Who reached their final state of knife evolution?

Walking Man

Walking Man

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I'm not sure but I think I have. There are those of you who are Sebenzanista, and then there's us Busse fan, and then there are the good ol' permanent fixtures in the Cantina, and Randall collectors, and high end-folder and high end slip joint collectors and Strider fans too. and others too.... (of course). And collectors of older knives also. (ie N2S and the Bernard Levine hang out crew)
I'm in with Busse crowd, right now, and it looks like this is it for me. Oh, I'll be keeping a list here. There's also the HIGH end Bowie knife crew (Mastersmith collectors) and Japanese-forged knife collectors. And, those of us, like Cliff who will probably never succumb to being part of any one crowd.
Where or Who are you?
 
Another question is: Where have you been?
I started with 1) production fixed blades. Then production folders. Then higher end fixed and folders. (for a while I said Cold Steel is plenty good enough for me and everyone). Then I went into limited edition production folder and inexpenisive custom fixed blade and Sebbies and a couple of WHs, and then I traded for a Busse, which I originally thought were pretty plain. Now I'm where I am right now.
 
Well, I'd be a well-aligned member of the art knife group if I had the funds. My tastes have gotten out of control, but I only have a few knives over the $1,000 mark.

Until then, I guess I'm a member of the "unless I'm especially attached it ends up in my pocket" group.
 
I guess I ran the entire gamut you listed above. :)

Started with fancy folders, then started to get into high-end tac/utility folders, then, got into tactical fixed, then, sold a bunch of the tactical stuff and got into forged bowies and similar, now, lately, it's forged Japanese stuff.

Who knows where I'll be in a year. :) (Homeless probably. :) )
 
I'm all over the map. I mostly like tactical folders, but am also facinated by slip joints, fighters and multi tools. Then there's my love of art knives. Like Ed Fowler, I love the pursuit of Lady Knife and the knife community, but he's a little more focused than I on functionality.

Knife nirvana, that would come from finding that finding the one perfect knife, and I don't think it exists.

John
 
jmxcpter said:
the one perfect knife, and I don't think it exists.
John
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Oh, I BELIEVE it exists for each of us. It's called "the next knife purchase". Seriously, human beings are all about liking what you don't have, and you have to expect that. You could marry the most beautiful woman on Earth, and within a month you'd be looking at other women. That's just the way we are. You've probably found a knife that was "The One" for you but now is nolonger. That's the way it is probably always going to be. That's why screaming Sebenza fans often go and buy a Lochsa, for the "fix".
 
In 1989 I began with a Chris Reeve. By the mid 90s I had no time or money for knives. Last year my interest in knives came back to life (largely thanks to a bit more time and money) and I added Fallkniven, Swamp Rat, and Busse to my "knives I really like" list.

I started with high quality heavy duty users, and that is where I have returned to.

I don't expect to go anywhere else, but anything is possible.
 
I probably have reached my final step and as some folks already know that final step is the CRK Mnandi. IMHO, it is the perfect Gent knife, which is my preferred style of folder. The only question now is how many will I get over the course of my life (I can only afford around two a year on average) and how long will Chris keep turning them out? Of course, I'll still get the random Spydie or CRKT for rough duty needs as well. ;)
 
Started with SAK's as a kid, more recently Bali's (hence the username) I moved onto things I could legally carry with me (medium sized folders) and now I'm *trying* to make knives!
 
I now carry a large classic Sebbie, and I don't walk by the knife counter anymore, so I suppose I'm just about there. I still have a soft spot for the SAK's tho..... ;)
 
I've been accumulating knives since I was 12...that's 23 years ago. When I was 18ish, my sister counted my knife accumulation to be over 500. I've never counted but I must have owned well over 1,000.

Ebay was a good discovery for me as it gave me a way of selling my no longer wanted knives to buy new ones.

Today I have much fewer knives. Today I'm more satisfied with decent quality production knives that have a fair price.

Some of my favorite knives are the regular usmc by kabar & camillus, bk-10, schrade sharpfinger, mora knife, vic soldier, queen gunstock, griptillian, delica, opinel #8, ontario's 12" machete and most recently I've been very pleased with benchmade's rant bowie.

I've been looking for the ideal knife and I'll always be looking!

