Why Do People Think it is Stupid to Collect Knives?

I won't even get into why I collect or how my addiction started last summer. You can read it on a thread in the traditional knife forum on this site. Forgot what thread it's in, something about small blades. Anyways, I bought my son a wooden slip joint knife kit to put together. He happily brought it to my parents, to show pappa last month. The other day my mom kind of secretly handed it to me. I didn't even know they had it.

My dad walked by and saw it and gave her this odd look. He was upset that my son has it. I told my dad that I am his father, I did a father son project with him and he loved it. I reminded him of my SAK in cub scouts at a young age. Along with my military service...never cut myself once. Reminded him of his military service....and the new SAK that I just bought him a few months ago...cut himself the next day! haha...He has had a Remington shotgun in his closet my entire life. I never touched it. If you show a child at a young age to be responsible...they usually will be. A child, unless they develop emotional or behavioral issues in time, they will usually respect these things. Not only for themselves but the parent also. That bond and trust that grows.

My dad got upset when I bought my Springfield Armory XD 9mm SC three months ago. My first handgun...because my son is 6, my family doesn't trust my judgement. He doesn't even know I have it. Will maybe tell him in another year. Too curious at this point.

Anyways....my sisters think I am nuts and odd because I wanted a gun. My oldest sister thinks it's not normal to want these items. She is a recent vegetarian. I respect that. She asked me when I bought my first knife last summer(Kershaw tanto blur) if I felt like a big man. Haha WTH? I told her, "Hey, when you need help to go get a hippie." Most police response time is overshadowed by the criminal usually finishing what they need to do before help even arrives. I'll take my chances. I never want to have to beg for my life or that of my childs in being unarmed. Yet I do not conceal and carry. I find it ironic how LEO seems to be more anal about knife laws than gun. NO offense to you who are on here supporting it all.

To make a long story short...I even bought my little sister a stun gun and pepper spray this Christmas....it started a war with my older sister and I. Should not have suggested my bro-in law and I stun eachother slightly. My little sister works in mental health. I hope she never has to use these items. And I doubt a LEO will be mad at her if she defends herself with an unregistered stun gun.

I won't tell my dad that my son has a Spyderco Ambitious or an old small lockback along with my old mini SAK. I make him sit and practice opening and closing. He can carry when I carry. That's it. If he ever tries to sneak it out of the house without my knowledge...he cannot touch a knife for a year then. I have a drawer with all my knives in it. So....collect on my brother/brother's! Nice venting with you all.
 
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haha...true that...

As for those people who think collecting knives is stupid, they've got other issues, the least of which is another person's passion for a hobby...to each his own.

crom said:
Why not? Knives are classic pieces, and they can be handed down. Because you'll never hear "this was your grandfather's iPad"
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Because knives are also weapons and there are a lot of mall ninjas and kids out there making a bad impression. People see knife collecting as an inherently violent or shady hobby at a glance. It also delves into the fantasy, melee weaponry realm, which is considered extremely nerdy.
 
My Congratulations to all here.We've covered everything to do with knife collecting in ONE thread.
Now thats an achievement ! I agree with everything everyone has written.
Only one issue was not fully covered -touched on yes but not conclusively to my mind.(apologies if I somehow missed it)

ITS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.

regards and heres to a mighty knife collection.

Aidansdadddy17- a year is too long to confiscate your littleblokes knife -At 6yo he will have forgotten about it in a year.Its kind of unattainable.
I would make it like 2WEEKS (in a stern voice) then he'll be concerned. Plus at the end of the 2 weeks you give it back to him and it reinforces the message.
I believe its not the length of time that is the penalty but the actual confiscation. The return of the knife is your trust being returned and thats the most important thing.
Apologies for seeming to lecture.
 
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I am not a collector.

I do not have a collection.

The three tool boxes and two bankers boxes and ten (twelve?) stacked drawers populated with knives are not "a collection" of knives.

They are the result of an extended research project that started in 2003 and ran, for the most part, until 2008, except that I keep finding more developments in the industry that require investigation and testing.

No, really. Honest.

In 2003 my wife and I decided to spend more time outdoors. I went shopping to make sure we had the proper gear, including some camping/hunting knives. Since the good ones I had were mostly Gerber, I went to a knife shop to pick up a few of those. Gerber no longer made the kind I had, and the new stuff was . . . uh, different. The shop guy explained that Gerber had been acquired by Fiskars and that most of their production was now coming out of China.

Realizing that much had changed in the knife world since the seventies and early eighties, I set out to discover what was out there, and to test what I found until I located something that would work for us in the various contexts one generally needs a knife.

Did you know that stores won't lend you a knife to test? Did you know that you also can't rent them?

Consequently, whatever I was going to test I first had to buy. I sought out the bargains, the [insert e-auction site here] offerings, and pawn shop rejects. I cruised the hardware stores, the sporting goods stores, and the cutlery shoppes.

The good news is that I did find several types and brands of knife that work well for us.

The bad news is that I now have several boxes of . . . hmmm . . . investment grade precious metals?


But it's not a collection.

It's a research project.

An ongoing research project.

 
There's a similar thread about funny things said by non-knife people.

Murphy's law, the one's who think your knife collecting is stupid will always be the one's to call you when they need something cut
 
taylrbrwr said:
I am still in high school. My friends have found out all the hundreds of dollars I have put into knives. Just ordering a Benchmade and a CRKT. They call me crazy. Saying "Why would you buy so many knives when one is just enough?" Then they start naming all the stuff they could have bought if they had the money I spent on just knives. I have only about 10 or 15. Planning on buying many, many more. But what is a very good reason that I could say why I like knives so much? Instead of just looking like some freak who has a bunch of them.. Thanks.
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Who cares what people think..... ;)

I am sure that your friends blow money on something as most people tend to do so it's all about opinions in the end and if any of them are females or have wives or GF's you can bet your bottom dollar they are really blowing money on something big time.

