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.

Types of Knives

There two ways to look at the type of a knife. One being knives by form and the other being knives by function.

Type of Knives by Form

All knives fall into two basic categories, fixed blade knives and folding knives.

Fixed Blade Knife
Fixed blade knives are just that, a knife with a blade that is fixed, does not fold, and it extends from a handle. In general, fixed blade knives are much stronger and larger than folding blade knives. Fixed blade knives are used for heavy duty activities, such as tactical, hunting and fighting. Common fixed blade knife manufacturers are Benchmade, Boker, Buck, KaBar, BullDog, and Frost.

Folding Blade Knife
Folding blade knives consist of a blade which folds into the handle leaving a smaller more portable knife choice compared to a fixed blade knife. Many folding blade knives have locking mechanisms to prevent accident knife closure while the knife is in use. The most common types of lock mechanisms are lockback, linerlock, and framelock. Common folding blade knife manufacturers are Randall, Case, Boker, Swiss Army, Gerber, Schrade, and Cold Steel.

Type of Knives by Function

Most knives are designed for a specific purpose whether it be for simple everyday uses or fighting. The most common knives for a given activity are:

Utility Knives – These are considered a normal everyday tool knife. They normally consist of multiple blades and tools combined. The most common types are the Swiss army knife or the Leatherman tool.

Hunting Knives – These knives are generally thought of as large straight blade knives stored in a sheath used to cut up hunting game after a kill. The term hunting knife is actually very broad in that nearly every hunter has a different personal choice of knife depending on style, type of animal, and usability.

Survival Knives – These knives are generally have a hallow handle with survival equipment inside the handle. Some common items found inside of a survival knife are waterproof matches, bandages, and string. These knives may also consist of a compass on the handle.

Other Knives

Butterfly Knives – A common knife which can be open and closed with a one handed swinging motion.
Machete – Large Long Blade used to cut large plants and brush.
Dagger – Double edged blade used for stabbing, not cutting.
Throwing Knives – Knives which are balanced for throwing.

Sharpening your collector’s knife is no task for a beginner. It is very possible to make a knife worse by attempting to sharpen a knife without the proper tools and skills. Several consideration when deciding to sharpen a knife are the imperfections, the edge angle, the dullness of the blade, and the desired sharpness.

It is recommended that a professional teach you how to sharpen your knife with the proper equipment. If you choose to try and sharpen you knife on your own there are several resources of the internet in which I have reviewed that do a great job explaining the proper techniques.

How to sharpen a knife. www.knifesharpeningtips.com

Choosing a knife in which you want to collect first depends on what type of knife interests you. Essentially any type of knife can be collected as long as it has some form of value. Types of knives can be survival knives, hunting knives, pocket knives, souvenir knives, fixed blade knives, folding knives, Damascus knives, daggers, and many more. Though there are many factors which apply to choosing a knife of a certain type, which is beyond the scope of this article, there are several common factors to take into consideration when choosing a knife to collect.

A quality knife worth collecting is a knife that has high quality materials and quality craftsmanship.
For quality materials, the country of origin can say something. Knives from Germany, France, England or Japan are known to be quality knives. If a knife is farmed out to cheap labor countries, it is likely that cheap metal is also used. Quality knives will not hide the place of origin. The quality of knife also depends on the type of handle which is normally made of ivory, horn, bone or shell. The quality of the handle can be determined fairly easy by inspecting the texture, grip and feel.

The craftsmanship is also very important to a collector, so that the knife holds its value. Craftsmanship is fairly intuitive as a quick visual inspection can find flaws most cheap knives. A quality knife will have seamless joints, the blade will be firmly fixed to the handle with proper symmetry, and the whole knife will be free of any burs, chips, or irregularities.

The easiest way to start collecting knives is to select a knife from a manufacturer known for high quality knives. This way it is guaranteed that you will have a nice high quality collectors knife.

As a collectors knife, it is assumed that the knife is not being used regularly, but rather displayed or stored away.

A collector’s knife should be properly sharpened, cleaned and oiled after every use and before storage. Since knives are made of steel, it is important to keep them in as little humidity as possible at around room temperature. A Collector’s knife should never be stored in a sheath as this could result in scratches or other undesired marks that could reduce the value of the knife. Sheath’s also tend to hold moisture which can cause corrosion to the metal on a knife.
Collector’s Knives should be stored in an open well ventilated area with low moisture and low temperature variation. If the knife is stored in a box, it is recommended to use either a metal box or a wooden box with a sealed lacquer to prevent moisture being released from the wood. In areas with high moisture and heat, it is recommended that knives are stored in vacuum sealed bag in an air tight container to prevent corrosion. A good box for storage is a military ammo box, since it is made of metal and the lid has a waterproof seal to keep moisture.
Expensive collector’s knives should not be handled with bare hands finger prints and hand oils are not the best for the metal blades. During handling clean gloves are normally used to prevent the need to re-clean the knife after every handling. It is recommended for highly valuable knives that only an experienced professional sharpen and clean them.