One Knife Life

GatorMedic

GatorMedic

Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
888
I'm considering venturing into owning one knife only. For a little while now I've been enjoying owning two knives--one off duty EDC and one work EDC. Well I've just changed jobs and got off the ambulance. My work attire has changed to scrubs, and my knife is a lot less exposed to bodily fluids, as in probably never will be. With these changes I've now been EDCing my Benchmade Bugout all the time, and my Benchmade custom Griptilian has been sitting around idle. It's only been one week, and I am in no rush to make a definitive decision. However, I am currently pondering selling the Griptilian and trying out one knife only living. If something were to happen to my Bugout, I do own multitools with knives on them that could fill the role until I could purchase a new Bugout. Do any of y'all only own one knife currently, or maybe have in the past for a significant amount of time? What were your thoughts and experiences with it? Any other comments or advice welcome.
 
There’s nothing wrong with this thought at all. I owned and carried only one knife for a few years, and I could definitely do it again. I won’t... because I just like different knives too much. FWIW it was a kershaw leek and did have to go for warranty repairs once. I also had a leatherman nearby but rarely on my body. I wouldn’t sell the custom grip if you like it though, it’s hard to find a blade you really connect with.
 
You are going to find very few people on a knife hobbyist forum that only own one knife.

I went for about 20 years not carrying any kind of knife at all, though I had a multitool that had a blade available. I still owned a couple of pocket knives, I just never used them and they were left in a toolbox, or forgotten in a desk drawer.

It's certainly quite doable. I don't really much need a knife in my daily life now, but I have found them to be convenient to have nonetheless.
 
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jc57 said:
...I still owned a couple of pocket knives, I just never used them and they were left in a toolbox, or forgotten in a desk drawer...
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If you don't mind me asking, what spurred the change to interest in knives?
 
GatorMedic said:
If you don't mind me asking, what spurred the change to interest in knives?
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I still wonder about that myself, especially now that the humor is off me, and I wish I had one or two pocket knives and all the money back I spent on the others. :D

There were a combination of life events in 2012 that led me to picking it up as a hobby. I had some reminders of mortality and a little extra spending money at the time. Why pocket knives, of all things, is a mystery to me still. I pretty much stopped buying knives by mid 2015, with one exception in 2016. I still enjoy the forum, though. I just don't buy.
 
Other than the money you gain from selling your other knife, what makes it not worth keeping around? It's not like an extra knife will be dragging you down any, hell I have 8 sitting on my dresser at any given time. Some weeks I'll carry one knife Sunday-Sunday, others I'll switch between them everyday.

To me I really don't see a reason to sell it, unless you really need the money it'd bring in.
 
I think a lot of it depends on your knifestyle.

My knifestyle requires me to carry a large folder sometimes. If I carried only one, it would have to be one of my larger folders.

I prefer to carry my small to medium size folders the majority of the time. Now, give me two folders and I could probably do that.

I like the simplicity of “only one” folder but it just doesn’t fit my knifestyle.
 
McFeeli said:
Other than the money you gain from selling your other knife, what makes it not worth keeping around? It's not like an extra knife will be dragging you down any, hell I have 8 sitting on my dresser at any given time. Some weeks I'll carry one knife Sunday-Sunday, others I'll switch between them everyday.

To me I really don't see a reason to sell it, unless you really need the money it'd bring in.
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I agree. It's nice to have a back up. Ya never know.
 
If you’re content with one knife, go for it. I strongly recommend keeping a backup around in case your primary knife goes missing, is in a state of disrepair, or needs to be sent in for maintenance.

There’s nothing wrong with having multiple knives, though. I have knives suited for many different situations, because one knife is rarely going to be perfectly suited to what lies before you on a given day. I’ve even gone as far as carrying two knives that were vastly different from each other (4” OTF auto and a comparatively tiny slipjoint) just because I knew the day would put me in settings where each would be more suitable and I wouldn’t have time to swing back and switch out what I had on me.

Having just one knife is a pleasant notion, and the right knife could reasonably be suited to 99% of daily life circumstances, but there’s no real reason to do so if you enjoy having options or variety in what you carry or fiddle with.
 
