Why is my brain suddenly consumed by the urge to buy knives?

I think it goes without saying that you are in the right place. I feel we all have a little sickness for a piece of HQ steel:D Sounds like you like kershaws??? Just wondering if you have tried a ZT? you can get a 0550 or 0560 for around that 200 mark your asking for if you look around. check the exchange out ect.CAM01131.jpg
 
Knives: a simple, functional tool, that makes our life SO much easier. Quiet, simple, elegant. Can even be art. How many pieces of art can you take off the wall & use ? Not many i suspect. :D
 
It seemed so innocent at first, you know? Oh, I need a flashlight for work. Got a small AA LED light. It worked. Sort of. I mean, it threw light out the end, but it was kind of pitiful. So, I found SureFire. And hundreds of lumens were mine to command. Hundreds!

Wait. Let me go a little further back. Tools. I thought I might build my own tractor shed someday. Therefore, I must need a full set of tools sufficient to overhaul my tractor, right? Right? Of course! There are an insane number of different kinds of wrenches, I'm here to tell you. Hammers? Oh, lord. Pliers? Yes, yes, YES! OK, finally had to get a job to support this addiction. Then, no time to shop. Thank goodness. No time to work on the tractor, either. Nor was there a tractor shed in which to work because all my money is now tied up in tools.

Then I needed a multitool. No, really. I did. Needed it. A small one. Something I could carry in the office, you know, in case I needed to disassemble a jet engine or something. Hey, it could happen. Lives might hang in the balance, you don't know. So, I went looking on Amazon for one. Found a plethora of them. No way am I buying all that crap! Just, no! So, I started looking around for some decent information. That's right. Information. THAT is the gateway drug to knife addiction. But, I'm getting ahead of my story.

I found information on multitools, alright. Then I found forums about EDC stuff. Seriously. Now I have a titanium prybar on my keychain. What in the world do I think I'm going to pry with a two inch prybar, I ask you? I haven't a clue. But, I'm ready. Just in case. Oh, and it's titanium. With a glass-breaker on it. Just in case. I'm begining to understand that the preppers have what I have, but at a disabling intensity.

Then, just wandering through one of the EDC forums, I found a copper Maratac flashlight. Had to have it. Was willing to do greivous bodily harm to get it. It's also on my keychain, developing a lovely patina from use in a challenging, high-humidity environment: my pocket.

My trusty Gerber LTS or LST or whateverthehellitwas finally got too dull and worn down from constant sharpenings (the thing would NOT hold an edge--a harsh look would dull it, to say nothing of copier paper and string, well string was simply out of the question!). A friend, maybe I should put "friend" in quotes, gave me a Hen and Rooster Congress. I used it every single day to peel my orange, which I could have done with my thumbnail (as I had done before he gave me this knife). Innocent, right? Perfectly appropriate, right? It reeks of Sharia Law, I tell you!

Back to the multitool. I found one I thought I might like. Then I found it came in two different trim lines, one with better steel: 154CM. Had to have it. Not, "Gee, wouldn't it be nice to have that?" No. HAD TO HAVE IT. Fine. So, I got it. Then I had to have a full-sized multitool. With upgraded steel. It only makes sense, right? Unless you know that I already have a full-sized multitool that I never carry. Then it seems insane. Which it is.

Then softly, oh so softly, the trap snicked closed. The Kershaw Leek with a composite blade, a D2 tool steel cutting edge! The triumph was complete at this point, but I didn't know. I couldn't see it! I ordered a Blur with S30V steel! Why? BECAUSE S30V, THAT'S WHY! From there, I somehow ended up down here in the gutter with the El Max. I vaguely remember the Acuto+, the VG-10, the VG-10 Damascus. Wait. There was another step into my depravity. S110V on a composite bladed 0560CBCF. The one in my back pocket even as I type these fateful words. I'm totally prepared should I be attacked by an enraged water buffalo. In my office. At night. In Oklahoma. It could happen! And I'd be prepared!

