Lot's of knives, but just carry a couple because I like to "preserve" the edges on the others

Bushman · Aug 10, 2020

I have probably over 100 folding knives. Yet I carry mostly the same two knives in rotation that I've used for nearly 20 years. One is a beater knife that I use for camping and around the house chores. The other is more of a defensive knife that I use for other tasks here and there when I do carry it.

I sometimes carry one of my other knives that are razor sharp, but don't use them for chores because I can never get the blade AS sharp as factory. But I'm looking at all my knives and thinking to myself, what is the point of having all these other knives, multiples of each, if I never use them or rarely carry them. It's like I'm going to die with 100 untouched knives I never got to enjoy. I feel like I'm being TOO conservative with my gear to an extent.

So is it reasonable to carry one knife that is untouched and left for defensive purposes while carrying another for chores, or should I be less worried about using these defensive knives and dulling the blade, not being able to get them as sharp as factory again? Am I right to be conservative or should I just rotate these blades and start using them?

I started carrying a multi tool a year ago and that is the knife I generally use now for chores. SO I could carry some of my defensive knives in rotation so that I am at least carrying them instead of collecting them....

Jonnyuma · Aug 10, 2020

100+ seems excessive unless the fun for you is in the collecting.

If the fun is in the ownership, then maybe expand your hobby to include sharpening... a lot of people enjoy it and to them, it's as much a part of collecting as buying, selling, trading, and arguing.

I carry a Zero Tolerance or Kershaw folder every day. If it gets dull I use a Spyderco sharpener to whoop it back into shape. It's an art and I'm not very good at it, but it's satisfying just the same.