"Why do you collect knives..?"

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Shawn7656

Joined
Feb 15, 2012
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370
I was at work today and mentioned I was anxiously awaiting a package in the mail, and hoped it wasn't yanked by the neighborhood brats. They asked, and I indulged that it was a knife, and the package was worth around $80. Their response "Uhh... Why do you collect knives? And why would you spend that much on a knife" "To.. use them? And I'm a collector. More money tends to equal better quality, and I'm not going to trust my life to a tool that I got off the dollar rack..." "Well when the cops come questioning us after you murder someone we'll tell em how anxious you were to get your new knives..." *this wasn't in a joking tone, it was more of a mocking/this kid is extremely weird tone*. I work with these people daily and they're all usually pretty nice, and all have a positive attitude towards me... usually.


...Really? First of all, I work at Sears. For anyone who's not familiar, it's a hardware store. If you work in a hardware store you shouldn't be so scared of tools. I actually had a girl tell me my Leatherman Style CS was a "weapon" :rolleyes:. Secondly, I'm Buddhist. I rarely even kill bugs.. I wouldn't use a knife on another living thing unless I absolutely needed to. They know this about me as I've trapped and released spiders and other insects multiple times there. I have to carry more than one knife so as to be sheeple friendly, but if people realize I have the second, bigger knife they get weirded out. There's no winning :thumbdn:

I really hate that people are so close-minded. Has anyone else been in similar situations? Share how they went down, and how you reacted.
 
Most People are ignorant, overreact, and are completely misinformed. I wouldn't even trip. But that's just my misanthropic side talking.:p
 
Eh, it bothered me but I'm mostly over it. I just figured I'd share the experience. I will still carry as often as I'm legally allowed to, just as I've been doing since I was 8.
 
Fortunetly for me I work at a place where half of us are hunters/outdoorsman. However the other half are the college kids who don't even have box cutters on them. So today I was using the rescue hook on my Triage to open some bags and I hear one of them behind me "That's like the third one of those things you have used here, why do you have so many knives? Is one not enough?" Honestly I am so tired of attempting to explain this hobby to people that I just don't bother anymore.
 
Shawn7656 said:
Eh, it bothered me but I'm mostly over it. I just figured I'd share the experience. I will still carry as often as I'm legally allowed to, just as I've been doing since I was 8.
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Yea. Since I was like 12 or 13 I have always had a blade on me. Even at school:eek: lol. I just recently got into the higher end production knives within the past couple years. Now I EDC a ZT0301 and my Para 2 everywhere I go.:D
 
DR.BOOM said:
Fortunetly for me I work at a place where half of us are hunters/outdoorsman. However the other half are the college kids who don't even have box cutters on them. So today I was using the rescue hook on my Triage to open some bags and I hear one of them behind me "That's like the third one of those things you have used here, why do you have so many knives? Is one not enough?" Honestly I am so tired of attempting to explain this hobby to people that I just don't bother anymore.
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Lol I'm just going into college next Fall (19 years old at the moment), but I've been attracted to knives since I was about 5. I've always had a respect for them, and as every members collection shows... One is nowhere NEAR enough. :cool:


Decimator22 said:
Yea. Since I was like 12 or 13 I have always had a blade on me. Even at school:eek: lol. I just recently got into the higher end production knives within the past couple years. Now I EDC a ZT0301 and my Para 2 everywhere I go.:D
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Well I only brought mine to school on accident (usually ;)). Now I EDC a BM Griptilian, a CRKT Apache III, and a Leatherman Style CS. I figure that should cover my bases hahaha
 
Two interests of mine that I never talk about at work - knives and guns, for the exact reasons you stated above.
 
I learned many years ago not to tell co workers much about my personal life. This policy has worked very well for me over the years. I' ve had co workers make similar remarks over what little they could find out about me, like hunting, firearm ownership, liking cars, etc
 
You're young, don't let their ignorance get to you, because you have a LIFETIME of this stuff to put up with.
People are either knifenuts or not. Just like carguys, tinkerers, whatever. One might like working with their hands and fixing broken things instead of buying a new one, and another might just see this as being "cheap".
Like JPD1998 and Daddyo16 above, don't disclose much to others, esp. at work. Discuss your hobbies/interests only with other enthusiasts and if someone asks you what yours are, give them a generic answer. You'll find many times it's a bated question just to gather info they can judge you on. I sound distrusting of others, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
We here, on this site know that knife collecting is no different than collecting art for some people. But many can't get past the whole "yeah but its a weapon" thing.
We might know that drunk driving and cigarettes are more of a real problem than guns or knives in the hands of lawful citizens, but you'll never win that argument with the fearful of this world.

