What’s your trigger?

I like to explore different knives and brands. I'm all about the "budget gems" that work well, carry well, and aren't so expensive that I'd be broken up over wear, tear, or loss.

 

Wharncliffes. Customs.
Custom Wharncliffes.

 

“I want that.“
I usually shop/browse by brand though.

 

Same way I buy everything in life.

I identify the need for a tool. I research said tools and attempt to narrow down which one is going to best suit my needs to prevent having to buy to many variations to reduce cost. Then I buy what I think will work the best. Sometimes I nail it, sometimes I identify an issue with said tool and need to rectify the problem. So then I research again and buy the next variation. I evaluate one against the other and sell the loser. I repeat this process until I’ve found the best possible tool for the purpose. Overall price is irrelevant but given the choice I’ll spend once and be done with the shopping. Then I stop looking as I have no interest in owning multiple tools for the same purpose as they can’t both be “the best”. I do however keep my mind open to finding a better tool if at some point the one I’ve got starts irritating me.

I’ve found the best knives for me for a boat knife, processing fish, big game, small game, hunting wild boar and edc. My “collection” as such is complete and everything I ever need to cut is done to my satisfaction with world class knives.

 

My trigger - having about $100 in the fun money budget. Seems like if it's burnin' a hole in my pocket I find something worth spending it on. No money, I don't seem to need anything.

 

I can't pull that one off with myself anymore. and i am only accountable to Visa and Mastercard for my spending habits, and they are cool with anything i want, like, am curious about, am afraid of missing out on even if i don't quite get the appeal at the moment, etc.

 

Look for unusual knives and rare pieces. Modern stuff usually doesn't interest me much with the exception of GEC who bring a lot of the old patterns back to life.

 

Triggers, hmm. I like to try steels I have not used before, locks, opening mechanisms, material, and designs that scratch my knife-aficionado itch.

 

I voted: "Already got 75 million of this same model but it’s in LC200N now!"

Of course the actual number is 5, not 75 million. And the model is Spyderco Resilience. But since Spyderco will never do it for me, I'll have to do it for myself. AEB-L first, and once I have it dialed in LC200N next.

The Resilience can already be almost any knife I want it to be with a bit of stock removal:



How much more when I can design the re-blade from scratch?

 

Believe it or not, I think I like 8Cr13MoV better than BD1. It's generally said to be a tad tougher than BD1, and I noticed it's a good deal easier to sharpen as well, which to me means finer edges that are easier to hone back to screaming sharp, even if they don't have quite the wear resistance. Just my impression though and I could be wrong.

But yes, the Resilience is a fantastic platform, and if I ever design a folder to produce myself, it will certainly take a lot of queues from the Resilience and Tenacious.

 

I usually wait for something interesting on sale.

 

Most, probably all the reasons. Don't tell my wife.

Customs... gotta have it. Some of those ones, especially from makers here, just speak to your soul. It's also good to get one from a maker just earning their chops. Often a great knife for a great price.

Depends what I'm going for too. I needed a BK62 a few months ago (because who doesn't), so I picked up a cool one here with heat anodized hardware. Nice touch!

It can be argued that I'm still filling holes in my collection, so I can easily get focused on "I need one of these!" Recently heavy kitchen knives.

All the while volunteering to be the one who goes to the mailbox... and swinging by the garage before coming in and saying, "Nah, just junk mail and bills."