Odd reasons a purchase was questioned by others

cistercian said:
I have a few expensive pursuits. Photography is insane when you buy nice
lenses. On the upside...you can use them for years. Nightvision is also very pricey.
But worth it. I have a Flir and can see heat...something I wanted for decades but
is only now "affordable". In comparison to those knives are a budget friendly
pursuit! I don't have any Shiros or other super exotic blades so I consider my knives
to be priced pretty low for what I get from them.
It could be worse. High end watch collecting, exotic cars, boating, etc.

Some hobbies are more expensive than others! I don't care what others think about
my spending. It makes sense to me. Muggles are muggles because they don't understand.
And that is fine too.

I like weather instruments too. I have a decent barometer collection. I am fortunate
that most people go digital so I could buy very high end Aneroid ships Barometers
for pennies on the dollar. Like getting a custom Shiro for 50 bucks!
I am a geek. I am used to people not understanding...
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I definitely agree that the knife hobby is definitely a very affordable one, especially the traditional side with loads of options under $60 and endless amounts of vintage users to be had for $20 or less, of course it can be pricy but still less expensive than a lot of other things

My brother got into RC cars a few years ago and that only lasted about a year as he soon realized that good or bad they're all expensive. Even at $200 the Traxxis cars he was buying were not that great and he could not afford to nor did he know how to overhaul them like the true hobbyists do.
 
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Bigfattyt said:
I get this question reasonably frequently.

Some of my friends have all their money in guns, some in optics for the guns, some in toys and trinkets, nick nacks and what have you. Pens, bags, watches....

I work with several gun nuts. Some have an affinity for decent knives.



My father will spend decent money on a rifle, and as much or more on a decent scope without too much thought... he has a custom knife that my uncle made 30 years ago..... he has no desire to lay out money for custom knives. His nicest knives are ones I've bought him!!! (Other than that one custom).

My brother in law (married to my younger sister) wears a $4000 or so watch....but scoffs at the price of a mid level knife like a Busse, or custom knife price. He bought his first Glock (first gun at all) and was too cheap to purchase any high capacity magazines. The 10 rounders were cheaper than the 17 rounders!! (Few bucks more each!!) He will buy my sister a 3k road bike without even a thought, snow board and ski gear, boat and wake board gear.... or a new SUV..... but a $500 knife is a waste to him!!
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That's the crazy part I don't get, why can't people understand that we all spend money on material things that interest us, each hobby is different but they all boil down to people buying things that interest us and there's little more to understand about someone else's hobby that that.
 
I tend to get things which are a good value. High performance & reasonable prices.
My highest end knife is under $200, and most are under $100...
my watch has a real sapphire glass dome, (great because it's very difficult to scratch), and also a titanium body and strap, and is not some giant monster sized thing which for some reason seems to be popular, it also cost about $200 and I wouldn't trade it for most watches at double the price

I could afford a new car if I needed one, but usually go for the much better value in a well maintained 3 year old ... those first couple of years of high auto depreciation is just a waste imho
 
Hickory n steel said:
That's the crazy part I don't get, why can't people understand that we all spend money on material things that interest us, each hobby is different but they all boil down to people buying things that interest us and there's little more to understand about someone else's hobby that that.
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Well said :thumbsup:
 
ericdraven said:
you aint lying im a member at watchuseek dot com and i collect here and there . i paid 2,500 bucks for a limited Kazimon bronze first run of 5 i had number 5 .
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Yeah but that's a badass watch. I was looking at one of those for awhile
 
Hickory n steel said:
We all get this response, we're proud of a new knife or tool and are unashamed of what it cost so when we show it to someone and they ask how much we don't think anything of telling them.
Very often their response is " you paid that much for a knife ! ", But what are some of the odd reasons the price you payed was questioned ?
Today I showed a coworker the Utica multimaster I recently bought for $35 and their response was " that's not bad " but when I showed them the little Sebertool M2 that I paid $37 for last week their response was " you paid way too much for that little thing ".
Apparently it should only cost $5 because it's tiny.

There was also the orange Case peanut I bought a few months ago for about $45 that I showed someone and their response was " for that price it should have more blades than just two ".

