Your friends, family, and loved ones.. most of them might have a fairly decent grasp on the fact that you like knives. You may collect them, or just accumulate a large hoard over the years. They know that the knives that you use are durable, as they see you use the same knife for years without any issues.
Then the holiday season approaches, or perhaps it's your birthday. They are grinning from ear to ear as they hand you a small package. You have a vague idea of what might be in the package, so you prepare for the worst and you open it up.
You've just been given a small knife, possibly made in China or Taiwan. It might be one of those famous Frost knives even. Perhaps it has some pretty picture on it's plastic handle, a deer or an eagle. Maybe it's a small uber tactical folder, or some kind of bargian bin multitool. It most likely has a blade that could be stamped from the lid of a tin can. Whatever it is, you know that it's not something you would have ever bought for yourself because you know it's a junker.
It is a gift though! You know that the person meant well, so you give them a penny (tradition) and you happily play with the knife for a bit before slipping it into your pocket. They might tell you all about how they decided on picking that knife, perhaps the vendor told them it had new steel and that it can slice through a soda can with no effort. Perhaps it was an afterthought and they saw a knife that "just screamed" your name.
Later that night, as you retire to the room and are starting the process of the pocket dump you stumble across the gifted knife again. What do you do with it? Do you put it in a toolbox for beater use? Is it kept on a shelf or display with your real knives? Do you re-gift it to someone else? Perhaps you throw it out? It's definately not a knife that you would ever carry around. So what happens next time they see you and you're not using their knife?
I have at least 20 of these knives and their numbers increase each year. It's not that I don't like getting them as gifts, I absolutely love looking at them and playing with them for the night. The knockoff models really impress me with how they can look so identical from a distance, but up close it's not even similar. Sometimes it's fun getting those cheap karambits or concealed knife pens, it gives people something to talk about. But when I get home, they go on the corner of the shelf and usually only come down to be dusted every so often.
How about you?
Then the holiday season approaches, or perhaps it's your birthday. They are grinning from ear to ear as they hand you a small package. You have a vague idea of what might be in the package, so you prepare for the worst and you open it up.
You've just been given a small knife, possibly made in China or Taiwan. It might be one of those famous Frost knives even. Perhaps it has some pretty picture on it's plastic handle, a deer or an eagle. Maybe it's a small uber tactical folder, or some kind of bargian bin multitool. It most likely has a blade that could be stamped from the lid of a tin can. Whatever it is, you know that it's not something you would have ever bought for yourself because you know it's a junker.
It is a gift though! You know that the person meant well, so you give them a penny (tradition) and you happily play with the knife for a bit before slipping it into your pocket. They might tell you all about how they decided on picking that knife, perhaps the vendor told them it had new steel and that it can slice through a soda can with no effort. Perhaps it was an afterthought and they saw a knife that "just screamed" your name.
Later that night, as you retire to the room and are starting the process of the pocket dump you stumble across the gifted knife again. What do you do with it? Do you put it in a toolbox for beater use? Is it kept on a shelf or display with your real knives? Do you re-gift it to someone else? Perhaps you throw it out? It's definately not a knife that you would ever carry around. So what happens next time they see you and you're not using their knife?
I have at least 20 of these knives and their numbers increase each year. It's not that I don't like getting them as gifts, I absolutely love looking at them and playing with them for the night. The knockoff models really impress me with how they can look so identical from a distance, but up close it's not even similar. Sometimes it's fun getting those cheap karambits or concealed knife pens, it gives people something to talk about. But when I get home, they go on the corner of the shelf and usually only come down to be dusted every so often.
How about you?
