The SAK I did not buy

[z1913]

I would like to share with you my recent experience how I did not buy a Victorinox Mauser.
Sorry for a long one, but let me start with a bit of background info. I already mentioned in my other posts that from early 90' to 2010 my only SAK was Victorinox Mauser. I got it as a present from my parents. The knife was used only for hiking and camping, I did not EDC any knife at that time. I really liked that knife and I was very dissapointed when it was confiscated by TSA (my fault), but I got Wenger Patagonia 179 as a replacement and moved on.

Several years later I started to think about getting a replacement for the lost Mauser. Until then I had not been aware that the Mauser was somewhat rare and valuable and was surprised to see the high prices. I tried to bid several times, but every time the price went north of 200 I gave up.
Eventually I got a poor man replacement - a GAK, but it was not the same... Somehow I could not get the attachment to it and sold it.
Two weeks ago I spotted a pristine one on ebay and decided to get this one. At any cost. This time it will be mine. I mean 200 is not nothing to me, but at the same time it is not end of the world, I do not get such things every other day...

So I started biding, it went up from 50 to 100 and to 160 in the last hour. I was in the kitchen, openings walnuts with the can opener on my Evo14 and suddenly my thougts changed. Could I use the saw combo tool on the Mauser to crack the walnut? I mean eventually yes but it would not be comfortable nor super safe... I mean I used the awkward combo tool for years and it was OK and I do appreciate the super minimalism of it (how cool is to have all the openers + saw in one layer?). My thoughts went on. Would I ever pick the Mauser for a hike instead of my Forester Wood? Probably not. I realized my other knifes are simly better tools and that I would feel sorry to have the Mauser in my drawer not really using it or rather knowing it is not a great tool. As well it would be still only replacement of the original one - not the same and maybe it is better to just keep the fond memories.
So I stopped bidding. The knife was sold for 166 Euro, not to me.

I feel a bit silly how much thought I put into purchase of a single knife... Maybe I should have just simply bought it and not overthought it?

[stuntzombie]

It doesn't sound silly at all. I go through the same sort of thought process for pretty much every extraneous thing that I purchase, especially if it's going to cost me $50 or more.  The majority of the time, if I can't come up with a valid reason beyond "I want it" I don't buy it. It drives my wife crazy because it takes me so long to decide to buy anything.

I've also started trying to implement a 24 hour waiting period before most purchases as well. Most of the time I find I no longer care about whatever I was considering by the next day.

[Aloha]

Sounds reasonable to me as well  .  I wrestle with such thoughts as well.  My most recent one was a Tony Bose Premium Stockman limited to 1000pcs 5 different cover materials for $300 ( sold for 500+ )  which also came with a Tribal lock limited edition.  I saw it and thought no way am I spending 300 on a knife. 

A day later I was curious as to why it was still available after a few years of being released.  Some searching seems that price was a big factor.  So at 300 plus a 80 dollar tribal lock was it worth it? 

Let the wrestling begin.............  cue Jeopardy music.

I figured I'd check and see if I some how had misread the sites listing.  POOF it was gone.  Now I was really wanting it.  Where had it gone.   .  Why did I over think this? 

Next day I check as I was not as hyped to get it.  It was there  what to do?  300 is a lot of money on a whim.  I went thru all the rationalizations and reasons why I should buy it.  Oddly I had very few as to why I shouldn't  . 

I bought it.  Its a beauty and its one I have been carrying since getting it.  The Tribal lock is sitting in a display case since its engraved with Tony Bose likeness.  Plus I have a Tribal lock I use. 

If this knife was solely gonna be a display piece I would have passed on it quickly.  Since my thought was to carry and enjoy it made my decision easy enough to justify and hard because 300 is still a lot of money for me to spend on a whim. 

I think you made the right choice.  If it was simply gonna sit for memories sake then good you passed.  If if was to put into your pocket and enjoy as well as having such good memories then it would have been a good buy. 

I am primarily a user so it had to have been a knife I intended on using.  The Tribal lock just made my decision easier since I knew it was 80 dollars on its own.  The Tony Bose then worked out to be 220 which was more than reasonable. 

See how I did that?     

[Enginears]

I also had something very similar happen recently. I had memories of my first ever sak, which I eventually figured out was an 84 mm electrician from Radio Shack. I had all these memories of the electrician blade and then of eventually over torquing a screw and the back Phillips causing the knife to break. So I got the idea to buy one for old times sake. There is one for over $100 constantly on ebay, but at one point another showed up and I started bidding. The higher it went the more I was questioning whether I really even wanted a single layer 84mm with back phillips that is relatively rare. I ended up deciding against it and it sold for only like $2 more than my highest bid.

