New Year's Resolutions

It is mid-January and I'm still mulling over my New Year's resolutions.  I've never been a big believer in resolutions to begin with - I'm as lousy at keeping them as I am deciding on them.

Of course there's the usual - lose weight, get more exercise, pay off all our credit card bills, etc.  I make those kinds of resolutions every year and come each December I marvel at how little I was able to accomplish.  If procrastination is a gift then I'm doubly blessed.

I do make some resolutions that are very easy to keep.  Watch less of the Oxygen Channel, spit at the TV every time I see Joy Behar's ugly mug, that kind of thing.  I think I have a 100% success rate at those types of commitments.  But really, to truly enjoy sticking to a resolution it must be more personal, better tailored to one's particular weaknesses.  I have a feeling that this year millions of folks have made the same resolutions I did - less Oxygen, more spitting - so I've been looking for a few resolutions that I can keep and really enjoy sticking to.

Since this is a blog mainly about knives (really, it is) I figured it was time to evaluate just where I am as a user/accumulator/collector.  I look at my collection inventory and I realize that I've been a pretty undisciplined collector over the past few years.  Hell, except for minor concentration on Case pocket knives I've pretty much tried to vacuum up everything that caught my fancy - the old crow and the shiny object story.

It's time to slow down and think about what and how I want to collect and strategize about how to build a collection.  The good news is that there's never been a better time to be a knife collector.  Knife manufacturers and custom knife makers are turning out extraordinarily high quality products at quality levels never before seen in the industry.  Prices are pretty darned good too.  The bad news is that knife manufacturers and custom knife makers are turning out extraordinarily high quality products at quality levels never before seen in the industry, and the prices are pretty darned good too.  It's like opening a bag of peanuts.  You are never going to stop at one.

But I want a collection, not just a pile of knives.  Therefore my New Year's resolution is to slow down, evaluate, develop a strategy and start to build a focused collection.  Quality over quantity.  Yeah, that's it.  Focus.  Strategy.  Quality.  Take your time.  No impulse purchases.  Slooooow and steady.

Now where did I put that Smoky Mountain Knife Works sales flyer...

Stay sharp!