Knife categories

[ykspydiefan]

"nycone » Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:15 am

Hello,

A bit of background here. I like to build things. When my oldest son wanted his first camping knife, I discovered Spyderco Mules."

This post triggered me a bit. I have sons, I have knives, and I intend to hand them down in time. For the record, daughters need knives too, I just do not have any daughters.

I have read many lists of knife categories like, beater, safe queen, EDC, large/med/small, bush craft, folder, fixed... In these lists I rarely see Heirloom included. Is Heirloom so obvious that people just do not include it? I have not thought to include it in my knife lists but I do include it when I am buying a second of the same model. I tell my wife, "I do not need two, the boys need one each so there will not be any arguments about who inherits what in time."

One son has acquired a mermaid/merboy/merperson fascination. He put an unreasonable amount of time into a cold lake learning to swim well enough that Mom would buy him a merboy tail/costume. I bought him a Boker Rainbow Mermaid.

Anyway, do you buy knives with Heirloom in mind? Do you buy specific knives for specific kid? Do you buy for you and justify for them? Kids are just like a knife hobby, they grow in time and become their own.

[ykspydiefan]

Arg. Please excuse the double post, lack of "quote ability," and underperforming computer skills.

[JD Spydo]

I used to be more or less an avid collector. I'm still a collector of sorts but as time has gone by I've now become more of an avid "user" than I am a collector. I have just as big of a "user arsenal" as I do a long term collection. I really like to evaluate my favorite Spyderco models to see how great they perform under difficult conditions. Over the past 5 years I've gotten to where I no longer care much for "novelty" type knives like I used to collect>> because now if it's a type of a knife that I have no practical use for then I really can't embrace it.

I'm more geared now to "function and practicality" than I am to amusement. So my "Knife Categories" would boil down to which types of uses I would have for them. I use a wide selection of my Spyderco blades ( fixed blade & folder) for kitchen uses. And a lot of the knives I use in the kitchen you wouldn't normally think of being used for that. Again my categories are all about function and practicality.

[Evil D]

Nope. I haven't bought any that I specifically intend to "hang onto" for my kids future. I figure what they'll inherit from me will be MY knives and I want them to inherit stuff that I've used and enjoyed. I want them to see the wear and age on them and know this was Dad's knife.

[carrot]

Nope. I haven't bought any that I specifically intend to "hang onto" for my kids future. I figure what they'll inherit from me will be MY knives and I want them to inherit stuff that I've used and enjoyed. I want them to see the wear and age on them and know this was Dad's knife.

Agreed. "Dad's knife" is much more appealing to me than "the one he kept in a safe and fondled once a month while smoking a cigar."

I don't have offspring yet, and I don't know what model it will be, but "dad's knife" will definitely have a weird hump in the blade, a Spyderhole, and clearly designed-in-the-dark.

[Albatross]

A while back, I bought a pink Native to keep for my daughter. She's about to turn 2, so the knife would be sitting for a while. I had it for a couple months and sold it. I figured that instead of picking one for her, she could pick one of mine (similar to what Evil D mentioned) or she could pick one to be purchased for her. Regardless of how it happens, I'm sure she'll end up with a Spyderco at some point.

[steelcity16]

I actually have three young sons with the oldest just getting into knives now with a few small little Victorinox Classics for time being. My plan at the moment is to get 3 extra of any knife that I consider a "grail" in that model so they will each have one. The recent DLT Cruwear Delica was the first to meet this criteria and I have one set aside for each boy in addition to a user and backup for myself.

It's obviously hard to do on most exclusives that sell out in minutes with a limit of 1 or 2, as I refuse to pay marked up scalper prices, so I didn't get to do this on the Cru-ple PM2. I may do this on the Z-wear Shaman sprint though since Sal said they are doing a large run and there should be enough to go around. We'll see how it goes.

[Naperville]

I have a pretty large collection and I add to it every year. $20k and counting. I'd leave it to my nephew and niece but, I don't really know them all that well due to my brother having a divorce.

If all fails, I'll leave my collection to the USMC. They would not be able to get the knives that I have at the base commissary. I know they would enjoy my collection.

[RustyIron]

I have read many lists of knife categories like, beater, safe queen, EDC, large/med/small, bush craft, folder, fixed...

You're overthinking it. In reality, there are only two categories of knives: "Spydercos" and "All those others."

Good on ya for getting your kids knives they will keep. I wouldn't worry so much about "heirloom" quality. Hopefully he'll take it out and use it sensibly, and then use it on things that aren't really sensible. After all, that's how we all learn what a tool can and cannot do. And hopefully he'll sharpen it, which will inevitably lead to some bad sharpening decisions. Again, by experimenting is how we learn what works and what does not.