I've done this many of times. Not to just carry one knife, but because the knife i had on me i enjoyed enough that i didn't think about changing it out. When i was younger, i didn't even think about having a collection or multiple knives.

I carried a Spyderco Harpy(first knife) from age 13-20ish.(im 32 now)
Spyderco Pm2s for almost 3 years (a year each)
Spyderco Persistance for a year.
Byrd Robin for a year.

And for the most part those knives were the only one i had at the time. I could easily do it again and not get the itch, but i like to switch up knives throughout the week. There's a few knives out there i like so much that i could be content on owning just that one, but in the meantime, i dont have/need to, so ill enjoy just my handful of go to's.
 
McFeeli said:
Other than the money you gain from selling your other knife, what makes it not worth keeping around? It's not like an extra knife will be dragging you down any, hell I have 8 sitting on my dresser at any given time. Some weeks I'll carry one knife Sunday-Sunday, others I'll switch between them everyday.

To me I really don't see a reason to sell it, unless you really need the money it'd bring in.
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I just don't like things sitting around that don't get used. Is one extra knife the end of the world? Of course not. As you mentioned, it's not like it takes up a lot of space. Needless clutter bugs me though. Just pondering the option for now
 
GatorMedic said:
I'm considering venturing into owning one knife only. For a little while now I've been enjoying owning two knives--one off duty EDC and one work EDC. Well I've just changed jobs and got off the ambulance. My work attire has changed to scrubs, and my knife is a lot less exposed to bodily fluids, as in probably never will be. With these changes I've now been EDCing my Benchmade Bugout all the time, and my Benchmade custom Griptilian has been sitting around idle. It's only been one week, and I am in no rush to make a definitive decision. However, I am currently pondering selling the Griptilian and trying out one knife only living. If something were to happen to my Bugout, I do own multitools with knives on them that could fill the role until I could purchase a new Bugout. Do any of y'all only own one knife currently, or maybe have in the past for a significant amount of time? What were your thoughts and experiences with it? Any other comments or advice welcome.
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If you're gonna have just one knife, better make it outrageous, something like a Rockstead.

Then put one of those "lost pet" radio transmitter tracking chips in it, so you can find it if it gets lost. :p
 
GatorMedic said:
I just don't like things sitting around that don't get used. Is one extra knife the end of the world? Of course not. As you mentioned, it's not like it takes up a lot of space. Needless clutter bugs me though. Just pondering the option for now
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This must be a new approach for you. I recall some of your posts on another forum where you had an awful lot of gear (assuming the same user name is you). I get where you are coming from, though. A bunch of unused stuff is just clutter you have to deal with at some time (or whoever handles your estate sale will.) Best to de-clutter early.
 
GatorMedic said:
I am currently pondering selling the Griptilian and trying out one knife only living.
Click to expand...

Just because you only carry one knife does not mean you can only own one knife. When I was a young man I owned several knives, but carried the same Buck stockman every day for over 10 years.

Just sayin'
 
jc57 said:
This must be a new approach for you. I recall some of your posts on another forum where you had an awful lot of gear (assuming the same user name is you). I get where you are coming from, though. A bunch of unused stuff is just clutter you have to deal with at some time (or whoever handles your estate sale will.) Best to de-clutter early.
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I’ve been on a minimalism journey for the last two years or so and have been progressively decreasing my possessions. I paired down substantially further a week or two ago right before my move. Still have things I need to shed soon though. I frequently go through my stuff and trim the fat so to speak. This is just another one of those things I’m thinking of letting go
 
GatorMedic said:
I just don't like things sitting around that don't get used. Is one extra knife the end of the world? Of course not. As you mentioned, it's not like it takes up a lot of space. Needless clutter bugs me though. Just pondering the option for now
Click to expand...
Then it sounds like one knife is for you.
I get more and more like that, the more and more I'm married to my wife. If i don't use something, fit into certain cloths, etc, i get rid of it.
For me personally owning a few knives is like owning a few coats, a few guns. All i really need is a wind breaker and a winter coat, but i like leather jackets, so i own a leather jacket. I don't hunt anymore, but like using a bolt action recreationally, so i do. But if i feel like i wont shoot a rifle anymore, out the door it goes.
I would say, don't make a regrettable decision, but it sounds like it isn't one.
 
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