maybe as good as gold

[Lloyd Smale]

anyone else a mag junkie? i have mags everywhere especially ar and glock. 10 packs in the loading room under my bed in closets EVERYWHERE. i dont have a clue how many i own. 300 bo mag pulls on sale yesterday and i bought 10. i know i have 20 under the bed i havent even opened and MANY more scattered around empty and loaded. worse cases of excessive compulsion are 556 and glock 19s of all sizes and brands but there isnt a gun in the house i dont have at least 10 for. buddy said if they ever banned them from being sold id probably be a rich man. giving up drinking was easy, smoking was a sob but i dont think there is a cure for this one.

[Dee]

I'm not a hoarder in that regard. I have enough to get by, but I'm not expecting to need that many.
Had an acquaintance once that married a woman who had lost her 1st husband and had collected a very large insurance check.
He suddenly decided that every bow, rifle, and pistol he bought, should be bought in pairs. Just in case one broke.
About 10 or so years ago he forgot to latch the hitch on his camper coming back from a deer hunt, rolled down a hill and died.
I don't think one single bow, rifle, or pistol, went into the box they buried him in.

My penchant is for quality. I want what I consider the best rifle, or pistol for me.

I do have to control myself around quality knives, and have broke myself from buying them out of impulse.

[Lloyd Smale]

knives are another weekness of mine. guns? might buy one a year and usually get rid of one to get it. for the most part i have the guns i want. cant handgun hunt anymore, dont shoot ppc or any other comp any more and for the last two years crop damage deer shooting has been a one or two day thing because it seems im either getting surgery or recovering from one. ive got plenty of ars and plenty of fighting guns and a few sa and da gun that were just favorites i couldnt let go. wouldnt bother me a bit other than for principal if they told me i couldnt by another gun, ammo or reloading supplys. ive got plenty. but a nice knife or a mag on sale for 9 bucks and im hitting the buy button. what saves me with knives is ill only buy one i can hold in my hand first so its mostly gun shows or the shops of bark river knife company and rapid river knife company. both owned by the two main knife builders at marbles when the yuppies took over marbles.

[Ranger99]

I used to have a box of 1911
magazines somewhere, but
I'm not sure where they are.
After getting my first Chip
McCormick Shooting Star
magazines, that's what I
used for a long time

[DDZ]

I don't have all that many mags. Just enough to satisfy what I do. A number of years ago I started buying EDC knives. Every day carry knives. Knives like Benchmade, Kershaw, spyderco, Microtech SOG, etc.. A knife I carry now that I bought earlier this year, and is my favorite is the ZT 0562T. An affiliate of Kershaw makes them ZT stands for Zero Tolerance. Its made of titanium and is a finger flip opening knife. There are a lot of companies competing in the EDC knife market, and many of them are very well made.  To say the least I have a weakness for these types of knives now. Straight blade hunting knives not so much. I still have a case hunting knife that I have carried every deer season since I was 12. The blade has gotten pretty thin from so many sharpenings.
Now I'm looking at another titanium knife that has Vanx steel, and a sheepsfoot blade.  What drives the price on some of the EDC knives is the kind of steel the blade is made of. Technology has made strides in heat treating, and corrosion resistant blades. Vanx steel is at the top for corrosion resistance, but now lots of good knife steels out there.   

[Ranger99]

I've gotten rid of many of my
cutlery and firearms that were
gathering dust.
I had some stuff that I don't
even remember buying, but
some of it's been bought decades
ago and brought home and
stuck in a box and forgotten.


JMHO-  most all these new
expensive "super steel " knives
are geared towards people that
never developed a knife sharpening
skill with a regular whetstone like
has been used for centuries.
I've had a few that were nearly
impossible to put an edge on with
a conventional whetstone by hand.
I finally got over my stupor and
realized that I don't need something
that I can't put an edge on in the
middle of nowhere if needed.
Pretty much like most firearms
and cutlery, what worked fine
50 years ago is still viable in 2023

[Lloyd Smale]

im real talented. i can take a good knife and a wet stone and turn it into a good butter knife in minutes

I've gotten rid of many of my
cutlery and firearms that were
gathering dust.
I had some stuff that I don't
even remember buying, but
some of it's been bought decades
ago and brought home and
stuck in a box and forgotten.


