Off Topic Quality over Quantity? - a philosophical question

DocJD said:
I'll post some ASAP ! Over in the "Gadget & Gear" forum on thread : "Machete thread , deals ,steals , and show what you got " , where I've already made a post about it .
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Thanks!
I'm new to the forum yet, still figuring out how to navigate and find everything, thanks for the directions haha
 
Quality over quantity... HANDS down

I would far rather own 20- $1000 dollar knifes that are each something special, than 200- $100 dollar knives where none are anything special
 
WiredDutchman said:
As a PM2 owner, what do you think of the PM3?
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TBH, I've never seen one in real life. However, I like the form factor of the PM2 so much I doubt I'd care for one. I guess you can guess 4KXL etc, I kind of like bigger form factor knives. I don't even have a delica as I bought a RAT-2, it's good enough, cheaper, FFG, could get it in nice friendly pink!
 
Peter Hartwig said:
I much prefer quality over quantity. Quality will also hold it's value better.
However if you have something very special in a lower end collection that took years to build and would be almost imposable to replicate(such as maybe a unique Case collection) I might be hesitant to sell it off, and just find some other way to fund the new knife. Most of us usually just have a bunch of this and that's that make a good sell off.
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Charlie Mike said:
My "collection" is constantly evolving because I don't have an emotional attachment to "stuff" and I only own the things that get carried and used. I like carrying $300-$1000 knives.
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These two quotes offer solid points to my way of thinking. My "collection" - my idea of a great knife - has evolved over the years, but like Charlie Mike I carry and use everything I own or I move it on but perhaps, unlike others, I am always trying to pare it down to just those perfect knives that I will never sell and always enjoy using. In the moment I am a very happy and satisfied owner/user of a Rockstead, a Shirgorov, one custom and then 2 Jeff Baker knives (fixed and a folder) and a custom Puuko. Less than $ 3,000.00 and I am in a perfect knife world. The remaining knives that see little or no use I am looking to sell. Obviously this is not the formula for everyone - so no advice offered - just sharing my thoughts cause you've asked.

Quality over Quantity!

Ray

EDIT - :D I forgot to mention - a few HI Khurkris, a Bill Siegle Chopper and a Machete purchased in Guatemala in the 60s - these I consider special use knives so I don't think of them as in my EDC rotation but there they are. Finally an old and much used Spyderco Endura with G10 scales and a Stainless Serrated Endura - just need to keep those Spydies around. So now I am over the $ 3,000.00 mark but who has a calculator? :cool:
 
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GREENJACKET said:
Keep the ones you have, second hand they aren't going to raise that much. Enjoy them.
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By the time you account for shipping and PP fees, you won't get much of a return on moving out a bunch of lower-priced knives, particularly if they're users. You might not get much interest in them either--witness my twice-relisted and oft-price-dropped thread in my signature. If you start carrying a more expensive knife you'll want to have a beater along as well for the more abusive tasks anyway. My work EDCs are in the CRK-and-up-range and they don't get babied, but I'm not going to pull staples with them or risk gouging edges or breaking tips either. That's what my old Buck,Tenacious, or RAT are for.

If you need to sell off to fund a more expensive knife, then move one or two in the $100-150 range, but if you really like them you should hang onto them. I've got a pretty fair number of high-end knives, but my mid-range blades still get a lot of use and bring plenty of satisfaction. I do cull the mid-range, though, for those that don't really float my boat and put that money toward something better.

One suggestion for you, if your intention is to buy a more expensive blade for the purpose of using it, would be to buy a user in the model you want on the Exchange. It's much easier to put a knife to work if it already has some marks on it and you won't lose much if you decide to turn it over.
 
WiredDutchman said:
...Would you sell the majority of your knives to pay for a much smaller number of higher-end knives? Or is it better to have more high value, but much cheaper, knives so you can rotate them in and out of your EDC and have more to play with?
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A little quantity of reasonably good knives is a good thing if you are into the hobby. I personally would not sell the majority of my collection/accumulation to finance a knife or two. But I might sell off a minority of my accumulation if I were not attached to them. These kinds of thoughts pop up all the time and buying a new knife makes me feel good and I don't want to change that. Makes me feel like a little boy again waiting for the UPS or mailman. IF buying one good knife a year was the only way to finance that kind of hobby, I'd not do it.

This said, with firearms, I do precisely what you have done. I only buy good stuff any more. With knives I just don't think I would be happy moving to that same place.

Can't see doing it with flashlights either and I have quite a few flashlights that I use.
 
You can get quantity of quality over time if you are willing to wait. Me, I'd rather have a pile of reasonably good knives. I don't have much interest in cheap knives however. Rough Rider slip joints are the exception.
 
22-rimfire said:
You can get quantity of quality over time if you are willing to wait. Me, I'd rather have a pile of reasonably good knives. I don't have much interest in cheap knives however. Rough Rider slip joints are the exception.
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I've been accumulating knives for quite some time.

