Whittled down the collection

Sold 7 knives over the last few months (with one more to go - see my sig-line) to make room (mostly financial) for a couple of custom blades I have commissioned. :cool: A huge up grade for me that leaves me - while I wait for the 2 new knives - with 2 Enduras - an old G-10 user that is my favorite by far and a fully serrated stainless version. I'm trying very hard NOT to buy more while waiting for the 2 customs. It is quite a challenge. So far I'm OK but have slipped very close to the edge a few times recently :D
 
I'm also an ebb and flow collector, though in the grand scheme my collection has gotten significantly smaller over the past couple years ...

Since I collect traditionals as well as tactical/modern knives, that adds a level of complexity ... with traditional slipjoints in natural material handles (bone, stag, wood), you truly are selling one-of-a-kind knives when you let those go ... much harder than say a PM2 that you know you can replace later ... especially when you land a particularly special one ...

About two years ago, I had 200+ traditionals, the vast majority of which were GECs ... all were very meticulously "screened" when purchased (zero blade play, well-matched scales, etc, etc), so this collection had taken a considerable amount of effort to acquire ... and then, one day ... I did the math. There were just too many "safe queens" sitting around ... so I started selling them off, a handful at a time. Very tough decisions on which to cut, and some I regret letting go to this day, but just couldn't justify all that "jewelry" just sitting there ...

So now I'm down to around 45 traditionals and around 35 modern folders, and I'm feeling the itch to thin the herd some more ...

It will likely be mostly "moderns" that go though, because as I said, the others are harder to come by, and those have been pared down to the dearest of the lot ... but meh, maybe I can let a few more go ...
 
Excluding a couple SAKs that would likely cost me more to ship than I'd make selling them and one Grohmann #3 I've owned going on twenty five years, I'm down to 3 Spydercos and that's it. I have a Slysz Bowie that sees daily carry for everything, an old Salt that lives in my PFD pocket and a Santa Fe customized Kiwi that was a gift. I really try to keep my knife purchases to a minimum. I like the idea of having one, true EDC. When something else catches my eye, I will buy it and decide which knife will stay. If the new one wins, the old one gets sold. If the old one wins, off goes the new one. That's basically how I've done it for a number of years. I sold most of my collection about a decade ago and haven't really looked back.
 
I get up to about 9-10 then start trying to trade for higher end stuff. Right now I have the following.
Zt0561(doubt its leaving but hey you never know)
Sage 3(anniversary present from my wife and the only knife I consider "untradeable")
Stretch Vg-10 (probably leaving soon)
Dragonfly 2 Vg-10 (I like it but I have gotten into bigger stuff)
Stretch SB( this is by far my favorite, its been gone for sharpening for about a month and I can't wait to get it back)

I have a few on my wish list that will be added, but some of the above listed will have to go.
 
Ken44 said:
I've been trying to do the same.
Started buying/collecting nicer knives when I first joined my towns local knife club(late 70's) while in HS. Spent most all of my part time working money on knives during HS, and didn't slow down much until about 5 or 6 years ago. Had about 200 at that time, but am now down to about 50.
Had planned to get down to about 20, but health problems have slowed me down(trouble getting to the PO now, etc..), but when I'm able again I'll get it on down to around 20 if I can.
The sell down was a huge hassle, but I'm glad I've had so many knives pass through my hands, and I don't have any regrets at all.
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Yeah Ken, I hear you on the hassle. It's like waiting until your house is a complete disaster to clean it. It's usually easier to just tidy up along the way. ;)

I haven't stopped buying knives or anything, I have just realized that about 10 (folders) is my limit. So now, when I look at something new I try to decide if I want it more than something I already have. Part of the reason I sold off the last few is there are a couple of Spydies coming out soon that I want to pick up without feeling like I'm being excessive.
 
