what's the point of collecting knives?

I like to have lots of things that I like. In addition to knives, I collect guns, guitars, amps, and hot sauces. I am always buying hot sauces because I must replenish them as I consume them.
 
SENGVIN said:
U are wrong ! there is noting to defend, if i doesn't make u happy anymore than sell it and move one ! Irrational behavior it was in your case because u truly didn't like doing what u where doing, why did u do it ? well who knows:)
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I am having a difficult time deciphering your poorly written post. But I get the impression that your are having the same problem with mine.
 
Cal45 said:
Because he's on a knife forum asking people what the point of collecting knives is while admitting that he collects perfumes. He's either a troll or trying to tick people off.
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But none of us are being forced to be here. Nor are any of us (including you) being forced to read or reply to this thread. Seeing as how there are 5 pages of this thread so far, obviously some of us find the topic interesting or at least entertaining.

Heck, I'm sure if any of us had better things to do, we'd be doing them. :)
 
marcinek said:
Because I like them. That's all the reason I need.

An outsiders perspective doesn't matter to me.

Whatever reason you would like to collect them for....that's all the reason you need.

:confused:

Welcome, by the way. :thumbup:
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That's the best answer that I've seen. For me, I just like knives. Although, there is a certain appeal to them from an aesthetics perspective as well. A well made knife requires as much work as any piece of art, if not more. Of course, I use all my knives. Paying over $100 for something that you're just going to look at makes no sense. No safe queens for me.
 
It's alot like people that fish. You wonder if tackle really works, so you try one. Then another. Then you buy a tackle box, and you slowly fill it up. Before you know it, you've got a ton of tackle, each piece with it's own purpose, place, and time. Knives are alot like that. A knife for a certain outfit, or a "beater", knives for fishing, maybe even one or two just for display purposes. With me it started out buying one to use. Then another for different uses. And next thing i know I have ten and a regular rotation. And then it turned into something I was passionate about, like my cigars and pipes. If you collect 1 thing, you're just like millions of other people that collect things you might not be able to understand their passion for. Good luck with your cologne collection and maybe your knives.:)
-Dale
 
Oh and to ToneGrail, I love Frank's and Tobasco. And sometimes Texas Pete. Oh goodness, I feel another hobby coming on.....:D
 
tadpole25 said:
I'm new here. I got interested in knife collecting after hearing that Gabe Newell (Valve CEO) owns hundreds of knives.

So far, I only own one knife, it's a balisong butterfly knife.

And I have a practice balisong knife, as well, for practicing newer tricks (so I don't cut myself).

But, from an outsider perspective, is collecting knives practical? A full collection can run over
$5000, and what's the point? What does it accomplish? Are they necessary? Don't you only
just need 1 or 2 knives?

But what I learned is that you can't judge things at surface level.

I'm actually very much into a hobby that a lot of people think is silly and impractical. I collect
fragrances and I own over 50 colognes (some of them are high-end $200+ fragrances like luxury
quality Creed). And of all the people who have asked "You only need one or two, why collect
50 of them?", I can sort of understand what knife collectors must go through.

But I am curious as to why you collect knives?

Is it for safety? Hunting? Is it for aesthetic? Is it an investment to fight inflation?

I'm curious.
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Collect fragrances....................interesting. Kinda speechless really....But back to your question. I've always been an outdorrs person, backpacking and fishing etc. I've always enjoyed knives and now that I'm older and have a few extra $ I like to collect them. Some I've used and some I haven't. I rotate them as well. Sometimes I'll pull a few out and just have them on my desk for a day or two. My wife comes in and just shakes her head, and that's the way it should be.

still thinking about collecting fragrances.
 
It's just like eating a piece of pie. You don't eat it for nourishment, you eat it because you like it. :)
 
Speaking for myself, I have a bit of a compulsive, addictive personality..Very hard to control at times..Started with Briar Tobacco pipes, then cigars, then lighters now knives...
 
tadpole25 said:
I'm new here. I got interested in knife collecting after hearing that Gabe Newell (Valve CEO) owns hundreds of knives.

So far, I only own one knife, it's a balisong butterfly knife.

And I have a practice balisong knife, as well, for practicing newer tricks (so I don't cut myself).

But, from an outsider perspective, is collecting knives practical? A full collection can run over
$5000, and what's the point? What does it accomplish? Are they necessary? Don't you only
just need 1 or 2 knives?