Prior to a backpacking trip, a friend approached me. Her young newphew wanted to borrow a knife for the adventure. I grabbed a handful from a drawer and told the kid to pick out whichever one that he'd like to keep. I was hoping that he'd choose a particular knife that was kind of nice. Instead, he chose one that wasn't all that great, but looked flashy. The kid was happy, and that was the goal. My point is, what is heirloom to a dusty old dinosaur might not be very desirable to a youngster.

[James Y]

I have no kids, so I never consider any of my knives as heirlooms to be passed down. Even with kids, there is no guarantee they’d be interested. I have a great-nephew and a great-niece, but they’ll never be into knives, and none of my other relatives (cousins, etc.) care about knives. So I just get whatever I like.

Maybe someday in the future (hopefully far future), I’ll sell them off.

Jim

[Rp5]

Whether it's a beater or a safe queen, a gentleman's carry or a survival knife... it's still probably going to someone. Of course, even if they like knives, there's no guarantee they'll keep a whole collection. My grandfather had a box of knives when he died... I was ten and I think my parents let me keep like 5 of them that were small enough I wouldn't kill myself. My parents/uncle didn't want any and the rest got sold. I still have the few smaller knives in a box and none of them are what I would call "heirloom quality." Rusty, a couple have broken scales, I wouldn't carry any of them.

To RustyIron's point, there's just no telling what the next generation will value. And that works both ways - the Tenacious you kept in your car could be the only knife your kid keeps and loves while your Manix 2 that you loved gets tossed in the Goodwill pile. I guess my point is that I wouldn't buy duplicates for the kids, but then again I don't have kids and nobody in my family are knife-people (similar to Jim), so maybe your needs are different.

[odomandr]

I dont think my dad ever carried any pocket knives. He did get me one when I was 5 when I started scouting. I ended up interested in knives by my own accord. I still have the one he gave me. I carried it on my wedding day and other special days periodically. It is nothing special just a slip joint from frost.


that being said we got my neice a mermaid tail with monofin swim attachment. She is all about it and now wants mermaid swim lessons too... the things kids get into will never cease to amaze adults.

[ykspydiefan]

Certainly, no telling what the next generation will value. My father has passed and circumstances left us with no access to his stuff. I am over it, long ago, however the one knife I would pick out of his stash would be a Buck 110, the one that he had on most every day. I do not own one and have never been inspired to buy one but I would like his one. Funny the emotions attached to stuff.

I have no price or quality associated with Heirloom quality anything. I do have aspirations that my kids will want my stuff. It is hard to plan to care for a Spyderco Waterway for its' lifetime. Sure one can sell at any time, it is just nice to think the kids will want to help out. It has been very much cleaner around our dinner table now that the boys are getting more excited about cutlery.

[James Y]

My dad carried a pocketknife of one type or other for his entire life. He was not a collector; he was a lifelong blue-collar worker who only saw a pocketknife as a tool. He was the type who bought a pocketknife, used it and didn’t buy another until the one he had was mostly sharpened down and used up. Most of his pocketknives were carbon steel Camillus knives, like medium jackknives. He also had a couple of scout-pattern knives. As a kid, I’d find the remains of his old, used-up knives in a toolbox.

He never specifically left his stuff like knives in a will. I helped my mom care for him in his later years (which I later did for my mom). I found his Buck 110 in its well-used leather holster among his things. It was an older model; the handle was narrower than the current models, and it had a slight convex edge grind. I don’t think it has a nail nick at all. I still have it. It’s still usable. I feel it was probably his last folder, because he had thick laborer’s fingers, as well as suffered from Parkinson’s, and he would’ve had problems using the nail nicks to open the medium-sized pocketknives he had previously favored.

I’ve kept it but will not use it. I also have an old vintage Camillus paratrooper’s switchblade that a former neighbor, who was a cop, had actually given to him, feeling that a switchblade may be easier for him to open. But my dad never carried it or used it.

Jim

[Bill1170]

My dad was a lifelong knife guy. I inherited many of his knives two years ago, with many others going to various relatives. Not having any children myself, I need to either sell off a bunch or find good recipients. I got a gold membership at BF but haven’t offered any for sale. It hasn’t been a priority.

A few of his are heirloom quality, Randalls he bought new in the 60’s, some of which have his first and last name engraved on the blade. Luckily, it’s also my name! I really should sell some of the knives; I’ll never use most of them and collecting isn’t my thing.

If I had a kid, she would probably be into knives and I’d want to pass mine on.