Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 29, 2015 at 9:12

Thank you Michael. Yes I do think there is something to that collecting gene. Lets face it some folks just like to collect stuff. Knives are one component and for many a big one.

We are glad you found us and I appreciate your participation. You for sure are an iKnife Collector!

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on January 29, 2015 at 11:08

You couldn't have ended up at a better place Michael!  We are glad to have you here.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 29, 2015 at 19:51

No better reason to be a knife collector! I too use a knife everyday and have a few lookers too, And in these times, who would not want a knife on them?

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by dead_left_knife_guy on January 29, 2015 at 21:50

I had this incessant need to spend way too much time & money shopping, but I hated going to the mall. And I wanted to find a way to deplete my kids' college funds. You can only have so many shoes, y'know? So I thought, "Hey, I can start buying knives & have my wife start questioning my purchases, & have most of my friends look at me like 'Dude, you spent how much on that? It's JUST a knife...' and maybe someday my kids would start picking them off the shelves, put one in a pocket, show it off at school & get suspended."

HA! No, really, I'm kind of a gear junkie & a minimalist at the same time. It's a weird combination, & you can guess which side tends to win out. Like most people here, I had a thing for knives since I was a kid, but I never really had the money to explore it. But then we had our first son, & I knew I'd go a little stir crazy without a hobby, so I looked a little deeper into this cutlery interest (with my wife's encouragement). And it's amazing the amount of money you save when you're not dropping $50 a shot going out for drinks & dinner. (Don't remind me of how expensive it is to have kids, I don't want to think about it!)

So there I was, with an exhausted wife, an infant son, some late nights on eBay, & a couple subscriptions to knife magazines (Blade & Tactical Knives), & I was off!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Robinson on January 29, 2015 at 22:10

My grandfather created many useful farm tools and musical instruments using his knives and I always had a fascination for them as a useful tool. Every task performed such as farm work, hunting, fishing, etc. required a knife. Always have carried one and started trading knives with friends in early grade school. Later in high school found 'certain other' interest and sort of gave it up for quite a few years. In the mid 90's bought several at auctions and flea markets and it sort of revived my interest. around early to mid 2000 started buying, selling, trading at an antique shop my wife and I had. Got out of that hobby but continued to enjoy the knifes and the hunt. My grandfather had several old Remingtons, Winchesters, and Bokers that were his favorites. He passed while I was in the military and have no idea what happened to them.

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Permalink Reply by Michael A. Smith on January 30, 2015 at 1:59

It all started for me with collecting fantasy swords and daggers from films, books and the imagination of creators. I started as a young kid, I forget what my first blade was, most likely something Lord of the Rings related but this was before the films ever came out. I was raised on the trilogy, my sister read the books to me as a baby even. Well, fast forward to late last year and I realized, I have too many swords and daggers to fit on my walls anymore and they're starting to just collect in piles and I'm not able to enjoy them. But I don't want to give up collecting blades so what can I do? So I started watching videos on YouTube of popular folding knives, channels like Nutnfancy, x4cto, kniveshq, nebulax and so forth. Then I hit Amazon.com to see what was available that I could afford. I ordered a couple of inexpensive folders, a CRKT Ripple and a Kershaw (another Ken Onion design but I forget which) and I had been hearing a lot about Chris Reeve. People talked about this Sebenza like it was the holy grail of folding knives so I knew I had to try to hunt one down in the wild. I couldn't afford to pay the $410 MSRP or the even higher prices I was seeing on most websites so one day before Christmas my partner sends me an eBay listing of a Sebenza 25 for $99. At first I figured the price would simply go through the roof and it'd slip away but I said lets try to get it for my Christmas present. The seller was in Russia and that threw up red flags, I'd heard a lot about counterfeit Sebenzas on the market. So I was concerned, I was even more concerned because this seller had 0 sales, 0 feedback and was from Russia and the knife was coming out of China for some reason. But we won the bid and were the only bidder. It arrived between Christmas and my 50th Birthday (So it was a Christrthday present) and I checked it over real closely. I checked it against what counterfeit knives looked like, checked all the things that should or shouldn't be seen  on the knife and it seemed to check out okay but I wanted to be sure. It came with the warranty card so I sent that in and sent the knife in for a spa treatment and to get CRK's stamp of approval and it came back with flying colors (and a nice new factory edge on it too). So, I sort of jumped into the world of knife collecting with both feet. I don't expect I will get to buy any really exotic knives in the future as I'm on disability but I can dream about things like a Bodega or a true custom knife. Maybe one of these days one of the knife makers on here will need a nice logo designed for them and we can work  out a trade (hint hint nudge nudge). :) Since then I have collected about 30 knives, mostly inexpensive ones, the most expensive being a Sage 2 and a Benchmade Adamas (I love the Adamas, it fits my hand really well). The Sage 2 is nice too but I got into a sort of comment war on one of jdavis's videos where he tried to say it was as good as or better than the Sebenza and that's just crazy talk if you ask me. :) My next purchase (Coming up this weekend) will be the Cold Steel Espada XL. I had 3 knives in mind and decided on this one for a few reasons. One the size. I would like to own a knife that's big even by my standards. Second the general look of the blade. I think it's really very sexy. Lastly the build quality.

