How many is too many?

[Josh Crutchley]

Hope you enjoy it :)

I'm sure I will, haven't met a Spyderco I didn't like. It may even make me buy that N5 Salt I've been eyeing for months.

[Evil D]

Once you narrow it down to the best knife for your needs and preferences and you end up with a bunch that you never use or carry, you've got enough.

At least until the next sprint/exclusive/new model comes out :D

That's something I'm worried about. My taste in knives is changing so fast.

Yep that's most likely going to happen. I have so many that were "the one", even in the last few years that I may not have totally lost interest in but I've found the next "the one" and have moved on. The bright side to that is whenever I get them out again it's like getting a new knife all over again so it's not all bad. Most of mine are users and I wouldn't get enough out of selling them to bother, so I hang onto them for my kids to inherit someday.

[bearfacedkiller]

If all your bills are paid and you stuffing away a little savings then the rest is fun money. You are gonna spend it on something anyway, just spend it on something you enjoy. :)

[z1r]

Seriously I bought a S35VN Native 5 LW on Spyderco Swap. It was too good a deal to pass up. The knife is a second but I only paid what they paid for it. I know how good my second is so I'm not to worried about that. It should be here tomorrow hopefully.

Hope you enjoy it :)

Got my LW Native 5 S35VN at the outlet and absolutely love it. Given the local blade restrictions, this is about the perfect combination of size to blade length. Got a Delica recently and much prefer the Native. I may have to register on the Swap so I can move the Delica. Been eyeballing a Maxamet Manix!

[SRT392HEMI]

Told wifey I might slow down when I reach 30 or so folders, so then I can carry a different blade every day of the month. She just rolled eyes and walked off, I took that as a green light. Judging by some of y'all's posts, some of you can go a year without carrying same knife twice.

[Eliteone2383]

My issue is I can't put the para 3 and para 2 down so I have to force myself to carry my other knives now. I had plans to buy at least 3 more spydies but I can't justify it

[Sharp Guy]

You will eventually stop buying spyderco knives... And then the next Reveal will drop. :D

Haha yep! :)

[JuPaul]

It's definitely a problem when you first start getting into them. But I'm finding as my collection has grown and realization of what is practical for my daily needs, or fancy dress needs...that I really don't need EVERY new knife that comes out. Once I start overlapping colors, steels and more than 3-4 variations of the same model, I tell myself to chill out!

Then I go spend a bunch of money on other brands to rationalize buying a new knife...so I guess that really isn't doing me any good, or being helpful to you :p

Nailed it! It becomes a cycle of binge and purge. Get a bunch of new stuff, try it out, keep my favorites, pass on the others. Repeat.

[standy99]

I just buy a few custom fixed blades to slow my Spyderco buying up a little. It’s working great :p :p

[Granoo Fink]

When your wife throws your stuff on the lawn. Otherwise, no such thing. :D

Better than on the carport, you don't need a ladder to collect your stuff :p

[kobold]

Funny you should mention that, I was reorganizing a new 30 Pac into the collection last night and realized I have to buy a bigger bed to hold any more... or another bed.... hrmmm

You need bunk beds. :D

[kobold]

I am selling five Condors, two Moras, a Sage 5, a Chap FRN and a Ruike.

At the same time there is a Military, and a Maple Chap in the mail. And two Z-cuts, but kitchen knives doesn't count, I think. I feel like I am downsizing really. Twenty is not too bad? :rolleyes:

[ladybug93]

the real question is how many is enough?

the answer: n+1

[aicolainen]

Too many? what's that?

I think most of us that fall into the rabbit hole, are curious persons that like to learn more and gain experience with different steels, locks, grinds, sizes and other design elements. It's hard to achieve that without buying slightly more than strictly necessary to get by with our daily cutting tasks.
And like others have said, through this process we find our preferences and some knives can occasionally be released back into the wild as we continue our never ending quest to reduce and refine toward that perfect "little" selection of knives.

