What do you collect?

mc1130

mc1130

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
18
I have loved pocket knives since childhood. I am stuck in an office during the week so I do not have the need to carry anything other than a slipjoint or small lockback for EDC purposes.

Do you collect what you carry or do keep them out of your rotation to keep looking new?

Thanks as always.

MTC
 
Not a collector. I don't have that many knives. But what I do have, I try to use or make up an excuse to use.
 
Much like Texasflyfisher, I have a very modest collection of under 10 knives. All of my knives are users, and I have three main functions that a knife serves for me...

2 of the functions I need a knife for are EDC and work related. I am a restaurant professional, so I have a couple of nice chef knives to accommodate that niche. I then also have my EDC's, which accompany me all the time, work included. Small fixed blades carried as neck knives are my go to choice to fill this role.

The other function that a knife serves me for is for the outdoors. I kayak, backpack, and camp on an almost weekly basis, and I need a knife or similar tool to serve this purpose.

I just recently bought my first hatchet, and I have a feeling this may do a phenomenal job filling part of this role.

I don't care much for folders, and I don't care much for super fancy, expensive knives. I like simple, sturdy, rugged tools that are designed to be used. My collection will most likely continue to grow at a very slow pace, because I do not add to it readily unless there is a knife that seems like it could really serve a purpose better than a knife I already own.
 
I'm mostly a Collector and Accumulator. Hardly ever a User, although I do carry most days. Never a Trader.

By "Accumulator" I mean that I buy all sorts of knives and bladed items for a variety of reasons: interest in design, materials, aesthetics, historic interest, novelty, curiosity, etc. I keep these in new condition in order to preserve the characteristics that made the knife attractive in the first place.

In my mind "Collector" refers to someone who seeks out knives to buy because of a specific criteria. Brand, age, national origin, color, shape... Most collectors, including myself, probably keep these in new condition in order to preserve value and "collectibility."

What do I accumulate? It's all fair game to me. Pocketknives, bayonets, khukris, hunting knives, survival knives, Swiss Army Knives, even a few customs.

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What do I Collect? USA-Schrade Old Timers and vintage Bruckmann knives from Germany.

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I would guess, from reading similar forum topics, that the majority of BF members are "Users," buying knives for the primary purpose of using and carrying. Also a large number of "Traders" here, people who enjoy the social interaction and educational value of exchanging one knife for another, sometimes a continuous and eternal process of finding the 'perfect' knife.

p.s. Welcome to BladeForums!
 
Near as I can determine, I think I originated the term "accumulator" some number of years ago here, to distinguish between someone who has more or less inadvertently acquired a boatload of knives and someone who actually has a plan for what he's buying, usually with an increase in value in mind. I think all but a handful of people on this forum are really "accumulators."

As for myself, I collect Randalls.
 
Samael said:
Near as I can determine, I think I originated the term "accumulator" some number of years ago here, to distinguish between someone who has more or less inadvertently acquired a boatload of knives and someone who actually has a plan for what he's buying, usually with an increase in value in mind. I think all but a handful of people on this forum are really "accumulators."
Click to expand...

LOL, I thought it was me. But alas a forum search shows that the first person to use "Accumulator" in reference to buying knives was actually Brian W Edgington, in 1999. ;) My first use of the phrase wasn't until 2001.

Accumulator = hoarder. That's me. I buy knives so no one else can have them. :thumbup:
 
I collect different brands, mostly it has been sprint run Spydercos, Militarys, LE Benchmades, and a few Emersons. I have all kinds of stuff on my things to buy list though. I also have a few dedicated users, a rotation of around 10-12 knives.
 
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Some knives just grab me or do something for me and I want it. I have read that the best way to collect is to buy the best you can afford in a very specific nich like swaybacks or sowbellies or yellow handles etc.. but I think it's different for every person and that's the way it should be! We are all different and collect or accumulate for different reasons. That's whats cool. If we all wanted the same thing that would be very boring.

I would never buy anything I wouldn't carry but that's probably because I would never buy an expensive knife that I only felt comfortable under lock and key, behind glass.

The most valuable knife I own is my grandfathers knife. It's valuable because he carried it, used it, sharpened it and dinged it. A knife has a life too you know. Let it do what it was made to do and show you how valuable it is to you or to someone who owns it next.

