The Curse of the Safe Queen

JBC6650 said:
I don't have any true safe queens
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I don't either. Mine are all safe princesses!

I hear what the OP's saying. I don't use but a fraction of the knives I've accumulated over the years. Nonetheless, it's fun to seek out knives you'd like to own, even knowing they're probably just going to sit. It's satisfying in a certain way, but as mentioned, once you become a slave to the collection, which fortunately hasn't happened to me yet, then yeah it's time to start reconsidering things.
 
I don't really have any non users in my collection. I also don't own any high end knives. I have a handful of customs. Every one used. Except for a specific custom made by my Uncle, before he passed away. I've had that Glen Hornby hunter for about 30 years without using it.
 
SeppukuSamurai said:
LOL I am a little nervous to picture the whole crew. That's almost as dangerous as putting it into hard numbers!

I'll pull them out of the safe sometime soon and will be sure to picture the lot of them. Probably for sale posts!

I will, when I take the tarps off of everything (doing renos) picture all of my EDCs. It's worth noting that what I still have in rotation is only after selling off roughly 5-6....it's bad.
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Ah ok, let me know when you put up pictures either here or in the for sale section
 
SeppukuSamurai said:
Good afternoon everyone,

Lately I have been really thinking about knife collecting and what it has done/does for me.

What I concluded? A hell of a lot of enjoyment but an equally large amount of stress. As much as I adore the knives I have come through my hands, most everytime, I cannot bring myself to use/enjoy these knives in fear of compromising my investments (F.Y.I. guys, I'm so far into the rabbit hole that scratches can mean the difference in hundreds of dollars...)

Then I think about all of the anxiety generated from ritually and diligently maintaining a collection as large as mine. Dehumidifiers, safes, lubricants, maintenance. On knives that just sit there. Shoot, I bet if I added up all of the time I spent baking off desiccants, relubing knives, and resituating them all, I lose a week out of my life a year.

That's ridiculous. Beyond that, what about all the time I spend on these forums and others chasing grails i will never bring myself to use and that will only further exacerbate the already present stress.

Unacceptable, after all, I have a beautiful family to enjoy. All for knives that just sit there??

Anyway, I have really began to disband my collection and only keep what I will use, enjoy, and do so with reckless abandon. I don't want to deploy my blade with tentative hesitation in fear of biting off more than I may be willing to...I want to mess up and fix it later, and be happy to do so.

I've since began using my knives. Not like divas but like tools. With an intended and necessary purpose. My $1000 Shirogorov is littered with scratches and it's liberating. Dropped it today, while installing a door, right onto tile. A beautiful ding right on the corner.

If you're someone like me, who enjoys knives and tools so much that it's a staple in your life, yet, cant bring yourself to indulge....take my word for it, let go and enjoy. If you can't use it, you have no business having it. Really though, for what reason? So some distant relative can sell it on Ebay after a thorough researching session? No thank you, for me at least.

Have a great day everybody.
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No man goes through life without spending money on things he enjoys. This is part of what drives us to chase money in the first place.

Just don’t spend what you cannot afford and knives can be a healthy beautiful hobby.

Another thing I find helps a lot is having some circle of knife friends that you trade and sell knives to. These will be guys that know you take good care of your knives and so will be happy to buy them for 25-50$ off despite you carrying and putting a few marks or wear on it.

For example I have friends that I will pay nearly full price for their used knife with some gentle use on them. This is because I know they know knives so since we trust eachother I rather buy a knife off them which they tell me is mechanically sound than. LNIB knife from someone I don’t know where the knife may be new but not mechanically perfect.

Also these knives even when very rare aren’t as rare as you who is one of a kind. If anyone deserves to enjoy using the knife it is you. I do get it takes a while to learn what we really want in a knife and so we buy a whole bunch we attach feelings to. Generally my rule is if I have no desire to carry it in any situation then it is time for it to go to a new happy home.
 
