The evolution of the traditional knife nut?

[SwiftDream]

My evolution started at four years old when I started carrying my first knife, a scout style slip joint. I was still carrying a scout style slip joint when I started backpacking at 12 years old. Sure I've dabbled into more modern designs, some of them high end. But I have carried traditionals 99% of the time because they do the things I want a blade to do, and much better.

I don't buy much anymore but I still like to look at all kinds of knives and read discussion and reviews most every day. But there are only a couple that I actually use and I'm not much tempted to possess others. Lets face it, some are all show and very little go. Over time, using a knife, you learn what is real and what is a fantasy. I've got nothing against fantasy but don't have much use for it myself in the real world.

 

[kamagong]

To say, "I just enjoy it" is the same excuse I told others while I was on drugs and drinking.

That's hogwash Brett. That may be an issue some people struggle with, but it is by no means universal. This comment is akin to a reformed drunk lecturing others on the evils of drink. He may not have had any self-control, but others have no problem having a couple of drinks and relaxing with friends.

At the end of the day, it's a hobby. And a hobby is individual. We each have our own idea of what works for us. So there is goodness in someone figuring out that he has other priorities in life. And there is equal goodness in those who have found something they like and revel in it.

Exactly right Frank.

 

[KBA]

That's hogwash Brett. That may be an issue some people struggle with, but it is by no means universal. This comment is akin to a reformed drunk lecturing others on the evils of drink. He may not have had any self-control, but others have no problem having a couple of drinks and relaxing with friends.



Exactly right Frank.

Reread my post Christian. I clearly wrote that it was not an all encompassing statement and not all fall under that label, but some do. Yet, I find some could careless of even asking the question if they are actually one of them that does fall under that label. Just go back and reread it brother.

Edit: As for it being a compartmented activity or hobby that is reveled in would it not be prudent to self reflect and examine your "hobby.?" Ive known many of good folk, and marriages, and wallets ruind by what was reveled in.

I wasnt a drunk

 

[supratentorial]

I'll preserve some oldies but I mostly am only interested in newly manufactured knives if I use them. At one time I was much more of an accumulator. I think to some extent it is common for collectors to slow down a little. Part of learning about knives is seeing a lot of knives. Some I hold onto some I don't. It's not always the best ones that I keep. Sometimes they're the best. Some times they just aren't worth anything--haha!

My preferences have changed some over the years. And the knives that I buy have also changed in accordance with those preferences. Some things have stayed the same. I still love the Schrade 8OT, the Victorinox alox soldier, and the Opinel no 8. --Not sure that will ever change.

The title of the thread sort of reminds me of this comic... In the old days, knife collectors were hunter gatherers, going to knife shows, etc. As they evolved into serious collectors, they lugged around rolls of knives, old catalogs, catalog reprints, photocopies and reference books. This developed strength and upright posture. With rise of the internet, collectors could buy/sell/trade without leaving their home. Information could also be shared more easily and books became replaced with digital media. Instead of hunting and gathering, man stayed inside hunched over a computer screen and then smaller and smaller mobile devices. I'm just joking around, of course. With mobile devices now you can actually buy and sell knives while you are actually out in the woods hunting and gathering (or picking up groceries at the store)!

 

[waynorth]

Jake, you crack me up! And there is always a bit of truth to true humor!!
When my third and final kid was well on his way to adulthood, I found a little free time, which led to discovering the internet, the auction sites, and forums! This caused an acceleration of acquisitions. But I found this short-lived due to the need for more depth. The histories of the cutleries, and the endless sub-contracting, and comparative studies provided the real meat; probably why I didn't give up and sell most of the knives off!
But now I have too many, and I crave the simplicity that old age demands. And that leaves me trying to break my old habits of buying interesting specimens!
I keep telling myself I only need a handful of knives to be happy! I hope to believe that soon!!

 

[GermanyChris]

To add to the musings about personalities and knives..

I moved a lot when I was a kid and I remember vividly all the labor it took to move four people plus junk from one house to another and one state to another. When I joined the Army I leaned not to own anything that couldn't fit into a bag and be carried with you because if you did your life got orders or magnitude harder. I've carried those memories and habits forward, I have one knife I carry every day, and one to back it up. I own one pair of boots I wear everyday, a pair of shoes to run in and a pair for weekends. I have seven of the same pairs of pants in different colors, seven of the same shirts in different colors etc. I guess in the end I don't get collecting or the exhilaration of the score but I do enjoy reading about those of you who do.

 

[jprime84]

I have been lately striving to be content. I find that a large deal of my excitement is opening that new knife and turning it around in my hands, examining every feature. After some time, I often find myself content to let that knife go. Usually at a slight loss, sometimes at cost, sometimes at a slight profit. I find that this allows me to continue the habit.

