I haven't missed those "other" knives!

[cbl51]

Not at all.

During the past decade the wife and I have been on a minimalist movement. The cutting down and eliminating of all things we don't really need. My own movement was the disengaging from the knife forums and gun forums and the selling off go my over blown collections.

For the past year, I've only had SAK's, and only a few of them. The stockmen, the barlow's, even my beloved peanuts, have all gone down the road to new owners. The sole dedicated knife survivor has been the Opinel. I just haven't found anything that cuts like an Opinel.

It's soooo weird, that after a long lifetime of knife and gun accumulation, I just up and got rid of them all, and haven't missed any of them. At all. In fact, now that I've trimmed so far back, I look back on all the money I killed on buying new knives and guns that I didn't need, that I regret it all. Looking back on it, and my involvement in the blade forums and gun forums, it was like I was in the grip of some kind of temporary insanity that it took years to come out of. Now I understand why dad thought I was nuts. My father was one of those old Great Depression era and WW2 guys who'd one single pocket knife, a .22 pistol, and a small cut down machete as his outdoor kit. I watched him go through his life with that little Case peanut in his pocket and it cut everything he needed to cut in his American suburbia life. On camping trips, he'd have that little cut down English machete he'd use for kindling, ham and bread slicing, and brush clearing. It was his 'everything' blade for stuff his little pocket knife couldn't handle.

Now I find myself going the same way. the minimal tools to get it done.

My dad's old 'bushwhacker and my SI. All I need now for city or camping trips.


For the Texas cedar country I now live in, a folding saw is handy to have. A SAK in the pocket and saw in the pack seems to handle a lot of situations.

My whole SAK collection these days. An old friend the tinker, my war horse Wenger SI, and every present faithful classic in keyring sheath.

The only non-SAK knives to make the cut. Opinel's are in a cutting class their own!

Now enjoying our senior citizen years, the better half and I don't do much roughing it anymore. We like drive up campsites were we can have our luxuries. Not much use for Bowie knives or tactical folding combat knives.

[Nix]

I'm really not surprised that you aren't missing some of the old hardware. Few people, today, really need more than an Executive or SI as a pocket knife on a day to day basis. For camping, yes, a bigger tool is useful. And for some activities, like fishing, a good multitool can be invaluable. But, yes, a nice Spartan or Climber is most of what I really need these days. 

This knife collecting is a crazy hobby.  But it is kinda fun. 

[Sparky415]

Always interesting Cbl 

(I was going to tease you about splashing out on a comfy chair  )

[Marcellus]

I hear you Carl, loud and clear.

50 years of collecting/accumulating creates quite a collection/hoard

I have ALOT of downsizing to do also.

The thought of it makes me  tired.

I have given away many knives over the years to family, friends, business associates, etc. Heck,  I've purposely " lost" a few to give a stranger a gift.

But, I will say for our younger viewers, not to discourage,  that I did enjoy the journey. But it some point you might say to yourself "what the ....." !

[David Bowen]

I hear you Carl, loud and clear.

50 years of collecting/accumulating creates quite a collection/hoard

I have ALOT of downsizing to do also.

The thought of it makes me  tired.

I have given away many knives over the years to family, friends, business associates, etc. Heck,  I've purposely " lost" a few to give a stranger a gift.

But, I will say for our younger viewers, not to discourage,  that I did enjoy the journey. But it some point you might say to yourself "what the ....." !

Marcellus, I just had a what the..... moment. I've got 2 new knives coming, 3 flashlights and 2 more Leatherman. I thought to myself, how much of this do I ACTUALLY use? I could sell it all except a few must haves and be completely fine. Last check I had close to 70 multitools, same for one hand opening knives and other stuff too. I don't know why I do it and downsizing sounds nice. Maybe I'll come to terms with it at some point, for now I'll continue to have fun and maybe sell some along the way.

Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk

[cbl51]

Looking back, I wish I had stopped when I was 21 years old. I had all I really needed before I went into the army. I wish I had not wasted so much money on that stuff rather than saving it up in a retirement account for my later years. I'd tell the young people now to save for their future, not blow it on knives, guns or other toys.

[Gerhard Gerber]

I felt a bit bad when I realised the price of my most expensive production knives could've bought me a belt grinder........fortunately I haven't spent enough on toys to affect my retirement.........and I can't retire anyway 

Maybe if I ate and drank less I might have been able to save......or I might just have ended up with more toys 

[eamo]

Im glad i never got the collecting bug.

That's a George Best quote ☺

[Aloha]

Maybe you had to take the journey to arrive where you are?  Its quite possible you may not have gotten to this state of mind otherwise?  Whats interesting is at 21 you continued to collect for years. 