Kreyzhorse said:
I don't get that way often with knives, but I understand with firearms. That first scratch takes a ton of stress off me.
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I have a Glock, my only gun, which I bought to shoot at a range. For the first few weeks I handled it with the care formerly reserved for my good cameras. Then I had the epiphany "It's a gun. It shoots bullets, for God's sake!" and I stopped examining it for scratches.
 
Thanks to the OP for a well thought out post. I purchase all of my knives with intent to use, enjoy marks on dlc and a thin edge at the cost of a “tall” bevel. I think I’m on the right path because just today at the local gun show I traded 8 knives for four.
Not allowing possessions to own you is important, a while ago I accidentally put a deep scratch on a brand new watch. Loved the watch but put it away without intending to wear it again until I saw Charlie Mike purposelessly Dremel his Rolex. Now my scratched watch is my favorite to wear.
 
Great topic OP and pertinent for me, as I just went through the same situation. As you stated, it can be quite satisfying to trim the excess out of your collection and honestly I've enjoyed that process nearly as much as the acquiring.
 
I have a few safe queens, burning my case I completely forget about them and when I'm going in there for another knife, or for whatever reason, I'll find them and its like getting a new knife all over again :)

That said, those safe queens I will carry and use. If I scratch them I will cringe, but I'll get over it.

I'm not worried about resale value, as they are never going to be sold.
 
There are many different views on things

I tend to not pass judgment on what people do with their money

Edged tools and I have many different relationships

I’ve lost count of how many I have decades ago



The 1st relationship is as a tool

I’ve done a lot of back pack hunting around the globe and I’ve always carried the best knives I could find. For years my pack knife was Bagwell Bowie that saw a lot of use and miles





2nd would be my love of Japanese style blades

I spent years in Kendo/Iaido and a sword for me is so much more......as in a spiritual centering kinda tool

I have always used and cut with very good swords and still on occasion do.

Sword value is staggering compared to most knives

Yes I use them

Young man



Old man





3rd

Everyday carry which I lean toward defense oriented design that just so happen to be great edc utility knives







4th

Art

I admire many forms of art

But I prefer art that is utilitarian as in form in art. Wether it be a car like a 911 or a Bike like a 996 so what could be higher utilitarian art than one of mans most important tools ....truly high art








So yes I have knives that I don’t use as in a tool like object

It is not a price thing

It is more of a.___I have tools I prefer more for certain tasks

But like all of them used and unused eventually my kids will sell them off and hopefully use the money to buy something that will give them pleasure........ hopefully as much as these art works , tools and spiritual centering tools have done for me.
 
No one gets out of life alive, so do whatever makes you happy. I dont have any safe queens. Theyre just things, just sharp metal. Theyre tools, and I dont hoard wrenches, so why would I hoard knives? Its more fun to get them all dirty and dinged up, so I do. Thats my 2 cents :)
 
JParanee said:
There are many different views on things

I tend to not pass judgment on what people do with their money

Edged tools and I have many different relationships

I’ve lost count of how many I have decades ago



The 1st relationship is as a tool

I’ve done a lot of back pack hunting around the globe and I’ve always carried the best knives I could find. For years my pack knife was Bagwell Bowie that saw a lot of use and miles





2nd would be my love of Japanese style blades

I spent years in Kendo/Iaido and a sword for me is so much more......as in a spiritual centering kinda tool

I have always used and cut with very good swords and still on occasion do.

Sword value is staggering compared to most knives

Yes I use them

Young man



Old man





3rd

Everyday carry which I lean toward defense oriented design that just so happen to be great edc utility knives







4th

Art

I admire many forms of art

But I prefer art that is utilitarian as in form in art. Wether it be a car like a 911 or a Bike like a 996 so what could be higher utilitarian art than one of mans most important tools ....truly high art








So yes I have knives that I don’t use as in a tool like object

It is not a price thing

It is more of a.___I have tools I prefer more for certain tasks

But like all of them used and unused eventually my kids will sell them off and hopefully use the money to buy something that will give them pleasure........ hopefully as much as these art works , tools and spiritual centering tools have done for me.
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Excellent reply and a big fan of your posts snd your collection.