Once in a while, you get one that you find its not so easy to let go. Those are the ones that have stayed firm in my collection over time.

Also, I found myself gravitating towards a subset of traditionals - wooden handles for me. If I hear of a new release or preorder available, the ones that are getting me recently are the ones that are offered in a type of wood that I don't yet have. When I only find bone or micarta, I tend to pass more often than not these days.

 

[Old Bowie]

Jake, you crack me up! And there is always a bit of truth to true humor!!
When my third and final kid was well on his way to adulthood, I found a little free time, which led to discovering the internet, the auction sites, and forums! This caused an acceleration of acquisitions. But I found this short-lived due to the need for more depth. The histories of the cutleries, and the endless sub-contracting, and comparative studies provided the real meat; probably why I didn't give up and sell most of the knives off!
But now I have too many, and I crave the simplicity that old age demands. And that leaves me trying to break my old habits of buying interesting specimens!
I keep telling myself I only need a handful of knives to be happy! I hope to believe that soon!!

COME ON YOU CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY KNIFES LOL D:

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Brothers, I'm embarrassed. What started off as liquidating a good part of my collection with a local knife shop to pay for my pup's surgery bills (a $5 rope toy turned into a $2500 rope toy), turned into my taking the money left over, to purchase and trade for other blades. I did get a Bark River Ultra lite bushcrafter in green micarta, and a PSK Jr and mini Polaris from Scott Gossman, but I did also get a few one hand openers. I'm already removing them from my collection.

The one hand openers... but looking at more

My peanut still gets a fair amount of use, I carry a one hand opener from Idaho with it and my Case Tribal Spear, my Saldana barlow also.

On Sunday I went overboard on a hike. Neck knife, a one hand opener in every pocket, and I had cargo shorts on, a slipjoint in ever pocket, including a SAK. I thought my Maxpedition water bottle pouch was cumbersome, it was my shorts! I also had the mini Polaris on my belt.

Too much? For one day, for my collection way too much.

Luckily others have the affliction. Although I'm looking at Pena, Oeser etc for a new blade.

I just can't help it. Perfect load out for that hike, a three mile hike on the Susquehanna/Elk rivers and C and D canal that empties into the Bay, awesome views of the Bay, at Turkey Point light house, and if a ranger asked me to empty my pockets I'd be under the jail right now. The perfect load out would be my 2017 OD green alox pioneer (Woodrow I got one ), my peanut, my Psk JR neck knife and if I wanted to over do it, my Case tribal spear.

Not all of that other junk. And on a highly traveled trail in MD, if I pulled out a knife to peel an apple I'd have all of the rangers on me in a second, in MD.

Equate that to the way I collect knives, oh my God. My brother Woodrow, I need to send you a msg. I'll hit you up on FB.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Brothers, I'm embarrassed. What started off as liquidating a good part of my collection with a local knife shop to pay for my pup's surgery bills (a $5 rope toy turned into a $2500 rope toy), turned into my taking the money left over, to purchase and trade for other blades. I did get a Bark River Ultra lite bushcrafter in green micarta, and a PSK Jr and mini Polaris from Scott Gossman, but I did also get a few one hand openers. I'm already removing them from my collection.

The one hand openers... but looking at more

My peanut still gets a fair amount of use, I carry a one hand opener from Idaho with it and my Case Tribal Spear, my Saldana barlow also.

On Sunday I went overboard on a hike. Neck knife, a one hand opener in every pocket, and I had cargo shorts on, a slipjoint in ever pocket, including a SAK. I thought my Maxpedition water bottle pouch was cumbersome, it was my shorts! I also had the mini Polaris on my belt.

Too much? For one day, for my collection way too much.

Luckily others have the affliction. Although I'm looking at Pena, Oeser etc for a new blade.

I just can't help it. Perfect load out for that hike, a three mile hike on the Susquehanna/Elk rivers and C and D canal that empties into the Bay, awesome views of the Bay, at Turkey Point light house, and if a ranger asked me to empty my pockets I'd be under the jail right now. The perfect load out would be my 2017 OD green alox pioneer (Woodrow I got one ), my peanut, my Psk JR neck knife and if I wanted to over do it, my Case tribal spear.

Not all of that other junk. And on a highly traveled trail in MD, if I pulled out a knife to peel an apple I'd have all of the rangers on me in a second, in MD.

Equate that to the way I collect knives, oh my God. My brother Woodrow, I need to send you a msg. I'll hit you up on FB.

Lol. I really do love the Alox knives. I've only kept the Black Farmer from Italy and The Emerald Green Pioneer..... I don't know what Victorinox calls that color. It's not the Olive Drab, the one I have looks like an Emerald and it was made for the South African market. Those two, I'll hold on to.

