The One That Got Away

JQuirl

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2016
Messages
245
Hi all. As knife enthusiasts, most of us have handled LOTS of knives. Some of us have bought and sold knives in an endless search to find “the one.” I feel that I am not the only one that has sold knives that we have come to regret. That one knife that we wish we still had.

For me, it was my Grimsmo Rask. I was actually one of the first to preorder a Rask. This was back when I was able to choose the finish on the blade, mill pattern on the frame and clip, coloring, and many other options.

I paid up front and waited for this knife for almost a year. After it arrived, I was mesmerized by it. It was a custom knife exactly what I wanted. But in the long run, I thought I would like nine Ben Franklins more. I sold the knife here on the forums and as soon as I dropped it in the mail, I immediately regretted it.

Fast forward a couple of years, we cannot choose how we want a Rask. That’s if we are even lucky enough to get chosen through the lottery drawing. I loved that knife and miss it.

How about all of you what was your biggest regret in a “let go?”
 
I am thinking back on all the knives I've sold, traded, or given away and can't really think of any standouts. I take pictures of most of my knives, so I still have some memory of them all in some way.

I guess if I had to pick one, it would probably be my Spyderco Stretch in SuperBlue. I got one when they came out from a local military surplus shop that had a Spyderco Collector Club membership. I needed a quick buck at one point or another, and sold it. When you DO see NIB examples for sale today, they're about three (sometimes four!) times what I paid originally. This is my pic of it:

NBhw4GI.jpg
 
I guess if I had to pick one, it would probably be my Spyderco Stretch in SuperBlue. I got one when they came out from a local military surplus shop that had a Spyderco Collector Club membership.

It’s funny that we never know what knives will become rare and hard to find. The Stretch is a great knife! Who would have guessed that the Slysz Bowie would be selling three years later for 2.5 times what the original street price was? ‍♂️
 
Mine would be both the GB1’s I had and let go....

Well now that I’m thinking about it.

Large inkosi, small 21 insingo, and my desert blade works abrams
 
Mine would be one I never even had. Could have been issued a Grohmann Belt Knife issued to me after I finished the Assault Pioneer course and I didn't because it didn't look tactical enough with that leather sheath and wood handles. This was in the 80s in and if you didn't have a Gerber dagger taped on your web gear you were really off the back. I could buy one now no problem but that wouldn't have the same feel.
 
Many. I had several Benchmade 42s pass through my hands, then went out of the knife collecting scene for a few years. Came back, and they'd been discontinued and were now $350-$500. I sold my last one for I think $115.

My first custom knife, a Burt Foster utility made to my order. That was $450 at the time, too! Miss that knife.
 
M390 DLT Exclusive Hinderer XM-18 3.5 Gen 5 No Choil Spanto with a few mods including a REK regrind!
Can't remember who I sold it to but if you ever want to sell it back shoot me a line!
Please.:(
Seriously, I'll sweeten the deal like insanely.o_O

I've had Josh regrind quite a few knives over the years and the transformation into a real cutting/slicing tool is astounding.
I still have two but really should have hung on to all of them.
A reground Shempp Tuff is also on my regret list right under the XM.
 
I can no longer remember the model but someone once gave me very nice Benchmade with aluminum scales and I just don't like metal scales and ended up selling it. In the end, I regretted selling it.
 
i've thought hard about this.
and i've come to the horrible realization
that its the one thst i spent a couple of
accumalated man hours just staring at
in a store display.
until one fine day it went away for good.
its the one that haunts me.
nothing special except its the very one
which i had pawned of.
a buck custom elk horn 112 ranger.
 
No "major" regrets for me. Mostly "minor" ones. It helps that I have never spent more then $150ish or so on a knife. I'm, ah, frugal, and adhere to a strict budget for most things.

Kershaw Ram. I still have a Snap on version. Great knife design.
HK (BM) 14715. Basically an inexpensive BM, D2 steel, and a perfect size for my big hand. I liked the dark tan handle too.
Buck 110. It was a basic version but had some sentimental value as one of my first knives I bought for myself.
 
I'm with Quiet on this one, typically when I sell I don't regret. I've already experienced owning the knife, I have my pics, and most always the funds from the sale of that knife allowed me to experience owning another that I was lusting after.

If I had to pick one it would be the Boba Fett Ultratech. But the fact is I just didn't carry it, and I figured I'd buy another knife that I would carry with those funds rather than keep it as a novelty. It was a cool knife though, and fun.

Now that I think of it, there is one from my childhood. When I was in grade school, one of my dad's friends gifted me a Puma folder. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen, and while not my first knife, looking back it might be what sparked my passion for knives. Well, my dad (normally a very generous guy) got it in his head somehow that it was too nice for me to carry and risk loosing, so he "talked me into" (I had no choice in the matter) trading for a very nice filet knife that he cherished and kept in his tackle box. Here's the kicker, that knife would have to stay in his tackle box because that's where we used it. So my own dad pulled the age old school-yard trick of "It'll be bofa ours but we'll keep it at my house" :rolleyes:. I'll bet he still has that old Puma, probably in the same drawer where all of the modern knives I have gifted him over the years sit still in their boxes :p. I'll have to hit him up for it next time I'm down there.
 
Al Mar Shugoto, Original Buckmaster, Cold Steel San Mai tanto folder. An original Phrobis M9 got stolen from my car. That hurt.
 
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