How do you scale back?

For educational/reference purposes, I added the model names above/below the close-up pics. Thought that would help. :)
 
Warrior108 said:
Can you have too many? "Maybe" is all I keep coming up with. But, you just might have too many if:
  • You find a knife (or knives) that you don't remember having, possibly even buying.
  • You can literally never put each of them to "good use".
  • It would require a day off of work just to oil the blades.
  • You could use a knife till its dull, go to the next one and not have to sharpen a knife for a year, maybe two years.
  • A hurricane is on the way, there's limited room in the car and you have to decide on kid vs. knives.
  • The wife says, "I want a divorce .. and half of what is in the safe." and your response is, "OMG, NO!! NOT THE KNIVES!!!"
  • Your BladeForums user name is @Choppaman


Well, I'm pretty sure I ought to scale back. Then I saw @Comprehensivist 's post a couple days ago showing how his collection grew and then got scaled down to 3. Yes Phil, this is all on you. ;) I'm kidding of course. Scaling back has been on the list for a while and you just showed that it was possible. But, 3? Just 3??? I'm seriously thinking that ONE of us needs therapy but honestly don't know which of us. :D

I spent the better part of today going over my fixed blades arranging, rearranging, sorting, reminiscing. There are knives that were gifted, knives that have sentiment tied to a friend or relative or child, your first Fiddleback (that you sold and then hunted down). In my case, I had tracked down blues for my eldest daughter, reds for her younger sister, and I liked bog oak and blacks. (then I REALLY got hooked on black bolstered ruby) Given that there are decent sized sets of configurations, it would be tough to pare down to just 3 per set, so it feels like I painted myself into a corner. I know, I know, 1st world problems.


How about some pics and then more commentary?

Fiddleback Family (Fiddleback, Osprey Knife & Tool, WA Surls, Jarrett Fleming)
View attachment 1357134

The rest of my fixed blades while we're at it
View attachment 1357135

Reds (and that part of the rainbow)
Bushfinger, Kephart, OS Ladyfinger, Garrote, Asp, OS Bushnub, Patch, Lonestar, Hiking Buddy
View attachment 1357136
OS Ladyfinger, Bushfinger, OKT Warthog, OKT Warthog, WAS Big Palmer, Asp, WAS Shark, OKT Warthog

Blues
Gaucho, KEB, Elf, Lonestar, OS Karda, Monarch, Handyman, OKT Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi, OKT Poon Tipped Tusk, Snowbill, WAS Palmer
View attachment 1357137
Asp, Fleming Osprey, Hiking Buddy, Lil Lady, Pocket Kephart, KEB, Bushnub II, OS Karda, Esquire

Bog Oak
OKT Hunter, Bushfinger, Gaucho, OS Ladyfinger, Monarch, OS Bushnub, WAS Inlander, OKT Warthog
View attachment 1357142
OS Bushnub, Handyman, Bushcraft Karda, WAS Bobcat, Fleming Noname, WAS Big Palmer, Sylvrfalcen, WAS Palmer

Black (Carbon fiber, Canvas, Micarta) and a Grey
OKT Shrike, OKT Apache, OKT Mamushi, OKT Warthog, OKT Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi, OKT Warthog, OKT Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi, OKT Mini Mamushi
View attachment 1357139
Gaucho, Handyman, Hiking Buddy, Production Hiking Buddy Regrind, Esquire, WAS Patch, D Humpback, OS Karda, WAS Minuteman

Misc Wood
View attachment 1357140
OKT Vildmark, OKT Shrike One-off, OKT Mamushi, Solo, Esquire, Bushboot, Kismet Practical Hunter, Hiking Buddy, Sylvrfalcen, WAS Nomad, Handyman, Fleming Starling

And the ones that will be culled
View attachment 1357143
... j/k:p

I'm not posting this as part of a sales pitch but inevitably there's bound to be some folks with interest. So to that point, if you really feel the need to ask about dibs on something, please email me so we can keep that "extra stuff" out of the thread.
warrior108 at gmail

Feel free to comment in the thread what you use for criteria or what you use for a process when you're scaling things back. Do you use a spreadsheet? Is it spur of the moment you decide you can do without something? What if you haven't touched a knife for a year? If you collect reds, blues, blacks and bog oak but have 4 Gauchos, do you only need one? How do you choose which to part with; material, grind height, blade thickness?? Ugh!

