People tend to have a lot of different collections. People can collect conventional things such as stamps. Some people I know collect vinyl records, their own teeth or pencils. I fall under the category of knife collectors. Before I start a civil war between the knife enthusiasts, keep reading I will explain that we are all different.
First of all, knife collectors come in all shapes and sizes. All the contrarians and purists might say otherwise, but “this knife looks cool” is a perfectly legitimate reason to start looking into knives. Serious collectors might spend tons of time and money accumulating different types of cutlery with unique histories and backgrounds, while the more casual ones just enjoy the sight of a cool looking, pointy thing.
While the Bowie knife collector might extensively explain to you that it’s pronounced Boo-wee and not Bow-ee. The stiletto collectors will have the most beautiful and elegant blades one has seen, all of them made from 440A steel.
For the sake of keeping this article from becoming a book, I will assume you would like to collect a wider range of knives. So I will not explore the types of knives there are or the differences in their history, value and development. I will also assume you will take your knives and use them for woodworking or maybe in the kitchen.
One of the pitfalls you could fall in, is buying too good to be true handmade knives. A lot of mass produced, mass sold “handmade or ‘’hand forged” are a marketing scam. Some manufacturers make mass produced knives and add machine made hammermarks to make it look like the knife underwent a lot of forging. This trick works very well with newbies who just start learning about knives.
Building up from the previous point a lot of these subpar knives are marketed as Japanese traditional handmade craft with techniques that entail traditions formed over centuries. Be careful and make sure you read the specifics of each knife. If you find vague writings about the greatness of the metal used, but nobody bothers to note down the specific type, we can be reasonably sure we do not have a quality product.
Most people will tell you to get a full-tang blade. In general those people are correct. A full-tang provides strength, better balance and will overall improve the usability of your knife, when it comes to stress on the blade. Try to get a full-tang if possible. However, there are these so called wall-hangers. These would be the blades you do not really move or use, rather you put them on display. In this case the absence of a full-tang might even be desirable, seeing how less material often means a product that’s lighter on the wallet.
As a knife thrower I can tell you, more is less. I bought some throwing knives off Amazon. Three out of four broke on the same day, which is understandable, since they had a massive hole in the middle. After that I bought professional quality throwing knives (The not scam ones) and they cost a lot of money. This was worth it, I felt as if the knives had a will of their own and flew precisely where I wanted them to fly.
Have fun with it. Do not be afraid to try out new handles, shapes and sizes. Even if you love you Bowies a nicely made Kukri might just surprise you. The weight of your knives is also highly subjective when it comes to preference and even more so from blade to blade. So just take your time and take the opportunity to buy knives in person if possible. This will help you to get a better feel and make you more comfortable with your further collecting. Also contrary to popular belief, though we play around with sharp instruments most of us are nice people and are happy to help you out in a hard situation.
I wish you all the best and hope you will be as sharp as your knife collection.