What will happen to your knife collection when you die?

Talk about depressing! Lol
Anyway I’m in my 30s but my father lives a much healthier lifestyle, eats better, doesn’t drink or do other things, and is probably going to outlive me. I hope he gets them since I don’t have any other family left besides my parents, and he really appreciates most all of my collection (mostly ZTs).
 
I try not to dwell on physical things. None of my collection is worth a great deal to anyone but me. My emotional connections with some of my pieces, the friends I have met here, and the memories of those who have passed on are mine alone. I am not going to expect a niece or nephew or even my daughter to feel that bond.

In short, the sentimental value of my collection far outweighs the "investment" value. I have never bought a knife because I expected to bring any return short of a smile to MY face.

Now, my 10 year old daughter is starting to show a bit of interest in my collection. She gravitates toward SAKs and Multi-Tools more than stand alone cutters. However, in time she may see a value in the build quality of some of my pieces.

However, when I leave this world, I will be more concerned that I have maybe fostered good will within the hobby and will leave behind good memories to friends and family and maybe even have passed along something in the way of wisdom. The clutch of expensive steel, wood, and plastic in my knife trunk can end up a loved one's pocket or the landfill for all I care:)
 
The Aflac Duck said:
What will I care? I’ll be dead.
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LOL! Just the other night there was some "Colonial Life" commercial or such, gravely asking which loved ones will be saddled with funeral expenses some fateful day.

I just kinda snorted and spouted off "I'll be done giving a $hi!t at that point, BFD!"

The wife was not as amused as I.

My 2 boys have pretty much taken over my collection already at this point, so it looks like that facet of my vast estate is covered.
 
My nephew will get my accumulation of knives*, along with my muzzleloading rifle and pistol along with everything I have at the time to shoot them; adjustablle brass powder measure, snail capper, modified/customized range flask, short starter, whever round ball, conicals, powder, and caps that I didn't use, some of my archery stuff, and some of my fishing stuff.
He'll probably get what few reroduction firearms and archery tin signs, and wall tapestries I have, as well.

At least that is the plan.

If for whatever reason(s) he doesn't get them, I doubt I'll be in a position to care.

*Old paternal and maternal family tradition: Favorite pocket knife goes in the box with him or her, usually in the right front pocket (hims) or purse (hers). I'm taking a buck 110, maybe a carbon steel 7OT, and a large stockman with me. I'm also taking one ... maybe two of my bows, a few arrows in a quiver, and release, if I have them put the compound bow in with me, otherwise just a 3 under tab or archer's tumb ring and archer's gauntlet. I'll probably take one of my Mitchell 300's and 302's on a rod, and maybe my (full) tackle box, too.

If there ain't target shooting, hunting and fishing there, how can it be "heaven"?
 
There is only 1 they won't sell, that will be my Benchmade 705 nib, I am taking that one with me in my nib. It is the knife that got me into knives. The rest will go to grand children, hopefully when they are old enough to realize that you don't throw sebenza's and GEC's into trees, fences and such
 
My next door neighbor passed away unexpectedly. VP of a large national bank, single, had a girlfriend, no kids. He was into high end audio, had a massive vinyl collection, and a car collection, antique Porsche speedsters and 60s era Ferraris and Alfa Romeos. We used to do some SCCA racing together and cars were his biggest passion.
His closest family was on the other side of the country and when they arrived they had no idea where to start. Not one of them was at all interested or even knew anything about his ‘collections’.
They just wanted it to all go away as quickly as possible so they could grieve in piece. I was able to help the estate banker with the car collection by getting it to the proper auction but it was sad to see how fast the items of his life’s passion became meaningless.
It was a wake up call for me and a topic worth discussing here in the forum. Old age is not guaranteed.
Make a plan that is easy to understand and implement.
 
No clue and really don't care what happens to my "stuff" as long as nothing goes to my "good for nothing" son who I have dispossessed.

I've left records indicating the value of all of my knives, LPs, cars, art work and other "collectibles" in my possession.

I've designated a niece (who is now in her 50's) to be the executor. The proceeds will go to a trust for the benefit my grandchildren. So, how much is realized is important to them. Other things like family heirlooms, photos and keepsakes will not be sold or liquidated to be held in trust for them too.

