Using vs Collecting vs Both

I love the hobby of collecting, using, sharpening and learning about various steels and the history of bladed weapons. I could care less if someone beats the heck out of their knives or just fondles them. As long as they are contributing to the knife community, enjoy! I have way to many knives and too little time to use them but knife collecting has been a positive influence in my life and a lot of fun.
 
COLLECTING vs USING...my take...i own ALOT of knives. most i'll never use. i didn't buy them to use. i bought them to lovingly handle and look at. even in today's knife market, tactical knives are frequently not used either - just collected. it's not much different than art on a wall, sculpture on a table, or even collector car in the garage. i've spent $100 on a knife, and $25,000 on a knife. i carry a $5 folder on my keychain for use. in most cases, it's all i need. but i collect for the aesthetics, the design, the construction, and even the function (tacticals). but then, i'm a damascus steel crazy person. i own many damascus knives - and swords - some ALL DAMASCUS. they give me no end of pleasure to just LOOK AT, let alone handle. i even collect damascus billets from various blacksmiths from across the world, who have developed some incredible patterns through excellence & creativity in pattern welding. there IS NO 'right' or 'wrong'. it is entirely what is the opinion of the beholder, and why, and the ability of the beholder to buy or not. in some cases, it's an easy, immediate, snap decision.

just try to find a grimsmo norseman or jim smyth flipper or a michael walker folder anywhere these days that hasn't been sold shortly after it's appeared for sale. norsemans are sold here in 1-2 days. ditto for ariz. cust. knives, or eb**. they just don't last, because the demand far outstrips the supply. same for jim smyth flippers - arguably even rarer than norseman knives - which is saying something. even michael walker folders - at $10-25K each - are sold within several days, typically, on internet knife dealer sites. not so tacticals. why not? because they're usually not artistic knives - they're usually entirely mechanical, and frequently boring looking, and also frequently CNC-generated. they all start to look alike after awhile. exceptions to this, i think, include such unique designs like: joe caswell edx folder, the new g & g OTF folder, and a few others like that.

so, in summary, i collect knives like i collect art - for the joy of ownership - although at least i can handle the knives. the art usually hangs on a wall, or sits on a table.

in fact, i've just purchased: a caswell edx, a slash razor flipper by reese weiland, a g & g hawk M.U.D.D, a vernie reed damascus folder with bruce shaw engravings on both sides of the interframe handle, a purple anodized zt 0454, and an ancient (1933) aaragon (oaxaca, mx) fixed blade fully etched on both sides of blade, with a bone handle (i must own 20 aaraon knives by now), an uncovsky made folder HERE (!) (very creative!), and two damascus bladed (calcinore) folders from a thailand maker - that look alot like suchat jangtanong's work (i must own 30 of his by now). every single one of these pieces "spoke to me" in some undeniable way. NONE will ever be used. so why did i buy them? because they all either have artistic or mechanical characteristics that were too seductive to me to NOT buy...and the money to purchase all of them wasn't an issue...

by the way, just ordered a rask direct from john g. i own a number of norseman - i treasure them - and so it seemed sensible to try the new model as well...
 
First thing this morning, it came to me to google this subject. And there are apparently as many theories to the why of it as there are those willing to express their reasoning. So where does one go to supposedly find the psychological underpinnings of any subject? Well, Freud, of course. So, on to cut and paste:

"Freud theorized that our need to collect things has its roots in our potty training days. As little kids, we’d see what had become of our precious Sunny D swirling down the drain and this distressed us, because we had lost control of something that was once ours. If Freud is to be believed, collecting is a direct response to, quite literally, pissing away our feeling of control."

Gimme a break.

On to the next post!
 
everything comes full circle in every thread of the CPK forum, even if the circle is more like a spiral :)
thanks Freud, ya nut!
 
Freud would make house calls to single women suffering from delusion and 'Masturbate' them as part of their 'Therapy'. He was also an advocate of cocaine until his good friend ODed.

To stick with the potty training and "Pissing" theme: The male porcupine pisses spurts of urine on the female in an effort to mate with her - some humans do that too. I bet if one searched long enough they could find some nonsense regarding Freud's opinion as to why some people consensually piss on other people, but it would be just as absurd as all his other theories. Hopefully I haven't diverged the circle and spiral into a pitchfork.

It's OK for guys to collect watches, sneakers, cars, guns and guitars and not put them to use...so based on that I think it's fine to have safe queen knives as well as users. It's not like knives ought to be in some elite realm of their own where it's illegal/immoral or otherwise somehow wrong to own unless you actually use them. If I had a knife for every guy in the world that owns a sports car and doesn't drive it or a guitar and doesn't play it, well, I'd have millions of knives.

