I need an answer to this one burning question.
"What drives us to collect just that one more knife, firestarting device exc.?"
Adventureboy

I'm American, therefore I shop.

I'm a consumer-patriot and our 70% consumer-driven economy needs me.

Plus, shopping for gear is the next best thing to being in the field using it.

I think there's a 12-step program for this.

The new item might be beter than the previous one.

Maybe it will be the answer to the best/ideal/
perfect answer to survive and thrive.

Could this new find substitute for the knowledge/practice I haven't acquired yet?

You speak the truth, m'lady!!
-Blast

here's something from an outdoor book written in 1908,the quote is from an source that was old even then.on the chapter heading about two fellows going off on a fishing trip to Nova Scotia.

And let us buy for the days of spring,
While yet the north winds blow!
For half the joy of the trip,my boy
Is getting your traps to go.

Excellent quote! Says it all.

Somewhere, someplace, out there is the perfect (insert choice of gear here) that will never (go dull, fade, break, fray, fail to function) and will always (cut cleanly, start a fire in a hurricane, carry more gear with no effort. weight nothing).

The only problem is, I have yet to find the "perfect" in all categories. Getting there tho. Got a lot of imperfect stuff that works really well.

And what amazes me is sometimes the DW makes suggestions for stuff to get.

Its shiny!!!

I have more gear than I know what to do with. Some of it has seen the field once-some gets used on a regular basis. Some was bought, never used. Its a quest, I think...and, like most quests-will likely never end.

Two reasons:

1. I keep forgetting where I put all the darned stuff

and

2. er, I can't remember the other one...

because you can never have too many backups.

Shiny? ooooooooh.... Shiny.... must have... will trade ya for it.

Hi, my name is Peter and I am a hoarder .

If 1 of something is good, 100 (or 1,000) of something is even better .

In the words of that great philosopher Burt Gummer: “Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it” (Tremors) .

He who dies with the most toys is the winner .

As stated to my wife by a suttler, while looking at his handmade knives: Wife to me-“How many more knives could you possibly need.” Suttler to wife- “One more than you already have" .

We collect, because it is in our nature. Many of us since early childhood, pick things up (rocks, coins, critters, cool things) and collect them, they are our treasures. The hunt (for the perfect thing or just another thing we appreciate) is a quest, possibly even hardwired into our being.

Many of our parents grew up during the depression or we may have come from an economically disadvantaged family, everything had value and was to be saved and used until it could no longer be used.

There are likely a hundred more reasons as to why we collect. Some are unique to us, other reasons are shared by many. Bottom line is we do.

Pete

Lots of insightful comments here, the ETS community is a philosophical crowd... I confess, I am a gear-a-holic much like anyone else.


My gear-a-holism took a really bad turn for the worse during my stay in high arctic conditions. Essentially, the lessons learned at Spitsbergen are the same as I was taught as a kid - how to dress in winter, the mountain code, be prepared and so on. But the point was amplified and really driven home.

And the costs of my gear-a-holism increased - big time.

I think paramedicpete is spot on with this sentence.
I remember how one teacher at high school told us once the theory why men tend to collect various things.
Men were once hunters and and basically remained to this day. We just hunt something else now. The satisfaction from the succesful hunt is what drives us to collect various things - stamps, knives, gear etc. It's not so much about the collection, it's about the hunt for the new thing.

Buying gear is, IMHO, kind of like hunting.

In hunting you study your prey, you figure out its habits, where it hangs out and where it goes. Then you begin the hunt by stalking it, by setting up the situation to get the desired outcome. Then, when the time is right, you strike with everything you have because you're not going to get a second shot.

Shopping for gear is kind of like that. You study gear. You carefully consider how and when it is used. You talk to and read stuff from experts. Read reviews from everyone. You try to get your hands on the gear to get a feel for it. You compare every possible factor. You wait for sales and cruise auctions. Then, when everything is right, you spend your money.

If you do it right you get top quality gear that fits your needs to a tee, does everything you want, at the lowest possible price. For field use you get some great gear to use. For collectors, you get a trophy of your shopping, hunting, prowess.

I've done it with survival gear. Still do occasionally. But as I've got older the fact that survival hasn't changed in a few thousand years means that useful innovations that are worth paying for are few and far between. Once I find something that works well I'm set for a very long time. Once I have the work, home, carry, vehicle, and reserve slots filled I'm set. Set for a very long time.

What can I say? As a collector I'm a failure.

OOOOOOO....Shiny; and (insert name) probably doesn't have one; yet.

I still have 4cc's of available space in hyper-micro-collapsible-expandable oversized EDC pouch-bag-backpack portable shelter-workshop.

OOOOOOO....shiny!! What does that feel like?

And on and on and on an on...ad nauseum

I think part of what makes us collect gear is that (some of us at least) are just larger, older little boys. I've been collecting stuff all my life: action figures, catalogs, stamps, coins, ammo cartridgees, comic books, OOP RPGs, books, CDs, DVDs, etc etc. On some level, survival gear is another "toy" to collect- and by and large males love gadgets (eg my main audio rig contains about $14,000 worth of gear). Since I grew up around guns & outdoor hobbies, some of those toys and gadgets reflect that.

Of course, outdoor and survival gear are "serious toys." I'm well aware that I might someday rely on them to save my life or the lives of others, especially the first aid and medical stuff. The fact that I've spent many a long day using a razor-sharp Akifusa gyuto at work makes me keenly aware of just how much blood there can be from even a minor wound.

Because shopping appeals to the soul of the hunter-gatherer.

"What drives us to collect just that one more knife, firestarting device exc.?"


OCD

agree- genetic/ hardwired. Different people=different "dose" of the gene. Sits next to preparedness gene on the chromasome and holds hands. Let's be glad we aren't true hoarders who lose all control.

I like all your reason for collecting.

Try being a dealer/seller of Tactical, Survival and Outdoor gear and then see what your house starts to look like. we used to have a spare bedroom that became an office and now it's turned into the gear room/storage room.

I just say to my self "if I'm going to sell trhis stuff to my customers then it's only good customer service to own, test and use the gear I'm selling".

Then again, whatever I have to tell myself to sleep well at night I guess.