Why are knives so addicting?

Toyz said:
I think in life you are either a survivor or a sheep. Survivors like guns, knives and such. They always know where the exit is, always have a full charge on their cell phone, never let their gas tank get below half, and always have tool(s) on them to help them get thru the day. There is no such thing as " over prepared" if you are a survivor, thus the need to keep acquiring tools.

Sheep wait for the government to show up and tell them to breathe.
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+1 :thumbup:
 
Freeflow6000 said:
So I decided to purchase my first knife a while back which was a Byrd Robin. Shortly after I just "needed" more so in the next month or two I picked up a cheapo Leatherman c301, a Jaguar Balisong, a SOG Twitch II, and finally this past week I picked up a RAT Izula.(which is amazing btw)

My question is: WHY ARE KNIVES SO ADDICTING???
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Ok, what ever you do stay away from Busse sub forum as well. The stuff you mentioned except for RAT, are nothing to complaint about. I have over $1k in knives and that's nothing, and most of that $1k are three knives. People here have $40k+ in blades.

Why knives so addictive, many reasons. If you are like me then you get joy out of the fact that you just scored something very useful for a very reasonable price. Then there is another factor, sometimes I would want to buy knives just because I wish I had one like that when I needed it. Another reason is because some of the blades are works of art. And sometimes craftsmanship is so high that it is art in itself. Then there is marketing, which makes us buy stuff. And maybe the worst of all are the bladeforums, where an answer to question which one is better, usually is "get both."


And Toyz,

Thanks for calling me a sheep, just because I don't like guns as much as you do, or keep my phone fully charged (my phone lasts for 5 days or so without dying, and constantly recharging battery wears it down.) or that I usually refuel when I got 30 miles left. Seriously man, you have to have more classes in your human classification.
 
I think that as a collectable, knives have several things going for them. First, they're easily available (in most places). Second, there are so many types/styles that you can continuously find something new and interesting. Next, while they can be expensive, there is a price range for everyone. You can collect Gerbers, CRKTs, or move up to Benchmades/Spydercos and then your CRK and Busses. Then, you find customs and you go nuts. And as expensive as they can be, they're still cheaper then buying cars or guns, so its a reasonable hobby (well, for some people....you can go nuts). Lastly, knives are still "restricted" or a "rebel" type of thing to a lot of people. People enjoy being different.
 
Toyz said:
I think in life you are either a survivor or a sheep. Survivors like guns, knives and such. They always know where the exit is, always have a full charge on their cell phone, never let their gas tank get below half, and always have tool(s) on them to help them get thru the day. There is no such thing as " over prepared" if you are a survivor, thus the need to keep acquiring tools.

Sheep wait for the government to show up and tell them to breathe.
Click to expand...

Toyz, I think you have hit on something primal here.
I would guess that 99% of the people who post here on BF would fall into your "survivor" category.
An ability to face the world, prepared, equipped and ready. Your world may be suburbia, the inner city, the desert or the mountains, but having the right gear for the job at hand is second nature.

Food for thought.
 
I've thought about this a bit, and I think it's a question that really bears some serious study.

I think it must be at least partially genetic, and my strongest argument for this is that the vast, vast majority of humans who find knives such interesting objects are men.

Yes, I know that there are some invaluable ladies on this forum, but they are in the tiny minority (but all the more precious because of that!).

I can say for myself that knives interest me because, not only are they useful tools, but so often unique works of art at the same time.

Guns can be beautiful, and are certainly useful objects, but knives, especially custom knives, offer utility with one-of-a-kind uniqueness as well.

At a gut level, I like the mechanical solidity of knives, their craftsmanship, their heft, and the things they make possible.

If I were to choose one object produced by Man which would best exemplify the ability of Man to make tools, it would be the knife. Almost all other "things" produced by Man are made possible by the cutting edge.

Andy
 
Toyz said:
I think in life you are either a survivor or a sheep. Survivors like guns, knives and such. They always know where the exit is, always have a full charge on their cell phone, never let their gas tank get below half, and always have tool(s) on them to help them get thru the day. There is no such thing as " over prepared" if you are a survivor, thus the need to keep acquiring tools.

Sheep wait for the government to show up and tell them to breathe.
Click to expand...

I can't and won't even try to say that any better then you just did brotha!

I get laughed at at times for always having my Hellfighter flashlight, a koga and some sort of knife on me somewhere or in my Maxpedition Monsoon Gearslinger backpack, they just don't understand. I can't even keep track of how many times a friend or someone that knows I carry all this has asked to use it because they didn't. some day they will learn. :)
 
Toyz said:
I think in life you are either a survivor or a sheep. Survivors like guns, knives and such. They always know where the exit is, always have a full charge on their cell phone, never let their gas tank get below half, and always have tool(s) on them to help them get thru the day. There is no such thing as " over prepared" if you are a survivor, thus the need to keep acquiring tools.

Sheep wait for the government to show up and tell them to breathe.
Click to expand...

I would like to agree, but you're forgetting about all the nerds that collect cool toys. It doesn't have to be knives.
I visit a lot of forums where weapons and tactics or otherwise macho equipment is the main genre.
I find that a lot of people seem to counter their insecurities by collecting masculine accessories.

I'm looking for the best blade for each purpose, but I haven't found them yet.
I get rid of the ones which I conclude to have a stupid design or that are not working for me.
 
I started at 6 years old and acquired slippies heavily until I joined the Corps at age 20. It slowed down for a while and during that 20 years I only bought about 25 or so, but carried mostly a Leatherman and a small locking folder at work (weapons repair) and a Gerber TACII on my harness and a KABAR in the pack while deployed. Personally even though I love knives I blame the forums for part of the actual addiction! I have another addiction that I darn near had to take drugs to quell at one time and that is acoustic guitars. By virtue of expense that hobby is kept at bay now. It's not hard to get excited about something when you are part of like-minded group. I sure am glad that I don't have any buddies locally that share the same fever or I'd really be in trouble! My collection is at about 115 now oops, just clicked "Buy-it-now" for an OD green Scallion, make that 116...
 
Knives are not addictive. There are however people who are prone to being addicted. It may be several different addictions through life. Some people are like my wife, addicted to nothing that does not make any common sense. Give her one of anything she really needs and she will figure out how to get it done. She like knives, guns, fishing rigs, but one of each is plenty.
 
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