collecting old knives a dying hobby?

[winchester]

so as i was getting my ingo fix for the night i started thinking about my knife collection compared to what my fellow ingoers post in the cutting edge and for sale forums. does anyone else collect the old stuff anymore or is it a thing of the past? i never see posts about a 100 yr old whittler or fairing knife. when i was a kid and would goto the gun shows with my dad i was fascinated by the knife collections those old timers had on all those tables. i always loved talking to those old guys with their chewing tobacco and table full of cool old marbles knives. my dad bought me my first in 1975, a black buckarta 112 folding hunter. i guess thats what started a real love for sharp tools. since then i went through many patterns to collect, folding hunters, hobos, daggers, bowies, butterflies, survival knives etc. and never have decided what exactly i want to collect. i have seen some great collections of busse, striders, etc. but i see no jigged green bone or second cut stag. is there any love on ingo for the old hand forged, ground, and fitted knives of the past or am i just a 40 yr old with 80 yr old taste?
here are some of my favorites that i just couldent let go of when i would change brand or pattern.

 

[rhino]

Wow! That is an impressive collection!

I see not one but two Rigid Black Feathers. Those are the only two I've seen other than the one I've had for a long time!

 

[traderdan]

Very nice sir...yes there are some of us one here that love the quality of the knives produced in the early and middle 1900s. We are outnumbered by the tactical folks on this forum.

 

[Expat]

It seems like all collectible stuff from the old days have fallen out of favor...
I keep wishing I had sold my baseball cards back in the glory days...

 

[Kart29]

Nice collection! Those are the kinds of knives I like, too, but I only have a "few" - not a collection. Personally, I think the new "tactical" style of knives looks buttugly and ridiculous.

 

[Dean C.]

Is that a 1998 Emerson I see in your collection, the one right next to the Benchmade CQC7? And I am just speaking as a younger person the "tacticool" stuff is all I look at at this point I have a bunch of my Great Grandfathers old case knives and such but they just hold sentimental value to me. Compared to my striders, emersons and such they are impractical. I can go on for days about "new" knives but my knowledge of the older stuff adds up to about nothing. Not because they are bad knives I just prefer the ease of use and high end materials more than I prefer traditional.

 

[winchester]

The Emerson is a 01 I think. You would have to ask other Dave to be sure because that's one I sold to him. This is probably 1/2 of my knives but wasn't sure ho many pics I could show. My wife had been bugging me to get them all out and take pics for insurance for years but I didn't want to because she didn't have a clue how many there were. She told me that's fine and started showing me shoes she had stashed in her closet. So we made a deal, don't ask don't tell.

 

[kawtech87]

I Not because they are bad knives I just prefer the ease of use and high end materials more than I prefer traditional.

It's funny because I have recently been finding myself going the opposite way. After an extended period of time being interested in the "latest and greatest" I found myself getting bored with "black" knives and now I am starting to look at and be drawn to the older style more traditional knives. I think it has a lot to do with my new found interest in Bushcraft and a desire to learn how to use a knife for a practical purpose rather than to just have something that looks cool hanging off my belt. Along with this has come an appreciation for the antiques and the time when every man carried and used a knife everyday because it was a necessary tool of the times.

I am currently looking for a good traditional style Bushcraft knife and I think I have settled on a Condor Bushlore as an entry level tool to use to learn the craft.

 

[Slawburger]

Wow, just wow. You have some really nice items in there. I don't collect or know a lot about knives. I just carry one every day and have a few sentimental ones tucked away. That had to take awhile to accumulate that many, especially since many seem to have "character".

 

[Bradsknives]

Here is a link to a blog that I wrote back in 2009 on a different forum concerning this very subject.

The Death of Vintage Knife Collecting - iKnife Collector

 

[rhino]

I love old knives, especially jackknives with a spear blade and a pen blade. I love the stockman pattern too.

I found a UTICA scout-style knife in a surplus store in Alameda, CA back in 1990, or so. It's pretty sweet.