Those of you fortunate enough to have a spouse who looks at this affliction and shakes her well-coifed head have my love and respect. I envy you. My girl loves knives. I just gave her a Case Equestrian. She kept fondling it in the most lascivious way while she looked at me (after I sharpened it, of course, no factory edges for her, no sir!). I, well, I'm powerless at this point.

Oh, before I go, I have to say my EagleTac TX25C2 with 1,180 cool white lumens off the LED (also got the titanium D25C with the neutral white, just in case my needs changed during the shift, you know) powered by a rechargeable 18650 battery of which I'd never even heard rumors until I was bitten by this bug, is a fine machine, but do I really need that kind of light to look at airplane parts? Probably. In case the enraged water buffalo tries to hide in a corner or I need to see it in flight or something. Oy. The rationalization. It's painful. But, glorious!
 
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It ends tonight. For the time being. I'm go for a drive out to my lgs and look at some zt fixed blades. After that, my resources are going towards a La-Z-Boy. Any suggestions for said fixed blade? Or another brand I should look at? I have enough folders already (8 or 9 I think) but only 3 fixed blades.
 
You probably didn't know it but you are (a knife) nut(s)... Your inner craze has unleashed and will lead you to interesting landscapes. I have only good things to say about this craze that seized you. Carrying and, occasionnally, using the knife (knives), I choose for EDC is a special and lasting pleasure. Oh, yeah... I'm nuts, too.
 
I started to read this thread last night and it got me thinking about my situation. It actually brought back some memories.

I've been buying knives since the early 1970's, the "fix" usually came from a flea market, sporting goods store, add in a magazine or a printed catalog. I remember waiting for the AG Russell or SMKW catalog. I would carry the latest catalog around like a bible and add knives to the order form, once I got a nice list together, I'd mail in the order and then the wait would begin ( usually a month turnaround).

Of course the internet changed all that ( although actually it started with fax machines and credit cards) and now even an older addict like myself needs to use some restraint.

My advice to newer guys is to give yourself a 24 hour waiting period, if you've forgotten what you wanted to order by the next day, than it was just an impulse. If you wake up and the first thing you remember is the knife you were going to order, than just go with it.
 
JankeyJenkum said:
So, tell me about the depths of your depravity. I wanna hear some dark stories. Who's been evicted because they can't make rent?
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I nearly lost my house because I had this crazy idea I was going to make knives fulltime instead of go back to a "real" job. Does that count? ;)
 
It started out innocently enough with a spyderco delica for me, and after using it for 10+ years, i realized that quality meant something. Now it is a search for quality and fit and finish. i rationalize it because I will be able to pass these onto my grandkids and they will be able to do the same. In a society that produces so many disposal products, quality knives make me feel good.
 
Jankey its like you are in the minds of the other 18,000 people on this forum! Awesome first post man, it made me crack up with all of its tru-isms and the essence of what everyone else is feeling concentrated down to a few parapraphs....

PS So I went through more than a dozen now that I have counted since March and discovering this forum. I've bought and sent knives to friends and family, just so that I could have a particular knife in hand to see what it's like.

got screamed at by wife whom I love more than life itself when sometime in June she opened our kitchen utility drawer and saw it brimming with my EDC's which of course I had never EDC'ed any otherwise they wouldn't have been sitting in that kitchen utility drawer.

only weeks after reading the BF maintenance and tinkering section all of a sudden with every knife in the house that my wife handled, she would say to me... "Gee can this blade get any sharper? As it would slice through whatever she was hacking away it."

It came to a head when I was sending away knives that I had bought or traded via USPS in cash so that the USPS transaction wouldn't show up my bank statement. That's when I voluntarily cooled out, had a discussion with my wife about it and rearranged my head. So now if I want to get a Sebenza or maybe a custom knife maker like those Oeser's that I keep seeing, I would have to use an excuse like a bday or Christmas to order one. I've also started to become content using super sharp cheapie knives like Opinels, but this is something that literally took self-reprogramming to do. As it always starts off with some kind of gateway cheapie knife purchase or step up knife purchase and before you know you are cracking the $50,$75,$100 and $100+ mark. I'm only admitting to all of this publicly because in some way shape or form as fun as this is, it is definitely an obsession of sorts. The whole knife thing just hits my pleasure sensors too perfectly.
 
