Why do you collect?

Magnacut said:
I like tools, not just knives. It's fun having the proper tool for the job or using a tool with unique features or unusual materials.

I have way more screwdriver sets than I "need" because I enjoy the search for the perfect handle shape, the most durable tip or the best construction.

My plier collection is substantial because sometimes a different tip shape, size, or design makes a big difference to a job.
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What conclusion have you come to on who makes the best screwdrivers?
 
1) It's part of the subtext of any aspect of "everyday carry": a tool for dealing with the frustrations of our modern, plastic-wrapped society, and the more urgent survival imperatives that might be faced if that society lost the ability to sustain itself.

2) I over-optimize everything. I need at least five knives for different cutting tasks and social situations, plus alternatives for each of those situations.

3) The knives in #2 are going to have something that I would either like to add or remove, so I'm going to need to try something else to see if it's better.

4) I have trouble letting go of certain things, even if I don't fancy them, anymore. Knives are one of those things.
 
I start collecting a thing because I like & become interested in "it" from a particular perspective and continue collecting "it" as long as I remain interested in 'it" & until I've got all of "it" that I need/want & I'm no longer interested in collecting "it" anymore.

I'm at the "I've got all of it that need/want" stage with knives.

Now I need to begin a "sell what I don't really want/need" stage for my knife collection to reduce it to a smaller & more meaningful size. The collection currently stands at about 360 knives across many brands, types & categories and my target will be to reduce the collection to around 200.

So, I'm not collecting any more knives at this time
 
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Very interesting thread.

I’m not a collector by nature, although I am a bit of a packrat because I like to tinker and make a variety of things, including having forged a few knives.

I’ve accumulated a collection of bladed tools however because I’m increasingly addicted to using them and learning how different ones perform at different tasks. Much like you chevyrulez1 chevyrulez1 .
chevyrulez1 said:
For me I think it is an experimentation thing. I like to try out new steels, manufacturers, shapes, styles, etc. to see what I like, what's best for different situations. I am reaching the end of that stage now though and have really figured out what I like, so hopefully my accumulation phase should slow ( yeah, right)
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I started down the rabbit hole of knives very young and I just keep getting more interested - nothing else compares.

I’ve gone from making and chopping with stone blades to more recently using axes instead of saws to clear trees on the job, just because I love using blades - particularly to chop wood.

I don’t buy frequently but I do enjoy the hunt - often primarily using the advice of you fine folks - to spend my hard-earned cash on tools I’ll enjoy using.

My most recent purchase was a Council Tool Velvicut Boys Axe. It came in the mail yesterday and it was hung straight and had a nice thin handle from the factory so I got to put it to use clearing a couple of trees off a fire-road today. 🥰

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(Sorry for all the pics)
 
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Independence and a sense of freedom from being a child has a lot to do with it - you know when your parents always told you no you can't have that or this and no you don't need that or this, it sticks in your subconscious mind then later in life when older, people yearn to spread their wings and set sail to the skies and live and buy whatever their hearts desire is set on - so people collect - it plays its part anyways - so independence -
 
I never wanted to be a knife collector. I was always just chasing the perfect knife. Until I accumulated so many that I said well I guess I'm a collector now. It also takes me back to my childhood when I wanted to buy pocket knives but I just felt like it was a waste of money because they were all junk. Then when I actually found out there were good quality ones that's when the obsession started.
 
I was born that way. By the time I was 6, I was saving up my allowance to ride my bike to the sporting goods store to buy the ultra-cheapest pocket knives, all of which are now gone. I just couldn't control my need to carry a pocket knife. I was probably the only kid in my Catholic grade school who carried a knife to school. It was a Boy Scout knife with three of four folding things, and the Scouts logo on the scale.

I did everything with that knife: built forts, whittled, roughed-up my bicycle inner tube to apply a patch. We had to learn how to do everything ourselves. My Dad said, "I had to learn myself, and so do you!" By the time I was in junior high I was building my own computers, and my SAK was an integral part of that.

i just always had a knife on me, so I did everything with it. And every time I had enough money, I purchased a new knife. I went through a stage of oversharpening in my youth, where the belly of the blade got bowed in. My uncle said, "You sharpen it too much. I'm taking the stone for a while. Ask me when you need it again."

Pretty soon I had pocket knives everywhere, in every dresser drawer, every coat pocket, in practically every room of the house. Then one day it hit me, there is something to be said for quality over quantity. I had a lot of knives, but most of them were worth zero. Now I'm grown up, and I've still got the monkey on my back! But now I look for a great value, not too expensive, not too cheap, although I have quite a few in the 100s of dollars range.

I think it's just the endless uses; knives are among the most useful things in the world. And skill in use and maintenance is valuable.
 
To learn.

I've carried a SAK or small Leatherman for decades, but didn't really get into buying beyond that until late last summer. Since then I've picked up about a dozen folders that all differ from each other in some way (size, steel, blade shape, scale material, lock style, etc.). I've also recently bought a few fixed blades.

I'm happy with what I have learned even if I have made a few mistakes and have a few knives I don't ever see myself carrying. I'll eventually sell them or gift them.
 
It started for me as the hunt for THE perfect knife. The perfect fit for my hand, the perfect blade, function, lock as well as the perfect “look”.

As my tastes evolved and I learned more and more what I wanted and I tried new models, I never got rid of the old stuff. It basically turned into a collection.

Ironically, the Spyderco Military is the design that does it all for me and had I grabbed one in 1996 when they were released, I probably would only have a collection of various Millies.

I have a collection of
Millies
Stockman
Lionsteel Ck01s
Various random other stuff
 
For me it's poor impulse control.

I save money as well, but at this point in my life, I look back at all the stuff I have bought over the years and wish I had invested more into property.

The toys, trucks, motorcycles, four wheelers, drum sets, guns, fishing gear/boats and knives are all fun and I enjoy them.

But I think now the money woulda been better spent on acquiring land.

Lately the idea of having an acreage of refuge sounds glorious.
 
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