Midlife (hopefully) epiphany

[chip]

I turn fifty this year and for the first time in my life I have started to realise I won’t be around for ever.
I could have 5 years I could have 40.
So I have come around to thinking what’s the point of saving lots of beautiful knives and tools in as new condition. What am I saving them for? For someone else to either enjoy or sell once I pop my clogs

So over the last couple of weeks I have slowly started to pick a few at a time out to start using.

I have pulled these out today to go in with my users.
I am also starting to see wear as patina rather than damage so hopefully I have turned a corner.

[powernoodle]

Yeah I'm older than you, and its almost a burden now to have so many knives, MTs, SAKs, lights, etc.  I almost envy the person with only a few toys.  Its the circle of life.

[AzteCypher]

I'm turning 50 this year as well but I've been thinking of all my stuff for a few years now, thinking that I don't want my kids to "deal with my junk" once I'm gone.  I've started using more of my stuff as well so that I can get some enjoyment from it rather than just looking at it or putting it away.

I'm also cataloging my stuff in a spreadsheet with notes indicating it's value (at the current time) and whether it should be sold, given away or thrown away.  As the kids get older they might appreciate my stuff more so if there' something they like, I'll just gift it to them so there's no need for someone to "deal with it".

[BPRoberts]

I was thinking of downsizing a little before the move, but then I saw that youtube channel someone posted about a month ago of the guy going through his dad's collection. Makes it seem less like a burden on the kid and more enjoyable.

[chip]

I had to sell a good friend of mine who passed aways coin collection. I found the best way to do so was eBay. Dealers did not want to pay market value so the best way to reach the most prospective buyers was eBay.
 Some coins did not reach what the guide books said they would, but equally some far exceeded the book price.
When he found out he was dying he thought he should take the lot to a dealer and sell them as a job lot.  But he really loved them and did spend a lot of time looking at them. So I said keep them and I will sell them after he passed.

I don’t have any family who are interested in the stuff I have collected and it will not have the historical value of my friends coins, and due to eBay’s no knife policy I don’t know how they would even go about selling them for the best possible price. So now I am thinking the enjoyment I will gain from using them will far exceed any monetary devaluation doing so will bring about.

[nate j]

I have come around to thinking what’s the point of saving lots of beautiful knives and tools in as new condition. What am I saving them for? For someone else to either enjoy or sell once I pop my clogs

So now I am thinking the enjoyment I will gain from using them will far exceed any monetary devaluation doing so will bring about.

Yeeeessssss!

I’m a bit younger, but have felt the same on both these counts for some years.

As an aside, dealers can’t pay market price.  If they did, they would have to sell above market price to make any profit, but that is generally a non-starter.

[AzteCypher]

I forget that other countries don't have our knife laws so that stinks that you can't sell knives through fleaBay should you choose to do so.

[PitCarver]

Midlife epiphany, Chip?

The government, here, officially labeled me as a Senior, last year.   I sometimes think that both of my girls would conspire to do me in to get hold of my knives, but they know that I've bought multiples over the years so that they'll both get one.  Even though they both have collecting interests that are different from me as well as each other it'd be cool to be able to look down at the process and see how it goes.

[buggs]

Congrats on making 50.  Much to my surprise and delight I just turned sixty a few weeks ago. 

I have way, way too much crap collected over the years.  Literally the least of my problem is knives and multitools though I have too many of them as well.  The only plus side is I really don't view any of them as something that needs to remain pristine so on that side I'm a little, but not much, ahead.  I do have to start divesting in crap.  One of my collections has a 9x13 room dedicated to it.  Knives are easy. 

That Benchmade might be one of my favorite knives. 

[chip]

Thank you to everyone who has commented,
I have a couple of months left till I turn fifty and due to health reasons I had piled on the weight over the last 8 years or so.  So turning 50 and losing both my dad and a cherished uncle in the last year has also spurned me on to try and get fitter and leaner while I still can.

[Barry Rowland]

  completely PN

Yeah I'm older than you, and its almost a burden now to have so many knives, MTs, SAKs, lights, etc.  I almost envy the person with only a few toys.  Its the circle of life.

[powernoodle]

A great prophet once said:

"When you croak, and your wife's next husband inherits your collection, you want to make darn sure that he never forgets that you were there first.  So use those SAKs, MTs, knives and lights to ensure that every dagnab one of them is covered with drywall dust, sausage gravy and squirrel blood.  Stake your claim while the sun shines."

[AzteCypher]