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I look a lot but I don't buy a lot. I probably trade more than I buy. My wife and I have a budget which allows us to track every penny of our money. We have his and hers accounts and I use mine mostly for s&h in trades. Once you build some numbers up, you can trade back and forth and try all sorts of knives out w/o having to pay much more than s&h every so often.
 
Sulaco said:
I look a lot but I don't buy a lot. I probably trade more than I buy. My wife and I have a budget which allows us to track every penny of our money. We have his and hers accounts and I use mine mostly for s&h in trades. Once you build some numbers up, you can trade back and forth and try all sorts of knives out w/o having to pay much more than s&h every so often.
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well said, I get most of my knives threw trading now. That has become as much as an addiction as buying them though. IMO.
 
My urges come every few months. As far as price goes, you sort of build up to the higher prices as your brain begins to rationalize the expenditure along with your increased knowledge. I have to say it's fun and generally a less expensive hobby than firearms. Just remember that if you are trying to "explain" your interest, few who do not buy knives on a regular basis will understand why you would pay $100 for one knife versus $25 for another that in their mind would serve the same purpose. Enjoy.
 
I just, just...gave...one of my knives away free. To my cousin. Kershaw Leek black w/ black blade. Why, well, he needed a good knife, and I needed an excuse to buy another.
 
Well said my friend. I am in the same boat as you. I have always had a fetish for knives but never acted on it until about a year ago. Now I have to many I don't carry and all of the sudden I have my eyes on a small benza and a strider neither of which I can afford (not that I can't afford it, it's just the time you wait from when you click the purchase button until it arrives at your door that you are constantly asking yourself why you just spent close to a grand on two knives). Do you know how many groceries you can buy for a $1000 or how many car payments.... I don't see myself stoping in the near future and can only hope I don't see the exact knife I want on paydays.

The first sign of an addiction is admitting you have a problem... We are here for you.
 
By the way, reading posts on BF has a way of reinforcing your urges. I can honestly say that I have bought many knives since I first joined. Most have been pretty good knives, but some I bought just because I read good things about them. The Kabar Becker BK-2 is an example of a knife that I doubt I would have purchased without the reinforcement of the forum.
 
Just wait until you get into 1000$+ customs. There is no turning back. I thought it was crazy to spend that much on anything frivolous. Now I'm buying one 1000 $ custom a month.
 
ya'll must be dr.s or engineers to be spending that kind of dough on knives.
i can't get myself to go over the 80-100 mark. :confused:
 
Certainly no doctor here haha.

im a chef so its somewhat understandable.

looking for a nice deba.
 
cards94 said:
ya'll must be dr.s or engineers to be spending that kind of dough on knives.
i can't get myself to go over the 80-100 mark. :confused:
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Engineer here. Still. Just sent off a check for a very VERY nice Damascus Endura with jigged bone scales. As if the 0560CBCF sitting in my back pocket can't handle anything that comes up, including the suicidal flying cricket that assaulted me last night (whacked it and parts just FLEW off!). But, it's not pretty. Or not pretty enough. Or something.
 
james terrio said:
I nearly lost my house because I had this crazy idea I was going to make knives fulltime instead of go back to a "real" job. Does that count? ;)
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haha! I don't know if it counts since, at least from reading your website, it seems to have worked out for you. I've got to tell you, I am in the middle of having that same crazy idea myself. I have never felt the drive this powerful to do anything- to entirely throw myself into something- as when I found this community and realized, "hmmm...i could make knives...this could be interesting".

I see you've got 11,000 + posts, and I will probably be reading most of them in the near future. I plan on spending a lot of time reading everything I can in the knife making part of this forum.

* Also, I really dig the Growl
 
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