Warning: Consensually might not be a word.
Warning: There's a good chance a collecting crow and pissing porcupine mated a looong time ago and you schlopped out of the shell (according to Freud, of course).

heat_treat said:
But, even if we restrict the discussion to knives...what if all of us stopped buying knives when we had what was realistically needed? The burgeoning knife market of today would cease and all the current talent would need to find some other outlet, if they could. I am already finding myself with what can only be considered a First World problem. In the past 3 months I have acquired an EDC, Field Knife, and just got a Light Chopper. Except for kitchen duties, what now? I have 90% of my cutting needs met and could just stop buying knives. I am a user/collector in that I have bought every knife I own with the intention of using it. Searching for that ONE that will resonate so much that everything else seems superfluous. That search has resulted in a small (relative) number of knives, some having received very little use. But at this point, except for aesthetics, I am basically there. Now what?

The Arts have always needed patrons.
Click to expand...

Pretty well said. Identifying reality over sharing opinion. All the guys that swear by never collecting, arguably, wouldn't even be here because they'd already own every knife they could ever need as far as tasks go, so why are they typing, "I'll take it" every week? :D

Me likey shiny!
 
^didja used to work for Mi6?:D:D:D
 
In case of Zombie Apocalypse, all bets are off and everything in the safe......knives, guns, ammo....become users.
It's like a "blankie" and makes me feel better :rolleyes:.........Oh, and piss off Freud.
 
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As long as you don't get into the habit of collecting usable samples and certainly do not use the ones which are collectibles, I can rest easy!
 
Thay's what I said earlier. Some collectors try to justify their hoard of swords and knives and various other devices through the Zombie Apocolypse. It gives them an imaginary scenario where allnthese weapons can be used. Sometimes it's not Zombies but instead complete government break down, perhaps even more dangerous.

Let's be honest though. We can all agree knives and blades are cool. They satisfy some primeval urge in is. Man has never had claws or fangs and tools, especially a blade completes us. It becomes an extention of our anatomy and will.

In many cultures every man of age had a blade. This blade was second only to his wife in importance to him. It meant comfort, utility and a polite society in a time where there were no real police and laws were only enforced as the king determined and when he was able to. The blade made us all equals in a way. There was no DNA evidence that would make sure your killer saw justice; our knives instead made sure honour and justice was kept.

If dog is man's best friend then knives have been man's best tool. It is no coincidence that in many cultures the sword represented justice.
 
I'm relatively new to knives, but I collect other things (sporting literature, double guns, modern firsts, etc.), and I am on the young side of Generation X. I have noticed the market for most of these things (maybe not modern firsts) dropping significantly as the baby boomers stop buying and start selling - or perhaps more accurately, their family starts selling.

I have also noticed that my generation and younger tends to gravitate toward convenience and lower cost users. Why have a Randall for birds, a Loveless for Antlered game, a Superposed for skeet, and a Purdey for birds when you can have a Havalon and a Beretta 686 that arguably perform the tasks as well or better for so much less?

Not saying I agree with it, simply my observations.
 
jzs said:
COLLECTING vs USING...my take...i own ALOT of knives. most i'll never use. i didn't buy them to use. i bought them to lovingly handle and look at. even in today's knife market, tactical knives are frequently not used either - just collected. it's not much different than art on a wall, sculpture on a table, or even collector car in the garage. i've spent $100 on a knife, and $25,000 on a knife. i carry a $5 folder on my keychain for use. in most cases, it's all i need. but i collect for the aesthetics, the design, the construction, and even the function (tacticals). but then, i'm a damascus steel crazy person. i own many damascus knives - and swords - some ALL DAMASCUS. they give me no end of pleasure to just LOOK AT, let alone handle. i even collect damascus billets from various blacksmiths from across the world, who have developed some incredible patterns through excellence & creativity in pattern welding. there IS NO 'right' or 'wrong'. it is entirely what is the opinion of the beholder, and why, and the ability of the beholder to buy or not. in some cases, it's an easy, immediate, snap decision.

just try to find a grimsmo norseman or jim smyth flipper or a michael walker folder anywhere these days that hasn't been sold shortly after it's appeared for sale. norsemans are sold here in 1-2 days. ditto for ariz. cust. knives, or eb**. they just don't last, because the demand far outstrips the supply. same for jim smyth flippers - arguably even rarer than norseman knives - which is saying something. even michael walker folders - at $10-25K each - are sold within several days, typically, on internet knife dealer sites. not so tacticals. why not? because they're usually not artistic knives - they're usually entirely mechanical, and frequently boring looking, and also frequently CNC-generated. they all start to look alike after awhile. exceptions to this, i think, include such unique designs like: joe caswell edx folder, the new g & g OTF folder, and a few others like that.

