So the thought of having a knife just lying around in its box, never getting carried, looking like new for month and month has been a bit weird for me for the longest time.
Till I lost my Stretch 1 (VG10) around March or April 2018.
The model was already discontinued at that time, and only the Stretch 2 available any more.
I like the Stretch 2, but the Stretch 1 is the knife I really can´t imagine NOT having in my pocket several times a week.
Like it is probably quite often in life, I fully realized how much I love this model even more so when it was gone, and I could not find a replacement.
I was even less into online-stuff then as I am now, so I did not have to many sources or ideas where to get another Stretch 1.
I mailed to dealers all around the world, but for the longest time I did have no luck. Stretch 1 was no longer in stock anywhere, except a few ebay dealers, and those were not willing to ship to Europe, though I offered them to pay high prices for that (now I found a way of shipping knives to an US postal adress and then have them forwarded to Europe, but I was not aware of that method in 2018).
I even had an extended email exchange with a sales person from a dealer in the Philippines: They HAD the Stretch 1 in stock, but would only ship domestically. I tried to convince the lady, that I´d send her money, she would then buy the knife by herself and ship it to me privately. No way..
Eventually (after MONTH!) I managed to get another Stretch 1 VG10 (for a ridiculously high price, but it was worth it for me without any doubt).
Then, since I love my HAP 40 Endura, I got a Stretch 1 in that steel too, when I found one on ebay.
And now, finally the point of this thread
![wink ;)](./images/smilies/winking-face.png)
When a very kind forum member some month ago pointed me to a dealer who actually had the Stretch 1 (VG10) still in stock for a very good price, I bought my one and only backup ever,the one and only knife I have twice in the exact same version, and the one and only knife that sits in its box just in case the day would come when I (heaven forbid!) loose my Stretch 1 VG10 user once more...
![wink ;)](./images/smilies/winking-face.png)
How is it with you all? Do you have backups for knives? Generally? Or only of models that would not be available anymore should you loose the one you have?