Consumerism vs Collection vs Hobby

Gotta love dads' memories ... so much kinder than being there in real time!
Right you are. I grew up as one among 7 brothers and sisters. It was a typical mother at home and father working kind of world for us. There was always food, but everything else was lacking by today's standards. We didn't expect much. But I wanted more. The reality was that I am a direct product of that environment in the sense that I sometimes relish having more than I need because I never had enough as a kid. The hand me downs.... they sucked. There was no goodwill, but if there was I suspect I would have been dressed with those clothes IF my Dad or Mom were willing to set foot in the door. (Pride)

My gardening started there. My hunting started then. My fishing started then. My love for the woods started then. My love of plants and the environment in general started then. I owe a lot to my parents. BUT my Mom died. My Dad remarried and trusted his new wife completely. He was in his 70's at that point. Dad eventually died and it was a bad time, but not as bad as when Mother passed. Boys always link to the Mother. He trusted her to the point of putting her name on every bank account. So, when he died, he wanted half of what he had given to his 7 children and the other half retained by his wife. She kept it all. We're talking over a million dollars in cash excluding property. I will never forgive that woman when I think of all the skimping we did when we were young only for an outsider to take it all because he trusted her. It isn't the money. It was the broken promise she made to him for totally selfish reasons.

People generally look back at their school years with fondness. I look back at that time with distaste. Now years later, the high school reunions and everyone not understanding why I have no interest (or little interest) in seeing any (or most) of those people again. I don't know any of my high school classmates any more. I walking away from that life the day I got out of college and never returned.

On the Goodwill thing. I didn't know and it surprises me a little, but not much actually. The impact on third world countries receiving "charity" is a double edged sword. The reference to Eastern KY was apt. I have lived there and textile industries would never work because of the competition for labor by the mining industry. It would only work after the mining industry folded as it is mostly doing now with some help from our previous president. The same applies to most any industry that might want to locate there..... if the pay isn't as good as the mines, it wouldn't work and they would not be competitive as a result in the free market. So, you're left with Walmart, fast food, and a few grocery stores. Nobody expects WM to pay the same wages as the mines, but everyone (or most everyone) likes to have the store in the area. I used to drive an hour to hour and a half just to visit a modern bookstore back then. What I would have given for a Kindle and the Internet then.....
 
When dad died in 2010, I moved everything I owned here in my van (several trips) and one mickey-mouse trailer. Including my composter and (frozen) contents :eek:

Dad and mum had built here in the early '70's upon his retirement at age 55 ... and until dad was 90, he operated a busy machine shop here - catering to local logging companies, skidders and everything else imaginable.

So, I had my work cut out for me. Think ... 45 years accumulated 'stuff' at a country machine shop. Dad was a depression era Saskatchewan kid and he had smarts to re-use every material he came across. This attitude is honest gold to me ...

I bought a serviceable trailer, an electric winch that attached to the trailer hitch on my van (worked off the battery) ... and I winched, loaded, transported every re-usable bit of material found. Sometimes I had to excavate solid metal parts. My proudest moment hovers between winching the carcass of a 1930's Willis Jeep out of tree trunks grown through it ... and ... dismantling and recycling the carcass of a rotted out Holiday Trailer that dad had always planned to turn into materials storage 'shelter' out behind the shop.

In my time here I have loved deeply this property and every memory of my parents on the morning air. I believe I have honoured my parents' memory in my shaping of their retirement dream home and land. The glorious flowers bloom. It is my time to go. :(

I don't know you from Adam but in this short post I believe you have indeed honored their memory.

To me that is all the more reason to live purposefully and intentionally knowing none of us are promised tomorrow and we have only but one life. Not to waste it in the desires of want, ignorance, and greed but in family (whoever that may be), charity, and contentment.

To fill our lives with those memories, to create new memories, and just appreciate the time we have.

Time is the most valuable thing in this world and we waste so much of it
 
in the sense that I sometimes relish having more

My gardening started there. My hunting started then. My fishing started then. My love for the woods started then. My love of plants and the environment in general started then. I owe a lot to my parents.

People generally look back at their school years with fondness. I look back at that time with distaste.

I get that sense of wanting more. I have often thought that we are hardwired for survival to want more.

Highschool ... yikes, it freaks me out to think of re-visiting that scene ... and yet I do believe that my highschool mates feel exactly as inadequate as I do.
 
One of my friends built a 640 square foot house on his wife's family property, he said a bigger house is just a place to store more "stuff". I think it cost them $70K or 80K to build it, and the design is not very attractive. I've seen some small craftsman style homes that were very attractive in an architectural sense. After living in apartments during the 70's and 80's I have little desire to live in a "box".
 