 

[jc57]

Well, to keep Frank happy , I'll add some knife comments:

When I first got into pocket knives, it was modern ones which I won't mention. But they had manufacturer subforums here so I joined BF. I stumbled into that weird "traditionals" forum and started drooling over the pictures of Case knives, which seemed to be a bit more popular at the time than GEC.

I looked all of the active threads and got the impression that the "big 3" to have were a Case Peanut, Small Texas Jack, and Sway Back Jack, all in CV steel. So my very first purchase of traditional knives (not counting a couple I have owned since the 70s) were that trio - Case Peanut in Chesnut Bone CV, Small Texas Jack in Amber Bone CV, and Sway Back Jack in Chestnut Bone CV.

I was largely driven in my acquisitions by all of the posts in the threads here, and I would see knives that I liked and would go look for knives like those. A number of my early purchases were "copycat" purchases of something I had seen on the forums here.

At first I decided I liked 2-blade Jacks and sort of focused on variations of those. The Small Texas Jack pattern (032) was my early favorite and I still like that knife. I ended up with 4 of them, two in CV and two in SS.

Somewhere along the way I decided to try out my first 3-blade knife and got a Case Medium Stockman. That led to a desire to have multiple sizes of Case Stockman patterns - I ended up with one or more knives in most (but not all) of the Case Stockman series.

I also decided I wanted to mix things up a bit and try out the Buck 300 series, so I added a 301 and 303.

I also finally tried an Alox Victorinox and got hooked on those too. Didn't go too overboard there, I just have three more of those than I really have any need for.

I had been staying mostly in the $30 to $45 range for individual knives, but eventually the "just a few dollars more" syndrome kicked in and I tried my very first GEC knife - the #68 Pony Jack.

The 68 was (and still is) a VERY cool little pocket knife. It was my first experience with the famous GEC build quality, and I was really impressed with that knife. I still have it, and it is still unused in its tube, taken out only for drooling.

That led me down the GEC path for a while. I think I ended up with 15 GECs in total. Still have them all. I only carry 2 of them (both bought used) on occasion. There's something in my brain that won't let me carry a pretty, unblemished, and valuable knife when I have plenty of less expensive, already used knives that cut stuff just fine.

Somewhere along the way I decided I needed to give Queen and D2 steel a try, and ended up with 3 Queen knives - a Country Cousin, a small Serpentine Jack, and a #9 Stockman. The #9 I will put up there with any GEC for quality and fit/finish. The Serpentine Jack had that fabled Queen dull edge and over-thick blades, and the D2 steel on that knife made a true sharpener out of me.

My last Case knife purchase was a grail knife I couldn't pass up - a 6254W Clip + Wharncliffe Trapper (from the Exchange here) in 2015. My last two GEC purchases were the #77 Barlow SFOs in 2015 and 2016 (one from each year). I did pick up a few inexpensive knives - two Rough Riders in 2015 to see what they were like, a couple of imported Schrades about the same time, and then this past Christmas I bought a Vic Spartan on sale for $12 just to see what the Celidor-handled versions were like. The $12 Vic was my last knife purchase.

Along the way, I also evolved my sharpening skills from basically nothing to a relatively adequate free-hand sharpener, accumulating a variety of stones and hones - oil, water, diamond, ceramic.

So that's my evolution - from a few pocket knives to about 150. It was largely driven by a desire to experience the variety of patterns, steels, handle materials, shapes, and sizes out there.

Now that I have successfully dialed in my preferences, I think about 20 or so would be the right number to cover different needs and still give me some variety. But the "right" number and "right" assortment may be something you have to shrink down to, rather than grow up to, because you won't know how many you need until you have too many.

 

[rune1279]

Like a lot of people here, I've reduced and refocused in the process.

At the peak I had over fifty traditional knives, but few ever got used -- collecting had become an activity in and of itself (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but is a weird mutation of my original interest.)

A few years back I happened to set myself a challenge to carry one particular knife for an extended period, and after a year of that I just naturally started paring down. Now I have about a dozen basic user knives left. (Even that's a bit silly -- I could cover my EDC requirements with my CV Peanut, Vic Cadet, and an Opinel #8.)

I did spot a cheap Schrade 194OT in a pawn shop over the weekend. Never had one of those before, and the sight of the red rust eating it up offended my sensibilities. I brought it home for an afternoon in the electrolytic cleaner and a quick hot vinegar dip and if it doesn't end up getting carried I'll happily move it along for someone else to enjoy. So the interest remains, but the intent and certainly the pace have changed -- for the better, I think.

Regards,
--Mark

 

[Ratbert]

When I joined the Army I leaned not to own anything that couldn't fit into a bag and be carried with you because if you did your life got orders or magnitude harder.

It's been said that you don't truly own anything that you can't carry with you at a dead run.