I guess I did make some headway but not as much as I was hoping to when I woke this morning. I have a long way to go to "be like Phil" because I definitely couldn't part with any of the ones in yellow. And parting with most of the remainder would be tough. To give me some credit, keep in mind that I have sold somewhere between 30 and 40 Fiddleback family knives over time. Who knows, it could be over 50 but I lost track. For example, I was up to about 10 or 12 oranges at one point, and am now down to my 2 favorites. One is THE MOST incredibly comfortably handling Asp you could ask for an the other is a WA Surls Shark that is super rare, just an outstanding knife, great in the hand but for some reason, he hasn't made any more. I could ramble on all day about the rest.

View attachment 1357151

Next thing to do is schedule a day off to go over my folding knives. :confused:
Click to expand...

“. . . just might have too many knives if . . . “ you need that spreadsheet you mentioned! :p
Epic collection, and thank you as both I and my very tolerant and indulgent wife feel so much better :)
 
Hmmm. . . is that an osage hiking buddy in the misc. wood pic? Might like dibs there if all else checks the boxes reasonably well. FYI ;)
 
Kenneth F Huls said:
“. . . just might have too many knives if . . . “ you need that spreadsheet you mentioned! :p
Epic collection, and thank you as both I and my very tolerant and indulgent wife feel so much better :)
Click to expand...

Uhhhh, my pleasure?? ;)

Yeah, here's the spreadsheet, and then below that is my SOLD tab that I should not have looked at. :eek: Holy cow .. I had no idea. Times like this, that Willy Nelson tune starts playing in my head, but for knives "To all the girls I loved before"
2v2H7ptArxAKujh.jpg


Sold tab, NOT the whole thing because I couldn't zoom out any more. There are duplicate lines for some because I tracked the purchase and the sale separately. And then there was a point I stopped adding to this tab. Ugh.
2v2H7ptfNxAKujh.jpg
 
I accidentally stumbled into this page..... Wow!
I don't know how to even describe all the things we could talk about here? haha I'm a knife guy, so I'm not going to Judge you.... Or I'll try Not to . ;)

Looking at all of them, I can't even comprehend Why, or anything? This is definitely a (Collection)…. It's hard to grasp. :)
I know its probably A huge undertaking... But I'd love to see that original picture, with ALL of them reorganized/classified by model? Like how Many do you have that are the Same?

Now, All I see is them by Color, and I'm very ignorant of This brand.... I'd like to buy one of their nicely sculpted, handled machetes' some day.... Thank God you haven't branched into Those models, preventing that from happening ...haha

Me, being a "User" I tend to look at different criteria for my knife purchases, but I struggle with the Simple things of ……. Do I Really need a 4" blade, when my 6" blade is working perfectly fine? lol

My wife gets irritated with my dozen or so of working knives that are all pretty different from one another, style/size/use wise.

I could ask you a hundred questions haha...….. Probably the First is How many knives is That? (Not the total Qty) but like really how many types?
That's why I'd like to see them grouped differently.....

Thank You!

Now the sociology discussion can continue.... :D
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Looking at all of them, I can't even comprehend Why, or anything? This is definitely a (Collection)…. It's hard to grasp. :)
I know its probably A huge undertaking... But I'd love to see that original picture, with ALL of them reorganized/classified by model? Like how Many do you have that are the Same?

Now the sociology discussion can continue.... :D
Click to expand...

For me, the answer is that they are all different. Sure, they may be close to the same length or shape, but when you get close, they are different. When you try to make one yourself, you really appreciate the craftsmanship and all the sharing of information that Andy's done over the years. They add up slowly over the ten or so years that I've been collecting Fiddlebacks. I need to do a group shot now that the lost children have been found.
 