Cheers,
Collecter
 
Walking Man said:
I'm not sure but I think I have. There are those of you who are Sebenzanista, and then there's us Busse fan, and then there are the good ol' permanent fixtures in the Cantina, and Randall collectors, and high end-folder and high end slip joint collectors and Strider fans too. and others too.... (of course). And collectors of older knives also. (ie N2S and the Bernard Levine hang out crew)
I'm in with Busse crowd, right now, and it looks like this is it for me. Oh, I'll be keeping a list here. There's also the HIGH end Bowie knife crew (Mastersmith collectors) and Japanese-forged knife collectors. And, those of us, like Cliff who will probably never succumb to being part of any one crowd.
Where or Who are you?
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You haven't reached the final state of knife evoloution grasshopper. Only when you realise that nobody can make exactly the knife you desire will you evolve. Then you will evolve to the next state. You will begin to make the knife you desire. Only then can you reach enlightenment. Jerry Busse, Chris Reeve Bo Randall and Mick Strider are false prophets causing you to stray from the path of enlightenment.
 
I'm expanding my horizons and starting into inexpensive customs fron Allen Blade and Anza. Not limiting myself though; I still intend to buy factory knives and whatever else strikes my fancy.

-Bob
 
Walking Man said:
Who reached their final state of knife evolution?
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There may be no such thing as the "final state of knife evolution". I think of knife collecting is a journey, not a destination.

As you move through your knife collecting journey different things will attract your attention. First it may be the quest for the ultimate factory EDC knife. Then it may be the factory knife with the best value or the best tactical folder. As you collect more knives you begin to notice subtleties like perfect grind lines, the beauty of a 2,000 grit hand rubbed finish, different materials, a unique hamon. This does not diminish the knives you collected earlier, it just means you are at a different place along your journey.

I used to buy lots of knives looking for the ultimate. Now I enjoy collecting because of the enjoyment it gives me and the friends I've made. I've never met a better group of people than knife makers and collectors.
 
When I was a kid in the '80s, I was into butterfly knives, Rambo-type survival knives, and ultra-cheap "tantos". LOL! For the last several years, I've been bouncing back and forth between puukkos, antique Indonesian knives, and Spyderco (though I'll occasionally buy the odd tactical folder from another company). I own a handful of customs and a Sebenza that I really like, but I haven't yet gone down that path to being exclusively interested in custom or Chris Reeve knives.
 
I started out with Spyderco and some Kershaw, Gerber, etc.... However, since buying my first Sebbie a couple of months ago, I found out for myself what all the hype was about with this CRK. I hope to eventually pick up a Mnandi, maybe a fixed blade as well. Then after that, I plan on looking into a Strider or two....;)
 
I've come home, once again, to SAKs. It all started with cheap slip joints. I went through the "tactical" stage, all the way up to the Sebenza. Now I'm back where I truly belong.....with my SAKs.....and a CRK Mnandi thrown in for good measure. :p

Paul
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
You haven't reached the final state of knife evoloution grasshopper. Only when you realise that nobody can make exactly the knife you desire will you evolve. Then you will evolve to the next state. You will begin to make the knife you desire. Only then can you reach enlightenment. Jerry Busse, Chris Reeve Bo Randall and Mick Strider are false prophets causing you to stray from the path of enlightenment.
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I wrote this above:
ME said:
Oh, I BELIEVE it exists for each of us. It's called "the next knife purchase". Seriously, human beings are all about liking what you don't have, and you have to expect that. You could marry the most beautiful woman on Earth, and within a month you'd be looking at other women. That's just the way we are. You've probably found a knife that was "The One" for you but now is no longer. That's the way it is probably always going to be. That's why screaming Sebenza fans often go and buy a Lochsa, for the "fix".
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SO THERE!
 
cerulean said:
When I was a kid in the '80s, I was into butterfly knives, Rambo-type survival knives, and ultra-cheap "tantos". LOL!
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ME TOO!!! Except it was a later than that, say 1992-4 and I was into Hibbens. :barf: I'm glad I don't still have any (okay, I have a REAL NICA Hibben). I thought they were the best in the whole word. I don't know anything!!! LOL.
-Also, while I think I've reached my final state of knife collecting evolution, I'm not a 100% Busse knife buyer. I'm sure there will be others that I get every now and then ESPECIALLY FOLDERS. (hint, hint, Jerry, if you're reading this)
 
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