I wonder about this movement.  I'm old enough to have watched consumerism thru the years take hold of many.   Bigger cars then bigger homes and several tvs to fill these bigger homes and so on.  Some went in other directions with consumerism but it amounted to the same.  What I find interesting is along the way at different points in time someone has stepped in and said "don't you have enough ( fill in the blank )?  Those words went unheard. 

The force is strong.  I wonder if you were able to sell off and be made whole or you had to take a loss?  You dont have to answer that, it more rhetorical.  Over the years beginning in about 2012ish I began my journey collecting MTs.  To date I have sold off quite a lot for a nice profit.  I've also traded away a lot for items that can be sold for a nice sum.  Yes I've given away tools as well and that is my favorite thing to do.  I don't personally regret any of the fun I had.  While I still have a small collection its not a burden financially or space wise.  Its been fun and in the process I've met some great guys. 

If I can add something to this thread I'd say experience is something only time can birth.       

[Marcellus]

I almost didn't reply to Carl's post above.

In fact, I rewrote it once and edited a couple times.

I didn't want it to be misunderstood. But, from the response  I see it was well received, at least by the above members.

I enjoyed studying the various knife manufaturerers, the different patterns for specific uses, and the history of the knife making industry.

I don't regret the money spent over the years and the collection/hoard takes little space and requires no food or health insurance.

I just came to realize that I didn't need to own everything that interested me.

If I kept 10 knives, 2 -3 multitools l it would be highly unlikely that I would ever need anything else. And that is probably an over estimate.

Final thought: Avoid the hype, you probably do not need the same knife/tool in every color.

[Old Boy]

I agree with Aloha’s point. Personally I was able to derive some joy in collecting by giving away as gifts or stashing them in cars, earthquake kit, etc.

I still do have a collection, but thankfully mostly given to me as gifts or stuff I’ve used before but they no longer make or not as functional as the newer models. So I retired them. Which in turns gives me fun, I still have my early Spydercos!! Plus all those memories!!

I do slightly collect other things, but I plan to give to my son.

But yes I realized early on that best to save your money and space. So I’m more careful and thin the herd a bit.

[microbe]

Some folks collect post stamps, some folks knit. some folks work on their cars or bikes. In the end, to each their own hobby and past times.
I like spending time with my wife, driving my bike, and play with knives and tools.

As a smoker, there is this story of a guy that told me that if I had not smoked all these years, I could have bout a Ferrari from the money.
I asked him if he smoked, and he said no. Then I asked him so where is your Ferrari?

[Barry Rowland]

I like that one Microbe!!   

[Barry Rowland]

I can honestly make it most days with an Executive or my Case Mini Trapper.  I have a collection of SAK's that I've gathered over the past few years that I enjoy, as well as a small collection of Opinels (love them all!) and a new collection of traditional folders.  I enjoy them all, but I do miss the days of not having to make the choice of what I'm going to pack.  I've been carrying my yellow scaled Case in honor of my son, who purchased it for me a few days prior to his departure into Basic.  I usually have a SAK of some sort, either a 91mm, 85mm, or a Classic, on me.  I really can't resist the charm of the Opinels....and I EDC the Benchmade so generously gifted to me by NIx on duty.  In some ways I envy you Carl, but I'm not at the same point in my journey.  I guess if I had to pick one, it'd be an Opinel No. 8.  But then, what if.....

[cbl51]

Barry,

The Opinel is the only non SAK I have not been able to turn my back on. They do have a charm, although sometimes I feel they are too 'fiddley' and need too much fine tuning. But...they do cut like the dickens and that charm is sort of a wabi sabi thing that I've come to really appreciate and understand in my senior citizen years. I've had a love/hate relationship with them since I got my first one way back in 1980 or so. I modded some, gave some away, broke one, lost one, but I always seem to have a number 8 around someplace close. There's one in the kitchen drawer, one in the glove box of the truck, the better half keeps one in her purse.

Opinels can be a dangerous addiction all in themselves. And like a SAK, they make a good gift, but the recipient has to educated in the quirks of the Opinel. Unlike a SAK, they do need maintenance like periodic oil or grease in the joint. I find a smear of Vaseline jelly in the pivot and a few minutes with Karen's blow drier to melt the stuff into the wood does a good job of making the pivot pretty water resistant. I've got my Opinel's to the point they can be totally submerged for 30 minutes with only a bit of stiffening of the joint.

But a SAK is still the one knife you will ALWAYS find in my pocket. I've reenable to say goodbye to my Buck stickman, my Case peanut, the Remington peanut, my GEC 15, and even my Northwoods stockman. But my SAK's and a couple Opinel number 8's never.

[Barry Rowland]

  Well said sir!