What do you wish you had been doing from the start?

Comeuppance

Comeuppance

Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
4,765
1. If I had made video reviews of every knife I have owned, I would have some decent editing chops by now - and I would probably have a good number of subscribers on YouTube, maybe enough to get some advance prototypes sent to me for the purpose of reviewing them. I feel like I completely missed out on an obvious way to have contributed significantly to the community through video knife reviews, and also to have handled some really cool stuff.

2. I should have spent less time worrying about blade steel and more time honing my sharpening skills. Now that I’m proficient and time-efficient at sharpening, the only consideration I give blade steel is whether the material matches the cost / purpose of the item.

3. Learning to ignore hype / popular opinion would have helped out a lot in my early days. It took me a while to figure out there is no magic to popular or premium-price items, and buying one based on reputation alone will almost never lead to an honest** “oh, now I get it!” moment - either it makes immediate sense to you, or it doesn’t and likely won’t.

** There’s an odd kind of cognitive dissonance that can happen - you might find yourself acting like a fan of something you honestly don’t much care for. This can be as simple as wanting your purchase to feel justified, or it can be a reflection of a typical social behavior where expressed opinions and actions change to match group behavior. Don’t fall for it. Just do what you like, put the kool-aid down, be honest to yourself, and you’ll be much happier with your decisions.
 
Interesting thoughts Comeuppance.

I have always bought what appeals to me. Sometimes its based purely on looks, sometimes function to meet a need. I don't ever recall having buyers remorse about a knife. I guess thats a good thing!:)

At this point in my life I can't think of much that I would have liked to have done differently as far as knives are concerned. Accept maybe that I would have liked to set up a workshop and tried my hand at making some knives.
 
I've always bought what I liked, and never really fell for something due to hype, or demand, or somebody else's idea of what I should have.

And so, liking so many things, I've owned hundreds... perhaps thousands... of knives that I liked, or at least thought I'd like.

I'm pretty generous with my stuff, and If I feel that somebody else would like this knife, then I'll give it up. I've given away thousands of dollars in knives over the years. Sometimes I'd sell off a piece though, in order to have the cash to buy another item that I'd like. But I never worried about handing one off, as I figured I could always get me another one down the road.

Well, sometimes you can't just grab another one. Spyderco baby Jess Horn here, BM 970 SpecWar there... or a Tom Mayo Odessa II in Talonite, one of 3 made... or even the myriad of Camillus USA and Schrade USA stuff that I always figured I could replace (hell, they'll be in business forever, right?). I've had customs that I liked but thought I'd pass along for others to enjoy, some of them I commissioned to be purpose built. Alas, I'm having trouble replacing some of the pieces I'd like to have back. Oh sure, these pieces are available if I want to dig around and pay more than I want to.... but I'm not wanting to.... I'd rather just still have them.

What would I do different if I could do it all over again? Keep the pieces that really spoke to me.

If there was a piece I think my brother would like, I'd show him where to get one for himself. My son likes one of my favorite knives? Well I'll let him borrow it. Birthday time for Dad? Then a gift certificate to OneStopKnifeShop will serve him well.

Sound selfish? Maybe it is. Certainly I'd never be able to use every knife I ever owned. But I'd pack that Mini AFCK all the damn time if I still had it, and I really don't want to shell out the coin on the Bay to get another one (today anyways ;) ).

In the end, I'm simply too generous with my stuff, and I'll keep giving knives away or trading them off... and lamenting my decision later.
 
That is similar to what I said in another thread. If it wasn't for be buying so many knives that just caught my eye I wouldn't know what I know today, that is which lets me know what I like in a blade.
 
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Velitrius said:
In the end, I'm simply too generous with my stuff, and I'll keep giving knives away or trading them off... and lamenting my decision later.
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I like to think that while one can always be more generous, one can never be too generous.. after all, you can't take any of this with you when you kick it!

I don't have too many regrets in knives, mostly just wish I hadn't sold a specific few and hadn't bought a specific few. In terms of things I should have always been doing, learning to sharpen from the beginning is one of them. Probably another is joining bladeforums for all the information would've been helpful from the start.
 
palonej said:
Can't think of many things I would go about differently......maybe stay away from stuff under ~ $60.
Joe
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Exactly what I would say! I stuck on budget blades to long, I should have upped the limit a few years before I did. Oh well, I'm younger, plenty of time to get a few more grails.
 
I wish I would have kept some that I sold. The Endura with ZDP 189 that Tom Krien did a regrind on comes to mind.
That was almost 10 years ago. I sold it to buy something (don't know) at the time. It didn't even have his stamp on it. It was that long ago.

