Collectors VS Users

[Simple Man]

Accumulator/User, every knife I get is usually to fill a perceived void in my intended uses. Last one I got was an upgrade from SS E4 to G-10 E4, before that was a Queen Small Stockman in D2 to upgrade a Buck small stockman.

The exception is a few I got at a good price with express intentions of holding onto NIB for a while and releasing back into the wild later to support my habit.

[Bolster]

...Queen Small Stockman in D2...

That's a fine knife!

[aj1985]

I'm a "stocker."

I keep a stock of favorite knives for the day I lose the one I'm carrying. So I have multiple Calys, Persians, Manix'es, & Yojimbos. I don't have two Stretch'es yet so I can't carry the one I have.

If it makes it into the weekly rotation, there's a backup sitting on the shelf.

Just had to break out a backup of a CF Caly III, as I recently lost my user. (Ouch.)

You think your a stocker. I have 9 dodos. :eek:
Oh well atleast I'm set for this lifetime and a few more :p

aj

[A.P.F.]

I'm a "stocker."

I keep a stock of favorite knives for the day I lose the one I'm carrying. So I have multiple Calys, Persians, Manix'es, & Yojimbos. I don't have two Stretch'es yet so I can't carry the one I have.

If it makes it into the weekly rotation, there's a backup sitting on the shelf.

Just had to break out a backup of a CF Caly III, as I recently lost my user. (Ouch.)

'Stocker' is an excellent term, which also describes my habits in part. I find myself collecting various models, but when I like one enough to EDC it, I simply must have a 'backup', just in case. And yes, I have OCD.

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: I just like knives. I play with them, I train with them, I give them away as gifts. All my knives get pocket time, used and sharpened. I don't keep the boxes. :spyder:

[jjmc2001]

I am a long term accumulator. I have slowly come to realize that I will not be a true Spyderco collector but I have over a dozen that find their way into my daily rotation. I will also admit that a few Benchmades (can I say that here)and Customs have found their way into the mix. Love the axis lock. I have given several away over the last couple of years and continue to buy ones that I simply must have but I have also recently started to cull the herd a bit. Someday I may get more aggressive with my collecting but my current watch collecting hobby seems to require larger funds. Everyone should have several Spydies to use everyday and perhaps a few backups for their favorites.

[aj1985]

I'm trying to get out of spydies and I'm just getting sucked back in.

Had about 4 dodos 2 months ago and now 13. I think I'm just a lost cause :D

**** you Spyderco bug leave me so I can own other custom blades :p

just wanted to rant lol

aj

[gull wing]

wow! i thought there more hard core collectors. i love knives so much i cannot help myself but to carry and use and sometimes "mess one up"(modify) it. i own many more knives(mostly spydes) than i could use in several lifetimes. i read an article in a knife mag years ago and it was about USER/COLLECTORS: someone who buys a knife, carrys it for a while, then puts it back in it's box. then buying another and the cycle continues. the user/ collector usually has a small "core" of edc's he never puts away(calypso jr for me)

[Elsilrac1]

I suppose I am part collector (because I want one of each) and part stocker (because I want two of each I plan to rotate). No DoDo's yet. They seem to be out of my price range when I find one, or I get out bid on Ebay. I agree a Sprint run would be great. Maybe in Foilage Green and Orange like the new UKPKs.

[WOTANSON1]

I'm a user, factory, mid tech or custom, if I won't use it on a semi regular basis...it's gone. I do this because my taste has changed in the past 6 years, by selling off knives I don't use it replenishes my knife fund. I had a NIB CE Gunting, sold it off to help with my next Strider purchase, a knife I will actually use. Now that the Anso collab is a reality I have to sell off more knives because I want to compare/contrast it with my custom. A man can't have too many knives. :)

Cheers,
Rob

[zenheretic]

I'm an accumulator with a leaning towards collecting.

The funny thing about users as a gross generalization is it seems if a thread ever starts out as a discussion about collecting this or that knife, two or three users will always chime in to let you know that they would never have just have a safe queen or collect knives to only look at. It almost seems like a compulsion on their part. They only get knives to USE.

A collector, on the other hand, usually doesn't just bust into a thread to let you know that they would only collect X knife, but they might let you know that X knife is worth Y more dollars if it unused.

[Fred Sanford]

I would like to be a collector but right now I have other things to spend money on.

I do have knives that I don't use because they are special to me in some form or another. Most of these knives were from family members that have passed away or gifts from friends or family.

The problem is....everytime I get around 10+ knives I start feeling guilty for not using most of them, so I end up selling them off and keeping about 4 of them.

So I decided to use the ones I have and even the "sentimental" ones get use now because they are knives and meant to cut things.

So, I guess I'm a user more than a collector. I however do enjoy accumulating knives that are gifts or just old knives with a story behind them.

It's funny, I'm only 34 but as I get older I realize we should all use our good knives, "good china" or whatever else. I would like to know that if I died tomorrow that I am using stuff instead of "saving it for a future date".

I kind of go in cycles. There are weeks and months where I want to collect, and then there are other times where I just want to use what I have collected.

I think I reside in the middle of collector and user but am more of a user as I don't have very many knives. If you count all the different brands along with my Spydies, I have about 16 knives total. Four of those are Spydies.

[zenheretic]

It's funny, I'm only 34 but as I get older I realize we should all use our good knives, "good china" or whatever else. I would like to know that if I died tomorrow that I am using stuff instead of "saving it for a future date".

That reminds me of a great Zen parable.

[tonydahose]

i would say i am 90% collector and 10% user. I have used some of my rare spydies and scratched them up/broke off the clip the first day EDC :rolleyes: . after that episode i tend to leave the real nice ones in the case. i have been collecting spydies seriously for 2-3 years now and have used around 15 knives out of my 120ish...it is my lil obsession, if i wasn't spending it on this i'd be putting a supercharger on my cobra which would be very dangerous to my health :D ...what's that saying DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT :D

[Fred Sanford]

That reminds me of a great Zen parable.

Dude spill it. Tell me the parable please. :)

[ozspyder]

Dude spill it. Tell me the parable please. :)

Is that "USE IT OR LOSE IT"

or

"DON'T RUN WITH SCISSORS"

:D

[aj1985]

Oh crud I think I'm back to being a collector. Custom folders here I come. :D

someone save me :p

aj

[gandalfe]

From reading these posts, I can see a theme emerging.....User---accumulator---Collector.We start out as users, loving our new, sharp friend, until we, feel a need, to have more.This carries on, until we have too many to justify carrying them along with us, and we become accumulators.[where I am]If this trend continues, we become collectors, after a while.As long as we are having fun, who cares.I've spent money on much stupider things, and on objects of far lesser quality.If these knives get scratched or scuffed, we can polish it out.Good knives like Spyderco's have a long service life, and we can be assured, of getting our moneys worth.

[stavinchain]

Oh crud I think I'm back to being a collector. Custom folders here I come. :D

someone save me :p

aj

well aj, now you can kiss all your money goodbye. are you sure it's custom folders or caro that you want?

[aj1985]

well aj, now you can kiss all your money goodbye. are you sure it's custom folders or caro that you want?

CARO IS AWESOME :D