You buy a knife to be a user but can't bring yourself to use it!

I have two "signature" Lynn C. Thompson folders .

One I've never used because I have two older similar versions as beater / users .

The Spartan, however, I forced myself to use , because its my only Spartan .

Yeah cut some vegetation , opened boxes etc . Got her dirty ! :cool:

Now its OK to use as needed .







 
Actually I only need a 84mm SAK for EDC. Sure, it is accompanied in my pocket with another slipjoint or two. Looking at the pictures in this thread, I wonder how many times you guys are forcing yourself to use these big folders, when the SAK you also carry will feel more comfortable for the task?
 
el gigantor said:
Thanks for all the input folks, this has been a trip to read through! Think I'll throw the Norseman in my pocket tomorrow and see how it goes..
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Tomorrow will go great except for all the wasted time involved with whipping it out and fiddling with it. A bit of my day involves flipping my various SHFs, usually the business calls 😁
 
bikerector said:
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Sign me up!
 
I'm a user and a collector. Collector knives seldom become users for me in large part because most of what I collect is designed for things I pretty much just don't do.

But the right solution is to buy your expensive users pre-owned. Then there's no 'first scratch' panic since, well, it came used already. And you'll save money.
 
Cost and rarity don't necessarily determine whether or not a knife gets used. My favorite modern folder and traditional in my collection do get used regularly, and both are somewhat rare and not particularly inexpensive.

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It was the summer of 1977. I got my first BMX. It was so cool that I was afraid to ride it in the way it was intended. Then, Theresa rolled up.

Theresa was riding her new bike. It was pink, had little roses on it and had yellow tires. I swear it, straight up girly girl bike.

'Race ya!' Theresa yelled and proceeded to speed through the muddy yard like a professional.

I stood there for a second and then followed her, for about 10 feet-then crashed. Hard. Theresa laughed at me. I got back up. Went as fast as possible, passed her and wrecked again.

I got better at it once I got over my fear. And I promised myself to never get beaten in a race by a girl on a girly girl bike again

I use what I buy or what I have been gifted. Just don't tell anyone a silly girl taught me this lesson.
 
I am sure that if you asked any knifemaker

"is this knife designed to be used" and " do you make your knife to be used" the answers would be a resounding "YES"

and one of my favorite quotes.

"I make knives for guys that want to use them" Bob Loveless
 
Price doesn't have anything to do if a knife is a user, but it just might not be a regular user for hacking and whacking around the yard. I have a couple commemorative knives out of the 200ish knives I own and in the case of one of them have a regular user version of it (Grohmann No. 1). Some of the knives are reserved for special occasions/use by the nature of their design/materials (like Spyderco Salt series knives), others reserved for hiking trips beyond bumming around the wood lot or day hikes (Casstrom Swedish Forest Knife No. 10). I'm unlikely to haul around some of the heavier outdoorsy knives unless it's car camping (like the Woox Rock62). The odd one can get lost in the rotations if I don't take the time to look at them all from time to time, or they'd never reach the forward staging area of daily carries to choose from at my desk. If I got a stretch without going to functions where fancy dress knives would be appropriate, I make sure to have one on the books beside the computer on my desk, just so it gets some handling (right now that's a MKM Maniago Root). Some impactable knives are fun to have around and some of them have even been carried once, but I'm not sure if I'll ever carry them around when I expect to have to try to accomplish anything (like the CRKT Ritual or Joker Chamois). Some knives can go a very long time between being used and I'll sometimes take that as a hint to give them away.

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This is exactly what stopped me from throwing more money at knives. I bought a CQC-7 (of all things) with a work bonus, and felt very uncomfortable with using it. Even decided to sell it, then changed my mind.

I set myself a price ceiling where I felt that I wouldn't miss it too much if the knife got lost, stolen, or broken. I don't worry about getting my knives scuffed up anymore, because I don't allow myself to buy anything that I can't "afford".

Is this strictly relevant to the OP? No. It's the reason why I can relate, and also the reason why I don't have this problem, anymore.
 
mrknife said:
If you are a collector, buy one mint, and one user. thats always my philosophy. sometimes it doesnt pan out, so I still have some mint untouched knives.
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This is the way. Especially if it’s one of your favorite knives… why not have a backup, in case you lose it, break it, whatever… the knife may be long discontinued by then.
Hell, the company might even be out of business..
Ill admit I have some backups (some with different blade shapes or finishes tho), and it makes it a lot easier to carry your favorite knives everyday when you know you have a spare.
 
The Grendels said:
Some knives can go a very long time between being used and I'll sometimes take that as a hint to give them away.