Now I have heard good and bad things about Cold Steel but most of the bad stuff has to do with their marketing and advertising and not their products and I don't think that's a valid reason to avoid their knives. I'm also a little concerned about it being a lock back blade. I know that no other locking mechanism would really work on a knife this size but I have a few lock backs and they're all very very hard for me to unlock (I suffer from degenerative arthritis) so I'm worried that it'll be difficult to close the thing. But it's a minor issue.

Anyway, I'm very interested in the future possibility of working with a knife designer here on this site to create a unique custom piece. I'm an artist and have lots of ideas for blades and would love to work with someone on something unique and interesting. So if you're a custom knife maker and would like to talk about this possibility please let me know. Most of my existing designs are fixed blades but I'd love to come up with something in a folder that's never been done before. My skill is definitely not in making knives, it's in art, so I'm sure I'll have ideas that aren't possible or would be difficult to execute but if they can make a knife with handles of 100% zirc, who knows what might be possible? What about a knife made out of glass? Sounds crazy, is it? The idea is that the knife is see through, so it wouldn't have to be just plain old glass, it could be some kind of glass LIKE material. Possibly with some elegant engravings on it. Just an off the top of my head thought there.

Well I've babbled enough for now, thanks for reading if you have gotten this far.

Take care everyone,

Mike

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Permalink Reply by jeff on January 30, 2015 at 7:28

my oldest brother used to collect knives.As a small child i would love to go thru his knife box and look at all his knives. when i was 7 yrs old I went with him to buy his first buck 110 at the marine base in opalocka florida.Then a few months later it was a general,then a 120 and so on. he gave me an old barlow wiyh a scale missing when I was around 8...and the rest is history. the other day he came over and i showed him my collection,his response was funny... he said "are you opening a knife store?" lol a great hobby for anyone.I guess I am addicted to my knife collecting hobby.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on January 30, 2015 at 9:30

Michael, I read all of your post and liked it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 30, 2015 at 10:15

Well said, it does sometimes start off when you are younger.  And as far as kids expenses, my wife and I raised 3 sons , all who collect knives or at least have some. They are now building their lives and families. But I think they will carry that admiration for knives througtout their lives.
dead_left_knife_guy said:

I had this incessant need to spend way too much time & money shopping, but I hated going to the mall. And I wanted to find a way to deplete my kids' college funds. You can only have so many shoes, y'know? So I thought, "Hey, I can start buying knives & have my wife start questioning my purchases, & have most of my friends look at me like 'Dude, you spent how much on that? It's JUST a knife...' and maybe someday my kids would start picking them off the shelves, put one in a pocket, show it off at school & get suspended."

HA! No, really, I'm kind of a gear junkie & a minimalist at the same time. It's a weird combination, & you can guess which side tends to win out. Like most people here, I had a thing for knives since I was a kid, but I never really had the money to explore it. But then we had our first son, & I knew I'd go a little stir crazy without a hobby, so I looked a little deeper into this cutlery interest (with my wife's encouragement). And it's amazing the amount of money you save when you're not dropping $50 a shot going out for drinks & dinner. (Don't remind me of how expensive it is to have kids, I don't want to think about it!)

So there I was, with an exhausted wife, an infant son, some late nights on eBay, & a couple subscriptions to knife magazines (Blade & Tactical Knives), & I was off!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 30, 2015 at 10:18

My goodness Bob, I had no idea you had a shop for antiques and things. How interesting. And yes a shame you don't know what happebed to your grandfathers knives. I am sure there were some great examples.
Bob Robinson said:

My grandfather created many useful farm tools and musical instruments using his knives and I always had a fascination for them as a useful tool. Every task performed such as farm work, hunting, fishing, etc. required a knife. Always have carried one and started trading knives with friends in early grade school. Later in high school found 'certain other' interest and sort of gave it up for quite a few years. In the mid 90's bought several at auctions and flea markets and it sort of revived my interest. around early to mid 2000 started buying, selling, trading at an antique shop my wife and I had. Got out of that hobby but continued to enjoy the knifes and the hunt. My grandfather had several old Remingtons, Winchesters, and Bokers that were his favorites. He passed while I was in the military and have no idea what happened to them.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 30, 2015 at 10:23

Thank you Michael and a good choice on the Cold Steel. I can't wait to hear what you think!

