KNIFE superstitions, eccentricities, and can't explain..

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Coconutfilipino

Coconutfilipino

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Jan 22, 2013
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Hello and greetings all,
The other day I was discussing with a friend, one of my eccentricities that pertains to knives.
You see, I tend to be superstitious. No, I AM superstitious. I am superstitious throughout various aspects of my life, but after discussing one of my superstitions with a friend, (we were talking about the 'numbers' on knives, specifically serial numbers and birthdates.)
After my honest admittance that: the serial numbers and birthdates of knive have affected my choice as to whether or not I purchased a knife..he admitted that with few exceptions he would never ever let something like that affect HIS purchasing. When I told him that I had purchased a few BECAUSE of their numbers. (Obviously they still fit my needs and collection -but I am specifically referring to buying a few Microtechs that I didn't necessarily "need" but I bought because they were 'born' the same month as ine of my kids, & had their birthdate in the serial numbers also-so to me the fact that it was made the same month as my daughter was born AND additionally had her birth month an date inits serial numbers, was Fate/Luck smacking me in the face to buy.)
Additionally the reverse is also true-I have passed on a knife I had searched for (and wanted badly) simply because I didn't care for one of the serial numbers or birth date. (IE: despite not being a regular churchgoer, (but being raised Christian), I passed on a knife that was serial number #o666, and one that had a born date of THE infamous 09/11.
So afterward, I started thinking about other superstitions, and oddities that I have. For example, I once had a knife that "bit" me the first time of the first day that I tried to carry it.... It sat, and then went to the chopping/sales block.--not the knifes fault logically. But that is what I am talking about..unexplainable illogical stuff.

What eccentricities related to the knife world do YOU have?

other good examples of my neuroses:
- i don't use lanyards, so I do not have a use for beads let alone high end titanium or copper boutique beads.(I'm thinking like 'Starlingear' here..) yet-- I am fascinated and obsessed with looking admiring and ..loving their detail/looks/themes.. I mean- I can't afford one, I have no need for one, bu yet-I have it as a saved search on eBay... I mean-I am obsessed about things I don't REALLY want or need.

Or

-I pocket carry. I rarely if ever sheath carry.(the outdoors and last military exleriemces are exceptions) but now: I ALWAYS pocket carry, never in a sheath. YET-oddly enough, if a knife(for my collection) doesn't have a sheath, then I set about finding one.(EVEN though it won't be used, SIMPLY because I want it to 'match' my others...and yes-sadly this ALSO has affected my chimes buying or NOT buying a knife.


So what strange/illogical/superstitious/eccentric/ or completely unexplainable issues do you have?
(And as this is BF, please keep it knife related and at keast somewhat raainably tame so that all can enjoy the posts..)
 
A knife isn't ever truly mine until it has bitten me. And if it has, I can't sell/trade it to anyone else.
 
There is an old superstition that if you gift a knife it will sever the friendship, so you must always gift a coin along with the knife so the recipient can pay you for the knife....also in the UK it's tradionaly a silver coin. So yeah that's mine haha!
 
I will not close a knife someone else has opened. I also expect someone to not close a knife I have opened. I once gave away a spyderco endura because of this. I was using it at a buddies house, sat it down for a moment, and he picked it up, closed it and handed it back to me.

I just sighed and told him it was his now.
 
9blades said:
There is an old superstition that if you gift a knife it will sever the friendship, so you must always gift a coin along with the knife so the recipient can pay you for the knife....also in the UK it's tradionaly a silver coin. So yeah that's mine haha!
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I hold to that one as well. I always include a nickel in the box if I give a knife with a note that says "this is a loan, give it back" or some such.

I also do not open a folder when handing it to someone and will ask them to close it before giving it back to me. Suppose to be bad luck to close a knife someone else opened.

And here's the thing, I am NOT superstitious in the least. I would buy a 666 serial #'d knife or something no problem. I'd even carry that knife while walking under a ladder, holding a black cat. For me it's just about tradition I guess.
 
I often wondered about the coin when gifting a knife thing, the first time it happened to me i was gifting a knife to a good Filipino friend of mine and he gave me a quarter. He has no idea where the tradition came from only that its what hes been taught upon receiving a edged weapon as a gift. Anyone know where or how it started?
 
sn8kedoc said:
I often wondered about the coin when gifting a knife thing, the first time it happened to me i was gifting a knife to a good Filipino friend of mine and he gave me a quarter. He has no idea where the tradition came from only that its what hes been taught upon receiving a edged weapon as a gift. Anyone know where or how it started?
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I've heard of this tradition. Apparently accepting a knife as a gift could sever a friendship, so you have to give some sort of payment.
 
I tend to look for significant serial numbers that may be the same as famous dates. 1066 1215 1415 1776 and so on.
Not superstition, just neat.
Cheers
 
9blades said:
There is an old superstition that if you gift a knife it will sever the friendship, so you must always gift a coin along with the knife so the recipient can pay you for the knife....also in the UK it's tradionaly a silver coin. So yeah that's mine haha!
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^^^^^Wink wink^^^^

sn8kedoc said:
I often wondered about the coin when gifting a knife thing, the first time it happened to me i was gifting a knife to a good Filipino friend of mine and he gave me a quarter. He has no idea where the tradition came from only that its what hes been taught upon receiving a edged weapon as a gift. Anyone know where or how it started?
Click to expand...

Bugout Bill said:
I've heard of this tradition. Apparently accepting a knife as a gift could sever a friendship, so you have to give some sort of payment.
Click to expand...
 
I don't personally subscribe to this superstition, but I know a lot of people who refuse to give up knives that have given them "love bites". Basically, one your blade has taken your blood, you are bound to each other until one of you breaks. :D
 
I don't know about superstition
But a knife doesn't feel at home with me until I ding it
 
9blades said:
There is an old superstition that if you gift a knife it will sever the friendship, so you must always gift a coin along with the knife so the recipient can pay you for the knife....also in the UK it's tradionaly a silver coin. So yeah that's mine haha!
Click to expand...

My Mother told me similar but she never insisted the coin be gifted. Old school eastern european lineage. We always had to exchange pennies when knives were gifted to appease her.
 
I don't consider a knife 100% mine until it has drawn blood. (Doesn't need to be mine, just drawn some type of blood. -- preferably of some type of meat, and not my own)
 
I believe until a new knife bites me I'm always at risk of a major wound but if it draws a little blood early on then the odds of me getting a serious injury from the knife goes down dramatically.

Also, never lend a knife with your finger prints on it to a crazy person, just sayin' is probably a bad idea. ;)
 
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Just recently I developed a thing where I can't let anyone but my wife touch my blades. If someone does then I don't consider it my blade anymore and will either sell it or toss it. I have a nice custom that sits unused because of this. I have my reasons but it's not superstition. I don't believe in magic.
 
X_shooter said:
My Mother told me similar but she never insisted the coin be gifted. Old school eastern european lineage. We always had to exchange pennies when knives were gifted to appease her.
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I agree completely.....but for people that don't know about the tradition, it can become awkward when you explain they have to give you money lol...
 
As others have stated, there are many in my part of the world who will absolutely refuse to close another persons knife. I don't participate in this superstition, and never have.
 
I don't consider a knife "mine" until I sharpen it.
Nothing to do with superstition, just that they seem to fetch a better price / trade on the X if they have factory edge.
 
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