 

[winchester]

Wow, just wow. You have some really nice items in there. I don't collect or know a lot about knives. I just carry one every day and have a few sentimental ones tucked away. That had to take awhile to accumulate that many, especially since many seem to have "character".

well at one time , before kids knives were my passion. I timed my wedding so I could hit the Denver gun and knife show on my honeymoon in 97. I got most my knives between 1991 and 1999 when we had a our first son. Before kids we were never home always chasing the holy grail of knives from Michigan to Tennessee, Pennsylvania to Missouri. Flea markets auctions festivals antique stores were full of
great knives to be had because nobody had the net to see what they were worth. With the internet and all its info bargains are hard to find but I treat myself to one every so often if the kids don't need new shoes again.

 

[winchester]

Here is a link to a blog that I wrote back in 2009 on a different forum concerning this very subject.

The Death of Vintage Knife Collecting - iKnife Collector

great blog, I wish I was a writer! I used to set up with the old timers ( bill smith, Dallas b, Hobart t, George y) at the Indiana gun shows and even did the grand ingatlinburg Louisville the Chicago shows. Those were some of the best days when you could make big trades to get what u wanted. Your right though it didn't take long for those seasoned collectors to teach you a thing or two if you wasn't careful.as I look back I practically gave some rare pieces away but At the time I was happy if I just made enough for gas
And something to stash away.

 

[Lammchop93]

I'm 20 years old, and I feel like I'm the only person who enjoys older things including knives. My typical EDC is a Ruger Revolver and a Case knife. I just like the simplicity of all of it.

 

[Dean C.]

Very nicely written article Brad!!

 

[roadrunner681]

i agree with brad, the first thing i asked when i met him at the 1500 was did he have spyderco i dont think i even looked for any older knives now that i think of it.

 

[Field King]

Nice collection "Winchester" as Traderdan said there are a few old knife collectors on Ingo. I am from the old school. Remember watching the seniors who taught me to hunt/fish sit on the porch or barn yard and skin a deer or squirrel, clean fish with oldtimer knives or Case XX or a "damngood one" John Primble pocket knife. I buy a few each summer at yard sales, auctions or flea markets.

 

[ru6797]

thats a lot of knifes, I have a few not that many, I got 4 about 3 years ago helping clean out a poll barn of my wifes grandfather, he was going into a home, he was from kentucy and in his barn was some old old big knifes that he and his family used to pick tobacco in kentucy when he was a kid, he is now 101 years old

 

[winchester]

thats a lot of knifes, I have a few not that many, I got 4 about 3 years ago helping clean out a poll barn of my wifes grandfather, he was going into a home, he was from kentucy and in his barn was some old old big knifes that he and his family used to pick tobacco in kentucy when he was a kid, he is now 101 years old

most of mine are just things ive picked up but the ones that i got from my granpas and dad are true treasures that i could never part with till i pass them on to my boys. here are some more pics of the stash. i might get some crap from the cold steel haters but in the late 80's early 90's my favorite knives were cs carbon v, san mia, and pacific cutlery (pre benchmade jody samson)

the hatchet on far left was made by my dad in the tool room at delco electronics, he used it to quarter a bull elk in colorado.

the bottom case side-winder is a one of a kind original proto type from the case factory collection

the hobo in the middle is a green bone case bradford pre 1920

picked up the cuda from brad a couple years ago at kokomo for a very fair price!!

the top knife is a early gerber autopsy knife to dissect the brain i think

#2 is a really cool knife from locknife missouri the next one was made by pabu the famous butterfly knife maker

wraven knife proto type

all haynes stellite kokomo

1966 case xx astronaut knife

most of these were my dads.
and thats about it besides the few ive bought since i took these pics 2012 and my gerber touche belt buckel collection and the cigar boxes full of old knives with a broke blade or chipped bone scales. thanks for looking, maybe it will start a fire to some younger guys to keep the hobby going for the next generations.

 

[shortbusbob]

I like that old stuff , But , Dang it cost to much to sit in a draw and rust . I found an old Case a while back .
It cost more than I paid for my K22 Smith & Wesson ! Really ... $450 for a dang 3 blade green handle Case ?
I like my guns better . It had been sharpened ! I don't need that kind of rare ....