Do you use you collectible knives, for instance a $ 500 knife ?

A Randall was my companion when flying a Super Cub in Alaska in '92

Took a Randall #15 to OEF with me and have a different one I use to skin deer with sometimes (got it used). However, I do have other Randalls which do just sit. So, it depends some on the knife and my need to use it.

Took a Randall #1 to Vietnam. It is still in the A Shah valley, so yes all my knives are user except the one that replaced the Randall and sits in a display case in the glass China cabinet

To your specific parameters of the OP, no I do not use more expensive knives regularly. I have never paid more than $90 for one though.

My EDC is a Spyderco Yojimbo 2 which goes for around $150 these days. For me, that is an expensive knife. Maybe not a collector piece…yet.

Right at $200 is the most I've paid. I use most however. Some might get used a lot less, and some aren't used when I expect to use one hard. For me the only ones I don't actually use are the 2 given to me by my Grandfather. If I ever see a $500 knife that I like well enough to spend that much on it will be used too. Even most Randall's. Now if it were some sort of limited edition maybe not.

I don't have but one expensive knife. Most are in the $50 to $100 plus range. I tend to use the ones that work well for the task at hand. We all use them for what we purchased them to do, some of us are harder than others on a knife. I would be on the less hard use side. I need them all to be able to do work.

I've owned a few knives over the years and later sold most of them off. Randall, Swamp Rat, etc. They financed my first AR build. Currently the most valuable I have is a Strider SnG which I carried and used for two years working in a CNC shop operating a 100 ton Amada press brake. For the most part it cleaned my fingernails and cut strink wrap off of carts filled with loose parts which needed further fabrication.

That darn S30V just won't dull dragging it over mild steel to free those parts. And, it is equally difficult to sharpen.

I'm selling off a few more now, a Buck Mayo 172, Benchmade Emerson CQC7, etc as I no longer need them or use them. High end steels and exotic (in the day) materials are well and good, the reality is that simple carbon steel and some casual care will do - Lewis and Clark traversed the continent with simple carbon knives imported cheap from Sheffield. If you can conquer the vast American West with a large paring knife, what point is having a $500 one? In terms of utility value, that much translated to Lewis's day would buy all the knives and hawks they carried.

Living in a 'first world" economy doesn't mean that we should indulge our every edged tool fantasy. My field knife is now a ESEE Laser Strike, and whatever I have clipped in a pocket that day. It's good enough. I am more than aware how knives are a fascinating hobby, and how the technology, metallurgy and fabrication is far more complex than the "dumb" steels and dead soft heat treatments used in firearms. Knives are an essential tool and deservedly an everday carry item. Focusing on them as a hobby is a rabbit hole of study and interest, much the same as building your own Pi computer to use out and about. There are limits to how far each of us can go - mislay that Strider for three weeks and rediscover it again thinking it was flat out gone and you begin to see where your's are.

There are some who treat watches the same way, it's interesting to see who still thinks a Rolex Submariner is the best dive watch for scuba - but the reality is that purchasing one would finance not only the fournd trip to an exotic location, but also all the tanks and equipment, and you'd still have money left over for a good Dive watch. Just because you can doesn't mean you should - and you can't take it with you. Don't be that guy with a trunk full of your collectibles being driven to a pawn shop because "all his knives" are a burden on his widow. Handle that disposition while you're still alert enough to deal with it, or they will get dumped for pennies on the dollar.

This time I'm building a large bore AR and that is another rabbit hole to explore carefully.

Many pocket knives I carry are in the $300-700 range. I use them daily, but most are readily replaceable. The kitchen knife I use multiple times a day is also over $500, but again, I could call the maker and easily order another one, so I don’t think of it as collectible.

I have collectible knifes that just sit in a case for the sake of art. Many are worth less than $500, some are worth much more.

[QUOTE="Tirod, post: 12032533, member: 69726"
There are some who treat watches the same way, it's interesting to see who still thinks a Rolex Submariner is the best dive watch for scuba - but the reality is that purchasing one would finance not only the fournd trip to an exotic location, but also all the tanks and equipment, and you'd still have money left over for a good Dive watch.
[/QUOTE]
Sometimes you buy something because it's just a good tool and use it hard, only to find out later its become a collectible.

You mention Rolex Submariner, I bought one in Geneva in 1970 because it was one of the better dive watches at the time and a strong tool watch. Paid the grand sum of US $128. Wore it every day for the next 40 years while in LE; shot with it, worked on vehicles, rode motorcycles, etc. Never took it off because I'm prone to losing things.