But what I learned is that you can't judge things at surface level.

I'm actually very much into a hobby that a lot of people think is silly and impractical. I collect
fragrances and I own over 50 colognes (some of them are high-end $200+ fragrances like luxury
quality Creed). And of all the people who have asked "You only need one or two, why collect
50 of them?", I can sort of understand what knife collectors must go through.

But I am curious as to why you collect knives?

Is it for safety? Hunting? Is it for aesthetic? Is it an investment to fight inflation?

I'm curious.
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First off you need to want them. Some people only use them a few times a week, some many times a day, but after you've carried for a while and then go without, you will miss it. Once you have the base desire, it branches out.
For me there are a few things that make knives specifically attractive to collect (an attraction I have been desperately fighting for the last year). The knife industry is way, way way way less marketing oriented than almost any other consumer goods industry. Knives generally sell for what they're worth (in materials and craftsman hours), and if someone is popular it's not because they had an ad on a billboard (again, that's generally speaking, you will find the odd exception). I find that knives are about craftsmanship, science/technology (read up on heat treating and particle metallurgy), art (more in the architectural sense, if you're going to have decorations they need to clean and simple or extremely good, ideally both), and last but not least history and community.


Don't you only just need 1 or 2 knives?
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Yes. Now of the hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of models, go pick the maker and model that you like most. I can just about guarantee that your answer will change regularly for the next five to ten years (maybe longer?). Have fun.

(Full collection, $5,000? HA!)
 
Fisher1573 said:
Oh and to ToneGrail, I love Frank's and Tobasco. And sometimes Texas Pete. Oh goodness, I feel another hobby coming on.....:D
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Yeah I use Texas Pete's mainly for hot wings. I have a bunch of more obscure sauces like Mama Africa Habenero Sauce and Yucateco.. Sriracha and Dave's Insanity are also standards in my collection.
 
not2sharp said:
You are either born with a desire to collect or not. If you are a collector, then you tend to collect anything and everything. Whether, it is golf clubs, fishing equipment, camera and imaging, guns, knives, coins, stamps, baseball cards or pound puppies, there is a pre-existing highly focused drive to capture, control, catalog, organize and understand the world around you. Liking knives will not make you a collector, although it can become the principle objective for someone pre-disposed to collecting. At the oposite extreme are probably those who hate to focus, who prefer travel the corridor of life in an intoxicated state. To me collectors are interesting, irrespective of what they may collect, they tend to become very expert in their field and as such represent the root sources for all knowlege; a sort of instinctive application of the scientific process. On the other hand, like everything else, when taken to extremes it can be a self-distructive drive. There are collectors who will, like the classic "mad scientist", ignore family, friends, and even serious health issues to focus on collecting.

n2s
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This is it. Either you have the urge or you don't. I am a born collector, and I have to check myself because a true collector never has enough of what he or she loves.
 
utah_fish said:
Collect fragrances....................interesting. Kinda speechless really....But back to your question. I've always been an outdorrs person, backpacking and fishing etc. I've always enjoyed knives and now that I'm older and have a few extra $ I like to collect them. Some I've used and some I haven't. I rotate them as well. Sometimes I'll pull a few out and just have them on my desk for a day or two. My wife comes in and just shakes her head, and that's the way it should be.

still thinking about collecting fragrances.
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Yeah I was wondering about the fragrance thing myself. Is the OP female? That's typically not a male hobby.
 
I'm not much of a collector, i'm more of a user. I see knives as the perfect blend of tool, utility and beauty. I think it's a shame to have a nice knife and not use it. I keep my knife roster to about 10 knives I rotate through. If a knife doesn't see any use I sell it or give it away to someone who will use it.

As for 'whats the point?". Why not? Lot's of people collect things. One of my friends is a star wars junky. He's got over $50K worth of original unopened star wars stuff. Another one of my buddies collects hot wheels. (Mind, these ARE grown men..but us boys never really grow up do we :P). Knives, toys, memorabilia...it is all the same. We do it because we're interested in it or it makes us happy. Do we really need to have an excuse to purchase things we like? Talk to any woman and they will give you any number of reasons as to why they just HAD to purchase that new pair of shoes or purse. At the end of the day...they just wanted it.
 
I bought each knife in my collection for a different purpose. If I could own a single wrench or screwdriver that could do anything I would ever want to do, I'd still buy different types.

I'm not sure how else to explain it.
 
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