What do you collect and why?

[brancron]

I think this is a pretty good snapshot of the kind of knives I like to collect:

Spyderco PM2 (S30V/canvas micarta). My first PM2 and still my favorite. All mods, including beautifully contoured handles, by Smock Knives. Just a classic. Spydercos make up a larger percentage of my collection than any other brand or maker because they simple make fantastic cutting tools. More knives with great cutting ability and ergonomics than any other company by far.

Walter Wells custom folder (M2/linen micarta). The thinnest blade on any knife I’m aware of (other than scalpels), and cuts like it! Walter is a great maker and a great guy. I am always interested in custom knives that aren't made to "fidget" with, or to show off on Instagram, or to fip on the forums, but rather to use for actual cutting. I'd take this Wells over a Holt or a Koenig any day of the week.

Les George ESV (CTS-XHP/G10). One of my favorite designs, and one of my first “high end” knives. Just beautifully made and well thought out.

Adam Reese custom fixed blade (1084/canvas micarta). My most used fixed blade. There have been times when I cut so much material with it that the blade was hot to the touch, and it still cut like a laser. No frills, just a cutting machine that is comfortable and a joy to use.

Canal Street Cutlery Boy’s Knife (440C/G10). The knife I sought after more than any other knife. An A.G. Russell exclusive (have been getting their catalog since I was 10.) To me this is the pinnacle of (non-custom) traditional folders, both in terms of design and execution.

 

[tony281sc2]

I think this is a pretty good snapshot of the kind of knives I like to collect:

Spyderco PM2 (S30V/canvas micarta). My first PM2 and still my favorite. All mods, including beautifully contoured handles, by Smock Knives. Just a classic. Spydercos make up a larger percentage of my collection than any other brand or maker because they simple make fantastic cutting tools. More knives with great cutting ability and ergonomics than any other company by far.

Walter Wells custom folder (M2/linen micarta). The thinnest blade on any knife I’m aware of (other than scalpels), and cuts like it! Walter is a great maker and a great guy. I am always interested in custom knives that aren't made to "fidget" with, or to show off on Instagram, or to fip on the forums, but rather to use for actual cutting. I'd take this Wells over a Holt or a Koenig any day of the week.

Les George ESV (CTS-XHP/G10). One of my favorite designs, and one of my first “high end” knives. Just beautifully made and well thought out.

Adam Reese custom fixed blade (1084/canvas micarta). My most used fixed blade. There have been times when I cut so much material with it that the blade was hot to the touch, and it still cut like a laser. No frills, just a cutting machine that is comfortable and a joy to use.

Canal Street Cutlery Boy’s Knife (440C/G10). The knife I sought after more than any other knife. An A.G. Russell exclusive (have been getting their catalog since I was 10.) To me this is the pinnacle of (non-custom) traditional folders, both in terms of design and execution.

Nice collection I really like the small Les George knife, it looks exactly like my old 0900, besides the color.
And I’ve never seen one, so I’m guessing they’re rare

 

[BOHAWG]

Collect!? I thought our goal was hoarding
I've collected everything over 35 years and it changes from time to time.
Buck, Benchmade, Case, Customs, GEC, Northwoods, Spyderco, Microtech, Randall, Brenda, MMKHW.... you name it and from time to time different models of each.
This addiction has me trapped.

 

[coolbreezy37]

I collect large carbon steel fixed blades. Lately my tastes have been shifting toward to no frills, hardcore, hard use utilitarian frontiersman-like large knives.

 

[Greggy]

But I could see sharpening with a whetstone more like an art form. Thanks for sharing!

I came from a blue collar family. Father and brother were master carpenters. Another brother was an operating engineer and welder. He is a wizard working with steel and aluminum. My other brother and I took the white collar route in life. But both of us still retain a connection with working with our hands. For me, that includes whetstones and shaping edges and bevels. Keeps me sane and is also enjoyable, and meaningful, I suspect. Thanks for replying!

