What would you do?

I'm awfully late to this party but decided to chime in anyways.

Just because a knife is still mint after a long time doesn't mean it has no history to it. It may have went to church for 20 years on Sundays. It may have been taken out at a hardware store 500 times to show a customer what the new pattern looks like. It may have exchanged hands/owners a dozen times over it's life, and been rubbed lightly with an oiled cloth, and displayed in collection and shown to 100's of people.

The trend of collecting a pristine mint example of a knife was started as early as knife collectors began collecting. A mint knife is only mint 1 time in it's life, and can never go back. 99% of knives out of a factory don't get to stay mint, but there are a few that are destined to stay that way forever. That holds value in my eye.

Also, I find no problem with folks who buy a knife with the intent to keep it mint until the day comes they can turn a profit on it, if that is an option. My grandfather has many friends who bought Case tested knives in the 60's and 70's, and sold them in the 80's and 90's for extra money (likely re-invested in buying more knives ;). If each of those knives had been used before being sold again, they would not have ended up in other collections as mint examples of what a knife looked like fresh out of the factory.

I'm not saying I don't see your side Cory, I'm just pointing out the other point-of-view.
 
Cory Hess said:
Personally, the history I was talking about wasn't so much my personal history as the object's personal history. In this case it's the knife's personal history. While it would be great if all old knives had a history that was known to me with a person I had a relationship with, having it's secrets doesn't make that history worthless much less a negative.

I am enthralled by old used knives, whether I know how/by whom they were used or not. I like looking at Lyle's old farmer jacks and thinking about how that knife provided for a family. There was somebody out there that used that knife to put dinner on the table every night. It would be really neat to find out who it was and what exactly they did, but it's still really interesting that the knife itself has this history. I like looking at Charlie's old barlows and thinking about the kids playing mumbly-peg in the schoolyard with those old knives. I like looking at old jackknives and thinking about how many times somebody pulled that old thing out and saved the day in 100 different ways over the last 70 or 80 years. whwhittier recently posted some pictures of an old hunting knife that looks like it brought home enough food to feed a small city over the years. I don't look at any of those knives and think "I wish this old knife was mint".

I also really enjoy looking at pristine knives. I love looking at the way they were constructed years ago. I like looking at the cover material and getting as close as possible to seeing what it looked like when it was new from the factory. This puts context to the used knives I admire, as I wouldn't know how they had aged without knowing how they looked when they were new. Whenever I see a new knife my first thought goes to what that knife would look after being carried for a couple of decades. I like to invest in knives that will improve as they age. Seeing old knives with similar covers in pristine condition and then worn condition gives me a good idea of what these new knives will become. In this sense used and pristine are a yin and yang, one without the other is incomplete. The knives I've enjoyed looking at the most are ones that chronicle a history. I recently got to see a collection of mint Robesons that chronicled all of the innovations of that manufacturer. It was awesome to see those old knives in such great shape. I've had a similar experience with collections that chronicle the history of a pattern. It can be awe inspiring.

Overall though, a knife that has sat in a box for decades is broken. It's missing it's life. Instead of seeing a knife as something that comes out of the factory new and deteriorates as it gets used, I see it as something that is born in the factory and lives through it's usage. An old knife in pristine condition is a knife that's never gotten to live. It's saving the dodo from the dinner table just to sacrifice it to the taxidermist's knife. Sure it's preserved, but it's species is still extinct.

I don't seek these knives out, and for that reason I've only obtained one knife that had any age to it and was still in pristine condition. I sent it on to a collector that I know appreciates such things and would keep it unused. It's not my preference for my collection, but I still respect and admire those who do prefer it. He was able to send back one that was not in such good condition and I was able to drop that one in my pocket. Win-win. He got a near perfect example and I got a knife with some history to it.

I hope that this post hasn't offended anybody, as that's really not my intent. I also don't intend to belittle anybody's preference for collecting. I'm merely trying to express my viewpoint. I apologize in advance for anything that looks as if it's to the contrary and ask you to trust that it appears that way due to my lack of skill in conveying myself properly, and not due to my lack of respect for anybody else.
Click to expand...