Overall I'm happy I bought so many different types of knives. I know what I want and don't want now.

As for sharpening....Since steel changes it's always a learning process.
 
Me too. Also, do you put them up for sale?? What can we possibly get back from a $40 new knife??? $20?? Add shipping and fees.........not worth it.
Joe

Yo Mama said:
Exactly what I would say! I stuck on budget blades to long, I should have upped the limit a few years before I did. Oh well, I'm younger, plenty of time to get a few more grails.
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palonej said:
Me too. Also, do you put them up for sale?? What can we possibly get back from a $40 new knife??? $20?? Add shipping and fees.........not worth it.
Joe
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I honestly think I put more consideration into budget knife purchases for just that reason. I sit on buying things in the $25-60 range for much longer than a knife that goes for $100+.

The upside of a budget knife is that you spent so little on it that you won't be too upset when it starts getting really beaten up or is entirely lost, but the downside is that you're essentially stuck with it. A budget knife has all the value of a pack of gum to other people - you wouldn't want to buy a used one off of someone else when a new one costs peanuts anyway.
 
I wish I hadn't left a box of knives at a friend's house so it wouldn't get lost in a move, which he then proceeded to sell to buy drugs.

Oh well, live and learn.
 
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I wish I never bought any CPM steels. Apex rollerama at chisel-like angles, chopping soft wood but sometimes just slicing thin cardboard (Gerber Mark II in S30V)... Maybe there is some good stuff out there: Never seen it yet... Never tried 3V yet; can't wait to see how that -cough- performs...

Gaston
 
My only regret is thinking I needed more knives that I actually do. I went through a phase where I thought I needed a knife stashed everywhere and for every "just in case" scenario which led me on a buying spree. Ridiculous. I've finally reduced my "collection" down to four. I might even drop it down to two at some point, but for now I'm content with the majority of the excess cleared away. The less clutter I have sitting around unused, the better.
 
Great thoughts man. I completely agree with all of them lol.

I wish I wasn't afraid to use up knives and sharpening equipment. I have spent a lot of money on buying two of many knives and stones because I was neurotic about using it up and then not having it. For many reasons, primarily the fact that it takes a ton of work to use up a stone or a knife, this makes no sense. Plus, using something up only gives a man license to buy something new!

So I ended up with a lot of sterile, cold quasi-safequeens that just sat there on the shelf.

I also wish I spent more time with my knives before buying more. I wish I used them more, wrote a review on it and posted it here to add to the community, and really just got to know and love the knife before moving on.

Also, I wish I didn't have so many knives. It's kind of a pain to sell them up here in Canada, so now I am kind of stuck maintaining a ton of knives I don't really use... It takes friggin forever to oil them all.

Comeuppance said:
1. If I had made video reviews of every knife I have owned, I would have some decent editing chops by now - and I would probably have a good number of subscribers on YouTube, maybe enough to get some advance prototypes sent to me for the purpose of reviewing them. I feel like I completely missed out on an obvious way to have contributed significantly to the community through video knife reviews, and also to have handled some really cool stuff.

2. I should have spent less time worrying about blade steel and more time honing my sharpening skills. Now that I’m proficient and time-efficient at sharpening, the only consideration I give blade steel is whether the material matches the cost / purpose of the item.

3. Learning to ignore hype / popular opinion would have helped out a lot in my early days. It took me a while to figure out there is no magic to popular or premium-price items, and buying one based on reputation alone will almost never lead to an honest** “oh, now I get it!” moment - either it makes immediate sense to you, or it doesn’t and likely won’t.

** There’s an odd kind of cognitive dissonance that can happen - you might find yourself acting like a fan of something you honestly don’t much care for. This can be as simple as wanting your purchase to feel justified, or it can be a reflection of a typical social behavior where expressed opinions and actions change to match group behavior. Don’t fall for it. Just do what you like, put the kool-aid down, be honest to yourself, and you’ll be much happier with your decisions.
Click to expand...
 
Gaston444 said:
I wish I never bought any CPM steels. Apex rollerama at chisel-like angles, chopping soft wood but sometimes just slicing thin cardboard (Gerber Mark II in S30V)... Maybe there is some good stuff out there: Never seen it yet... Never tried 3V yet; can't wait to see how that -cough- performs...

Gaston
Click to expand...
I think you might be confusing heat treat and manufacturing pedigree with chemical composition. No worries, it's easy to do. Lordy, but that last Vany or Moly molecule makes all the difference, don't it? ;).

If I were you, and I'm not, I'd consider other options to blame for your poor experience besides a renowned steel fabricator. Operator error comes to mind...
 
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