Yep! Thanks Swo .. as they say, "If you've held one Hiking Buddy, you've held one Hiking Buddy."

Crag the Brewer Crag the Brewer Yeah, I don't know. It just happened! Fiddleback Fever!!

I did add the model descriptions above and below the pics so you can get a good idea of the model references from there. After that, they can vary by blade thickness (3/32", 1/8", 5/32", 3/16"), by grind type (convex vs scandi vs flat), the blade could be full tang or tapered, the handle shape could be anywhere from super thin to broomstick round, flat-ish, hourglass, whatever/however Andy shapes each one by hand and obviously the materials/configuration/liners/stripes/bolsters.

So, the count was at 80 Fiddleback "family" knives and it looks like 51 models. Last year, I may have broken 100 but culled some, and then got more of course. I do consider the same model with significant features to be different models. In the pics below, you have a Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi vs a standard Mini Mamushi, A Scandi Hiking Buddy vs a Production Hiking Budding and the 3rd is a Sylvrfalcen vs a D Humpback which is the 'Falcen minus the rhino horn" (totally different feel to it).
Mini Mamushis.jpg HBs.jpg Falcens.jpg

At the end of the day though, these knives wouldn't be what they are to me without the Makers and Great Friends that come along with the knives. Seriously! If you're new to the Fiddleback Forum entirely, welcome!! This is a great community in its own way, noting that the knife community in general is pretty cool. I've never been to Trackrock but it's on my list. If you look for those threads, you'll see what I mean from the pictures of get-togethers.

The run-down ...

Fiddleback Forge (28 models)
Asp x 3
Bushcraft Karda x 1
Bushfinger x 3
Bushnub x 2
Bushnub II x 1
D Humpback x 1
Elf x 1
Esquire x 2
Esquire Scandi x 1
Garrote x 1
Gaucho x 3
Handyman x 3
Handyman Scandi x 1
Hiking Buddy x 4
Hiking Buddy Prod Regrind x 1
Hiking Buddy Scandi x 1
KE Bushie x 2
KPH x 1
Ladyfinger Guardless x 1
Lil Lady x 1
Lonestar EDC x 2
Monarch x 2
OS Karda x 3
OS Ladyfinger x 2
Pocket Kephart x 1
Snowbill x 1
Solo x 1
Sylvrfalcen x 2

Jarrett Fleming (3 models)
Osprey x 1
Starling x 1
Unnamed x 1

Osprey Knife & Tool (12 models)
Apache K x 1
Bolad Clip Point x 1
EDW x 1
Hunter x 1
Mamushi x 2
Mini Mamushi K x 1
Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi x 3
Poon Tipped Tusk x 1
Skrike Mod x 1
Vildmark x 1
Warthog Guarded x 2
Warthog Guardless x 4

W.A. Surls (8 models)
Big Palmer x 2
Bobcat x 1
Inlander x 1
Minuteman x 1
Nomad x 1
Palmer x 2
Patch x 1
Shark x 1
 
Last edited:
Warrior108 said:
Yep! Thanks Swo .. as they say, "If you've held one Hiking Buddy, you've held one Hiking Buddy."

Crag the Brewer Crag the Brewer Yeah, I don't know. It just happened! Fiddleback Fever!!

I did add the model descriptions above and below the pics so you can get a good idea of the model references from there. After that, they can vary by blade thickness (3/32", 1/8", 5/32", 3/16"), by grind type (convex vs scandi vs flat), the blade could be full tang or tapered, the handle shape could be anywhere from super thin to broomstick round, flat-ish, hourglass, whatever/however Andy shapes each one by hand and obviously the materials/configuration/liners/stripes/bolsters.