I think someone who owns a $2000 pocket knife should also feel comfortable carrying it.
 
I'm not a collector in the sense of the word. That being said, I collect anything Reese Weiland. Soon (maybe 5-6 months) to be adding a folding kerambit from Andrew Demko to match my Demko Navajah. Guess I collect Demko and Weiland.
 
ive got a odd collection starting, a few different names but have started to go solely for spyderco`s and have started shopping sprints. im a beginner compared to some with only about 15 knives all but 2 are folders and of those 8 are now spyders with one more sprint run on reserve. im always on the lookout for one that will catch my eye, i wouldnt consider any that i wouldnt carry though the sprints are going to be kept pristine. i may buy a standard version of a sprint run knife just to have one i can use.... a bald faced excuse to buy another knife maybe lol
 
At almost 400 knives, I think you could call me an accumulator. I look for quality and uniqueness. I purchase factory as well as mid-tech/customs. Whatever catches my eye.
 
I like mostly, collecting these.................................................

Western Boulder, CO. fixed blade hunting knives

Camillus, NY folding knives

Steve
 
The old Western knives are, indeed, very collectible. There's the extra, added advantage of them not costing an arm and a leg also.:thumbup:
 
It started with SAK's - and a few Bucks. I added new ones as the older ones got dull - I couldn't sharpen them then. Sometime back, that changed - and I had knives... more knives... now kept sharp. My 'hoarding' knows no limits - except for quality. September saw my first CRK - June saw a ZT. Somehow, in the last few years, I went from a BM 551 and 201 fb to add 20 more BM folders - and a huge fb. The common theme? Quality - and I like it - and will use it - I have no safe queens. My sons shake their heads - my wife likes them! I still make the bills - and I don't have to walk on them, so I guess I'm really not a hoarder. Of course, the fact that I did check my status on a web auction before coming to this thread has no bearing on my status at all...

Stainz
 
Here's my accumulation:

[youtube]XOlpYnYcZI0[/youtube]

I have sold the Spyderco Police wave D/E ($140), Strider SMF waved ($250), Cold Steel Black Talon wave ($120), and Case/Bose 2007 ($250).
 
I collect a little bit of everything but mostly folders. I only have one fixed blade.

I have some users and I have some safe queens.

Slipjoints account for about 70% of my collection but when a knife "sings to me" I usually buy it no matter what it is.
 
mc1130 said:
I have loved pocket knives since childhood. I am stuck in an office during the week so I do not have the need to carry anything other than a slipjoint or small lockback for EDC purposes.

Do you collect what you carry or do keep them out of your rotation to keep looking new?

Thanks as always.

MTC
Click to expand...

I more "amass" than "collect". The term "collecting" implies organization in choice of knives. Not my thing. I buy what I think I might like to try. Maybe it's a new blade alloy. Maybe it's a different design. Maybe it's a different size blade or a different geometry.

I suppose you could say I "collect users". They've all been carried and at least subconsciously evaluated for total usefulness. I hang onto them because I compare them to each other as I go along.
 
I've kinda resisted calling myself a collector...All the knives i buy for myself are users...but I really have more knives than i need, and buy a new one occasionally, just because they're cool. So while I'm not a collector in the keep-them-in-display-cases-in-mint-condition sense...most non-knife people would say i have a collection. :P

ESEE and Swiss Army Knives are tied at 3 each right now. I have a bit of a pre-disposition to small fixed blades. And a lot of my knives are designed with bushcraft/survival in mind.
 
Generally, I separate the knives I use from the knives
I bought for my collection.

What do I collect?
I’m new to collecting knives and I’m still uncertain.
The original plan was to collect lock back folders, but nearly every day
I learn about new, interesting patterns of folding knives.
I reckon I couldn’t even scratch the surface if I would try to build a collection
to portray the variation of folding knives.
So for now, I get me what I like most and I’ll see where this will lead to.

Some of my preferences for now are 'unusual' folder pattern,
pocket knives from the Friedrich Olbertz factory (e.g. German Eye, Bulldog),
folders from Camillus Cutlery and still all kind of lock back folders.
 
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