Man I wish I could talk myself into getting rid of all but about 10 of my knives. I have gotten rid of about 50 in the last two years and I still have way too many. It's the only thing I spend money on besides bills in the last few years so I figure my entertainment budget is in there too. Plus my vacation money. :)

So, in other words I am too good at making excuses to myself why I need and keep so many knives. So many that I recently found two I forgot even owning. They have been in a safe place since they came out and were never even used.

It's true I haven't bought many in the last 6 months though.

Surfgringo, no Cruwear?

Joe
 
Owned close to 70 different folders over the past two years, sold everything I didn't find useful. Down to: Dragonfly II, Saver Salt, PM2, Swick 4, a single Benchmade, and a Mora. Not a fan of letting (relatively) expensive personal items sit around and contribute nothing to my life, not when I could be putting that money towards books, trips, or better-fitting clothing.
 
I've only had this infatuation with folding knives for about 4 years now, maybe a bit more. So I think I'm still on the upswing.
When I look in the drawer of 29 production folders I'm not seeing any more than 2 or 3 I would consider getting rid of.
And there will be more in time, I'm still seeing folders I want to have carry and use.

I haven't sold any of my good folders, though I have gifted some to people when I upgraded, a Delica when I got the SB sprint version, an Endura when I got a ZDP one, a Para 2 'cos I already had one in S30V, a 940 when I got the 940-1, a Manix 2 when I got the Cruwear sprint, a 580 Barrage when I got the 581, some others. Most of my family have gotten a pocket knife this way. This stops the number growing too fast.

Maybe in time I will reduce the number in the drawer to less then 10, but for now I'm still enjoying them too much.
 
I have 24 Spyderco folders, of which two thirds are sprints/exclusives or discontinued models. All are users, in a variety of models and steels and locks and sizes and purposes. I have sold and gifted a few in the past because it definitely bothers me if a knife lie locked-up in a safe.

Surfingringo said:
...when I look at something new I try to decide if I want it more than something I already have...
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This has become easier for me in the last year or so. I feel that I now have most of my bases covered in terms of folders. I guess with some experience I also realized that many of the uber steels are so close in performance that I would not notice much of a difference between M390 and S110V for daily uses anyway.

The temptation for me is to say no to the new stuff like the 52100 Military, Chinook with Powerlock etc. My intention is to restrict my purchases to these and other exotic newbies only, made easier by the weakness of my local currency, because international purchases are really painful these days.
 
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The Mastiff said:
Surfgringo, no Cruwear?
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Sadly no. :( Its funny too because based on what I've learned owning different steels over the last few years I have a feeling cruwear would be right up my alley. I don't tend to love the stainless "supersteels" and my favorites are things like m4. Great edge retention and edge toughness but much easier (for me) to bring to high level sharpness than steels like s90v/s110v. I also recently got my first knife in 3v and my initial impressions are very favorable. I Imagine cruwear to be some kind of bridge between those two (m4 and 3v), which if true would make it about perfect for my non saltwater uses. Guess I'll keep waiting on Sal to make us a cruwear pm2. :)
 
Surfingringo said:
" ... So now, when I look at something new I try to decide if I want it more than something I already have. Part of the reason I sold off the last few is there are a couple of Spydies coming out soon that I want to pick up without feeling like I'm being excessive."
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This a great mindset / philosophy ... I think I may try to adopt this approach ... thanks.
 
Lance, you are a stronger man than me. I practice the same philosophy of trying to keep the herd thin but for me that is a limit of 30 folders. I am currently at 32 and the seconds sale is coming up plus I have to have a S110V and M4 Para2 as well as a Hap40 Delica so I am sure the herd is about to be thinned out again. I try to be a user and not a collector but I do have a few I won't part with for sentimental reasons.
 
My collection has definitely decreased in volume, but not expense. 😀 I've been bitten by the higher end mid tech, and even handmades lately. I have sold off a large part to fund that. I'm probably down to 25 folders, but out of that a good percentage of those are $400 and up. I recently sold off 2-3 to fund one. That one is a beauty though. I think I'm like many here, we ebb and flow. Tastes change as we stay in the game. To me the pleasure I get from the few I have is greater than just having one of everything.