And another knife I bought one time that had a plain black handle and got the response that for what it cost the handle should at least be a cool color or something, and the knife was only $20.
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You have some very cheap friends and/or co-workers. Most people I know that are not broke college students would not think anything about spending up to $100 on a knife.
 
Having started in knives and now moving over toward guns, I will say knives are a much more affordable hobby for me. Especially when you start liking higher end things, the optics that go on the rifle can quickly eclipse the cost of the rifle itself, which doubles the cost of the package. I am coming back to knives after a couple years buying a few guns, and realize how many awesome knives I could be buying instead of that mid-level scope at $600.

I am now attempting to balance both of these hobbies and since I have a decent collection of knives, guns are getting most of the budget. The accumulation is just much slower.
 
The irony here is that some people who can't understand folks passing judgment on the price of their stuff, also pass judgment on other people's choices. The OP has talked specifically down on certain well respected knife brands. Hopefully growing up and learning has taken place....
 
craytab said:
The irony here is that some people who can't understand folks passing judgment on the price of their stuff, also pass judgment on other people's choices. The OP has talked specifically down on certain well respected knife brands. Hopefully growing up and learning has taken place....
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Screw growing up and learning, I say go happily hypocritical and don't look back. If I couldn't tell my kids not to do all the things I did when I was their age, how could I parent responsibly? ;)

CRK and Shiro are totally a rip-off, incidentally. Like, really really overpriced. My favorite brands are totally worth it though. :p
 
kamagong said:
I can't remember the last time I told anyone how much I spent on a knife.
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I just told anyone who would listen that I got a bunch of new 18" Tramontina machetes with sheaths for $5. each. I could clearly hear birds chirping.
 
craytab said:
The irony here is that some people who can't understand folks passing judgment on the price of their stuff, also pass judgment on other people's choices. The OP has talked specifically down on certain well respected knife brands. Hopefully growing up and learning has taken place....
Click to expand...

And axes, and machetes...
 
USMCPOP said:
I just told anyone who would listen that I got a bunch of new 18" Tramontina machetes with sheaths for $5. each. I could clearly hear birds chirping.
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You should have told me, I'd be excited. I mean, they're cheap to start with but that's a killer deal.
 
To be honest, I lie.

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I gave up talking to people about my knife buying. I buy what makes me happy and use it as such. Most days I have a $300 ZT in my pocket. I'm still lusting after a Sebenza when I stop in at Spark's place to handle one the next time I'm in Louisville. I'll be dropping $450 on that, and won't feel bad about that at all.

While I don't judge, I personally would not spend the amount of money some people do on car or motorcycle accessories. I can appreciate a really cool Smart Watch, but my Garmin fitness tracker tells time, gives me info on my heartrate while I work out, and even reads out my texts from my phone. I think it cost $70.

I pick what I want to carry and use it how I feel. Today, I have a Spyderco Resilience in my pocket. Why? I dunno. I felt like carrying it. It's got a nice long blade, holds an edge, and it was the first thing that worked its way to the top of the knife drawer when I reached in. It's a $50 knife, but I got it on clearance at Wal Mart for $25. I think I would pay $75 for it as is, $175 for upgraded steel. The design just works. But I still like the quality and action of my higher end folders by far.
 
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I don't really discuss it anymore. My usual argument for "You paid that much/why is it so expensive" has always been "The same reason a 911 costs more than a Golf" same thing, same purpose, different levels. Which generally works. Alternatively the "Every hobby can get expensive the further you go down the rabbit hole."
 
My problem is I have too many expensive hobbies... I bounce around from Knives, Guitars/Amps (Can get crazy spendy), Photography, guns/hunting (guns/scopes/binos etc)...

I went on an overseas trip for work a couple years back... and I left a "list" of my stuff and it's approx value for my wife in case I didn't make it back... that was eye opening...
 
Just be comfortable in your own skin. I hesitate to ever tell anyone the price of a knife unless it is something like a SAK. My wife thinks every knife I buy costs $500. I just say that isn't true but I don't go into detail as it just isn't worth the breath.
 
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