All About Pocket Knives

Should you carry your most expensive knife as part of your EDC?

I only wear digital watches, though I prefer one in stainless rather than plastic. I tend to be rough with my watches!
It drives my wife crazy though, as she keeps wanting me to wear a watch with hands. She wants to buy me a fancy watch for the "look of it". She doesn't seem to understand that I can read a watch with hands (and do so very well), I just do not want to do it.
And I don't care about fashion, so ... Yes, a $40 or $50 digital watch is pretty much perfect!

Good topic. I wear a $600 Hamilton watch regularly. The most expensive knife that I carry is a custom Buck 112. I believe I paid around $140 for it a few years ago and it does get use. I have a few more expensive knives but they are for display only.

RevolverGuy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:41 pm Good topic. I wear a $600 Hamilton watch regularly. The most expensive knife that I carry is a custom Buck 112. I believe I paid around $140 for it a few years ago and it does get use. I have a few more expensive knives but they are for display only.

I am just a working stiff, I do some landscaping and scrapping metal. That being said I usually wear an Omega GMT Sea-master that cost me $2500 in 1996. I think it is about 4K to replace it. Sometimes I carry a beat up old Camillus #29 and or a #67 or #68 and a #99. Sometimes I have a $350 Microtech in my pocket, it just depends on the day. I heard years ago that life is too short to wear a cheap watch... or carry a cheap pocket knife... I guess it depends on where I am going that day...

As I was pretty excited about its balanced properties (and low cost for the type of steel), I purchased a Magnacut Mule Team, and promptly ended up using it like a Mora, and the steel has taken rough use really well. It's highly corrosion resistant and holds a good edge, something no other knife I own has. The problem is at $80 including shipping, it is the most expensive knife I own. Adding a sheath and scales will double the cost (I use a sheath from a cheap off-brand fixed blade that fits it perfectly). Besides, they seem always to end up going for triple or more than what MSRP was after it was launched.

I am thinking about carrying it while fishing but am afraid I'll lose the darn thing, and it is not easy or cheap to replace. Thinking I'll end up selecting a stainless Imperial fish knife and the R. Murphy Fisherman's Pal I bought for the job.

A SPY27 version with a slightly different blade profile (straight spine with a pointier tip) is coming soon, and it is intended to be permanently in the lineup, not as a short-run trial of new steel types as most are. I think it's also said to be a little cheaper than the CPM-Magnacut version I have at $60.

The most I use my knives for is cutting rope or other small things. If I buy a knife, I will put it in my EDC rotation. With that being said, my most expensive knife is about $400.00 and yes, I carry it.
As for watches, I have a gold case pocket watch that my father gave to me (willed to me), that I have never had appraised, but has an 18k mark and the watch dates to 1894 and is 18(?) jewels.

Geez, Whitney! I couldn’t bring myself to use a $400 knife as an EDC, but I admire you for doing it! I wanted just one mint Case XX 1940-1964, so I picked up one for $250 which was actually less than “book” value. That’s my most expensive knife and likely will be unless I win the lottery!

tvic wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:45 pm Geez, Whitney! I couldn’t bring myself to use a $400 knife as an EDC, but I admire you for doing it! I wanted just one mint Case XX 1940-1964, so I picked up one for $250 which was actually less than “book” value. That’s my most expensive knife and likely will be unless I win the lottery!

Lol, if I buy something, I do so to enjoy it. I totally understand someone who will buy (collect) something and not use it. I just am a believer of if I buy it, I use it. I have shot Civil War firearms for years (originals), I drive my mustang, I like the functionality and usefulness.

If you want to carry your most expensive knife, then by all means do. That's not an approach I personally take, but I can't fault those who do.

I used some of that Gummit give away a few years ago to acquire a Case Tony Bose. Not the most valuable knife in my pile. That distinction belongs to a WWII Fairburn Sykes appraised by Antiques Road Show @ $500. I paid $7.50 in 1966.

Yes you should carry it. Makes you feel 10ft tall sometimes.

Interesting discussion! The most I have spent for a knife is a toss up between a FRED JAMES bowie and a JASON WILLIAMS damascus folder(300 bucks each). Both were purchased about 30 years ago. The bowie I have yet to carry but the JW folder has seen a lot of carry even though I worry about the pearl handles. I even used it once to scrape a gasket off an engine I was working on!

Just out of curiosity I looked up the value of a dollar 30 years ago to today. $1 in 1982 is $3.02 today - so your $300 purchase 30 years ago would be $900 today! BTW, my budget won’t handle a $300 knife, much less $900! But they ARE nice!