You can either care what they think and be a sheep or not.

Personally I really never cared what people think, still don't and likely never will. ;)
 
Ridiculing someone else for something they have an interest in is nothing more than an attempt (at either the conscious or subconscious level) at psychological control. I avoid those types of people.
 
Just about every time I get a new knife people are like " Another one?! ". I usually just ignore them now :p. Everyone needs a hobby. Everyone has a niche and we have found ours that are members here. Some people collect Poke'mon cards, or Yu gi oh, or baseball cards, or action figures or plates, or rocks. I don't make fun of others for theirs, and if they don't like mine, it doesn't matter, my hobby is bringing me some happiness, not them.
 
singularity35 said:
A friend who collects action figures called by knife hobby, silly. :p
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A past work friend of mine 7-8 years ago told me knife collecting was dumb... :rolleyes:

He collected Transformers. :foot:

Not that they aren't valuable; I think he was just protecting his virginity.

Czech
 
The answer to get people laughing:
"knives are like breasts- change a single aspect on them and it changes the entire dynamic of the whole. Are you saying that there will ever be a set of breasts that makes you only want to look at or hold them to the exclusion of all others"

I try to inform my habit rather than dismiss others that do not get the appeal. Most people have a favorite kitchen knife- I ask what is their most used kitchen knife and almost immediately get a detailed response. Then ask WHY another kitchen knife isn't used as much. In other words I start to engage them.

I am a hobbyist knifemaker, so the more knives I own, the more of a collection of features I can draw upon for my design. Some are made by whimsy based on having a spare piece of steel that has some looks I like. Other times it is not uncommon for me to pull out 20-30 different knives to handle when working on a design.

Let them know what goes into making a knife- steel choice, lock mechanisms, handle shape, carrying method.... I tell people "it's easy to make a shank, it takes planning and foresight to make a knife". Let them draw a knife- then take their drawing (usually quite crude) and turn it into a new design, tweak a different aspect and make another, then again.....
It's not uncommon for me to have 4-5 cardboard cutouts if a design with slight changes to see in hand which feels better to me.

Then there is the history- collectors often need to know historical facts about when the knife was made due to materials used/ markings on it/ political feelings of the day.
Blades are the oldest existing tool known to man- our ancestors survived greatly due to being able to make smaller pieces of things. Forbes named the knife #1 invention of mankind.

I've never hidden my passion, and find with proper explanation and lack of attitude most people will become accepting or welcoming of the hobby. Many people I know will carry a knife or at least be more apt to come to me to cut something after honest, logical discussion. I find I am an ambassador to the world of edged cutlery, and as such I take how I am perceived very seriously. I like educating others about a facet of life that they are ignorant in. It is funny- often I've found women much more accepting and inquisitive of knife collecting!

To those nervous of knives I just add "Don't worry, you aren't worth wasting a good knife on! I use it on a person, then the cops take it away and no scumbag is worth loosing my knife over"
 
As the others are saying, we collect things because it makes us happier(unless you can't find/afford that latest piece you want to add to your collection). Opinion's differ and that will never change. If we were all thinking alike we would be sheep. Oops, aren't there too many of them out there already? And even here we all have different opinions on which knives we like and that's part of the fun of collecting.
 
Cynic2701 said:
It depends a lot on perspective. I don't watch TV and I don't own a television. I don't play video games (any more ;) ) and I don't feel the need to go out and buy gaming consoles or games. And so on.

I really like knives. Instead of spending my money on electronic gadgets, I'd much prefer to get knives.

Other people really like purses. They spend a lot of money on purses--next time you are in a store that sells Coach merchandise, you'll see that a lot of women are carrying around the monetary equivalent of a Sebenza. For them, buying a Sebenza instead of a Coach purse would be crazy.

Different perspectives.
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Lol! My mother has some purses that costs thousands, with matching 500.00 wallets. It's funny to watch other women talk and gawk at them. Sometimes they ask her if they are real. As to the O.P
You don't have to explain yourself to anyone. Period.
 
I guess I'm lucky in that the way I was raised, no one ever questioned my penchant for knives.

When I was a wee lad my grandfather gave an old Case. He used to carry Case and Buck, and I would sit enthralled and watch him whittle. He was very good.

My father encouraged my knife enthusiasm. A truck driver, he would bring me home catalogs from Smoky Mtn Knife Works from his Tennesse runs.

In high school (in Alabama), all my friends carried a pocket knife. And as an adult working in the military/LE world, everyone has a knife. Know several guys who like to talk knives.

So I guess I've never had to deal with what you are dealing with from your friends. But my advice is to just say, screw'em!
 
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I collect two things, hats and knives. I don't wear hats aside from toques in the winter but I use my knives daily. But people think that the hat collection makes sense and the knife collection doesn't. go figure
 
Here are two good answers, if you dont mind talking to people about them then say "I think they are works of art" or if you dont want to talk to them about it just tell them "You are just jealous because the voices talk to me"
 
I guess a major difference between collecting knives and collecting other collectibles such as coins and stamps is that most production knives do not often increase in value when resell, and they do often "depreciate" from time to time especially after used. But it's a joy comes from your heart when you collect them, I collect coins and banknotes while I also collect knives, a hobby is never a stupid word
 
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