I used to be a high end knife guy, but over the years I turned into a low end knife guy.
I used to collect Randall's and other customs when I was young and single. I was a knife snob and thought the sun rose and set on Randall, and my number 14 was my go-to woods knife. Being young and in the army with free housing and food, I had a large disposable income at a young age. But then stuff happens. I met a girl.
Being married and then with kids, put a stop to my high end knife collecting. But on the other side of the coin, the joy I had in my family was unmatched by any inanimate possessions. I was still an obsessed knife nut, but I turned to more 'inexpensive' priced knives and made a startling discovery; they cut very well. In some cases, better than some of my high end stuff. Case sodbusters, Opinels, and Buck's did very well as far as getting it done.
When my three kids all came of age to get their first knife, an inexpensive knife got picked. Victorinox, Opinel, all got used by my kids. I picked an Opinel by chance. I was at a hiking/backpacking store and we were by the knife counter. A large glass jar was on the counter, and was filled with Opinel's. This was 1982, and my son John was 11 years old. We got one for him and one for me. I was intrigued by the design and had never seen anything like it. Over the course of the next year, I became very impressed with how they cut, and held up. Since it was a 'cheap' knife, I used it abusively and it took it. Easy to sharpen and cut like a laser. Over the next few years I tried a Douk-Douk, and a German Mercator, Case sodbuster. All were good.
My high end knives ended up packed away, and I liked the weird carefree feeling of using a knife that I could replace easy. I could get carried away without worrying about chipping or breaking the knife. As a side benefit I learned just how rugged a low end knife can be.
By the 1990's I was looking at the knife collection thinking "what do I need with all this 'stuff?" I sold off all the high end stuff including the customs, and the better half and I took a 'round the country trip with the money. Spent almost a month on the road and hit all the major National parks. We'd tossed all the camping gear in the back of the Toyota and camped out in the Badlands, Yellowstone, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde, and others. Built great memories that will last us to our dying day. At least that was the good thing about the Randall's; I had bought them in the late 1960's and by the mid 1990's had increased in value. They had been sitting in a drawer for years, then paid for our trip.
Today, I'm a retired grandfather, outfitting my grandkids with knives like I did for my kids, and teaching them fishing and camping. I'm doing more fishing and camping than ever before, and I find modest price knives do as well as any of the high end stuff I had in my younger days. An Opinel or Mora makes a fine fishing knife, and a SAK deals with camp jobs very well. A stainless mora opens up and cleans a fish just as well as my old Randall bird and trout knife.
I think the Lord above for my wife and kids, and now grandkids, that gave me something more to care about than high dollar knives. I'm now a low end knife guy and loving it!
I used to collect Randall's and other customs when I was young and single. I was a knife snob and thought the sun rose and set on Randall, and my number 14 was my go-to woods knife. Being young and in the army with free housing and food, I had a large disposable income at a young age. But then stuff happens. I met a girl.
Being married and then with kids, put a stop to my high end knife collecting. But on the other side of the coin, the joy I had in my family was unmatched by any inanimate possessions. I was still an obsessed knife nut, but I turned to more 'inexpensive' priced knives and made a startling discovery; they cut very well. In some cases, better than some of my high end stuff. Case sodbusters, Opinels, and Buck's did very well as far as getting it done.
When my three kids all came of age to get their first knife, an inexpensive knife got picked. Victorinox, Opinel, all got used by my kids. I picked an Opinel by chance. I was at a hiking/backpacking store and we were by the knife counter. A large glass jar was on the counter, and was filled with Opinel's. This was 1982, and my son John was 11 years old. We got one for him and one for me. I was intrigued by the design and had never seen anything like it. Over the course of the next year, I became very impressed with how they cut, and held up. Since it was a 'cheap' knife, I used it abusively and it took it. Easy to sharpen and cut like a laser. Over the next few years I tried a Douk-Douk, and a German Mercator, Case sodbuster. All were good.
My high end knives ended up packed away, and I liked the weird carefree feeling of using a knife that I could replace easy. I could get carried away without worrying about chipping or breaking the knife. As a side benefit I learned just how rugged a low end knife can be.
By the 1990's I was looking at the knife collection thinking "what do I need with all this 'stuff?" I sold off all the high end stuff including the customs, and the better half and I took a 'round the country trip with the money. Spent almost a month on the road and hit all the major National parks. We'd tossed all the camping gear in the back of the Toyota and camped out in the Badlands, Yellowstone, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde, and others. Built great memories that will last us to our dying day. At least that was the good thing about the Randall's; I had bought them in the late 1960's and by the mid 1990's had increased in value. They had been sitting in a drawer for years, then paid for our trip.
Today, I'm a retired grandfather, outfitting my grandkids with knives like I did for my kids, and teaching them fishing and camping. I'm doing more fishing and camping than ever before, and I find modest price knives do as well as any of the high end stuff I had in my younger days. An Opinel or Mora makes a fine fishing knife, and a SAK deals with camp jobs very well. A stainless mora opens up and cleans a fish just as well as my old Randall bird and trout knife.
I think the Lord above for my wife and kids, and now grandkids, that gave me something more to care about than high dollar knives. I'm now a low end knife guy and loving it!