 

[chanvic]

I started about 2 months ago with a mini bugout. Liked the axis lock. Did a lot of looking around and thinking to try and zero in and what I liked. I knew right away that I loved beautiful handle materials like micarta, bone, mammoth molars etc over just titanium (made an exception for the waypoint). I like knives that look classy (to me)and not murdery (Re: Nick Shabazz) so I was leaning towards gentlemen's knives. I also like small, thin, lightweight and knives that disappear in the pocket. That brought me to a QC Waypoint which I absolutely love and will likely buy another one. I tried a small Sebenza, I liked the look of the metal with an inlay insert but learned mine had lock rock and returned it. I wanted to have a nice high end knife just to collect and keep which brought me to a Shiro Neon NL and I fell in love with the feel. My first flipper and it felt great opening and closing. That led me to buy 2 more, an f95 NL and a f95R 3M NL which I haven't received yet. I'm very fussy about what I like and it's easier to list what I don't like. I don't like finger choils, I don't want my finger to think it's a good habit to touch a blade, in case one day I forget what knife I'm holding. I don't like knives with scales that cover the entire handle, I like it framed. Nothing too murdery or tactical looking. Nothing too big, thick, heavy or clunky looking. Don't like plain Jane titanium handles, tanto blades or funky designed blades. I don't like plastic handles or colored plastic handles. Leaving out a lot but that's about the gist of it.

I hear you! I prefer the classier gent carry knives. Partly because I work in an office and can't carry a "murdery" knife in my pants. I'm picky as well and still hunting for a small Sebenza 31 insingo with the macassar ebony inlays. Not quite at the Shiro level yet and the seb will probably be the first "big" purchase. Thanks for sharing!

 

[chanvic]

Collect!? I thought our goal was hoarding
I've collected everything over 35 years and it changes from time to time.
Buck, Benchmade, Case, Customs, GEC, Northwoods, Spyderco, Microtech, Randall, Brenda, MMKHW.... you name it and from time to time different models of each.
This addiction has me trapped.

Got a good chuckle on that one! I didn't want to say hoarding, but since it's our there, why not!

 

[FullMetalJackass]

I hoard knives like a rabid squirrel, I won't deny that. What I truly collect are custom Bowie knives, Randall, Kiku Matusda and full Ti folders.

 

[snuffle]

I like automatics, and weird knives. And if they're both, then you also have a first-rate Halloween costume accessory.



I also seem to be collecting fixed blades. That started with picking up a couple from the Carothers gang here for use, and then starting turning into a pile of more-than-I-need because they're really great knives.

 

[Shorttime]

Right. I wanted to post in this thread when it came up, and then life happened. So, here we go!

Most of my early stuff is gone, but it was exactly what you would think a kid in his late teens and early twenties would collect: black handles, black blades, silly blade shapes. I was buying them at flea markets for $20 and $30 dollars each and I had a job by then, so I could buy a knife to try out a single feature, if I felt like it.

The only one I would still carry was actually the end of this collecting stage: the CRKT/Lightfoot M1,

with the picture quality accidentally being a metaphor for my overall ideas about knives, at that time. The M1 itself was a high-water mark for CRKT, and at $80, the most expensive knife I had ever purchased. I was very happy with it, both because it was a solid design, and because a 2X increase in purchase cost will naturally get you a "better" knife in almost every way.

I slowed down over the next decade or so, because the prices kept going up, finally culminating in a $200 bonus that was burning a hole in my pocket, and a genuine Emerson Mini CQC-7 at a local seller.

'Round these parts, people swear by Leatherman, Gerber is the "Chevy", Buck is "Cadillac", and if you roll up with a SOG, people will look at you like you're showing off. This was a rare unicorn indeed, and I had to have it. Later, I discovered that I was uncomfortable with really using something that expensive the way it is meant to be used. Worse still, I found myself looking at the then-new Southern Grind folders, which the internet told me were "like an Emerson, but better!" I had already spent too much on the Emerson, what the hell was I doing looking to spend even more?!

I stopped collecting for about two years. I stayed interested in knives, I kept what I had, the pause was psychological rather than material.

My next purchase was far more humble:

At less than $12 before S&H, it's almost a disposable knife for people who don't like folding utility knives. I'm happy with it, because it represents the start of my different approach to knife collecting. The $12 dollar knife was an experiment, to see what the least amount of money would get me.

I set myself a hard upper limit of $150. That was what I felt I could afford to lose in the event that one of my knives was lost, stolen, or broken. Sure, I still look at knives that are well over that limit, I just don't feel any desire to buy one.

Since then, my collecting has focused mostly on "modern traditionals":

classic blade styles with covers made of micarta or other manufactured materials,

silly knives that I like because they're silly in some way,

and Electrician-pattern knives.

I have an Alox Electrician somewhere, but I like the classic two-blade pattern better, and it does a better job as a wire stripper.

I have occasionally allowed myself to be seduced by something,

when you look at the Black Void Opus, I think you'll understand.

I don't have an overall theme that I stick to. I have a problem with being too goal-focused and I like to over-optimize. I still believe that there is that one "perfect" knife out there, but there's nothing wrong with trying other stuff while I'm looking for it.