JMHO-  most all these new
expensive "super steel " knives
are geared towards people that
never developed a knife sharpening
skill with a regular whetstone like
has been used for centuries.
I've had a few that were nearly
impossible to put an edge on with
a conventional whetstone by hand.
I finally got over my stupor and
realized that I don't need something
that I can't put an edge on in the
middle of nowhere if needed.
Pretty much like most firearms
and cutlery, what worked fine
50 years ago is still viable in 2023

[Ranger99]

im real talented. i can take a good knife and a wet stone and turn it into a good butter knife in minutes

Well sir, I didn't start out making laser beams
out of the cutting edges of knives. After my
daddy initially showed me what to do, it took
me a very long time to figure out the "secret "
There's no secret at all
You just have to find your way through the briars
like with any other thing, kinda like using a hoe
in the garden and only chop weeds and no vegetables
I guess there might be a couple of "secrets " in
that not every knife is ground properly or tempered
properly. Some need work on the edge straight out
of the box. Some won't hold an edge even after
careful work and pampering.
If I knew how to just look at a knife and judge it's
qualities, I'd write a book on the procedure and
sell it to the factories and make millions of dollars.
( wish - wish - wish  )

I can say that any knife worth having that's
sharpenable ( is that a real word?) can be
sharpened in a few minutes on one of
those $2.99 harbor freight whetstones.
I've done it a lot

[Dee]

im real talented. i can take a good knife and a wet stone and turn it into a good butter knife in minutes

Well sir, I didn't start out making laser beams
out of the cutting edges of knives. After my
daddy initially showed me what to do, it took
me a very long time to figure out the "secret "
There's no secret at all
You just have to find your way through the briars
like with any other thing, kinda like using a hoe
in the garden and only chop weeds and no vegetables
I guess there might be a couple of "secrets " in
that not every knife is ground properly or tempered
properly. Some need work on the edge straight out
of the box. Some won't hold an edge even after
careful work and pampering.
If I knew how to just look at a knife and judge it's
qualities, I'd write a book on the procedure and
sell it to the factories and make millions of dollars.
( wish - wish - wish  )

I can say that any knife worth having that's
sharpenable ( is that a real word?) can be
sharpened in a few minutes on one of
those $2.99 harbor freight whetstones.
I've done it a lot

My dad was as quick to use a pocket knife to remove a hubcap as he was a screwdriver. But my great grandfather was a lover of good knives. I learned good knives from him, and could put a fine edge on a knife before I was10 years old.
I've bought very few junk knives in my 73+ years and keep a good knife, with a good edge within reach at all times.

[Ranger99]

I have at least one everywhere
every day
Some of my relatives used to
use the old grinding wheel out
in the shed to sharpen their
knives while they were grinding
on a garden hoe or axe head
or whatever. I guess they were
trying to keep the dry goods store
in business, but likely just didn't
know better

I have several old Colonial and
Imperial knives and similar from
back in the old days like what
were on a card in the 5 and 10 cent
stores years ago, and they have
pretty good steel and can be
made very sharp.

I still have a couple of Benchmades
left, and they can be made very sharp,
but they're hard as a brick and a
a pain to casually resharpen.
The german made Puma and Eye
Brand Carl Schleper (?) are all
around quality

[DDZ]

All I ever used to sharpen knives is two Arkansas stones of different hardness.
A lot of knives were made with 1095 carbon steel, and depending on how it was heat treated had a hardness of 55-58 on the Rockwell scale. Held a pretty good edge, and not hard to sharpen. 1095 also  is easy to machine. A downfall of it is, it will rust, and corrode. Many of the knife steels for EDC knives today are 58 to 62 on the hardness scale.   The newer blade steels today have a combination of toughness, edge retention, and most of all corrosion resistance. Always hated a knife you had to keep oil on it to keep it from rusting. The new Vanax steel is an example of a blade steel that has good toughness, great edge retention, really great corrosion resistance, and is rather easy to sharpen.