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One of my friends built a 640 square foot house on his wife's family property, he said a bigger house is just a place to store more "stuff". I think it cost them $70K or 80K to build it, and the design is not very attractive. I've seen some small craftsman style homes that were very attractive in an architectural sense. After living in apartments during the 70's and 80's I have little desire to live in a "box".

2 years ago I had the "desire" to own every TC and GEC I could own. No one states you have to live in a box, but desires do change. The question is why? Or even deeper, if our values never change what does that say about us as a person?

Marketing even indirectly through a guy posting a new shiny knife here influences. I know I'm still extremely tempted to pick up things I don't need.

It all really is just a reflection of your own value system and I do not think most here realize how their value system is constantly being demonstrated.

Life Edited is an architectural firm with some pretty cool ideas. If, or when, we move we will be adapting a few of their ideas to create multifunctional rooms with such things as movable walls and hideaway beds.
 
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2 years ago I had the "desire" to own every TC and GEC I could own. No one states you have to live in a box, but desires do change. The question is why? Or even deeper, if our values never change what does that say about us as a person?

Marketing even indirectly through a guy posting a new shiny knife here influences. I know I'm still extremely tempted to pick up things I don't need.

It all really is just a reflection of your own value system and I do not think most here realize how their value system is constantly being demonstrated.

Life Edited is an architectural firm with some pretty cool ideas. If, or when, we move we will be adapting a few of their ideas to create multifunctional rooms with such things as movable walls and hideaway beds.

I just prefer to live without having a neighbor above, below, or beside me in that close proximity. Has nothing to do with my value system, unless a person considers not enjoying people playing stereos wide open or stomping their feet some form of a value system.

Some "things" I like are very minimalist in nature. A living space is not one of those, I'd rather it have some soul and privacy.
 
Agreed. Though, I certainly consider your post a testament to your value system and one I share myself, especially bass driven music at 3am from a wall sharing neighbor.

There's no right or wrong opinion in this thread. Just thought I start this up as a way to show how consumerism runs rampant in this hobby.

For example, I'd love to read more reviews, steel testing, show your knife at work, and real practical applications and historical threads in the traditional knife section.

Instead there is post after post of "I have to have all 6 from this run!!!" and, "Where do I find the reserve?" and other consumer only based threads.

Just look at the amount of hyper and second hand free advertising post that are in the abdunce of picture threads alone.

Anyways, everything we think, do, and hold to states our value system. Unless of course we are not bring real on here.
 
Showing off a knife to others that appreciate it can be gratifying. After all, forum members are a very small minority in the world of knife owners. Most people wouldn't have any idea about the value or quality of one knife from another. I don't criticize their pleasure of collecting or enjoyment. We all should be so lucky.
 
Showing off a knife to others that appreciate it can be gratifying. After all, forum members are a very small minority in the world of knife owners. Most people wouldn't have any idea about the value or quality of one knife from another. I don't criticize their pleasure of collecting or enjoyment. We all should be so lucky.

I'm not criticizing. I am stating that there are more important things to value in this world than storing up a treasure of inanimate objects and allowing them to take up so much your time.

No one "needs" quality to sit on a shelf or display case. Heck it doesn't even have to be sharpened. They just want it. Why they want it can be a number of reasons. Some don't even care to question why they feel the need to own as many as they do, but they have no problem joking in how it is an addiction.

Quality in my opinion is only necessary if it is being used and I can only use one knife at a time but I still own 10 GEC and around 7 other users. I don't need them but I found a balance and have stopped buying.

I personally believe we should all be so lucky but it has nothing to do with owning a knife or a dozen.

Don't get me wrong though. I understand the creative side of taking knife shots. Heck I have the most media on the forum. It's just most of those are from years ago and I won't get that time back. I enjoyed it then but see it as time wasted now. Hence the value change I referring to earlier.

You must know though some post shots to create an identity of, "See what I own.." for supposed status credit
 
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I'm sure it happens, but I don't pay much attention to those posters. The follow function in the new software can be helpful in saving time by reading the personal news feed feature, rather than going through dozens of posts.
 
I'm sure it happens, but I don't pay much attention to those posters. The follow function in the new software can be helpful in saving time by reading the personal news feed feature, rather than going through dozens of posts.

That's true. I tend to be extremely picky in the threads I read now. In all honesty it's only a few now. Though I am a sucker for any new puukko thread or one with a little more depth to it than usual.
 
One of the reasons for less time online. The more I'm signed in the more I miss of what really matters.



