My brother and I just divided my late father's knife collection. He didn't own a single pristine "safe queen" knife. Every single one had the blade reprofiled ("convex edge" style). He spent more time sharpening and polishing than he ever did using knives. The only value any of them hold for me is sentimental. He didn't collect valuable knives. Even the two he considered the most valuable are probably under $50.

Me? I have a mix of abused knives (mostly cheap junk) from my youth and ones I've inherited. Those only have sentimental value. I have some decent knives that I've used regularly but retired - mostly Spydercos, Benchmade, and SAKs. Those don't have much value except sentimental either. Then I have some barely touched knives that I just haven't had a reason to use yet. None of them are collectible but probably held their value.

At my peak of knife-collecting, I bought a Chris Reeve Sebenza, but it's the only knife I ever sold. I couldn't bear to carry and use a folder that's that expensive and it didn't make sense to me to keep a knife like that locked away in a box. It was nice to have, but wasn't much of an investment.

I do have one "limited-edition" SAK - a gift from my wife. I don't know what the hell to do with it. I can't see it really appreciating in value, but I can't bring myself to use it either. Probably going to have to sell it.


On the knife law thing, I've never had a problem in all my years in Florida. I've carried up to 4" tactical folders clipped inside my pocket around officers from many law enforcement agencies dozens of times in different situations. Nobody's ever asked me about my knife except when I'm flying.