So, the count was at 80 Fiddleback "family" knives and it looks like 51 models. Last year, I may have broken 100 but culled some, and then got more of course. I do consider the same model with significant features to be different models. In the pics below, you have a Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi vs a standard Mini Mamushi, A Scandi Hiking Buddy vs a Production Hiking Budding and the 3rd is a Sylvrfalcen vs a D Humpback which is the 'Falcen minus the rhino horn" (totally different feel to it).
View attachment 1359654 View attachment 1359655 View attachment 1359656

At the end of the day though, these knives wouldn't be what they are to me without the Makers and Great Friends that come along with the knives. Seriously! If you're new to the Fiddleback Forum entirely, welcome!! This is a great community in its own way, noting that the knife community in general is pretty cool. I've never been to Trackrock but it's on my list. If you look for those threads, you'll see what I mean from the pictures of get-togethers.

The run-down ...

Fiddleback Forge (28 models)
Asp x 3
Bushcraft Karda x 1
Bushfinger x 3
Bushnub x 2
Bushnub II x 1
D Humpback x 1
Elf x 1
Esquire x 2
Esquire Scandi x 1
Garrote x 1
Gaucho x 3
Handyman x 3
Handyman Scandi x 1
Hiking Buddy x 4
Hiking Buddy Prod Regrind x 1
Hiking Buddy Scandi x 1
KE Bushie x 2
KPH x 1
Ladyfinger Guardless x 1
Lil Lady x 1
Lonestar EDC x 2
Monarch x 2
OS Karda x 3
OS Ladyfinger x 2
Pocket Kephart x 1
Snowbill x 1
Solo x 1
Sylvrfalcen x 2

Jarrett Fleming (3 models)
Osprey x 1
Starling x 1
Unnamed x 1

Osprey Knife & Tool (12 models)
Apache K x 1
Bolad Clip Point x 1
EDW x 1
Hunter x 1
Mamushi x 2
Mini Mamushi K x 1
Poon Tipped Mini Mamushi x 3
Poon Tipped Tusk x 1
Skrike Mod x 1
Vildmark x 1
Warthog Guarded x 2
Warthog Guardless x 4

W.A. Surls (8 models)
Big Palmer x 2
Bobcat x 1
Inlander x 1
Minuteman x 1
Nomad x 1
Palmer x 2
Patch x 1
Shark x 1
Click to expand...


Thank you for the very insightful explanation…. I will definitely dig in More!

There is a couple handle shapes that interest me about a few of your knives, if I make ask the models?
Let me look at that pic, and I'll get back to you... :D
 
Scale back? Who is kidding who here ! I'm new to knife collecting and recently I was already up to 18 pieces. I grew up actively fishing, occasional small game hunting, and with only the occasional camping venture - so while I had an interest, my actual need for good particular knives was relatively limited. On travel to Sardinia a few years ago, I bought my first real handmade knife - a small folding damascus blade with nice blue-dyed bone scales. Small, pricey, and handmade - wife thought I was nuts (still does! though she now has her own Fiddleback knife (emerald solo) which she loves). I started to learn about the various steels and then bought 3 pieces specifically for the kitchen from Blenheim Forge. Then came the introduction to Fiddleback Forge. I had started to have an appreciation for the knife handles - materials and grips - from the Blenheim Forge purchases, but FF quickly took that to a much higher level. Already thinking I had acquired too many pieces, I gave my FF solo to my wife for her birthday (I also bought her a new Smith Wesson pistol - cause she is that type of gal ! ( she promised she would never use it on me no matter what - including no matter how hard I might beg her in the future)), let my son pick one for himself, and gave four as Christmas gifts to significant personal and business friends. So - since parting with those pieces what have I done since? Of course, acquired more pieces! Each acquired piece has provided a bit of an education - blade shape/blade-metal performance/handle shape-grip/handle materials - which I have been enjoying. I am supremely impressed by those who have been able to cull their collection down to only a few great pieces. I suppose at some point I will have to do some selling and rearranging of the pieces I am collecting - but- not just yet!!
 
^My first FF is a ...Solo got it three months ago loving it.Added two more and a third on its way ( fb fri ) , not a collector just an admirer and appreciator.
 
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