It will be a PITA for her to liquidate the "assets" (including the house) but it's what many of us have had to do (including me) following the death of a loved one.

That's "life." ;)
 
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My grandson will be three in July; hopefully I won't be dieing anytime soon, I'm 55 now, but whenever I'm dead he can have them all, may get some of them sooner. I guess that it's fortunate to have descendants to leave things to, not everyone is as fortunate, and some few have descendants to whom they would not wish to leave their belongings to which is doubly unfortunate. To those few, sorry things turned out that way.
 
It is something that really doesn't concern me. I bought my knives for my enjoyment. No one else's. If I think that a loved one may enjoy the hobby, or appreciate a knife as a gift, I'll give them something. Better to see people enjoying your presents while you are actually still present.
After I'm dead, I can guarantee I won't give the slightest care about my knives, or anything else for that matter. I'll be too busy decomposing..
 
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I would hope they will be displayed as the fine collection they are, in my opinion. however, I know better and I have some nice ones, some I would want to stay in the family, others I would hope go to some homes that will use them, taken care of decently, appreciated, and some day be in the pictures of old worn but still serviceable knives on this site!! Years from now, others will say cool old knives, what lines, what stories they could tell?
 
For the most part, I'm with the Duck on this one. I certainly won't care, and my loved ones will have more on their minds than knives.

That doesn't mean that I haven't thunk about it, however, perhaps because of my personal life experience. My mom battled cancer for nearly 2 decades, from the time I was in high school, until she passed when I was 35, my entire adult life up until then. To say that this was something that shaped my life would be an understatement. After she passed, I found that she had left a detailed spreadsheet of her important possessions; complete the with value, history, and importance of each item. Now, try as I may, I am nowhere near as thoughtful as she was, but I have considered which of my possessions might be held dear by my children.

I'm 44 now, with three kids (16 yo son, 16 yo daughter, 18 yo daughter). While I am in above average physical condition, I am not without my share of health issues to say the least (one kidney, history of Traumatic Brain Injury, some things the doctors are currently checking into, etc.), and I have had plenty of brushes leaving me no stranger to the idea of my demise. While I don't think knives are really all that important in the scheme of things, I do think some of them could make nice keepsakes to hand down. So far my eldest is the one most interested in knives, and my son is an outdoorsman at heart so I know he won't be far behind. I think my CRK's would be the ideal choice for a knife to pass down as an heirloom to them. Beyond that, I think my Case knives are well suited. They are small, not worth selling anyway, most of them have a brushed finish I put on myself, and I think they could make for nice little tokens of memory. They can sell the rest, or none of them, or all of them for that matter; I would never want them to feel any guilt or obligation over my possessions. As long as they go out there and live life to the fullest and think of me from time to time, perhaps while watching the sun rise or set as we have often done together, I'm cool.
 
Easyrider said:
My Wife will probably just throw them all away.
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There was an old story published in one of the early knife magazines. The husband had passed and left behind his main love, an old lovingly restored Chevy. The wife hated the sight of the thing. To her it represented her husbands obsession with the car and it reminded her of the money he continually wasted on it and his other hobbies. So when his friends came by to inquire, she gladly made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

They purchased the car and took it home. Then when they opened the trunk they found his large knife collection. So they packed it all up and took it back to the widow. She was very unhappy to see them return, and the more so to see the car return. She didn’t want to hear about the husbands junk. She shut them down when they told her the collection in the trunk could be worth $250,000.00. She just told them to get lost and to take the car and the stuff with them.

As much as we love our collection and the many fond memories the items bring back for us; not everyone has the same emotional response and some are just reminded of how burdensome and costly the collection was and how many family trips may have been interrupted and ruined by the collector’s endless quest for knives.

n2s
 
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I'm taking them with me. Instead of giving Charon the ferryman a coin, I'll give him/her/it a Spyderco Delica. With a blade under 3", he/she/it shouldn't get in any trouble carrying it.

Honestly, the wife or my family has been instructed to pass them out amongst my friends.
 
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