Using a CRK for the FIRST time

TRfromMT

TRfromMT

Joined
Jan 4, 2016
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I recently picked up a LNIB umnumzaan and it is mint. Absolutely pristine. It's the current model, and nothing that makes it collector. I bought it to use, but for some reason I'm having a hard time deciding to carry it. I love the knife, but just can't bring myself to put that first mark on it.

I know when it does get the first mark it will be fine and go right into the rotation. I just can't bring myself to knock the new off it.

Anyone with me on this one?

On my brand new Inkosi I literally scratched it taking it out of the box and I'm not at all bothered. I just gotta get over it.
 
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Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. It's always like that for me but the first time is the toughest - fear of the unknown and all that. Just breathe normally and relax. You will survive and in the morning, birds will sing and the sun will seem brighter.
 
I'm with you. I have a few I am having a problem using because I know they will get dinged up. Ones with no inlay or micarta I don't care about, because I know I can send em back for R&R, but the nicer ones....
 
I thought the same thing after loving the look but waiting to buy one way to long ... once I finally pulled the trigger I kicked myself for waiting so long to get one ...

then it took me a few weeks of kind of babying it with light use ... but once I put it in my pocket for a couple days and finding how much I love the knife ... it's been in my pocket most everyday and I just like it more all the time ... so much I bought another ...

once you get a day or two of carrying it I think you'll find it hard not to.
 
I babied my Sebenza and Inkosi until I got some scratches on them. Now they are users and I am ok with that. I don’t know why I waited so long to get a CRK but I am glad I did. Now my Small Sebenza with spalted beech that is coming in tomorrow, that one I might be a little more afraid to use haha.
 
Believe it or not, they actually look better with personality. Here's the dilemma, that first scratch/scuff just makes the knife almost unbearable to look at :mad:, but as it gains more and more of these personality traits, it becomes more desirable and one day you look at your Umnumzaan and think, man I really like this knife. :)

Just remember, it's just a phone call, shipping fees and 6-8 weeks to make it brand new looking again. I look at a spa treatment on a knife like a lobotomy, it loses it's ownership and personality. I can't see myself sending in a user for a spa. Now, a collection piece that will never see the sun is a different matter. ;)
 
I'm with you....
Then I found I get much joy out of those users.
They got personality and I'm not afraid to use them and only then I enjoy the tool.
There will always be a dilemma.
As for collectability - nothing is set in stone. Think about vintage KA-BAR.
all the best
 
I'm with Ajack. More marks make more personality, and they make it look better. Don't get me wrong - I remember how upset I was when I got the first mark on my first CRK. But I have never looked back since that day.

Some day my kids will look at my knives and will know by looking at them which ones were my favorites, the ones I actually carried and used. Like old friends that were well appreciated. That will make them more valuable to them, just as the items my father used the most are to me and my siblings.
 
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I've made a point to only buy CRKs that I'll actually use. For me that means just plain scales. I too think they look great as they build character. I've had quite a few CRKs but now I'm down to just my three users which are large and small Insingo 21s and an older Mnandi. All three have had blade reprofiles to improve the slicing and sharpening. Bottom line is these are my most used knives other than my Vic Aloxs.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
...then it took me a few weeks of kind of babying it with light use ... but once I put it in my pocket for a couple days and finding how much I love the knife ... it's been in my pocket most everyday and I just like it more all the time ... so much I bought another ...

once you get a day or two of carrying it I think you'll find it hard not to.
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^^^This. With my nicer knives (CRK especially) I go through a cycle. Fondle and drool for a while. Then light carry for a while, like maybe just to church or on a date where likelihood of use is small. Then they slowly start to spend more time in my pocket. Then I buy another new knife for fondling and whatever’s in my pocket goes to work!;)

TRfromMT TRfromMT , geek out over the newness for a while. There’s nothing wrong with that!

Ajack60 said:
I look at a spa treatment on a knife like a lobotomy, it loses it's ownership and personality. I can't see myself sending in a user for a spa. Now, a collection piece that will never see the sun is a different matter. ;)
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Hahaha. Believe it or not, I’ve got a few at the mothership right now for new washers (some idiot (me) has has been known to pinch them...repeatedly :cool:) and I asked them to leave the pocket patina as is!
 
That’s why I purchase Collectors and Users. No problem using a knife that has already been carried or cut, at a discount price. And no shortage here on BF and other sites. Let’s Go. Get Crazy.
 
Just get over it. Take a bunch of pristine NIB pics while it's perfect and clip it to your pocket and don't look back. The hardest mark's the first one, after that just enjoy a great knife.

I do.

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I was just checking in to see if the Zaan had made it's way into your pocket yet ... :thumbsup:

I hope you like yours as much as I did mine after I put off buying a Zaan far to long ... it became my favorite CRK folder.
 
Just an update that the 'zaan is very much in the usual rotation. A little pocket buffing on the clip and one snail trail and this thing is like an old friend.

Retirement party at work yesterday and I was helping the owner's wife set up some decorations. She's a super classy lady, heels and pearls, even on the shop floor. She was having trouble with some decorations and needed a knife.

She didn't even bat an eyelash when the 'zaan came out, and said she was glad to have someone around with a knife.

We get to carry at work, too. Kind of a cool place.
 
PJs for me it's always easy. Right in the pocket they go. It's the others that are harder and I never get over the first scratch. And if I get a polished one with a scratch I didn't put on it it bothers the heck out of me.
 
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I have very few items in my collection that I don't carry/use. The one's I don't carry/use are one of a kind and NIB and I bought them for just show and tell. The rest of my collection is for use and is in my EDC rotation. No fun or enjoyment if I didn't have the majority of my EDC items put to use. Life is too short.
 
having bought a small tanto last year, it has stayed mint in box. tbh i am more of a collector than a user with all my knives. but i am on the hunt for a user crk atm
 
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