Now that model is highly collectible, my brother had the same watch, a 5513 model, and just sold it for $9K. My son was gifted mine about 10 years ago.

Also have a Microtech Lightfoot auto knife I bought because I wanted a strong duty knife back in the 90's, now it's also collectible.

I carry two Case pocketknives daily, and together they will value at about $300. One is an Amber bone Kick-start Trapperlock, and it cost me $110 on sale; the other is a 48-64 Redbone Stockman with the "for flesh only" etch on the blade. Those that know, know that that particular knife is rather expensive (as in $175-$200 and up). I carry them, and I use them just like I would a cheap $10 Chinese knife. I'm the same way with guns. My $1000+ shotguns get used just as much and just like my $100 ones do. Knives and guns are tools to me, and I use them for the purpose they are intended to be used for. The fact that they are embellished, engraved, or have fine wood is just a bonus.

Mac

This past March I decided to order the Randall Arkansas Toothpick. I’ve wanted one for years, really decades. It is my intention to order another next March, one to display, one to scratch up.

That is in 5-6 years when I get them.

yeah, erm NO. I have less expensive clones of my collectable knives if they are the ones I want to use.

An example of this is I have a few very expensive tracker knives running well over $600. Instead of using them I get BRK trakkers or TOPS Tom Brown trackers which run half that price.

Price is not the only consideration for this. I have many knives I consider collectable that are under $250. They are beautiful custom knives that the maker just does not charge a lot for.

The exception here is WC Knives because they generally run less than $300 so I buy two if I want it to be a user.

There are a lot of great knives that can be had for under $200 and many are under $100.


Here are a couple of WC knives that I got two of:

I used to carry a Randall trout and bird, I beat up the handle and sheath. It was not a slicer, very wedgie design. Prices on Randall's got so high, it just did not make sense to dent it up more.

There was a time when the only good knives were the custom knives. My bud, Danny Boy, three tour Veteran of Vietnam and Green Beret, told me that in the Vietnam era every Infantry Officer carried a Randall. Randalls are an excellent design. Have a few myself



From post WW2 to the middle 1980's, I think that was the era when custom knives were actually used in the field. And the basic reason was, the big knife companies were being run by Harvard MBA types who were not interested in knives, the knife market, knife customers, and were not interested in taking chances.

blast from the past:



Buck knives were great hunting knives, still are. But a bit lacking in the kill, crush, destroy category.



So, if you needed a special duty knife, you wrote a custom knife maker with your design. Dan Denney was a big name at the time, and this is the drawing submitted by the service man who wanted a better knife to carry in Southeast Asia



and this is the first "Green Beret knife" that Dan Denney made, for 1st Lt Godsey.






as you can see, Lt Godsey carried the knife and used it.



Lt Godsey died in Vietman, don't know when, don't know why, don't know if the knife was on him or not, but his effects came back to his family. But it is quite sure from looking at the edge and the blade, he used it in some capacity.

But, this Green Beret model, is as new as the day Dan Denney made it. And this is typical of these custom knives.





By the time you get into the late 80's, small manufacturer's are making very affordable knives, out of better materials, and at a price point far below a custom knife smith. And, you did not have to wait between two and five years to get your knife.

These are post 2000 knives, but when you can pick one of these up for $50 or $70 at the PX, and if you lose it, you are not out five hundred dollars, it makes economic sense to carry one of these.



I could carry this into the woods, but the finish and the blade would get scratched, and also the sheath would get worn and twisted, and to what purpose




When I can one of these, and don't care if I lose it:

I've had some fairly expensive knives and
used a couple, but in the end I decided
that somebody else would enjoy the
expensive knives more than I would and
sold them off with the watches and some
of the higher end firearms. I've also had
a few break ins, and I felt like the cash in
my pocket felt better to me than having
my goods spend the night in a pawn
shop somewhere or in a police evidence
room

I use everything I own. That said, a couple of Randalls and one CRK are the most expensive knives I have and for some, those are pretty middle of the road. I LIKE using good tools that will stand up to the tasks they're made for with no fuss.

Just fyi, there is a custom maker that makes Randall clones in super steels like 8670, AEB-L or Magnacut. I have 4 knives of various designs on order from him and the Randall clone, His Ouachita model, will be in Magnacut. These are maybe 2/3 the price of a Randall.



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