In my teen years, I had a pile of cheap knives (and two or three pretty good ones).
Now I have an even bigger pile of knives, most of which are pretty good, some of which are great...and there are still a few cheap ones.
In fact, one cheap knife will be here in less than a week...it was too cheap not to buy...and it is in fact a Rough Rider slip-joint. ;)
 
Some of both I guess. I like having a couple of beater work knives, that I don't mind cutting copper wire with or chipping concrete or digging and prying with. I like having a dozen Spydercos to rotate for casual carry. I have a growing drawer of Case Toothpicks, and a couple decent fixed blades. I wouldn't trade or sell off any one pile for a high end blade but what I see myself buying from now on is of better quality than I now own.
 
Get rid of the cheap stuff...well, most of it, anyway. There are SOME darned good cheap folders.
Buy yourself some quality. I enjoy folders from 100-400 bucks...usually the quality is easy to tell.
 
My 2 cents..quality> for sure. There is nothing like a good working steel compared to a Walmart Gerber blade or whatever it may be. I recently takes my friend into buying a Benchmade Grip and he's in love.

Ps....
(Touching on the value of a knife mentioned earlier in this thread) Do you guys think I'm mental for using my M390 PM2? I've done research and I believe it's like 1 of 1800? Correct me if I'm wrong ..
 
Quality and quantity are both relative, so the answer here is not as clear cut as "quality over quantity all day long."

Do I prefer one $100 knife to 10 $10 knives? Absolutely!

Do I prefer one $200 knives to 10 $20 knives? Yes!

Do I prefer one $400 knife to two $200 knives or three $130 knives? Maybe or maybe not.

Do I prefer one $1000 knife to multiple knives in the range of $150-250? Definitely not!

Will my answers to these questions change two years down the road? Possibly.

Will someone else's answers be different from mine? Most likely yes.
 
I don't think you are going to get many "Amass as many sharp things as you can, disregard quality" posts.

Boils down to personal preference. I know that I have a certain number that once I reach, I like to downsize. Others have thousands and want more.

Depends on stage of life and financial situation as well. Go with your gut on where you want to go with your collection and purchases.

I got into knives pretty enthusiastically a few years back, did tons of research and bought and sold quite a few. Although I missed some that I sold, I don't know that I would change much if I could. Good learning experience, and even with said experience I'd still have a tough time advocating whether to recommend a Shiro or a spidie. (Just an example of general prefrence) I think a lot of people ponder where the sweet spot is in their accumulation, (or lack of) and only they can answer that question.
 
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Aquaholicc said:
(Touching on the value of a knife mentioned earlier in this thread) Do you guys think I'm mental for using my M390 PM2? I've done research and I believe it's like 1 of 1800? Correct me if I'm wrong ..
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Using your M390 PM2 certainly diminishes its value as a collectible, but that's not a bad thing if you don't plan on selling it. If you enjoy using it, well, that what it's for anyway.

I have expensive knives that I bought to be users, and while that first mark came with a bit of angst, it also brought a sense of relief. I think my high-end users bring me considerably more pleasure than a couple drawer queens that only get fondled. If I move on from one of my users, the price hit I take is the cost of the pleasure and use I got out of it.
 
talking about knives above 10 dollars I would take quantity over quality im the kind of person a 10 dollar knife gives me equal enjoyment as a 100 dollar knife, you would be amazed how good cheaper knives are these days. knives from the 10 to 60 dollar range are perfect its not a huge deal if you lose them or beat on them and they perform just as good as most expensive knives. im not saying this because I cant afford expensive knives because I have have but how much do you think I carry them
 
sharp_edge said:
Quality and quantity are both relative, so the answer here is not as clear cut as "quality over quantity all day long."

Do I prefer one $100 knife to 10 $10 knives? Absolutely!

Do I prefer one $200 knives to 10 $20 knives? Yes!

Do I prefer one $400 knife to two $200 knives or three $130 knives? Maybe or maybe not.

Do I prefer one $1000 knife to multiple knives in the range of $150-250? Definitely not!

Will my answers to these questions change two years down the road? Possibly.

Will someone else's answers be different from mine? Most likely yes.
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Pretty much reflects where I am in the knife hobby. I certainly lust for $1000 knives when I go to the Blade Show and have almost pulled the trigger a couple of times. I won't spend $1000 on a knife as an impulse buy. I force myself to consider it for a bit and my answer is always the same.... too much money for something I don't even need and probably would never even cut an envelope open. One needs to be practical at least every now and then. I have art work with reasonably high values for a working stiff, but at least I can enjoy them every single day. The $1000 knife would probably sit in some drawer until I croaked.

Quality and quantity are not really definable except to the individual and that target will move with time. Even for the individual it is difficult to define. The answer is always to buy both and enjoy the hobby.
 
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