What brings you more joy?

[atv223]

I've been thinking about this for quite a while. I have some Spyderco's that are "hard" use (not abuse) and they have the battle scars that show it. I also have some that I carry and use very lightly. The kind that if the need arises to cut something serious and it's in my pocket, I might actually go get a different knife or figure something else out. Lastly, I have the ones that I don't carry or cut anything with, at most they get handled occasionally.

I like them all but I can't really figure out what I get more joy out of. I love the look of the blemish-free ones, but the hard use ones have so many more memories and personality.

No right or wrong answer, just wondering how others feel about it.

[JacksonKnives]

I have a similar dilemma.
One thing is for sure, though, I always regret trying to cut with a knife that's too thick for the material or has weird protrusions getting in the way.
After carrying mostly Sal and Eric's thin-edge designs for the last 15 years, I don't waste time with my chunky knives anymore, even if I love other things about them.

[VooDooChild]

I love the used ones with character.

One day when I thin the heard a lot of my light use hardly carried knives will be sold.

[bearfacedkiller]

I definitely prefer my users.

[Evil D]

Definitely the users. It's hard to develop memories and special moments with a safe queen. I'm never gonna pick up a knife and reminisce about the last time I took it out of the box and fondled it.

[Cambertree]

The memories attached to well used tools are what give them the most value to me.

[wrdwrght]

I find joy using my Spydies (any of ‘em) hard, then diminishing (as distinct from the near-impossibility of removing) signs of a session’s wear, then repeating this cycle so that the signs accumulate gently and blend into a well-worn knife.

I don’t really care for the look of a new knife or of a knife with a glaring blemish left untreated.

[SG89]

I love having a sharp knife in my pocket that's ready to cut whatever I need and carries well in my pocket when I don't need it.

[mb1]

The using for sure. Even on the same knife, just having a screaming sharp edge vs a dull one is a source of joy.

[TkoK83Spy]

I use all of mine, don't see the sense in spending over $100 on something just to look at it or flick it around. I agree with many others, it's more of a personal bond once you use them and get a few scratches or blemishes on them.

Another reason I love DLC, you can use it for a few days and it looks all scratched up...then in 5 minutes you can easily clean it back up and restore that shiny black finish like nothing ever happened.

Satin blades, once you get that first scratch it's a bit of a bummer...but after that, I don't hesitate on cutting anything within reason for that particular model.

[VooDooChild]

I already said I love my used ones.

But my little avatar or picture or whatever, right next to my username, is a deep scratch through the bug logo on one of my users.

[pdixon]

I like the occasion of unboxing them, I don’t mean just the first time you buy them, I mean I keep all of mine in their original boxes

Some knives I buy just because they’re packaged in a way where I think - Jeez, that’s had so much thought and attention paid to it!

So mine are all mostly clean and unused. That said, I think I’ve cut myself on each and every one!

I can tell when I get a knife I don’t like - I end up using it!

[MichaelScott]

One of my Spydercos is my Schempp Bowie. It is special to me and will get used on the rear occasions. It reminds me of my sister and I growing up in Bowie, Texas, where she was born. She died last month, unexpectedly so when I take it out and look at it or take it out and use it it reminds me of her.

[bearfacedkiller]

If I like it I use it, if I don’t like it I don’t use it. Therefore the knives I like the most are the knives I use the most and the knives I like the least I use the least. My brain has a difficult time understanding folks with the opposite logic.

I get very little pleasure from ownership. All my enjoyment of a knife comes from carry and use. I am far from a minimalist but in general I dislike accumulating possessions more than most. Outside of knives I am way too pragmatic to own things I don’t need or have a use for.

[Albatross]

The memories attached to well used tools are what give them the most value to me.

This about sums it up. ^^^

The more I use a tool, the more attached I become.

[Evil D]

If I like it I use it, if I don’t like it I don’t use it. Therefore the knives I like the most are the knives I use the most and the knives I like the least I use the least. My brain has a difficult time understanding folks with the opposite logic.

I think a lot of people are caught up worrying about resale value. I even feel that from time to time but i have to use them in order to justify the cost in my head.

[ykspydiefan]

My joy comes from the thought that my collection will go to my 2 kids. It helps dissipate the financial energy of it all and makes me feel like I can get more that 100% out of a knife.

[ChrisinHove]

I have an excellent 1/4” drive socket set, improved and supplemented over the years, that I truly appreciate and use a great deal. I have no emotional attachment to it, though, despite scars of epic battles won and lost with recalcitrant fixings, memories of cunning bodges or the relief of successful repairs.

I guess our knives have more individuality from the start.

[curlyhairedboy]

Use is how the best memories are formed, I agree.

[Wartstein]

I totally respect people who "just" collect Spydercos (or some Spydercos) and get joy out of keeping them in pristine condition! There really is not "better or worse" way in enjoying the hobby, to each their own!

That being said: I am very much NOT one of those..

I like to use all of my Spydies, I wish I had a life/job where I could use them a lot MORE, and I think they look better and better the more scratched up, beat up, used and by that for me more "personal" they look.
That´s also one of the reasons why I like Micarta scales (they do show wear and can "tell a story") and cladded / tool steel blades (they do show wear AND Patina)

And: I personally just could not appreciate and evaluate a design or the properties of a certain steel without using the knife in various and also harder tasks.
For me it can make a rather huge difference if I just hold a folder and feel the ergos, or if I actually USE it in something like carving wood. For example: When just holding a Native 5 LW and a Chap FRN I´d say the Native is clearly more ergonomic and more comfortable in hand. Oddly (and totally unexpected for me at first), when really carving some wood, in my particular hand the (tough thinner) Chap feels more stable and less likely to "shift and turn" (that being said: The Native still has very good ergos, no doubt!)