Knife collecting has been growing rapidly in the world and has become a fun hobby for both enthusiasts and investors. The definition of a collector’s knife is not limited. Basically any knife that can either hold value or gain value can be considered a collector’s knife.

Most collectible knives fall into one of five categories:

Pattern Type

Blade Type
Handle Type
Brand Name
Specialty

Knife Pattern

A knife collector that has a desire for a certain type of pattern would look for knives of the same style such as a jack knife pocket knife (Sunfish, Budding, Grafting, Moose, Gunstock, Canoes, Tester, etc.), Multi-Blade pocket knife (Boy Scout, Swiss Army, Sportsman, U.S. Military, etc.), Single edge straight knife and daggers. The pattern of the knife is greatly determined by the utility of the knife.

Knife Blade Type

Many knife collectors appreciate the quality and type of blade on particular knives. Knives are mostly made of steel, but blends of iron and carbon and methods of forming distinguish the differences between a good and bad knife. Knives are mostly made of either stainless steel, sometimes referred to stain resistant steel, or carbon steel. Stainless steel is known for its ability to resist rust and corrosion, while carbon steel is able to have a sharper edge and can be sharpened much easier. Some knife blades can be made of laminated steel to provide the sharpness of carbon steel while having a laminated stainless steel for the corrosion resistance. Other factors which are important to knife collectors are the forming methods and hardness of the blade. An old art form of knife blade making is that of pattern welded steel which forms Damascus steel. Damascus steel is just like other art in which various patterns can be designed for great looks, but also is designed for superior strength. The hardness of blades is measured on the Rockwell scale and is directly related to the quality of heat treating methods. So knife collectors may look for the perfect combination of steel, hardness and forming qualities.

Knife Handle Type

Handle types vary much more than the blade, since the handle can be made of anything from wood to steel. The handle designs and quality of make are very important to a knife collector, because depending on how the handle grip fits the hand can affect the performance of the knife. The most common materials for handles are animal horns, bones, or ivory. These materials are favorable in that they are strong, unique, traditional, and attractive and have appropriate textures for good handle grip. A collector may choose a certain type of handle based of rarity of the material such as ivory. Ivory is hard to come by thus creating a high demand for ivory collectors knives. Size and shape are equally as important as the material used and can range from straight to curved geometries.

Knife Brand Name

Probably one of the easiest types of collecting knives is to collect knives from a certain brand name. Many brand names make thousands of styles of knives, so it leaves it open for collectors to become experts in a certain brand name of knife. Some of the best and largest brand name knives available are case, Kershaw, benchmade, anzam, sakai, Camillus, beretta, moki and Seto.

Specialty Knives

Lastly, some knife collectors enjoy specialty knives that aren’t exactly designed for functionality, but rather as souvenirs, advertisements, or promotions. Since many of the specialty knives are made for a particular event, they are normally limited; thus, creating demand and a potential for being a collectible knife.

As you can see, knife collecting is largely varied and doesn’t have to be done a certain way. The only requirement for being a knife collector is to have knives which provide distinct value in one way or another.