What makes us do it?

[cbl51]

Knife collecting/accumulation?

Having just recently got back into carrying one of my Opinels, this question again, for the umpteenth time, rose in whats left of my mind. Every time I use an Opinel, I wonder why do we bother to collect those Spyderco's, GEC's, and all those "other" knives that either are way more expensive, or hard to get, and don't cut like an Opinel. Its always a new epiphany every time I ignore my Opinels for a while, and then cut something. The way a nice sharp Opy glides through what every your cutting is almost sensuous.

They cut like the dickens.

But not only that, for the price of a chain restaurant lunch, you get a reliable slicer and dicer, it weights almost nothing, is easy to open with no stiff spring to fight like on some GEC's, and has such an ergonomic handle that you can whittle for an hour with not spots. And I admit that for me, the history thing is there. I'm using a tool that any 1700's European peasant would recognize. A simple friction folder. All Joseph Opinel did was mass produce a knife that has been around almost forever. And at that, it took until 1955 to add the unneeded locking ring. My Sardinian resolza and Japanese Higonokami are simple friction folders and they work fine for EDC cutting jobs.

I found that as I got older, my interest in friction folders intensified. I love the simplicity and reliable operation. They just get the cutting done with no fanfare. And having nice thin blades, they cut like the dickens. But the humble Opinel is for some reason above the other friction folders. Maybe its the one piece wood handle that is soooo easy to modify to your own hand, or the choice of sizes from the little keychain number 4 to the pack riding number 12 that makes a great camp kitchen knife.

No matter, when ever I handle an Opinel, I wonder why I bothered with all those "other" knives.

[Barry Rowland]

I agree completely sir!  I just had this discussion last night.  There's no bigger fan of Monsieur Opinel's products than me 

[SteveC]

So you can have a Christy , peanut and all the other knives you seem to like   

[David]

Never owned an Opinel. Almost ordered one out of a catalog years ago before the internet. But didnt for some long lost reason. Today they hold no interest to me at all.     

[Fuzzbucket]

Never owned an Opinel. Almost ordered one out of a catalog years ago before the internet. But didnt for some long lost reason. Today they hold no interest to me at all.     

David, exactly the same here - Opinels do absolutely nothing for me, I have as much interest in them as I would a garden dibber.

Saying that, I don't doubt that they are a brilliant and capable tools. 

[kkokkolis]

I love Opinels and other peasant knives, such as MAM. They do everything and they don't look or sound threatening when opened to cut a steak or a cake. My favorite is the Jardin #8.
I would add to those wooden handled knives the sheet metal ones, like Merkator and Douk Douk.
We only need one of them for most tasks.
Still, our curiosity or hoarding instincts are exploited by consumerism, with the help of the market and fellow hobbyists, forcing us to want to try or acquire as much as we can, expecting to avoid feeling the meaninglessness of life this way.
Accepting that, knives, SAKs and Multitools are still better than drugs, gossip, pop culture or fashion, other people spend to.

[SurgeUk]

I love Opinels and other peasant knives, such as MAM. They do everything and they don't look or sound threatening when opened to cut a steak or a cake. My favorite is the Jardin #8.
I would add to those wooden handled knives the sheet metal ones, like Merkator and Douk Douk.
We only need one of them for most tasks.
Still, our curiosity or hoarding instincts are exploited by consumerism, with the help of the market and fellow hobbyists, forcing us to want to try or acquire as much as we can, expecting to avoid feeling the meaninglessness of life this way.
Accepting that, knives, SAKs and Multitools are still better than drugs, gossip, pop culture or fashion, other people spend to.

 

[cbl51]

I love Opinels and other peasant knives, such as MAM. They do everything and they don't look or sound threatening when opened to cut a steak or a cake. My favorite is the Jardin #8.
I would add to those wooden handled knives the sheet metal ones, like Merkator and Douk Douk.
We only need one of them for most tasks.
Still, our curiosity or hoarding instincts are exploited by consumerism, with the help of the market and fellow hobbyists, forcing us to want to try or acquire as much as we can, expecting to avoid feeling the meaninglessness of life this way.
Accepting that, knives, SAKs and Multitools are still better than drugs, gossip, pop culture or fashion, other people spend to.

YES, the Mercator and Douk-Douk are also great EDC working knives! When I was a kid, the old K55 "Cat knife" was sold in army=navy surplus stores for .99 cents. But to put that into a perspective, gas was like.25 cents a gallon, a Box of Winchester .22's was like 75 cents. The 'cat knife' was popular with gangs in the 1960's when they didn't want to be caught with the evil switch blade. Then the Buck 110 came out and it was a whole new ball game. I had one, and sometimes I muse about getting another one. They are great knives.

I love the peasant working knives!