I too appreciate art that's able to be wielded and experienced very viscerally. Now I can begin to do that.

Have a great day and enjoy those terriers of yours.
 
ArchVV said:
Great topic OP and pertinent for me, as I just went through the same situation. As you stated, it can be quite satisfying to trim the excess out of your collection and honestly I've enjoyed that process nearly as much as the acquiring.
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That's the amazing part, honestly.

The catharsis associated with relieving myself of items I once put a lot of effort into acquiring and it feeling as good as the initial acquisition...it's coming full circle for sure.

Allows me to appreciate and "bond" with the ones I am actually keeping, the way it should be.
 
SeppukuSamurai said:
I would be hard pressed to overstate the significance of this shift in mindset. I feel like a tremendous weight and burden has been lifted off of me. The joy I get from using something truly excellent, with details and features present that have been refined over years of borderline obsessive collecting....it's a good feeling. Even better when I compare it to the anxiety laden mess I found myself in before....
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It is a major shift in mindset IF it is permanent. I own one safe queen and the rest may be used as I choose. But I have a lot of knives that I feel it is unlikely I will use them all. I don't feel that I should use something just to use it. At some point, I may sell the stuff I have little interest in and get what I can out of them. I have cut down on the knife buying and will continue to strive to reduce the number of knives I buy on an annual basis. The using is not an important thing to me, but I only buy knives NOW that I may use.

Good luck with your shift in mindset. But what goes around comes around as they say.

The value of my knives is a pittance in comparison to my gun collection. My mindset has changed with the guns and just about anything is for sale at this point except for a number of 22 rifles and handguns that are not extremely valuable.
 
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Although I have never bought a knife to be a safe queen or not used ... I found I had several NIB knives that were bought because I had one and really enjoyed it so I purchased a "backup" if you will ...

but more recently I realised I would probably never wear out any of my users and need a backup ...

so I sorted and have all the duplicates out and should/need to start selling them ... but I honestly dislike selling them and the time and effort to be a good seller and make sure all deals go well ... so I haven't started yet with a few exceptions of gifting a few of them.

So I completely understand the OP's thoughts.
 
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It's not just knives, I have a couple other hobbies where people fall into the same two categories of "Preserve and Protect" or "Use it and have fun" either side can't understand the other.

The worst case is I collect old 80's BMX bikes. There's guys who pay thousands to restore them so they can simply look at them. And there's guys like me who doesn't want a perfectly restored bike because we want to ride them. And there's quite often some really heated arguments between the two on the internet.
 
bobobama said:
I hear what the OP's saying. I don't use but a fraction of the knives I've accumulated over the years. Nonetheless, it's fun to seek out knives you'd like to own, even knowing they're probably just going to sit. It's satisfying in a certain way, but as mentioned, once you become a slave to the collection, which fortunately hasn't happened to me yet, then yeah it's time to start reconsidering things.
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Ditto. ;)
 
I am at that age when you should start de-accumulating... (if that is a word) and so I have been selling off my large collection... however... I seem to buy more... strange how that works...

like most of my brain is selling and a secret corner is buying...

so far... the selling has out-paced the buying... but not by too much...

gonna take me a long time at this rate.
 
The first day I got a new Begg, I stabbed it into the ground a few times in the yard. I also used a worksharp that does well, but leaves scratches on blades if you use the guide ramp.

Now it's a cool tool with cool artistry. Less resale value, sure, but if I wanted to buy high end stuff that keeps its value, I'd get more into gold, not knives.
 
I was in the same boat a while back. I am to the point in my collecting - if I don’t see myself using it I will put it up for sale or trade. No more queens here!
Also, after the initial cringe when you put that $800 Inkosi in your pocket for the first time (whisper) it does get easier and easier! Before you know it you will be over it.
 
After you finish selling your surplusage, I'll be interested in knowing what the pre-tax, annualized return on your investment is. My guess is there are more lucrative investments (albeit not as fun).
 
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