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

Wish I'd kept with the <$200.00 budget. Wish I'd never joined BFC and got to know so many great folks here. Now, BFC is my second family and yes, I have bought knives based from others opinion here. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
 
I have no regrets in terms of the path I have taken. I might well follow a very similar path if I started today.

I have purchased knives because of the "hype" or good reviews by folks here on the forum. Those include a BK-2, Falkniven F-1, Spyderco Native, Spyderco Endura, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, Kabar Dozier folder, a few SOGs, my first GEC slip joint; and, the Leatherman PS4 Squirt and SOG Powerlock multitools. Of those the only ones that I never really cared for was the Kabar Becker BK-2 and probably the SOG Tigershark. I have very limited need for large fixed blades. But, I have a strong attraction to big knives in general.
 
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Oh, I got sidetracked and never posted what I wish I'd done differently...

I wish I'd bought fewer <$100 knives and funneled that money toward knives that matter. I have a wealth of CRKTs and Kershaws and CSs and Spydercos and Benchmade Blacks that I wish I could trade for just a few really nice knives. I have a pack rat mentality, so I can't bring myself to sell or trade knives, but I give a lot away. So, here I am. 500'ish knives and less than 10% of them will ever be used or carried. I wish when this disease first started 10-12 years ago that I'd learned to save money for knives that matter. I'd definitely have way fewer knives in storage and probably a bunch more cash in my pocket.

I'm far more selective in my knife purchasing now...
 
What would I do differently ?

We had a store that we could see from our house which started out with just the booth they keep at the flea market.
One of the things they have there is a big wall of cheapo knives. Me and my friends would probably buy something new from there once a month, and I probably spent 100$ there on cheap stuff I no longer have.
It wasn't too long before I learned about quality and started buying the stuff just to collect for the novelty factor, but I stopped liking even collecting them and recently sold them in a yardsale.

It's not the stuff I bought before I knew any better that I regret ( that stuff was part of my knife using journey ) it's the stuff i bought after I learned that I regret. I knew it was junk, but it was still cool junk and was inexpensive and within walking distance from the house.

If I had just went to the hardware store or Walmart and spent the extra money on Vic's, Case, and Buck I'd have knives I'd still own and carry today. But I didn't do that because I couldn't get as many of them and they weren't the cool Tac - force speedsters.
I always knew the virtues of a traditional folder, but they weren't cool and what I had was just pulled out to whittle on a stick every once in a while instead of carried.
 
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Blade Forums is certainly an enabler in terms of knives and a few other things that are popularly discussed from time to time. That's okay as far as I'm concerned. It's a hobby.

My first good knife was a Case Barlow about the time I reached my teens and had more awareness of the world, the kind of things I did, or had a need for. I have owned (and do) multiple Schrade knives. Back in the day, I thought they were expensive. I never really spent any serious money on knives until around the late 80's. That is when the hobby truly started for me, but I always carried a pocket knife and used them a bunch. My first customs or handmade knives were purchased in the late 80's.
 
I wish I'd just bought a Victorinox. I may never have needed anything else.

I wish I hadn't ever bothered trying carbon steel.
 
I would do a lot of things differently, but that is predicated on me knowing. How would I gain the knowledge if the experience never happened? Knowing what I know now I would probably have a lot less stuff and only a few cherry picked knives. Too bad you have to open Pandora's box to see what is inside.
Hackenslash said:
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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:cool:Blaming the equipment deflects blame from elsewhere.:cool:
 
Probably should have been better at sharpening by now. Never been much of an edge junkie.

Other than that, I continue to enjoy the ride.
 
saved my money and did A LOT more research and looking around at different knife makers. I spent a lot of money buying knives that just were not good, and were very expensive! Wish I could have got that money back!
 
Amen Hack.........wait a sec.....8° inclusive for chopping concrete is not cool??
Learn something new each and every day!!

Hackenslash said:
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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ATJ999 said:
saved my money and did A LOT more research and looking around at different knife makers. I spent a lot of money buying knives that just were not good, and were very expensive! Wish I could have got that money back!
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What do or did you consider "expensive" and maybe an example of a knife that you purchased that was "not good"? I consider it all part of the hobby. You acquire things for whatever reason and decide for yourself whether you like it or if it "fits" for you. Eventually you sort of know what is likely to "fit", but most of us still try out new stuff because it's there.
 
I wish I had never bother looking for 'The One'. It's obvious to me now that what I carry and use will be in a semi-constant state of flux as my preferences, budget, needs and concerns change. Trying to find the one knife I would carry, period, left me with a lot of redundancy in my early collection.

Now I focus more on filling X, Y or Z want/need or improving what I have in that slot and letting the older stuff go.
 
Not much to change. I have enjoyed and still enjoy every moment I spend on/with knives. For the worst and the best.
 
22-rimfire said:
What do or did you consider "expensive" and maybe an example of a knife that you purchased that was "not good"? I consider it all part of the hobby. You acquire things for whatever reason and decide for yourself whether you like it or if it "fits" for you. Eventually you sort of know what is likely to "fit", but most of us still try out new stuff because it's there.
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I would, but don't really want to bash any maker. But I spent over 1500 for each knife, bought two of the same model with different steels, handle material, etc. But the blade geometry was aweful, they felt cheap, action not good, etc.
 
Yes the customer is always wrong, especially when steel micro-folds on thin cardboard on the first slice...

Which, to be fair, a low price Kershaw in non-CPM Chinese steel also did... Amazing to think a non-CPM steel can actually micro-fold immediately, just like CPM! I could not believe this was not a CPM exclusive on cardboard or soft wood for a single chop or a single slice... See the JDavis882 S35VN debacle for something even more remarkable, never equalled I think by any other gas station special:


RJ Martin does his own heat treat with the most precise machines available, following the steel manufacturer temperature specs to a standard most makers only dream about. All this did not save the basic material...

And the "user error" thing gets a little old, on knives that were used and sharpened hundreds of times over two years, failing every single time next to a Randall or a Lile that never did once, even with edges twice as thin.

Gaston
 
Wish I'd jumped into customs sooner. Spent a lot of money on less expensive production knives because I didn't want to spend it all on 1 custom knife.
 
Gaston444 said:
Yes the customer is always wrong, especially when steel micro-folds on thin cardboard on the first slice...

Which, to be fair, a low price Kershaw in non-CPM Chinese steel also did... Amazing to think a non-CPM steel can actually micro-fold immediately, just like CPM! I could not believe this was not a CPM exclusive on cardboard or soft wood for a single chop or a single slice... See the JDavis882 S35VN debacle for something even more remarkable, never equalled I think by any other gas station special:


RJ Martin does his own heat treat with the most precise machines available, following the steel manufacturer temperature specs to a standard most makers only dream about. All this did not save the basic material...

And the "user error" thing gets a little old, on knives that were used and sharpened hundreds of times over two years, failing every single time next to a Randall or a Lile that never did once, even with edges twice as thin.

Gaston
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Not to be rude or any, but I never have a clue what the hell you're talking about.
Maybe you use too many technical type words and such that I just can't understand, but I just don't have a clue what you're trying to say.
 
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