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Why Knives?

M

Maxx71

Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
9
Hi All,

I'm a noob and just purchased my first knife, a Sebenza 21 Large Insingo. I actually have not yet seen it in person because it was just delivered at home and here I am, anxious to get off work! I'm hoping to hear from others as to what it is about knives that fascinates them. I cannot tell if this is the start of a new hobby for me or maybe the Sebenza will be my first and last knife. But, I can say for sure that while researching knives, I became fascinated with the mechanics of folders and the engineering which I imagined took place to produce a "thing" that one can carry, play with and use. It looks like art to me as well. Are there other reasons why some folks get somewhat obsessed with them? Why knives?
 
Everyone has their reasons.

For me, I'm a chef so I already had a bunch of kitchen knives.

Since I quit smoking cigarettes, money has been piling up and I decided in a folding knife (small sebenza), and the addiction started from there.
 
You will wonder about other things. About super-er steels. About other locks. About wood, bone, and G10 handles. You will buy other knives and use them.

And then you will end up back at that Sebenza.

(Ask me how I know.)
 
That is one hell of a first knife to buy. Congrats! The only thing wrong with that being your first is that you will have nothing to compare it to.

Knives are addicting. If you do love the CRK brand, there are many to collect.

I just had delivered today my new Large Sebenza with micarta inlays.
 
Like me, if you bought a sebenza first, you will be disapointed with most production knives.
 
For me, it started because I had about a three year stretch before I could buy firearms. It eventually evolved into me appreciating the convenience knives offer, as well as the aesthetic value of knives.

Also, knives just have a "feel" about them, some sort of link to history. Almost like carrying a Spyderco Street Beat is the 21st century equivalent of carrying a short sword or bowie everywhere.
 
For me, it's the technical aspects. I like precise and clever engineering, high-tech materials, and well-designed tools. It started when I learned that my cheap ozark trail walmart knife was just shy of the bottom of the barrel, and it has been a slippery slope ever since.

I just got my Senenza today as well! I almost wouldn't advise starting with CRK like that because there are a lot of things about it one might not be able to appreciate without comparing them to other knives.
 
Wow! So far I actually get what y'all have said so far. I'm starting to feel the same way, also with the use of materials--steel, ti, G10. I chose the Sebenza after doing my research. I actually wouldn't mind becoming obsessed with these little things about knives. I don't understand my fascination for them yet, but glad to see people have similar ways of thinking!
 
Their tools which make life a whole lot easier. It's barbaric in my opinion to rip open packages with your hands, keys, etc. I'd rather use a knife and make a nice clean cut, it's far easier, classier, effective. Though unfortunately some people see knife and scream weapon, literally even if it's an swiss army knife used to open a box :eek:, I don't understand them.
 
A knife is a tool.
Everybody appreciates a good tool.
There it starts: There are tools that are ok and there are tools that are better (material, function, form, finish).
There are special tools for special purposes - (I never imagined how many different shovels exist)
Then you can start to embelish your tools.
Different people find different solutions to make those tools.
There is a need to take care of our tools.
Questions raise like how do I sharpen it, how can I carry it, the list is long.

Here is the place to discuss all this and to make friends.

Welcome!

red mag
 
I was fascinated with knives as a kid, mainly because they looked cool, but I had very little money with which to buy any. I still have a few knives I bought "back in the day" or got as gifts, but they weren't really useful as tools. When I got older and could appreciate the utility value of knives, I started picking up inexpensive military-type fixed blades (Gerber, Ontario, etc.) and quite a few Kershaw folders, developing an eye for certain features and designs along the way. Cold Steel, SOG and CRKT came next, as I was previously unfamiliar with them. Then I discovered ZT and Benchmade, and the war on my bank account truly began. I started finding the artistry in knives, but of course those with the most appeal carry the biggest price tags.

Since I'm also a bit of a gun guy, I have to balance the amount of cash I can dedicate to each, so a ZT 0801 represents the high end of my collection and will probably stay that way for a while.
 
As mentioned above by various folks...it's the utility...the daily use.
It's the aesthetics...the precision machining...the super-steels and their development...blade and lock design...and on and on. It probably hearkens back to the caveman and his sharp piece of flint that was NECESSARY to sustain life. I have a small amount of that DNA still embedded in my chromosomes...
You certainly started with a nice one. Be aware that it's VERY difficult to beat that knife unless you spend much, much more. I have gone much higher and it didn't help.
I'm a CRK guy for sure, after two yrs and 150 folders that have passed through my hands.
Welcome.

Hey, COMEUPPANCE!
Hurrah! MANY of us are waiting to know... We read your post as follows: I just got my Sebenza today as well!

Congrats! IS THERE MAGIC? or, IS THERE NOT MAGIC?
I have my fingers crossed for you. pics, please!...and a tiny pre-review...:)
Sonnydaze
 
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Knives are very important in my country's rural culture. I come from a family with strong ties to the land, even those of us who pursue other careers (my dad is a lawyer, I'm an anthropologist) still keep horses and spend as much time as possible riding around the mountains.

Any man is expected to have a good work knife (old European blades are highly sought after) and a nice Sunday knife, both of them fixed blades. Clothes don't matter so much, you can be dressed in rags, but if your horse is well kept and you have a silver and gold hilted knife in your waistband, you're set. Most long standing "criollo" families have a few antique blades that have been handed down from one generation to the next, usually each new owner rehandles the knife and has a new sheath made to suit any new fashion trends or just give it his personal touch. Children lust after those blades. My Sunday knife has an old Böker blade that belonged to my great-grandfather, the gold and silver handle and sheath were added by my grandfather. I've kept it the same way because it has a few dates that are important to my family engraved, and also my grandfather's initials, which are the same as my own (the first born male in our little clan always gets the same names).

Anyway, I began accumulating knives at a young age and my curiosity took me from local traditional knives to fixed blades and folders from all over the world (Internet helped a lot). I also have a lot of interests and pastimes that are somewhat related to knives like hunting, hiking, leather working, guns and so on.
 
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