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Thinning the herd
Before I start let me say: I AM NOT SELLING KNIVES ON IKC NOR DO I PLAN TO SELL THEM IN THE HERE IN THE FUTURE.
Now for the post
I sold around $20 worth of junk knives in a Yard Sale over the week-end. It was a first hurdle. As an addict it is hard to give up stuff. But as a collector you accumulate a bunch of stuff that in the end is not really what you want in your collection. Before you know it you're a "hoarder" and not an actual collector. I suppose for some people that's okay but for me it was becoming disturbing and actually killing the fun. I recall the the quote "He who has the most toys when they die is the winner!" In reality the quote should be "he who dies with the most toys has left the biggest headache for their children!"
In reality I've been making excuses. I've got knives I don't want! I've got knives I don't even like! Why am I keeping them? It is time to get back to collecting knives and not hoarding them. After much contemplating I came up with a frame work for my collecting habit. Obviously the guidelines would differ from person to person but this one is mine
What I plan to keep
- Knives that were presents from immediate family.
- My Large toothpick collection
- Most of my Nautical knives
- Most of my bartender knives
- Military knives
- Most of the Mushroom knives
- Stoneworx and other faux turquoise knives
- Moonshiner Series
- Coal Miner Series
- Large Barlows
- BSA
- Tortoise Shell collection
- Sawcut bone collection
- Most Scout knives
- White Smooth Bone collection
- Swiss Army Knives in great condition
- Camillus
- Fish Knives
- USA knives in great condition
- The one of a kinds that really impress me personally
What to get rid of
- Most impulse buys
- The patterns I tried but don’t care for
- The ones that were acquired but not actually sought out
- The “shiny” one that lost their “luster”
- The patterns I don’t collect that don’t fall in the categories listed above
- The Junk that you didn’t even bother to catalog
- The disappointments!
Despite having 20 categories of what to keep and only 7 for what to toss, I'll probably cut my collection in half!
What will I continue to buy?
For the time being, I'll still be looking for military knives, Nautical knives, Fishing knives, Large Toothpicks, Scouts, Mushrooms, and older Camillus knives. And no doubt the odd balls will always be there.
Now to sort the the keepers from the tossers and see If I can actually follow through!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on
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I feel your Pain/torment .... there is always that lingering doubt...
"If I sell this will I regret it down the track?"
I guess with your 'What to get rid of' policy you are reducing the 'regret' possibility.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on
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Well its is that time I guess. I am not there yet, although focusing my attention on fewer better quality. I am watching to see what it end up looking like. Cutlery Cavern will have a whole new look!
One question, OK Not selling here on iKC I get that, but where? eBay? Future Yard Sales?
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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on
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I'll be running some contest on iKC which means giving away here. As for the others, I'm seriously thinking about a local flea market. Garage sales are great for junk knives but I'll get a better deal at the local flea market. Plus the folks at flea markets normally come with money in their pockets and a willingness to barter. There are a couple of other knife dealers there who seem to have brisk traffic. No shipping charges, no paypal charges no cut for ebay. and I can go when I want not worry about a yard sale getting rained out! The only downside is renting a booth for $20.
I'll also do what my son typically does. He goes with things for trade. I might be able to trade some knives I don't want for a knife I do want! And I don't need to rent a booth to do that!
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Permalink Reply by Ricky L McConnell on
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I am with Steve, I am buying fewer knives and better quality ones. Even with a small amount of knives you can lose touch with what you bought them for or what you plan to do with them.
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Permalink Reply by Michael D. on
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Tobias you're a brave person indeed. Aside from giving knives as gifts or using them until they disintegrated, I've never, ever culled my collection. Actually I should say I've never culled my collection (about 40% of my knives) nor culled my accumulation (the rest).
Sometimes sorting through the accumulation I pick up a piece and have a good laugh (what an idiot I was to pick that up). Over the past couple of years some of the accumulation surprised me because of their quality, uniqueness, the fact that they were made in the USA and also the fact that some of the companies are now in the history books only.
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Seriously it wasn't that hard once I started thinking of what I can buy with money I make selling off junk! Do you really think I'm going to miss ANY of this. I made $20 in five minutes off two people on knives like these. I'll remember the quick $20 but I've already forgot the knives!
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The challenge of thinning the herd continues. I made a first pass and was only able to find about 20 out of the 500+ knives that should go. Obviously not much of a thinning!
So my next pss was done with less emotion. Instead of looking at the knives; I looked at the list of knives that are actually cataloged in an excel sheet. That bumped the list up to 48 out of 497 cataloged knives or about 10% of the collection. At first that seemed kind of low but after doing some math, I realized that it is quite substantial. Once I went through the cataloged list of knives and identified the ones that were actually within the parameters of my collection, there really wasn't much to thin out. Among the ones identified as keeprs are
65 toothpick/fish knives
77 scout/camp knives
56 Riggers
13 Military Fixed blades
27 White Smooth Bone
52 Swiss Army Knives
23 Rough Riders in series that are being kept
50 USA made knives not included in the above collections (estimate)
That's at least 363 knives taken off the table before I even started!
497-363= 134
48 out of 134 is around 35% of what I was looking at getting rid of. Now to figure out why I'm holding on to the other 86 knives! If nothing else, this exercise has made me realize I have been pretty good at collecting at what I like; at least when it comes to cataloging items. I still have at least 100 knives that I never bothered to catalog! They are definitely leaving the cavern!
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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Hey those white smooth bones may need a new home buddy LOL. I know there is at least one scrim in there I tried to buy before HaHa
Seriously, In looking over this I see the sense in looking at the list rather than the knives. Does the thinning come from wanting more within the perimeters of the actual collection?
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The thinning is driven by three main reasons
1. My own mortality. I've seen too many families having to sort through a loved ones amasses belongings trying to determine what was actually important and what really had no meaning. I don't want to leave that burden on my kids.
2. Why hang onto stuff that has no meaning to me or serves no useful purpose. I'd rather someone who could use it or cherish it have it.
3. If I can sell a few of the knives that aren't important to me, I can buy more knives that are important.
On a side note, it isn't kust knives I'm giving away and/or planning to sell.
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We did that same type of thing last year Tobias. Just kind of went through the house and said...well that can go, that can go, I forgot we had that LOL. I would do it every weekend for months if I could. We have more "stuff" than I ever thought possible
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When getting ready for the yard sale, we found stuff in our basement that no one in the family could ever remember owning or seeing! We even found some stuff and said "what the heck is that!" Once phase two of the Cutlery Cavern begins I'm sure I'll uncover even more stuff destined to becomes someone else's albatross uh priceless treasure!
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Permalink Reply by Jerryd6818 on
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More than once, I've talked about this very thing with a couple of close friends and one of my cousins. When I'm gone, the kids and grandkids will go through the house, take what they want (the guns), sell anything of value for 20¢ on the dollar (my knives) and call for a dumpster for the rest. Most of my "treasured" items will go in the trash. And yet, I just can't bring myself to cull the herd. I suppose that makes me somewhat of a hoarder.
Thin out my knife accumulation? Why that's just crazy talk.
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