Why Can't I Keep my Knives?

JustinWatts

JustinWatts

Joined
May 26, 2012
Messages
423
Every time I find myself chasing another knife, I can't help but sell knives I though I'd loved to help fund that one in particular. To this day, I've only had one knife for more than a year simply because it was handed down to me. Other than that, I've sold every knife I've acquired, and fairly quickly too.

Perhaps I'm just not easily impressed; does anyone else succumb to this? I almost feel cheated as I lose money on every knife, and I don't feel I gain anything out of owning them. Perhaps I still need to find the "one," but I feel as though that will never come...

Thoughts?
 
Do you find that this is the case with other things in your life as well? Cars? Women? Maybe you just need to find another hobby since there really is no perfect knife. I began to fall into that trap not long ago too. Began with one knife and, within 60 days, I had just under 40. I have had knives of all different price ranges, from $20-$2500. Now I own just 6 and soon 3 of them will be gone. Find something you like very much, realize and accept that no knife is 100% perfect for you, and just try to enjoy what you have.
 
I am the same way. Just when I think I have found a keeper I see something else I want and most of the time sell it to acquire the new one I want. The only two I have kept without selling were gifts which I won't ever sell.
 
Don't buy knives just to buy them. I learned that recently after selling off my collection and started on a clean slate. I have passed on MANY knives that I really liked and only bought the ones that I knew were keepers. Another thing I started doing is only acquiring knives that are very hard to get/discontinued mid-techs and customs. When you drop $1000+ on a knife.... you will only do it if you REALLY REALLY REALLY like it.
 
I think most of us are like you. I've bought knives before that I thought I wanted to keep, then later on I was ready to sell them and buy something else. I think the explanation is that we get a thrill from the search and acquisition. I think also we look at a knife and it looks great, then after living with it for awhile we get used to it and we want something else new.
 
Well, I myself have been through what you are going through, but ever since I have acquired my Xm-18 about a year ago now if that... the search has ended... All of my striders have been sold.. 4 pt's.. 1 smf... and 2 sng's... only 1 SnG has stayed in my collection of knives.. ghost striped DGG black G-10 and all of my chris reeves have also been sold.... 3 small 21's 1 large 21... 1 25 ... and a zann.. all gone... however I could see myself picking up another small and large 21 as they were nice... the zaan and 25 i could totally live without... (meh)...
I have kept a few knives, in my collection, but don't even carry anything but my xm-18 flipper spanto grind 3.5" and I have nothing bad to say... It is a great combination of everything you want in a knife (or at least what I want in one)... the only thing I am lusting after atm... is a little brother for it... especially considering the whether is changing.. getting warmer out and i'll be wearing less.. so the same knife just downsized a bit... would be a dream to slip in my pocket for the summer ...

anyway, for those that say there isn't a perfect knife out there for you, I think they are all wrong... they just havn't found their yet ;)...

keep looking my man!
 
The Logical One said:
Don't buy knives just to buy them. I learned that recently after selling off my collection and started on a clean slate. I have passed on MANY knives that I really liked and only bought the ones that I knew were keepers. Another thing I started doing is only acquiring knives that are very hard to get/discontinued mid-techs and customs. When you drop $1000+ on a knife.... you will only do it if you REALLY REALLY REALLY like it.
Click to expand...

+1... though there is no need to go $1000+ on a knife... however if your rich .. sure :) ... I think $400-700 is more of an acceptable range.. esp. if you ever lost it 0.0 !
 
I'm the opposite. I can't get rid of any knife, except the ones I didn't like (so far only 1 knife I gave away for free).
 
Ditto here. My knives are here to stay. I am happy with all of them, and when I want another, I will save until I can afford it.
 
