In the flashlight post I said I couldn’t think of any ‘preppy’ item I had turned into a hobby*. The statement was literally true – I couldn’t think of one at that moment. Didn’t mean there wasn’t such an object. In the comment thread overnight Abnormalist said,
“then I come back here, and realize “Crap, I really do have a flashlight cupboard”
and my mind was instantly jogged…
To a box…
On a secret hideaway shelf**…
Where I keep what’s left of my collection of knives that are just ‘too nice to use.’ (blush)
I’m a (recovering, somewhat, but mostly just because I lack cash) knife nut.
—
*Technically I used the word ‘fetishize,’ but I was just being snarky among friends.
**Extra points if you know what that’s from (no peeking)
Hehe…awesome. Another addiction I have. Knives that I buy then realize they are to nice to mess up with use.
I mostly end up using a Kobalt folding razor knife I can replace the blades in. Bought a two pack at lowes.
Looks like you are not alone. I have a “few” knives stashed away. These days the only knives I carry are a simple Swiss army alox pioneer and a Zero Tolerance 350. It’s funny that now with the Canadian dollar so low against the greenback plus the fact I’m retired and not in the same pay scale as I was, I could not afford to replace the ZT350 knife.
Who…Me? – That’s a good idea with the Kobalt folding razor knife. You never have to worry about sharpening it and if you travel on an airline and you have forgotten it’s in your pocket you can ditch the blade and get another blade upon arrival at your destination. Personally I have been looking at getting a couple of these to use around the cabin, in the BOB, in the glove box…
http://www.screwpoptool.com/utility-knife.html
Funny! Not long ago I started trying the same thing. It’s right here on my desk, but lately I haven’t been carrying it…
I’ve got an ‘accumulation’ of cutlery as well, man it gets out of hand quickly. The tab in front appears to me to be a Swiss bayonet frog. The knife handle above it looks very Kabarish.
I don’t make a lot of money, my truck is 15 years old (sole vehicle), I dress like a boat person who just came ashore and my entertainment budget is practically nil. The cutlery are for ‘investment purposes – yeah, thats it . . . investment purposes. :^)
😀 Glad I could contribute to the fodder!
I’m generally been more practical when it comes to knives, but both knives and flashlights have been a search for the same thing.
A daily use, practical, good enough, cheap enough option that I can carry it with me every day and not find myself thinking “Why on earth am I dealing with this piece of crap?!?” or thinking “Oh dear God, I’ve lost/broken my $xxx(x?) knife/light! AGAIN!” if it ends up missing
Right now the happy point for me seems to be the
Gerber Evo Jr in knives,
http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Knife-Fine-Edge-22-41492/dp/B000VW64YS
and the Rayovac Sportsman/Tactical in lights.
http://www.amazon.com/RAYOVAC-SPORTSMAN-TACTICAL-LIGHT-620-SP123A-B/dp/B00OQS9N1O
Knives I honestly loose more often as they fall out of pockets in the damnedest places, otherwise I would probably have a cupboard of knives as well…
I excused buying an expensive flashlight because it would be cheaper than replacing lost and broken cheap lights, that worked for about a year. I bought one $60 light instead of 10 $10 lights and had a better light all year I still have it it’s just not as nice as some of the others I’ve bought or built since then. I used the excuse of not buying disposable alkaline as an excuse to move to rechargeable lithium lights, at this point I’ve spent more then I ever could have on disposable cells. I’m not as bad with knives but it’s not that far behind, I have a hard time spending more than $50 for a knife but I hate low quality knives, I’ve got a Cold Steel Finn Wolf that was $40 and I’m looking to replace it, I want a scandi ground folder, I don’t like carrying a fixed blade every day but I can’t bring myself to spend 3 figures on a knife. Maybe if I can just find one perfect knife I’ll stop buying them for a while.
🙂 Good luck with that.
But if you want one folder that’ll last you all your life, not visually fancy and a little expensive but made to be used and hold a good edge, get yourself one of these. Benchmade Griptilian. Possibly the most expensive knife I ever bought – not allowing for inflation – at a little over $100 but I bought mine around the turn of the century and used it hard at work until semi-retiring it in 2008. I was doing a lot of cross-country walking with the boys, almost lost it once, and the action doesn’t like a steady diet of dirt.
I like the action on this knife as much as the steel, which is excellent. It’s got the best one-hand opening and closing I’ve ever seen. It’s basically what we called a gravity knife when I was a kid and spring-blades were illegal. And the lock has never failed. It’s just a very good working pocket knife. It’s still my going-to-town knife.
First flashlights, now knives. I have no idea how many knives I own. Only one high-end type hand made. The rest is a smorgasbord of types and brands. Daily carry is a SWAK and a Kershaw Scallion. Used to keep a Leatherman on my belt at all times too. Oddly, I don’t have a Benchmade. I ought to remedy that some time. But I certainly don’t need any more. I do like that Screwpop – cheap enough to have a few of them tucked away here and there.
A daily use, practical, good enough, cheap enough option that I can carry it with me every day and not find myself thinking [… oh *&^(* …] if it ends up missing.
Well, the folks at Blue Collar Prepping like the Mora. Never looked at one. Seems OK.
I’ll see your junk food junkie, and raise you Oreo Cookie Blues.
Don’t get me started on flashlights, I bought a Fenix LD10 for $40 that has ridden in my pocket for about 4 years and traveled the globe to some environmentally not wonderful places.
Knives; I used to collect them as a kid before guns, then the guns happened, knives sort of took a back seat. I carried one spyderco or another for a long time, until I got sick of replacing them because the clips suck.
Now I carry one or another of Cold Steel’s larger folders and a Leatherman Wave(best $70 ever spent at Costco).
I have been buying knives again, being the safe is getting full.
This bit of lunacy happened to drive via Amazon just today:
http://www.knifecenter.com/item/RCJUNGLASVG/esee-knives-junglas-machete-venom-green-blade-orange-g10-handles-black-sheath
Yes, I know it’s ridiculous.
No, I didn’t pay that much for it, Amazon Prime is the way to go.
That’s to replace my Ka-Bar on my trips to jungle-ish places (because that bit of kit is pretty useless for anything but dressing out long pig, and I’m getting to old for that shit anymore so it’ll get a place in my box like your Ka-Bar did.) and the wild ass color will hopefully keep it from walking off with someone.
I got my wife a nice little red Milwaukee folder from Home Depot the other day for our walks with the hound or when we are in the RV out somewhere.
$15 on sale down from a lofty $19, seems pretty sturdy, push button release to open it, liner lock, sharp and dresses up nice when it gets dull. No tears if it falls out of a pocket. One of my employees uses those disposable razor things, he’s something of a snob about then, claims the “Husky” brand from HD sucks likes the older Craftsman brand.
And yeah, I have a couple Mora knives. I give them to people overseas as gifts. I will probably STILL use those more in Philippines when I am there than that outrageous ass cleaver I just bought.
They are just handy little knives that give a ton of bang for the buck.
I also mostly use the Kobalt folding razor knife from Lowe’s, bought in the two pack. Carry one in my pocket always. They are easy to clean (mine acquires a lot of dirt), work even when dirty, blades are reasonable price and easy to replace no matter where you are, they are light weight and don’t take up much space. My Leatherman is too pretty to get dirty…Have never had a flashlight I really liked so the flashight discussion has been very interesting and appreciated. What the heck is so difficult about producing a functional, durable flashlight? that the market has so many that are long term useless.