Took this just now. Thought it was funny to see one trying to ride while the other pulled. :)
 
2 years ago I had the "desire" to own every TC and GEC I could own. No one states you have to live in a box, but desires do change. The question is why? Or even deeper, if our values never change what does that say about us as a person?

Marketing even indirectly through a guy posting a new shiny knife here influences. I know I'm still extremely tempted to pick up things I don't need.

It all really is just a reflection of your own value system and I do not think most here realize how their value system is constantly being demonstrated.

It is definitely a reflection of our personal value system. I've always known that.

It took me a couple years to even try out a GEC made knife, but eventually I did. I like them. Same applied to ZT's and finally found the one I wanted. But I have never had the desire to own every GEC that I could. I have in a couple of cases purchased multiple GEC knives with differing scales/handle materials. The most recent was the #48 Improved Trapper which I think is a wonderful medium sized pocket knife. Basically my size requirements are starting to shrink. I was all set to buy one of the #54's that came out about a month or so ago. Most are sold out now and I'm not interested in a plastic handled one. Don't need the knife and don't miss the fact that I didn't buy one. Missed this year's traditional forum knife... have mixed emotions about that. But I don't collect (I accumulate) and really don't care all that much that I didn't pre-order one.

What does that say about my consumerism and knives? I suspect it suggests that I am loosing interest in part because I own more than I will ever need.
 
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What does that say about my consumerism and knives? I suspect it suggests that I am loosing interest in part because I own more than I will ever need.


Accumulating is certainly apart of the hobby. I'm exiting that phases now. I accumulated out of curiosity and just wonderment. Even boredom could play apart and cause that desire to try something new even if it is old and used.

From reading your post through my time here (not just this thread) I have always respected your balance to things here and never would consider you to be in that consumerism mentality from those post.

I'm just trying to get a few folks to think and maybe get a few people to slow down and realize life is off line and certainly not found in consumption
 
I wonder if purchasing elephant ivory traditionals approaches the ultimate in consumerism? I bought one of Northwoods Madison Barlows in elephant ivory a few years ago. It was a total splurge and nothing else and I have no intention to use it for knife things.
 
I wonder if purchasing elephant ivory traditionals approaches the ultimate in consumerism? I bought one of Northwoods Madison Barlows in elephant ivory a few years ago. It was a total splurge and nothing else and I have no intention to use it for knife things.

That's up to you to decide brother.

In the past Ive made a few such purchases with guns, but have no intention in selling them. At the same time though I don't see another purchase of that nature in my future. Nor do I see the need to replace them with newest and most up to date.

I think the idea of consumerism is being wrapped up in the newest material goods in replacing what is still good. Take the iPhone or technology or newest run of knives. Seeking happiness and almost a sense of an identity in obtaining the new is how I see consumerism.

Gluttony comes to mind
 
That's up to you to decide brother.

In the past Ive made a few such purchases with guns, but have no intention in selling them. At the same time though I don't see another purchase of that nature in my future. Nor do I see the need to replace them with newest and most up to date.

I think the idea of consumerism is being wrapped up in the newest material goods in replacing what is still good. Take the iPhone or technology or newest run of knives. Seeking happiness and almost a sense of an identity in obtaining the new is how I see consumerism.

Gluttony comes to mind
I agree with your concept of consumerism. I have never really participated in that.... well maybe a little back when I was single and in my 20's. With knives, it is seldom replacement; just more. Ahh firearms!..... yeah, been there. Eventually you have to sell them or others will have them who might not be much into collecting and preserving something. That is where I am now; thinking about selling to give most of them a new home.
 
I've pretty much upgraded into having quality over quantity. I have a Mon-Thurs and Fri-Sun EDC rotation and approx 5 extraneous knives outside that. I have a balisong on the for nostalgia and FMA purposes.

I am content with having a little more than just enough.
 
I've pretty much upgraded into having quality over quantity. I have a Mon-Thurs and Fri-Sun EDC rotation and approx 5 extraneous knives outside that. I have a balisong on the for nostalgia and FMA purposes.

I am content with having a little more than just enough.
Good to be content. I have read about your migration in the fixed blade carry area. I understand. The minimalism, consumerism, and materialism thing relates to everything about us.... our homes, the clothes we own and buy, guns if you can, knives, food storage, the vehicle we drive and so forth.

My X wanted a new house and said "we can afford it." which we could. My thought was we didn't have any kids at the time and why would be need a bigger house? But the answer to that question is ultimately about investments and management, not just how big it is.
 
Just watched the documentary. If anything, I lean towards being a hobbyist. And if I didn't have you people to chat with to share about the pros and cons and ins and outs of the hobby, then I probably would not be as involved in it :)
 
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