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I’ll take this picture as a hint that you don’t use this one very much… you can send it to me if you’d like, and I’ll carry it for you 😉 😁
 
madcap_magician said:
I'm a user and a collector. Collector knives seldom become users for me in large part because most of what I collect is designed for things I pretty much just don't do.

But the right solution is to buy your expensive users pre-owned. Then there's no 'first scratch' panic since, well, it came used already. And you'll save money.
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Yep, I enjoy buying higher end "users" honest wear is fine for me on a knife I'm gonna use anyway.
 
I go back and forth between collecting and using. I buy a bunch of knives I like; some humble, some what I consider "nice". ($250 range)

Then, I look at my collection and realize there's a lot of duplication there, get disgusted with myself and have a big sell-off. After a couple years, the knife knut in me comes out of remission and I start again.

I bought myself a nice knife with the intent for it to be my main carry knife. It's a Benchmade Griptilian with the gray G10 scales, blue liners and barrel spacers and 20CV blade. I carried it for a week or two, then I felt like it was too heavy and bulky for my needs. Went back to a 2 layer SAK and went into remission again.

Each time I go through the cycle, I learn a bit about myself. I don't find myself carrying the Griptilian because it's big & heavy, not because it's "too nice". Part of its being nice is that it's robust enough to carry and use every day and will not wear out. Sure, it will SHOW some wear, but this isn't a stamp or coin. It's a KNIFE; a tool. What I learned about myself this time is that weight DOES matter and a knife with a blade that's big enough to cut fruit is likely going to feel too big at some point. So this time, I'm heavily into Spyderco Lightweights. They're robust enough and nice enough, but still very thin & light. The ones I'm favoring now are:

  • Delica
  • Leaf Jumper
  • Native
  • Manix 2 (next)


Back to the OP: Force yourself to carry and use that Norseman for a couple weeks. Develop a bond with it. Accept that it'll pick up signs of carry and use and remember that one of the reasons you bought it is that it can take this in stride. Yeah, it'll lose resale value, but again, this isn't a stamp collection. ;)
 
Smaug said:
I go back and forth between collecting and using. I buy a bunch of knives I like; some humble, some what I consider "nice". ($250 range)

Then, I look at my collection and realize there's a lot of duplication there, get disgusted with myself and have a big sell-off. After a couple years, the knife knut in me comes out of remission and I start again.

I bought myself a nice knife with the intent for it to be my main carry knife. It's a Benchmade Griptilian with the gray G10 scales, blue liners and barrel spacers and 20CV blade. I carried it for a week or two, then I felt like it was too heavy and bulky for my needs. Went back to a 2 layer SAK and went into remission again.

Each time I go through the cycle, I learn a bit about myself. I don't find myself carrying the Griptilian because it's big & heavy, not because it's "too nice". Part of its being nice is that it's robust enough to carry and use every day and will not wear out. Sure, it will SHOW some wear, but this isn't a stamp or coin. It's a KNIFE; a tool. What I learned about myself this time is that weight DOES matter and a knife with a blade that's big enough to cut fruit is likely going to feel too big at some point. So this time, I'm heavily into Spyderco Lightweights. They're robust enough and nice enough, but still very thin & light. The ones I'm favoring now are:

  • Delica
  • Leaf Jumper
  • Native
  • Manix 2 (next)


Back to the OP: Force yourself to carry and use that Norseman for a couple weeks. Develop a bond with it. Accept that it'll pick up signs of carry and use and remember that one of the reasons you bought it is that it can take this in stride. Yeah, it'll lose resale value, but again, this isn't a stamp collection. ;)
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Find you a manix in Maxamet, thank me later!
 
My ratio of unused Collection knives to User knives is 100:1. :)
I also don't use or carry anything that would be a financial burden to replace.
 
Kinda. I have a two Case trappers, a Case stockman and a Buck charcoal wood 303 that aren't really anything special, but they're so close to being perfect that I'll carry them and just not use them. I think the most expensive one out of the group was about $55. I don't think twice about twice about using my GEC's, CRK's or anything else I have, but that little group is something special to me....
 
tony281sc2 said:
I’ll take this picture as a hint that you don’t use this one very much… you can send it to me if you’d like, and I’ll carry it for you 😉 😁
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No. I think I'm good, although I had to take this one apart to reassemble it because it wasn't put together right. :) The reason I don't take frequent proof of knife pictures alongside dated newspapers is because I don't have unlimited data for my picture file hosting, so only a few new ones get posted to the host service after the initial picture posted in the new acquisitions thread.
 
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