I could have had it! But did I really want it? I am just not a collector type, it bugs me when something sits around unused. I have accepted my fate of never reliving having an 84mm electrician, because I don’t need it.

[Big ol’ Hauger]

That may have been the very Mauser that showed up in my mailbox today. It was one that I remembered seeing in the Army-Navy surplus stores when I was little. I was so intrigued by that combo tool! My first ended up being a Fisherman I got for Christmas when I was 10. All of these years later, I finally got a childhood memory in my hand. It will likely just stay in its box and get admired from time to time, as capable as it is.

[Farmer X]

I recently ran across an SAK that I ultimately didn't buy. It was a Cellidor Bantam with a logo. It went through at least three auctions with no bids. When I saw that it finally got a bid, my thought was "at least it got a bid this time; hope it goes to a good home." I can completely understand z1913's thoughts here.

[Huntsman]

Interesting story - I am sure we all go through deiberations of one form or another !!

I would have bought it for historical and sentimental reasons - Even if I was not going to use it 

Although I too always though that saw/SD/CO combo tool was a bit of an odd one .... and potentially dangerous!!

And hey - You've saved yourself 160E

[nate j]

I ended up deciding against it and it sold for only like $2 more than my highest bid.

I could have had it!

You’re probably aware of this, but due to the way automatic bidding works on ebay, the fact that it sold for only a few dollars more than your max bid doesn’t mean that was the maximum bid of the other bidder.

For example, for items currently between $100 and $249.99, the bid increment is $2.50.  So if there are two bidders, and bidder A puts in a max bid of $120 and bidder B puts in a max bid of $220, the item will go to bidder B for $122.50.

[Bunk Tuppins]

I go through similar thought processes.  In fact, after about a year of buying lots of SAKs, my purchases have dwindled down to nothing for the past few months.   Each time I look at a model I don't have I go through some comparisons and find that it doesn't add much capability beyond what I already own.  It took a lot of knives to get to that point but eventually I started to feel almost ashamed of myself and even stopped shopping. 

[Enginears]

You’re probably aware of this, but due to the way automatic bidding works on ebay, the fact that it sold for only a few dollars more than your max bid doesn’t mean that was the maximum bid of the other bidder.

For example, for items currently between $100 and $249.99, the bid increment is $2.50.  So if there are two bidders, and bidder A puts in a max bid of $120 and bidder B puts in a max bid of $220, the item will go to bidder B for $122.50.

Ah yeah I was mostly aware but had not considered it in this case. I probably was not as close to winning as I thought. Thanks for the insight.

[Aloha]

 

Yes that "close" call is not as close as we think.  When I was playing along at the bay of fleas in some cases I would set my limit and walk away.  If I won, great, if not, so be it.  Sniping was also very fun.  Isn't always successful but once you know how the incremental auto bids work you can step in last sec and win. 

[z1913]

Thank you all for the comments and input! It was great to hear all the different views.
I think I made the right decision at that moment...

But let me tell you what happened yesterday - I came across another one, even for slightly better price and... it is on the way now! I know, crazy, crazy...

I am still mostly user, so it will be a user and I will see whether I get the connection with it.
Finally I came to conclusion it is better to try - and if it does not work out, I can sell it again, probably with some loss, but with definitive peace of mind.
And chances are it will a great item, just like in Aloha's Tony Bose story!

[Andrew]

It's the same process for me.
For example i bought a like new Wenger s18 but then I was afraid about using it and I started to search for other s18s for parts and so on. For now i stopped but it the same problem with another collection.
You have to think if it fits in your needs and if you eventually prefer something else.
A method that i really like to use when buying on eBay is to search for the best price in order to not losing money when I eventually resell the item.

[Aloha]

@z1913 that worked out nicely after all.  Congrats.   

[z1913]

It is here. And it is good. It’s a chubby boy.

[Farmer X]

  and congratulations on getting that one!

[Rizio Il Ghiro]

   Nice score!

[Swisster]

kind of wish I would have bought a 2016 Damasteel Pioneer X when they came out but I thought nothing of it and I could have bought 2 and one would have payed for the other. They are so over priced now that it makes it seem like when they were new they were cheap. I hope 2023 damasteel knife is a black Compact with the marbled carbon fiber scales