 

[willard0341]

Withdrawn

 

[kamagong]

Some of you guys are way too invested in this. They're just knives. They should be bringing you enjoyment, if they don't sell them and move on.

Do I have too many knives? Without a doubt. I hang out on a dedicated forum, just so I can look at pictures and discuss them with like-minded individuals. But, it's a hobby and an innocuous one at that. Knives are relatively affordable and they take up little space. Look at art, boats, guns, horses, hunting, motorcycles, watches, whiskies, women, the list goes on and on. Those enthusiastic about these things easily spend more in a month than I usually do in an entire year. At least compared to most things knives have inherent value and have a practical use.

 

[KBA]

Some of you guys are way too invested in this. They're just knives. They should be bringing you enjoyment, if they don't sell them and move on.

Do I have too many knives? Without a doubt. I hang out on a dedicated forum, just so I can look at pictures and discuss them with like-minded individuals. But, it's a hobby and an innocuous one at that. Knives are relatively affordable and they take up little space. Look at art, boats, guns, horses, hunting, motorcycles, watches, whiskies, women, the list goes on and on. Those enthusiastic about these things easily spend more in a month than I usually do in an entire year. At least compared to most things knives have inherent value and have a practical use.

Christian, I find it odd that you chastise me for my post (or idea) and then turn and post the other side of the same coin. Knives only have the value you attach to them, as does the hobby. They are only a tool if used and if not used carry no practical use, imo.

We all have our views and value system for the hobby. And yes, some have way to much invested in the hobby (my point) and some dont want to think they do, but need to realize that they do. No Im not trying to say, "Im living right and you are not."

Right now my hobby has led to trying new steels. Away from traditional knives.

I also find it odd that this discussion comes up frequently and there is always those who think less of the person wanting to discuss the reasoning to their hobby and wanting to evaluate their actions and hobby from a deeper level than just the superficial.

 

[kamagong]

Not chastising you at all Brett. But like you said I did want to discuss the other side of the coin.

Perhaps it's because I never joined the lolly scramble as Meako so aptly put it. I didn't try to get every single barlow, or buy trendy knives in patterns and handle covers that I find hideous. I know what I do and don't like, so I am more deliberate in my purchasing habits. I didn't experience the highs of hunting for the newest GEC, so I guess I don't understand the lows of having a huge collection of steel that you later realize you don't like all that much.

I guess when it comes down to it I agree with you. It's important to keep an even keel in this interest. Or if you like, moderation in all things.

 

[KBA]

Not chastising you at all Brett. But like you said I did want to discuss the other side of the coin.

Perhaps it's because I never joined the lolly scramble as Meako so aptly put it. I didn't try to get every single barlow, or buy trendy knives in patterns and handle covers that I find hideous. I know what I do and don't like, so I am more deliberate in my purchasing habits. I didn't experience the highs of hunting for the newest GEC, so I guess I don't understand the lows of having a huge collection of steel that you later realize you don't like all that much.

I guess when it comes down to it I agree with you. It's important to keep an even keel in this interest. Or if you like, moderation in all things.

That's one of the reason I respect your opinion of the hobby. (Not the part that you agree with me. )

Knives are easy to talk about. It's all historical, mechanical, preferences, and usage. When you start to talk about the hobby, it becomes more human, and complex. Sometimes I feel we are bottlenecked into only the mechanical side of the knife arena and steered away from the human complex side of the hobby.

I appreciate Frank and Gary allowing this discussion and I hope I have shown respect to those who may disagree with me.

 

[jc57]

I have tried to appease the forum proctors with some knife content.

One of the upsides of having plenty o' knives is that you can leave them scattered around your normal haunts.

I leave 2 or 3 in my car, one at my desk at work, another one or three in my laptop bag, in addition to whatever may happen to be in my pockets.

Today, all told, I had in my general vicinity 4 Case slipjoints, 3 Victorinox, and two modern folders, and 3 Leatherman tools. Didn't use a single one of them.

Beat that for crazy.

 

[kamagong]

On a lighter note, I spent the past weekend in the woods with old friends and their families. There were twelve adults, and sixteen children. Eight of us have known each other for 25+ years. The children ranged in age with the eldest at fourteen and the youngest not quite two.

The three oldest kept to themselves for most of the weekend. Rather than playing with the "little kids," they chose to spend the majority of their time gathering wood to fashion into walking sticks and spears. I was surprised to see them with their own knives already. Seeing these future knife nuts using their knives in a healthy and useful manner brought a smile to my face. I was further amused when one of them approached his father later that evening, holding out his hand which was locked into a clawlike figure. He told his dad his hand hurt. The men all laughed, telling the boy that's what happens when you spend half a day carving. We also told him that we spoke from experience, having done the same thing when we were younger...hahaha.

Good times.