Great thread Lance.
 
I think the "sell off to upgrade" to fewer knives strategy is something I can more easily accomplish ... I do love the one Sebenza I own ... and I've been ogling the Todd Begg offerings for a while ... but I will always own certain folders (PM2, Caly3, D-Fly, and of course the Kopas / Kiwis ain't going anywhere - so how many is that?!!) ... I think I might start window shopping and set my sights on something ... maybe that will give me the initiative to start thinning ...

I agree, great thread!
 
Ed G said:
I think the "sell off to upgrade" to fewer knives strategy is something I can more easily accomplish ... I do love the one Sebenza I own ... and I've been ogling the Todd Begg offerings for a while ... but I will always own certain folders (PM2, Caly3, D-Fly, and of course the Kopas / Kiwis ain't going anywhere - so how many is that?!!) ... I think I might start window shopping and set my sights on something ... maybe that will give me the initiative to start thinning ...

I agree, great thread!
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That's more or less what I did. Chased an original M390 Military, and then threw monies at a few different craftsmen to create the Vallotton I'd always wanted. The rest of my collection hit the exchange to pay for it. My philosophy has also adopted the "If I'm not willing to use it as God intended on a regular basis, I ain't gonna own it." And unfortunately, my current lifestyle isn't very demanding on the knives I already own. So any additional purchase would be for purely aesthetic reasons.

(I'll admit, it also helps that I've firmly decided to carry knives tip-down in my back pocket. There're few knives on the market with the tip-down option, so that helps in limiting the temptation.)
 
Surfingringo said:
I haven't stopped buying knives or anything, I have just realized that about 10 (folders) is my limit.
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The Mastiff said:
Man I wish I could talk myself into getting rid of all but about 10 of my knives.
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bearfacedkiller said:
I practice the same philosophy of trying to keep the herd thin but for me that is a limit of 30 folders.
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I wrestle with this frequently myself. I think my EDC rotation is about 11 knives, and for various reasons I have a lot more than that in different categories. I think a person can have as many as they want, within their financial means. People that collect things sometimes have a lot of them, so collecting knives doesn't have to be any different. I want to carry the knives in my EDC rotation so having a lot of them works against that. I like all of the ones that I have find it hard to let go of any of them.

So I came to the conclusion that setting limits and agonizing over the number is counterproductive to my enjoyment of the hobby and I try not to worry about it too much.

And my wish list right now has at least 4 strong candidates at the top.
 
I'm down to about nine folders and five or six fixed blades, having sold off about 30 others, recently.

I think I'm actually MORE content, now, as I don't feel like I have *quite* so much stuff gathering dust.
 
Razzle said:
I'm down to about nine folders and five or six fixed blades, having sold off about 30 others, recently.

I think I'm actually MORE content, now, as I don't feel like I have *quite* so much stuff gathering dust.
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That's pretty much how I feel, however....now I feel way more justified picking up those two of three that are calling to me. I think that this is going to be an ebb and flow affair that never really ends. I do like the idea of at least keeping the average running inventory at a reasonable number though.
 
Surfingringo said:
That's pretty much how I feel, however....now I feel way more justified picking up those two of three that are calling to me. I think that this is going to be an ebb and flow affair that never really ends. I do like the idea of at least keeping the average running inventory at a reasonable number though.
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Yeah, the "ebb and flow" is probably the best way I'd consider myself regarding this hobby, even though I like the idea of being totally minimalistic. I like what I like and that never changes, I like to at least try keeping it in check.
 
Fairly recently I reduced my collection as well.
I got into collecting about 10 years ago. It started with Kopa Cocobolo. I loved this knife so much, so I decided to collect entire set. There were some variant, which I even didn't like, still I bought them to have a set. The same happened with Calys. About a year ago I realized that I have quite a few knives, which I even do not like. So not to sell, what I do not want and have some cash? Within few month half of my collection was gone, including 8 Kopas.
 
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