And as far as the price, "how could you spend 80 bucks on a weapon" mentality, just take comfort that these "people" (I'd prefer calling them something else) probably spend a lot more on things that have NO value and don't last and aren't well made, like many things in todays world. They'll preach to you about cost, but buy overpriced name brand clothing that's still made in sweatshops and lease pretentious vehicles that are draining THEIR finances. But YOU are irresponsible for buying a 150 dollar knife even if it holds or increases in value. (I'm worse, I got into $300+ customs again AND CARRY A FEW).
Obviously this is what chaps my hide.:grumpy:

Good luck to all of us, in dealing with the ignorant, arrogant, unenlightened and uninformed.

PS.
I've heard that even the Dalai Lama said its justifiable to use a gun for self defense if someone is trying to kill you.
Sounds to me like he's pro gun, pro 2nd Amendment, and therefore pro weapons. I wonder if he carries a blade? You know, to cut his apples with. ;)
 
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If someone asks you why you have so many knives, guns, flashlights, whatever....ask them if they eat the same meal, every meal, every day - if they don't ask them why not? ask them if they have multiple of the same outfit or if they have different shirts, pants, shorts, etc.

When it gets down to it

1. It would get boring and people like different flavors/styles 2. different ones are better for different things

Question - "ok, I guess...but why do you like knives?"

Answer - "I think it is wise and fun to learn about being prepared and actually practicing it on a daily basis, honestly I'm shocked other people don't have that instinct and understanding about the real world."

caveman 101 type of stuff
 
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Just give them a long winded and educated answer that leaves them feeling stupid. That's what I do.
 
Oh yeh and a lot of these kinds of people can even relate when told that their 8" kitchen knives are deadlier than a 3 inch pocket knife.
 
I have a disease, and there is no permanent cure, but you learn to live with the symptoms.....and learn to assuage the desire with new ways to use the ones I have already......nearly 100, so you see how that is working for me!! Have fun, increase your knowledge and be knowledgeable that others may not see your hobby as a hobby.....but there is some satisfaction when some of those same people need you to cut something for them when they cannot find scissors, or skin a bear!! Knives are a useful tool, and sometimes they are just well made. I really enjoy the makers art, where they can take a hunk of steel, craft it to a useful blade and still have great looks.....it is neat that people still do this!
 
Daddyo16 said:
Can you give us an example?
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I'm an engineer by education so I love to talk about the range of materials that go into knives from modern synthetics to natural products, the range of production and finishing precesses involved in the blades and handles, the chemistry involved in steels and heat treating and of course the incredable history of the cutting edge. It's crazy how far we have come from a bit of sharp rock. A bit of sharp rock the is one of mans oldest manufactured tools no less. Even for us as knife people a well made modern knife is quite an amazing thing. :):thumbup:

That should be enough to get you started and don't get me started or I could go on all week. :p
 
You're not the only one man,I learned the hard way that mentioning anything about weapons at work is dumb,all of my ex coworkers are sheeple and deserve a good smacking for a sence of reality,I had 1 idiot call me crazy for liking knives and when 1 of the other idiots brought in a serrated kitchen knife for a bbq or something like that the 1st idiot started chopping bottles/boxes and whatever other soft objects he could find and then he tried to convince me the knife he had in his hand could chop better than all mine...Ignorance and fear along with being succesful at evading natural selection adds to what we are discussing right now,grown men that are about as sharp as a bag of hammers.Do what i do,dont mention anything to anyone about your personal life,hobbies,recreational anything(and i do mean anything,drinking,pot,or whatever floats your boat) dont mention your past and avoid all the baiting questions as advised by Nostimos,Daddyyo16 and JPD1998,take work as a necessary and dont make friends or go into any in depth conversations with anyone unless you can actually relate.I know this is a bit of a rant but i think the more of us know that knife acceptance doesnt exist unless its between outdoorsman,hunters,some soldiers/law and of course gun/knife nuts and some of the families of us knife collectors.I hope this helped in some way.
 
Haze said:
Just give them a long winded and educated answer that leaves them feeling stupid. That's what I do.
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Stupid or bored.;)

"Well, you see, this knife has S90V steel, which has quite a bit more edge retention than S30V, which was a vast improvement over the 440 alloys we had back in the 80's. Of course, you then have to take into consideration your shaperning system. I tried the Sharpmaker--which used triangular ceramic stones for the honing stage--but have now gone to mostly using various grits of silicon carbide sandpaper on a flat surface. This allows me to put a nice convex edge on my knives, which tends to work better for my uses, so I've found. Now let me tell you about titanium..."

They get the idea that you're a boring knife-nerd rather than a murderous psycho.:)
 
Haze said:
Just give them a long winded and educated answer that leaves them feeling stupid. That's what I do.
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Yeah, acting like it's mundane can have the same effect. I had a girl at work joke along those lines when she saw my ritter grip on the table after cutting an apple. I just laughed and carried on with my meal. Leaving the knife on the table. My advice is to carry on as a good person and continue to enjoy what you love. The more good role models we have the better off the public opinion will be about knives. The more people who give a-hole responses, the worse off we are.
 
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