Cory thank you for this and your previous post; both are high effort and very thoughtful! This has been a very productive thread. Thanks again for your contributions.
Dave
 
As long as we are expounding and expanding this topic, allow me to take it a step further.
A minty knife is like a well-preserved book. You can look at the cover, ("purty!") or you can see into its soul, like I have seen Bill at GEC do in a contemplative moment ("so THAT's how they did it!!").
The care taken to preserve that book/knife, is a tribute to the love of knowledge, and to the great lengths of dedication it takes to keep the mice, bugs, moisture and mold, ultra-violet and all other deleterious effects at bay.
Not only is that history, but that is the love of history.
I am in awe of the people who have done such things!
Some history is not so well kept.
Take the history of the Barlow! There are some breaks/fractures in the story that have created myths and misguided beliefs. Is the Barlow really a product of Obediah's fertile creativity? The jury is still out!!
If just a few records and knives had been kept in good condition, we would know the answers!! Now there are some things we will likely never know, because the Dodo has been eaten!
We all know the dangers and curses of ignoring history (I hope!).
I personally will try and keep my little part of the story straight for the truth-seekers out there.
They are the ones who will improve human life, and eliminate the ignorance that creates conflict.
Phew!
 
I think Rick wanted the push to use the knife:cool::thumbup: But it's unleashed some interesting preoccupations.:D

I have a lot of knives I don't use, either due to not connecting with them, finding them inconvenient or wanting to keep a set of knives collector style. Maybe later I can trade these for knives I like more?

But, if I really like a knife and I connect with it, I simply need to use it whatever the alleged rarity or value that's placed on it. I use them carefully and like to maintain them because knives were made for use and admiration/appreciation. The two go hand in glove. You can't put anything in a state of frozen animation because it becomes lifeless like a fly trapped in amber.
 
I won't address all of the comments but I want to mention a few things. I hope they are helpful and I hope knife enthusiasts and collectors are able to enjoy old knives for many more generations.

The very first thing that a knife collector learns is the importance of seeing lots of good examples of old knives. Without that experience, you can not identify knives, their age, or distinguish between fakes, reworks, and authentic old knives. That experience is fundamental.

The majority of questions are asked because folks haven't seen good examples. Or enough good examples.

Fakes wouldn't sell for as much as authentic examples if the bidders had seen good examples. Buffed knives wouldn't sell as mint if folks had seen actual examples of glazed and crocus finish on knives. Etc.

Someone recently mentioned that they prefer fantasy. Obviously that has some limits to its usefulness. I would have done a lot better in history if we could just make up stuff. There's a lot of useful information and history has some extraordinary stories as well.

Modern knife companies have learned a lot from old knives and history. If you ignore history, a company might end up putting a skinner blade with a nail nick near the tip... on a straight jack with an easy open notch. :p

I don't think it's any mistake that the most successful knives that GEC has made are patterned after old knives. And the SFO variants from Charlie typically have much higher demand than regular production from the same run. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who likes those knives. ;) That's not only true for GEC. The Winchester knives were extremely successful for Queen and there are lots of other examples as well.

Just a few things to think about before scraping the weeds out of the sidewalk cracks with a 5 blade Remington sowbelly. :D
 
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If the pattern is something you really really like and is hard to get in a "field grade" or modern production knife, then go ahead and carry it. If it's something kinda neat that you just happen to have, I say don't force yourself to carry it, sell it and use the money to buy what you really really like, then carry the heck out of that.

I just did this actually. A couple years ago a big ole' Benchmade 741 found it's way into my possession. I thought about carrying it since it was my first over-$100 knife, but then I realized that it doesn't really do anything special for me, in fact I kind of disliked it. But I knew it had collector value and I sure would hate to risk losing or damaging it, so I just let it sit. And it sat. And I didn't get anything out of it. Then I decided that I liked money better than a knife that just sits so I posted it on ebay and it sold in about an hour. From what I got for that knife I could have pretty much any Case I want, 2-3 of them, or even a brand new GEC.
 
I buy my knives and my pickup trucks used. That way I won't think twice about using them for the roles they were designed. A tool is only a tool if you use it.
 
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