using, collecting, hoarding

thefamcnaj

thefamcnaj

Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
780
I think I'm walking a fine line between: collecting, using, and hoarding knives. I don't put my finances at risk for my gun or knife hobby. I do work over time that I use to would not even consider, to buy knives. I have knives ranging from crkt to Olamic Cutlery and lots in between.
I don't like to sell even when I don't use a knife and it just sits in the safe. I don't need anymore knives or guns but I continue to buy.
I used to have a set price range that I would not deviate from, that's no longer the case.
I love knives as a hobby and all that goes with it, sharpening making lanyards etc..
For the first time I'm having buyers remorse after a new purchase.
Has anyone else ever gone through this or is it just me?
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Oh my, yes a million times over. Every time I think I have it figured out - use all my knives...no, just use the cheaper ones and collect the rarer ones...no, why have them if I'm not going to use them...no, don't use the expensive ones...well maybe just a little bit...(repeat cycle).
 
I've had buyers remorse so bad it almost made me sick a few times....but just because I shelled out a lot o dough. You get over it.... And buddy, we've all been there.
 
You can sell knives here on the exchange for close to what you paid for it in most cases.
 
All the time. Then I sell a knife. Waitba few weeks and end up doing it all over again. Lol. I justify it by keeping less than a dozen non-kitchen knives. Its too fun not to trade and sell for me.
 
You are not alone.
Knives have become so popular, that one can easily get lost in the topic.
Stay cool and enjoy!
red mag
 
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I love experiencing new blades and selling them after a while. The ones I keep are as near perfect as possible, such as my Socom Delta, my Dragonfly 2's, ZT 0770, each of those is a different size, and as near to perfect in its size range as I've experienced.
 
Glad to know others have experienced the same thing. I think I've gotten a little off balance with the hobby because i don't sell or trade. I buy and keep. I need to look at selling and trading as.part of the hobby, and not a bad thing.
I have sold a knife or two to fund a more expensive knife.
However I felt guilty and when I had the money I bought them all back. Guilty when I buy and guilty when I sell.
I've done the same with guns. Each gun or knife I buy I justify buy saying it has some niche purpose than only this particular model will fill. Truck knife, primarily carry, secondary carry, work knife, tool box knife etc....
 
Do you know what knife really helped me with my obsession and curbing the obsession of buying and selling. The humble Opinel #9. In our knife world. The Opinel is often treated with disdain. the materials are not special. The locking mechanism is a simple cutout twist collar, the steel is pedestrian and stains.

Something you treat like a cheap date. I didn't think much of it, I rode the knife hard, threw it on the ground while gardening, pried with it. Through the course of a few months of use. The Opinel performed as well as most of my production knives and outsliced all but a handful. The Opinel was a friggin' cutting machine.

It was then that I realized that my obsession was getting out of hand, that my appreciation for knives as art, collectors pieces, engineering marvels coming from the brain of some human designer, uniqueness as a cutting instrument was all for nought. I realized then that the spirit of a knife and what a knife is was lost in all of these subjective categories in my head.

So it was the Opinel that allowed me to appreciate knives again as a utilitarian cutting instrument good for slicing tomatoes, cutting paper, pruning my trees around my house, opening boxes, breaking down boxes and all the normal routine and mundane activity that goes about in my regular normal life.

From that point, I rediscovered how wonderful my Spyderco knives are, in particular the Delica 4 and its lockback design that allows so much slicing blade to be packed in such a skinny little compact handle.

The itch of course is still there but I'm better able to refrain from doing that oh I have this knife in this price range, now I need an even more expensive, even more exclusive knife next.

For now I don't really have a next knife anymore, I do have a handful of knives on want list but at the end of the day I now realize that that object of desire ain't going to be better than my Delica 4 or my Opinel for my purposes. I'm not a TV host running around the jungles of Costa Rica chopping heads off of venomous snakes. I'm some middle aged office guy that needs a knife to clean his nails, cut his apple, open his mail and break down boxes for recycling day because my wife asked me to clear out the basement of recyclables.

Other times I take guilty pleasure in sharpening my knives and running it across my arm, noticing how the newly sharpened blade just "popped the hair off my arm" lol.
 
I have buyer's remorse if a knife doesn't live up to expectations, particularly if it doesn't live up to it's price point.
Such buyer's remorse is easily fixed, just buy another knife. :D
 
I used to. Then I had kids, and realized I can't just buy any knife I get a fancy for. Since then, I've become very selective, and only buy a knife if it's second-hand, used, or at a heavy discount. Sometimes I'll see a sale on here, Amazon, Woot, or similar, and have to have it, because it's "such a good deal." I may regret it for a brief moment, but as soon as the box arrives, and is opened, no more regrets! :D
 
I have buyers remorse for about 5 minutes..... then I realize how great the new knife is..... Usually. If I really don't like it, I will exchange it and if I have it for a while and it just doesn't grow on me, I'll trade or sell, but that's not something I do very often. My problem is that I own well over 100 knives, yet continue to carry only about 5 of them, reserving the $30 ones as the true beaters. Part of it is that I like to re profile all of the edges before use, but it's also an excuse to keep most of them pristine. I also make a lot of custom scales for them, and I certainly wouldn't want to ding those up! I know I'm not alone here.... 90% of the photos of knives here are pristine. If you can afford them, then why not.... some guys spend thousands on their cars and then just haul them around on a trailer. A few knives is nothing compared to that.
 
I never overpaid, I just bought early :) Hobbies are that, never spend money you don't have on it. Cash in hand or save for it. Tools take feed you and pay the bills can be put on credit if needed. If you want it an can pay for it, fine. Your still good if it stays in you "junk" box. It doesn't eat an it's paid for.

I had a Spyderfly that I didn't like, it's not a butterfly. One day I looked on fleabay to see what it was worth, that knife bought me new tires :)

Don't ask my wife what I've paid for Enfield rifles. She was with me when I bought a L42A1. Now, she says I should have bought ten at that price as she would sell them to buy shoes:D
 
You know that there's a slight problem when 1 of a particular knife just isn't enough.... There are a few that I have 3 of the exact same model, just in the off chance that I might screw one of them up or lose it.... My reasoning is that if that happens, then I still have one to use and one to keep pristine. Sadly, a few sets of them sit in the case unused anyway.... At least I was able to make different handle scales for them!
 
Sonnydaze said:
Not me, unfortunately.
:)
Click to expand...

I've had more than a few that didn't even get an offer for way less than the original price over the years. If it's a lesser known production knife, it usually won't sell.
 
Try to keep your hobbies in perspective and you are not likely to have buyer's remorse (at least not very often). I pretty much only buy knives now for using with rare exceptions. I tend to buy in waves.... go months without much interest in new acquisitions and then buy 4 or 5 within a month. Tis life. Enjoy the hobby and remember it is a hobby. You can't eat your knives or pay the utility bill with one.
 
" That's the last knife I'm going to buy" , said every knife nut ever.
 
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