Why

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Why? I don't know myself. I'm 45, I made a decent living, I could afford a Sebenza but I choose not to buy one or any other knife over the $140ish which is my self imposed limit. I like knives but I also have other priorities and when you start talking about $300, $400, or even way more for a custom knife, I'd rather put that toward a new handgun or AR, or in the bank account. I am perfectly content with my Sage 3, Chaparral, or Delica 4 FFG as long as I'm in MI (anything over a 3" blade can be considered a deadly weapon so I stick to 3" and under).

As for the people who do buy those knives. I have no problem with it. In a way, I'm a little jealous to be honest. I also know there are plenty of people who make more $ then I do and those that love knives more then I do. There are plenty of custom knives I would love to have (Yuna Hard 2 or 3!) but I just won't pull the trigger on it. I've been carrying a knife since I was 15, I've found what works for ME. YMMV.
 
As I've said in other posts in this subject...

I'm not married. I've got no children. I have a vasectomy. I don't drink/use/smoke/gamble/etc. I don't buy designer clothing. I don't "go out" ... whatever that is supposed to mean.*

This allows me to focus on what's important... Knives.
 
blade dude said:
I'm not trying to hate on it
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Actually, that's exactly what you are doing. You asked why people do that, people have answered, and you have rejected their answers at each turn.

All you appear to be doing is telling people that what they prefer with their knives is wrong, rather than trying to understand their point of view.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Eh. Do with it what will give you the greatest satisfaction. Watches in particular, you're paying for jewelry, so I completely understand folks that don't want to scratch the finish. No matter which way you slice it, a $100 G-Shock is gonna outperform a Rolex all day every day.
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Let's just say I'm not that concerned about the few seconds a day difference or a grand total of a minute or so it will be off at the end of the month if I don't make an adjustment every once in awhile. Let's just say my enjoyment for wearing a mechanical watch over a quartz watch, smart watch, or using my iPhone to tell time is purely for my own personal satisfaction.
 
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I think you can compare knives to anything you want to illustrate your point. It is a good tool. This topic comes up and I am sort of like Charlie Mike now in that I really don't have any serious vices that pull vast sums of money from my wallet on a regular basis. So, it's knives, guns and accessories, fishing stuff, and camping stuff and so forth for me. Ask me how many pairs of sunglasses I own? :D

Yesterday, there was a thread on choosing G10 or stag on a Dozier Pro Guides knife. I looked for mine and couldn't immediately find it in my "office". So, I decided to round up all the knives in my office into one place and take a bit of inventory as I didn't know how many or what was lying around in a room where stuff was supposed to be handy for me to fondle them and so forth. I collected about 40 different knives and none of these are on display and all theoretically "users".... hmm, sort of makes you wonder about hobbies and accumulating stuff.... This doesn't count the 10 or so Vic SAKs that I have in a metal storage cabinet where I keep ammo.
 
blade dude said:
Nobody buys a $200 impact wrench to look at and use a $50 one for work. So why do people buy sebenzas and then go buy a cheap knife as beater knife. I thought the whole point of paying more is it would handle MORE abuse not so you would be afraid to use it in dirty situations.
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Why do people by Ferraris and use a another car for day to day use?

Because they can. ;)

That said people do use their Sebenzas so I am not sure why this BS keeps coming up every month, same type of stupid question.
 
Ankerson said:
Why do people by Ferraris and use a another car for day to day use?

Because they can. ;)

That said people do use their Sebenzas so I am not sure why this BS keeps coming up every month, same type of stupid question.
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And that's a very good point.
Every topic about knives has been hashed over already somewhere on this forum or the interwebs in general.
Let's close it down, archive it, add Google search, and be done already.
 
This has been talked about time and time again. Use the search function. My question everytime is why does it matter to you? Obviously it upsets you or gets you riled up. Some people collect and some people use. Not sure what the big deal is?
 
I never collected methamphetamine.

#useyourshit
 
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marcinek said:
And why was that a mistake? Any reasoning behind that claim?
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Here is my reasoning:

Impact wrenches are solely tools invented for a single purpose. Delivering high torque for very specific tasks in recent industries. Nothing more, nothing less.

Knives are more than that. Knives are historically the premier piece of equipment used for essentially everything. They were used to symbolize status, make other tools, defend territory, get food, build shelter, make weapons (old spears and such), clean animals, etc. If you were exploring a new location, you would take a knife, not an impact wrench.

I might be alone on this one, but I just feel like knives are more than just tools, since they have such a thorough history with them. There is no tool on the planet that has versatility or history that comes close to what knives have done. That is why knives can have multiple uses today. People can use them just how they were made to be used, on hard use tasks. Or they can be used as art knives to display the craftsmanship, since they aren't as necessary as they were 200+ years ago. Or anywhere in between.


TL;DR

Some people view knives as more than just tools, and some people respect the history behind knives. All a matter of personal opinion, and no one is wrong, unless you post a video of whacking the spine to test lock strength
 
Ruggdogg87 said:
This has been talked about time and time again. Use the search function. My question everytime is why does it matter to you? Obviously it upsets you or gets you riled up. Some people collect and some people use. Not sure what the big deal is?
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Exactly, personally I don't care what people do. :D

I own a truck and a Jeep SUV....... The truck isn't 4WD and has HWY tires on it.