Maybe you're buying the wrong knives? But seriously, I used to buy knives mainly to collect (and I'm talking about many multiple hundreds of knives over the years) until I figured out what it was that I actually needed for my particular P.O.U. ("Philosophy of Use," to steal a term from Nutn'). And since I have "figured out" what I really need, I tend to only buy what I need and use, and I keep them for the long haul.
 
link2derek said:
Maybe you're buying the wrong knives? But seriously, I used to buy knives mainly to collect (and I'm talking about many multiple hundreds of knives over the years) until I figured out what it was that I actually needed for my particular P.O.U. ("Philosophy of Use," to steal a term from Nutn'). And since I have "figured out" what I really need, I tend to only buy what I need and use, and I keep them for the long haul.
Click to expand...

My problem is not so much that I don't get use out of them, but just that I turn to the next best thing and think to myself, "why keep this when I can have that?" Perhaps this isn't a result of my personality, but the constantly improving knife market?
 
JustinWatts said:
My problem is not so much that I don't get use out of them, but just that I turn to the next best thing and think to myself, "why keep this when I can have that?" Perhaps this isn't a result of my personality, but the constantly improving knife market?
Click to expand...

Without knowing you, I suspect it IS a result of your personality. It is really no different than someone who goes through cars quickly despite the fact that the car he/she owns at that moment is great. The next best thing isn't necessarily best. Sometimes, it's just next.
 
JustinWatts said:
My problem is not so much that I don't get use out of them, but just that I turn to the next best thing and think to myself, "why keep this when I can have that?"
Click to expand...

How does your wife/girlfriend (err, I mean ex-wife/ex-girlfriend) feel about that...? Sometimes it's OK to stick with a good thing....
 
I rarely sell knives, but I do give a lot away. Usually to someone who would appreciate it, but never buy one so nice for themselves. My friends and family would be uncomfortable if they knew the price on some of the knives I've given them over the years.
 
Hmm, maybe you should give them more time? Carry and use them more often? I usually give knives a period of time of carry and use to get a feel if it's a keeper or not. Most knives end up sit on the keep side, but a few months later it shifts toward the other side.
 
It's the knife companies fault! They aren't like they used to be long ago, where they just had a few models out for year after year. That's all there was and nobody felt the need to get rid of their old ones and replace them with, the latest, greatest new model. Now they have discovered we are a fickle bunch and are easily tempted with the new offerings. So, we drop the old and go with the new, in our never ending quest for knife happiness. That means a lot of us will sell off the old, to get the funds for the new, or we just don't care about them as much even if we don't need the funds for the new, so we let them go, forgetting how thrilled we were when they first came out. :D

Remember when you were a young kid and how you'd long for the newest toy, you'd see advertised on TV? How your life would seem to be so fulfilled if you only had it? How your old stuff would seem so boring, compared to the newest? (hypnotized from a young age to believe that material things bring happiness) I think a lot of us do that with knives now. Back then the marketing ploy, of the toy companies hadn't fully caught up with the knife companies. Today I believe it's going full swing and we for the most part have embraced it. :o
 
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Oh man, I feel your pain. A key difference is that I've been keeping the knives I buy. Here's how it goes: I have to have a particular knife, for whatever reason, purchase it, anticipate its arrival, play with it heavily for a couple week or so, then the special-ness wears off. The really nice thing is that I continually rediscover knives in my collection, so I always have something cool and different to carry. Since Benchmade changed their pricing policy, I don't have those to tempt me anymore (too $$) However, I've discovered the second hand market, which makes it too easy for my collection to grow.
 
I'm in the position where I acquired 50+ the last couple of years! mainly in the $150-$525 range, and need to sell off 40 or so.

The last one I bought (a Wilson Combat Eagle) will be my main EDC and as years ago I carried only one knife (a large folder, 4" Schrade Mustang) for 5 years or so I know I can do it again. I was fortunate to find a BNIB Mustang earlier this month and now that my collection has come full circle it is time to cull the herd.

Time to start another post on selling knives.
 
It sounds like you are asking your knives to do something they cant do. Knives can be great tools, but it sounds like you are looking for some kind of spiritual fulfillment that they will not give you. Its like batoning a peanut. You are expecting too much from your knives.
 
There's a huge difference between owning and collecting. I collect knives, use a few, but it's about the enjoyment of having them. I don't sell anything to buy something else that did exactly what the last thing did. Certainly defeats the object of my desire to collect
 
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