There are some rules of thumb though. Be deliberate with your purchases and be conscious about what you're trying to achieve with it. Don't be carried away by FOMO and trying to acquire every cool looking knife, just because it fits into a fairytale version of your life. Keep it real and acquire according to your current needs.
Spend only money you can do without. This one is tricky, because every acquisition comes with an opportunity cost. Everyone could probably use a well made knife or three in the USD100+ range, but when you're approaching 10 times that, you should really start paying attention to what opportunities you're sacrificing.

For me there are three main indicators of a deliberate acquisition:
- A specific use case. It can be VERY specific, but it must be a real use case where I presume the knife will enhance my experience of that activity in some meaningful way.
- Curiosity / learning. This can be just about anything. Currently I'm trying to learn more about serrations, and has bought 3 serrated knives in the last 6 months to help fuel my curiosity.
- Collecting. I say I'm not a collector, and that's mostly true. I have no ambition of curating a collection with any kind of meaningful theme or historical importance, but as someone who has developed an interest in knives, there are just a few that I personally consider important enough that owning one myself would bring enough joy to make it worthwhile. This category only makes up a truly insignificant number of my knives.

Got kind of serious there for a while... I should add though, while I feel I'm pretty good at making intentional and rational purchases, there is certainly room for improvements with regards to selling. I have quite a few more than I need atm, but because most knives are hard to come by around here and sellers remorse can be costly endeavor, I often have a hard time letting go.

[bbturbodad]

Once you narrow it down to the best knife for your needs and preferences and you end up with a bunch that you never use or carry, you've got enough.

At least until the next sprint/exclusive/new model comes out :D

That's something I'm worried about. My taste in knives is changing so fast.

Yep that's most likely going to happen. I have so many that were "the one", even in the last few years that I may not have totally lost interest in but I've found the next "the one" and have moved on. The bright side to that is whenever I get them out again it's like getting a new knife all over again so it's not all bad. Most of mine are users and I wouldn't get enough out of selling them to bother, so I hang onto them for my kids to inherit someday.

+1

I've had "the one" (or two) so many times I can't count and then I login here and see something new I "have to tryout". Then a day comes when I notice I've let my daily dull more than I like as I'm putting in the pocket so I quickly grab something out of my extremely unorganized case and remember how great that knife is and enjoy it again.

Most of my knives are pretty well used or at least sharpened to thin enough angles that I don't sell them because I don't want to deal with hassle of a buyer not being happy with their purchase so I just keep em. I should probably get rid of the boxes that are taking up more space than the knives, although the extra space would probably lead to buying more knives.

On a side note I haven't added any new ones this year...so far. But I did preorder Swicks for me and the wife when they were revealed last year so I don't know that still counts. :) Oh and I'm still waiting on the HH UKPK ordered last year. :D

[Vaugith]

My initial plan to slow myself down was to picture different use cases, and to only keep the knife that would fill the needs of each the best. That didn't work. I just kept coming up with more uses, and found some that worked just as well as another for it's use but provided enough of a different experience to be worth keeping.

My current plan is to only own enough knives to fill one 18 slot spyderpac. When I convince myself to buy a new knife, I have to also evaluate which one has to go, which does slow me down quite a bit. It's been working for about six months now. The issue with this method though is that it doesn't stop me from buying fixed blades, or kitchen knives, or knives that stay at work, or... you get it.

[RLR]

If you have to ask...

[Holland]

Once you narrow it down to the best knife for your needs and preferences and you end up with a bunch that you never use or carry, you've got enough.

At least until the next sprint/exclusive/new model comes out :D

Sums up my journey. Have bought and sold over 100 spydercos.

Now I have around 30 and don't use 3/4s of them, but the ones I don't use have too much sentimental value to get rid of.

[AlexRus]

Never too many :D

[wrdwrght]

It’s never too many if you don’t count them...