[Dee]

Well I'm old, and set in my ways. I like carbon steel knives. I like the patina they get with use,  and age, and I have all my life.

[DDZ]

Yeah, I still like my old knives too. I still carry and use hunting knives I have had for decades. the only knives I have changed from using for everyday carry are knives like the old barlow. Case made some really good knives back in the day.

[darkgael]

I keep buying knives. Buy them, carry them, put them in a box with the others, take them out......I enjoy knives. The one that I carry most often, though, is a knife that I saw as a kid in an ad in either Sports Afield or Field and Stream. It is a Finnish Puukko by Tapio Wirkkala.
Could not buy one then. And then I lost sight of them for years.....enter Ebay. It is on my hip most days.
Tried to post a picture but the server said no,

[Lloyd Smale]

ill probably be called ugly names. i have some nice custom knives butout crop damage shooting i might have to gut 5 deer in a night and butcher all five the next day. ill tell you what i found works best and its this https://www.acmetools.com/outdoor-edge-razor-lite-knife-edc-orange-rlb-30c/743404301518.html?msclkid=de634a0868561b0e45732f7a43d308b1&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping-National-Search%20Only-Profit%20Margin%20Target-36-40&utm_term=4579809532194974&utm_content=Profit%20Margin%2036%25%20-%2040%25  icarry extra blades in my back pack and toss the blade after 2 deer and put in a new razor sharp one. there orange so you dont lay them down and walk away without them as i have done a number of times. i have them in my jeep and truck too and have one and a pile of blades where i skin, quarter and bone out the deer. only other knife i have whwere i butcher isa filet knife. yup im going to surely get kicked out of the cool knife club. but it works and i dont have to risk damaging or loosing a 2-300 dollar knife. again shoot me because those knives sit in the safe with my randles and will probably never get used again. but every once in a while i pull my two favorites out just because i love looking at Damascus steel. 

[Ranger99]

I've suggested to several people
that have no skill to sharpen knives
to buy one of the new replaceable
blade knives. That's why they make
them. I'm still able to sharpen the
knives I have left with a traditional
whetstone, so that's what I have
and use.  I've had some fairly expensive
knives that were really nice far as
materials and elegant construction,
but I was always scared of damage
and ruining the value, and I temporarily
lost an expensive knife one time and
spent the rest of my allotted hunting
time looking for it.
I'm satisfied with what I have now for
the most part, and I'm able to accomplish
my cutting chores without damage to
myself or whatever I'm trying to cut.

It's like everything else.
Use whatever works for you

[Dee]

I've suggested to several people
that have no skill to sharpen knives
to buy one of the new replaceable
blade knives. That's why they make
them. I'm still able to sharpen the
knives I have left with a traditional
whetstone, so that's what I have
and use.  I've had some fairly expensive
knives that were really nice far as
materials and elegant construction,
but I was always scared of damage
and ruining the value, and I temporarily
lost an expensive knife one time and
spent the rest of my allotted hunting
time looking for it.
I'm satisfied with what I have now for
the most part, and I'm able to accomplish
my cutting chores without damage to
myself or whatever I'm trying to cut.

It's like everything else.
Use whatever works for you

Agreed. I've processed multiple deer without having to resharpen a quality knife. I do however like the replaceable blades for my box cutter. Its whatever floats ones boat.

[gypsyman]

 Sold mags at gun shows for years, so got plenty of them. As far as knives, not a collector, but a user. Only have a few, couple of Ka-bars, Bucks, and a couple of Werthers. Small knife company here in Ohio. As far as sharpening a knife, pretty easy. Don't let it get dull!! Few strokes on an oil stone, few more on a ceramic stick, or a steel honing stick, and we're good.

[Dee]

Sold mags at gun shows for years, so got plenty of them. As far as knives, not a collector, but a user. Only have a few, couple of Ka-bars, Bucks, and a couple of Werthers. Small knife company here in Ohio. As far as sharpening a knife, pretty easy. Don't let it get dull!! Few strokes on an oil stone, few more on a ceramic stick, or a steel honing stick, and we're good.

The KISS method

[nw_hunter]

Works for me!