Normally I drive the truck beating around town etc...

However if I have a bunch of stuff to get or it's snowing or something and or I am making long trips I take the Jeep.
 
marcinek said:
You asked why people do that, people have answered . . .
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I'm not sure they have, Marcinek.

Blade Dude, I think the answer has to do with the role knives and swords have in our culture. Weapons in general, actually. That's why you hit on the example of the impact wrench. There has always been a variety of tool that indicates status and achievement into which men, mostly, have invested a form of spiritual importance. It is why swords are present at ceremonies, why they are often jeweled and made of expensive metals, why in the age of better weapons people even continue to own swords at all. There is more to the knife and the sword than just their existence as tools. Historically we have never invested shovels or impact wrenches with this sense of reverence. But we have done this to horses, and I suspect this has carried over to cars and trucks. There is a status, and for some an investment of spiritual value, to these tools and, in the case of horses, animals, that gives them an importance greater than their mere utility. I think the fit, finish, beauty, and cost of a Sebenza put it in the class of tool that opens it up to this form of near-religious fetishization. If Reeve made a replaceable-blade box cutter with the same care and expertise as he makes folding knives, I suspect they would not receive the same spiritual investment, even if the price were as high as his knives.

Fireams, too, have this role in our culture and get treated the same way. Sometimes it's because they are like museum pieces and have historical importance, like my M1. It shoots great and is an outstanding firearm in every respect, but if you want to think of its history, it does have what the Pacific islanders would call Mana. It is a 1942 Springfield M1 with "matching" drawing numbers on the parts and a serial number in the low 100,000s. It no doubt saw combat in WWII and was restocked for the Korean War and has rack numbers grease-penciled on the grip pommel. It is one of the weapons that protected democracy. Maybe it helped liberate the Philippines, or clear the way to free captives in the Nazi camps, or achieve the breakout at Chosin Reservoir. Even if it didn't do these things, even if it were pristine, in an original crate, wrapped in cosmoline paper, it would still evoke reverence (maybe more so for that). And yet millions were made. It is a resilient tool capable of taking immense abuse, just like the Sebenza. I could just as easily schlep the M1 through the woods and kill an elk or throw it in the back of the truck as a road-trip gun as a Sebenza owner can score drywall or cut and pull up a carpet. Whether I do depends on whether I give it that reverence we give to things like swords or horses.

There is also my 1942 Soviet M38 carbine. I know this weapon, too, may have helped defeat the Nazis. Perhaps it was carried by an atilleryman at Stalingrad. But because it was produced in numbers far exceeding the M1, was not left to me by my late brother like my M1, and resembles a Stanley utility knife more than it does the Sebenza, I do take it to the woods to hunt elk and throw it in the truck as a road-trip gun. It does have Mana, I suppose, but those spirits just don't speak as loudly as the ones in the Garand. :o

Anyway, it's more than, "Some people do, some people don't/to each his own," as you've rightly intuited, Blade Dude. There is a why, and I think it has to do with the special role weapons and some vehicles have in our culture and how we endow them with special meaning that makes us not want to use them for the prosaic tasks they no doubt would excel at.

Zieg
 
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Dddrees said:
Let's just say I'm not that concerned about the few seconds a day difference or a grand total of a minute or so it will be off at the end of the month if I don't make an adjustment every once in awhile. Let's just say my enjoyment for wearing a mechanical watch over a quartz watch, smart watch, or using my iPhone to tell time is purely for my own personal satisfaction.
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it's also not at all incompatible with what I said. The only jewelry I wear is for personal satisfaction and the benefit of one very particular person. That doesn't mean it's not jewelry, just that I'm not wearing it with any intention of grabbing attention or showing off.
 
One more point, Blade Dude. We can do both with our tools. That is, we can revere them and still use them for prosaic tasks. I have a pair of boots I absolutely love and that give me a special sense of pride. I wear them for barn work as well as polish them up for teaching horsemanship clinics. I feel this way about the new puukko I bought. It is special to me AND I use the hell out of it. I love my horses and do not hesitate to take my pure Andalusian on trail rides or into the mountains. Sometimes the reverence and price comes in the form of real-world use. Other times it evokes a form of worship that makes a knife a safe queen. It depends on on how low one wants to bow to his idol.

Zieg
 
Insipid Moniker said:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it's also not at all incompatible with what I said. The only jewelry I wear is for personal satisfaction and the benefit of one very particular person. That doesn't mean it's not jewelry, just that I'm not wearing it with any intention of grabbing attention or showing off.
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I only wear one peice of jewelry...





Don't tell anyone.
 
Ok, a third point. People who never use their expensive knives are doing the same thing fan-boys do who buy action figures and keep them in the packages. Idol worship directed at mass produced stuff. Gotta love it.

Zieg
 
I have a Tag Heuer watch which cost me close to $1000 new. Only used it for special occasions. About 15 years ago when I was 55 I realized that it was foolish not to wear it daily as it was well made and I enjoyed wearing it. It looks about the same today as when new. I brought it because I like it and new it was a quality piece. Why not enjoy what you have and worked hard to get. If is well made it will last a long time if you use it for its intended purpose. Why not enjoy the finer things in life. I EDC all price knives and don't see the reason not to use what you like. Life is to short not to enjoy the knives you have.
 
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