so, in summary, i collect knives like i collect art - for the joy of ownership - although at least i can handle the knives. the art usually hangs on a wall, or sits on a table.

in fact, i've just purchased: a caswell edx, a slash razor flipper by reese weiland, a g & g hawk M.U.D.D, a vernie reed damascus folder with bruce shaw engravings on both sides of the interframe handle, a purple anodized zt 0454, and an ancient (1933) aaragon (oaxaca, mx) fixed blade fully etched on both sides of blade, with a bone handle (i must own 20 aaraon knives by now), an uncovsky made folder HERE (!) (very creative!), and two damascus bladed (calcinore) folders from a thailand maker - that look alot like suchat jangtanong's work (i must own 30 of his by now). every single one of these pieces "spoke to me" in some undeniable way. NONE will ever be used. so why did i buy them? because they all either have artistic or mechanical characteristics that were too seductive to me to NOT buy...and the money to purchase all of them wasn't an issue...

by the way, just ordered a rask direct from john g. i own a number of norseman - i treasure them - and so it seemed sensible to try the new model as well...
Click to expand...

I really enjoyed reading your post. It's good to hear about a person's position regarding what they themselves do, quite refreshingly reflective and insightful!
 
For me, I can't help but use a knife. I greatly appreciate the art that knives can be but being a kinesthetic type of person is to feel the "art of the feel." I love the way some knives handle and it's why I have spydercos even if I feel like many look "blah." I love the feel of metal even if it shows signs of use more as even slight scratches become very obvious under light.

I also feel that part of the love of items like knives, for me, is to see a tool that kind of has a person's spirit into that item. You see that often with things like classic cars, it's got years of work and love build into the seats. You may only drive it around the city a few times a year but it shows the signs of the owner. On the flip side is the "old man's farm truck" handed down from generations or among siblings. I had a ratty pickup as my first vehicle that was a 25 year old f150 rust bucket with a home made wood box, rear axle from a chevy van, and an exhaust system that was strung up with steel clothes hangars. It was a POS but it ran well and served it's purpose. I was PO'ed when my mom sold it when I was away at college, even if I didn't use it at school (we didn't trust it on the highway because it was scary above 55 and it's lack of gear range).

As far as the generational thing, I'm not sure what to think as it's just a crazy time. With the way tech works and how fast it comes and goes, having something for a "long time" might be just 2 years instead of 20. We grew up as disposable items became mainstream so the idea of fixing something to last was largely lost. In regards to the bachelor's degree being the new diploma, I agree. On the flip-side, trade skills are in incredible demand as those types of workers retire and aren't replaced. I kind of wish I had gone that route as I hated college (and remember hating it again now that I'm going back) but seeing what my wife went through for med school, I have a whole different appreciation for some of the higher level degrees that are also like a trade skill, because she's spent 3 years in residency, outside of the classroom, just training like in a co-op.

Any who, nice thread. I appreciate the sentiments that the generations are different instead of worse/better. Ultimately, we all want to be excellent and we have different measure and ideas of what that is. It's interesting to read the thoughts on how that affects things like collecting vs using of tools/art/models of craftsmanship. I love the thought of things handmade by an artisan but I would be lying if I didn't say I was excited to see what they start to come up with in the 3D printing realm.

In my other hobby, bicycling, they've started 3D printing components, test printing carbon fiber-like frames, and 3D printed titanium that saves on how much ti is needed and how much is wasted compared to CNC. This year there was even a carbon fiber bike wheel that was made with one strand of carbon that was turned somehow, I'm imaging and lathe-like machine, to form the whole wheel. I believe it was touted as a way to machine manufacture a wheel vs the current methods of buld by hand with layers and layers of carbon sheets.
 
bikerector said:
As far as the generational thing, I'm not sure what to think as it's just a crazy time. With the way tech works and how fast it comes and goes, having something for a "long time" might be just 2 years instead of 20. We grew up as disposable items became mainstream so the idea of fixing something to last was largely lost.
Click to expand...

This is huge; in my opinion.
 
I am a collector/user/hoarder. Like the Indian with the piece of candy in outlaw Josie Wales " it's not for eating... It's for looking at". Freud was a rock star
 
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