harry
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Harry... Is it possible Catt had the best bone AND best wood handles? 😉

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rishma said:
No safe queens for me. I don’t begrudge anyone their safe queens, it’s just not how I enjoy knives. A couple of times I bought a backup for a knife I really enjoyed. The backups sitting unused bothered me so I eventually gave’m away. I am sure I’ll kick myself if I ever loose the originals.

I have some that I carry and only use lightly.
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Ok, an admission and a justification.

I do in fact have some knives that haven't been used. For instance, I have three 2022 Remington Granddaddy Barlows total. I use one, it's one of my favorite patterns and my 2023 KotY. The other two are stored.

The two that are in storage, I do not think of as "safe queens," more like "heirs to the throne" in the event that I lose or wear out the one I currently use. I guess if I used them all at once, then my current user would only have ⅓ of the patina that it does now 😥. I would put the "heirs" into action in a heartbeat if required, but I don't feel the need to prove a point by just using them for using's sake. 🤷

1HqVa2N.jpeg
 
birdsbeaks said:
Ok, an admission and a justification.

I do in fact have some knives that haven't been used. For instance, I have three 2022 Remington Granddaddy Barlows total. I use one, it's one of my favorite patterns and my 2023 KotY. The other two are stored.

The two that are in storage, I do not think of as "safe queens," more like "heirs to the throne" in the event that I lose or wear out the one I currently use. I guess if I used them all at once, then my current user would only have ⅓ of the patina that it does now 😥. I would put the "heirs" into action in a heartbeat if required, but I don't feel the need to prove a point by just using them for using's sake. 🤷

1HqVa2N.jpeg
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I see the distinction between safe queen and backup or heir. No justification needed.

My decision to part with my backups is just a quirk of mine about having unused things. I think buying a backup is totally logical, which is why I’ve done it before, but logic doesn’t always carry the day.
 
I have too many knives to be able to actually use, and I mean use regularly for various cutting tasks and not to just use it or carry it a few times so that I can call it a user.

It is not a cost consideration as I have many low cost knives that are not used and vice versa. I like to see them and I sometimes even gift them.

I generally buy knives I like and sometimes they get used and sometimes they do not.

I enjoy using those knives, but, I also enjoy the fact hat if I want to recover my costs at some point the unused ones will do better.

Here is one of the very few that was actually bought with the intention of not using :)

https://imgur.com/gVIRAnf
 
jc57 said:
I have a lot of knives that I have never used. They were not purchased with the intention of being a safe queen, but at one point during my accumulation phase, each knife was purchased in some kind of mental isolation room where thinking "this will be a great knife to carry and use in so-and-so situation" without choosing to think about the fact that I already have 2 or 3 or more perfectly good knives for the exact same situation.

Then time comes to actually use the the thing, and the opposite thought was "why mess up a beautiful new knife when I have this other one I have been using for a while that will do the job just fine."

Sanity returned eventually, and the thought processes merged, so that it became "why BUY a beautiful new knife when I already have a dozen users that will do the job fine, and a dozen dozen* more still waiting their turn."

So yes, I have a ton of new knives still in tubes / boxes that have not been used, but it was not supposed to work out that way. They are all users, with usage count still sitting at 0.

* Not an accidental word duplication.
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This pretty well mirrors my predicament , or the hole I've dug myself :D

Many knives look great and have a pedigree but just maybe don't handle well, but an open mind wants to try new things :) I really cannot understand those types who want to carry just one knife or even one pattern when there are so many out there worth considering; I think it shows some lack of imagination or even a kind of narcissism;)

I certainly like using the knives and it's often the more 'modest' types that see a lot of use or are returned to with pleasure. Tastes will change and currently I have no GEC knives in regular use. Why? Unsure. But I have CASE, Queen, Buck, BB, Böker and French knives in constant daily carry so they obviously work better- for now. Some knives I find I will not carry so they get kept either for aesthetic appreciation or put by to sell for funds (not that easy these days) or as trades.

The ideal is to find a user you really relate to and if lucky, get a SQ back-up, just in case :poop: happens....

In this respect I've been very lucky here with fellow forumites helping out by selling, trades and above all with presents. The recent example is of this BB Stockman I greatly like, Jakeywax31 Jakeywax31 showed real altruism and offered me his example as a gift so that I had one to put aside, just in case...Thank you Paul .

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jc57 said:
I have a lot of knives that I have never used. They were not purchased with the intention of being a safe queen, but at one point during my accumulation phase, each knife was purchased in some kind of mental isolation room where thinking "this will be a great knife to carry and use in so-and-so situation" without choosing to think about the fact that I already have 2 or 3 or more perfectly good knives for the exact same situation.

Then time comes to actually use the the thing, and the opposite thought was "why mess up a beautiful new knife when I have this other one I have been using for a while that will do the job just fine."

Sanity returned eventually, and the thought processes merged, so that it became "why BUY a beautiful new knife when I already have a dozen users that will do the job fine, and a dozen dozen* more still waiting their turn."

So yes, I have a ton of new knives still in tubes / boxes that have not been used, but it was not supposed to work out that way. They are all users, with usage count still sitting at 0.

* Not an accidental word duplication.
Click to expand...
My experience exactly parallels John's. I used to say I'd carry and use any knife I own, but when my accumulation passed 200 it became pretty silly to use every new knife if I already had several that would do the same thing.
 
calm said:
I have too many knives to be able to actually use, and I mean use regularly for various cutting tasks and not to just use it or carry it a few times so that I can call it a user.

It is not a cost consideration as I have many low cost knives that are not used and vice versa. I like to see them and I sometimes even gift them.

I generally buy knives I like and sometimes they get used and sometimes they do not.

I enjoy using those knives, but, I also enjoy the fact hat if I want to recover my costs at some point the unused ones will do better.

Here is one of the very few that was actually bought with the intention of not using :)

https://imgur.com/gVIRAnf
Click to expand...
Can you please tell what knife that is,thanks
 
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