[Aloha]

I suspect its memories once you get the knife in hand.  That familiarity and comfort of it.  The remembering of how well it carries and how well it cuts.  Its the remembering of its 100 plus year history in the Opinels case.  Its the memories of how well it served you.  Its the simplicity of it.  Those memories are in limbo once we move to the next thing.  The great thing is, limbo is broke once we get back to that thing.  Memories are neat like that especially the nice ones. 

What makes us do it?  We get bored of things.  I'm sure its not that simple but sure seems that way.  Why move back and forth between these things?  The SI worked as did the peanut.  The classic, the Recruit work.  The Christy, the buck, the...........  they all worked.  Those that didn't were easily moved on to long term storage or moved on.  Its those darn things that worked.  New discoveries to be had like the Executive.  That inexplicable feeling of a new thing.  Thats why I think we do it.           

It cuts and ticks a lot of boxes so why do we need anything else?  You'd think we would have stopped at the first knife that did just that until it wore out, got lost, or broke.  I used to think it was desire based but I am not so sure anymore.  Because preference and desire from a physiological approach are closely related I enjoy the discussion.  Desire is so multifaceted within the scope of philosophy and psychology that there are several theories to be explored.               
         
Maybe as Thomas Hobbes proposed, fundamental motivation of all human action is the desire for pleasure, psychological hedonism/motivational hedonism.  So maybe as such we move from objects to fulfill desires?  If a knife has done all its supposed to do and fulfills is role why then do we loose interest or move to another knife that fulfills the same role?  We can rationalize it however we want but is it as Hobbes suggests? 

In contrast, Baruch Spinoza view is natural desires as a form of bondage.  Interesting thought I think.  What about the sheer amount of time thinking and resources spent ( literally and figuratively ) on this hobby?  Some feel in bondage.  Heck some feel their collection is a form of bondage.  The bondage is having to decide what to carry or the rationalization of this tool vs that tool.  That endless loop of decisions.     

The idea of rediscovering a knife and recollecting the joys is wonderful to me.  Whatever the reasons its sure nice to have such an experience.   

 

   

[Shuya]

I thought of this over and over in the past, too.

I grew up in the countryside, parents have a large backyard with a sort of wilderness next to it (a overgrown large property) where my brothers and I spend our entire childhood.
Building huts, treehouses, making bow and arrow with steel tips from scrap, shooting this at stuff...
Been in the woods alot, too, hiking, harvesting berrys, shrooms and wild edibles.
I always had a pocket knife and cordage in my pocket, all I needed.
We had little money and so did I, so my knifes were usually crappy...


My thinking is, and sometimes it really is me daydreaming, what the little ME would have enjoyed all my knives.
Now I have lots of quality tools but lack the time and childish attitude to do what I did growing up.
So buying knives is a replacement drug,  a substitute act for my inner desire.

[Barry Rowland]

 Let me add to this that, for me, the Opinel is a break from the usual for me.  They're great for most of what I like to do, i.e. hike, camp, cook, and collect.  I can pick up a limited edition for less than the price of a standard edition knife.  But there's something deeper in them for me.  I don't know if it's the history, simplicity, or just that almost anything from France is exotic in my part of the world.  I just love them!

[Barry Rowland]

My thinking is, and sometimes it really is me daydreaming, what the little ME would have enjoyed all my knives.
Now I have lots of quality tools but lack the time and childish attitude to do what I did growing up.
So buying knives is a replacement drug,  a substitute act for my inner desire.

This is pretty much my reasoning and joy in collecting!  As a boy I never had the means to afford to collect.  Now, as an adult, it's fun.  As far as Opinel goes, they're pretty reasonable to collect, which is great when Mrs. R is looking for gifts  .

[Aloha]

Oh the hours roaming the fields and canyons  .  I'm there with you.  We'd pack out a bag and go on "missions".  Back then the area was still fairly underdeveloped.  Even tho I live in a urban area the adjacent area was still rolling hills and canyons.  I cannot recall if we had knives tho?  We had toy rifles and handguns.  We were soldiers of fortune ( like the magazine ) doing secret scouting missions.

I've always carried knives but mine were chefs knives  .  Working in the kitchen meant I was never without my tools.  My interest really got sparked here on MTO.  Its design, function, materials, and purely the fun of it.  As an additional wonderful aspect, the camaraderie.

Barry you are someone who is interesting in that you carried a certain SAK for decades, the champion?  While I have many knives and SAKs I really only have a "few" out that I will actually carry.  Those live on my desk.  If I haven't carried a certain item in a while it is wonderful when I do decide to carry it.  I recall why I enjoyed this knife so much.  Doesn't mean I'll stick with it since lets face it, I like knives.       

[Barry Rowland]

You and me bothy friend!  A combination of MTO and an EDC son are what finally got me into new knifes and multitools.  That Huntsman saw me through a lot of things, but it's fun carrying different things now 

[Aloha]

Huntsman  .  Yes its fun and should be like any hobby or interest at least IMO.