Michael A. Smith said:

It all started for me with collecting fantasy swords and daggers from films, books and the imagination of creators. I started as a young kid, I forget what my first blade was, most likely something Lord of the Rings related but this was before the films ever came out. I was raised on the trilogy, my sister read the books to me as a baby even. Well, fast forward to late last year and I realized, I have too many swords and daggers to fit on my walls anymore and they're starting to just collect in piles and I'm not able to enjoy them. But I don't want to give up collecting blades so what can I do? So I started watching videos on YouTube of popular folding knives, channels like Nutnfancy, x4cto, kniveshq, nebulax and so forth. Then I hit Amazon.com to see what was available that I could afford. I ordered a couple of inexpensive folders, a CRKT Ripple and a Kershaw (another Ken Onion design but I forget which) and I had been hearing a lot about Chris Reeve. People talked about this Sebenza like it was the holy grail of folding knives so I knew I had to try to hunt one down in the wild. I couldn't afford to pay the $410 MSRP or the even higher prices I was seeing on most websites so one day before Christmas my partner sends me an eBay listing of a Sebenza 25 for $99. At first I figured the price would simply go through the roof and it'd slip away but I said lets try to get it for my Christmas present. The seller was in Russia and that threw up red flags, I'd heard a lot about counterfeit Sebenzas on the market. So I was concerned, I was even more concerned because this seller had 0 sales, 0 feedback and was from Russia and the knife was coming out of China for some reason. But we won the bid and were the only bidder. It arrived between Christmas and my 50th Birthday (So it was a Christrthday present) and I checked it over real closely. I checked it against what counterfeit knives looked like, checked all the things that should or shouldn't be seen  on the knife and it seemed to check out okay but I wanted to be sure. It came with the warranty card so I sent that in and sent the knife in for a spa treatment and to get CRK's stamp of approval and it came back with flying colors (and a nice new factory edge on it too). So, I sort of jumped into the world of knife collecting with both feet. I don't expect I will get to buy any really exotic knives in the future as I'm on disability but I can dream about things like a Bodega or a true custom knife. Maybe one of these days one of the knife makers on here will need a nice logo designed for them and we can work  out a trade (hint hint nudge nudge). :) Since then I have collected about 30 knives, mostly inexpensive ones, the most expensive being a Sage 2 and a Benchmade Adamas (I love the Adamas, it fits my hand really well). The Sage 2 is nice too but I got into a sort of comment war on one of jdavis's videos where he tried to say it was as good as or better than the Sebenza and that's just crazy talk if you ask me. :) My next purchase (Coming up this weekend) will be the Cold Steel Espada XL. I had 3 knives in mind and decided on this one for a few reasons. One the size. I would like to own a knife that's big even by my standards. Second the general look of the blade. I think it's really very sexy. Lastly the build quality.

Now I have heard good and bad things about Cold Steel but most of the bad stuff has to do with their marketing and advertising and not their products and I don't think that's a valid reason to avoid their knives. I'm also a little concerned about it being a lock back blade. I know that no other locking mechanism would really work on a knife this size but I have a few lock backs and they're all very very hard for me to unlock (I suffer from degenerative arthritis) so I'm worried that it'll be difficult to close the thing. But it's a minor issue.

Anyway, I'm very interested in the future possibility of working with a knife designer here on this site to create a unique custom piece. I'm an artist and have lots of ideas for blades and would love to work with someone on something unique and interesting. So if you're a custom knife maker and would like to talk about this possibility please let me know. Most of my existing designs are fixed blades but I'd love to come up with something in a folder that's never been done before. My skill is definitely not in making knives, it's in art, so I'm sure I'll have ideas that aren't possible or would be difficult to execute but if they can make a knife with handles of 100% zirc, who knows what might be possible? What about a knife made out of glass? Sounds crazy, is it? The idea is that the knife is see through, so it wouldn't have to be just plain old glass, it could be some kind of glass LIKE material. Possibly with some elegant engravings on it. Just an off the top of my head thought there.

Well I've babbled enough for now, thanks for reading if you have gotten this far.

Take care everyone,

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 30, 2015 at 10:26

Ha, ha good for you Jeff. A brother got you started nd thats good. Once you get the bug, its there. I for one I hope you never drop the hobby!
jeff said:

my oldest brother used to collect knives.As a small child i would love to go thru his knife box and look at all his knives. when i was 7 yrs old I went with him to buy his first buck 110 at the marine base in opalocka florida.Then a few months later it was a general,then a 120 and so on. he gave me an old barlow wiyh a scale missing when I was around 8...and the rest is history. the other day he came over and i showed him my collection,his response was funny... he said "are you opening a knife store?" lol a great hobby for anyone.I guess I am addicted to my knife collecting hobby.

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