# Do we really have a expensive hobby in knives?



## oivind_dahle (May 22, 2011)

Say no more:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Princess-Beatri...ps=63&clkid=102652472399463087#ht_2635wt_1139


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## Rottman (May 22, 2011)

No, if you consider collecting wedding hats a hobby.


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## rockbox (May 22, 2011)

I used to be into high end audio equipment. Nothing is expensive compared to that. 400 dollar vacuum tubes, 1000 dollar speaker wire, and all the other nuttery that comes with it. Just go to Audiogon.com and check out the prices for used gear.


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## Michael Rader (May 22, 2011)

Remember my post a couple weeks ago on the $1000 Popsicle? I have friends into really tricked out guns that cost thousands. My neighbor restores antique cars that are worth the price of small houses. We're all crazy 
-M


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## FryBoy (May 22, 2011)

Wine. Whereas most collectors have a few dozen or may a couple hundred of whatever it is they fancy, winos often have several thousand bottles in their cellars. I know one guy in Napa whose cellar has been featured in Wine Spectator a couple of times -- over 5,000 bottles, many large format (i.e., Magnums, Jeborams, Methusulas, etc., some engraved), easily worth a couple million. Top-end wines from California can run a couple hundred per bottle, and the best Bordeaux can be over $1000 per bottle when new. Add a few years of age and the prices can easily double. And unlike other collectibles, wine gets consumed.


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## UglyJoe (May 22, 2011)

rockbox said:


> I used to be into high end audio equipment. Nothing is expensive compared to that. 400 dollar vacuum tubes, 1000 dollar speaker wire, and all the other nuttery that comes with it. Just go to Audiogon.com and check out the prices for used gear.


 
This. I was into headphone stuff for a while... still am a little bit. Even a modest headphone setup will run you well over a grand, unless you build your own stuff like I did. The crazy thing about the audio stuff is that so much of it is snake oil... like for serious absolute snake oil. When you as a company can buy a couple hundred meters of copper wire for less than $500 bucks, cut it into 1 meter segments, drop it in liquid nitrogen for a week, then sell them for several thousand dollars a pair, something is wrong. The audiophile consumer has really killed that market for people who really do want something that sounds better than a crappy Bose but doesn't want to pay out of the arse for it. I never was even able to get into an actual "high end" stereo system, the cost was just way to high. When people will drop $100k for a turntable... well, then you can begin to imagine what the whole system costs... not to mention the dedicated rooms you can build for the equipment.


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## deanb (May 22, 2011)

As hobbies go, collecting kitchen knives is not all that expensive. Of course everything is relative. If you're making $25k a year then you might think collecting pricey Japanese knives is very expensive but compared to collecting cars it's really cheap. How much more fun is it to collect cars than kitchen knives? Depends on who you are. I'd rather collect kitchen knives. I've had a lot of fun learning how to sharpen and collecting knives worth the effort.


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## mr drinky (May 22, 2011)

Well, my wife likes to say when I get caught up in knife geek stuff: "At least you're not out whoring." I think that is pretty funny, but she is probably right. Frequenting prostitutes would be pretty expensive I bet and there is nothing to show for it.

k.


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## SpikeC (May 22, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> Well, my wife likes to say when I get caught up in knife geek stuff: "At least you're not out whoring." I think that is pretty funny, but she is probably right. Frequenting prostitutes would be pretty expensive I bet and there is nothing to show for it.
> 
> k.



Except maybe doctor bills!


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## rahimlee54 (May 22, 2011)

UglyJoe said:


> This. I was into headphone stuff for a while... still am a little bit. Even a modest headphone setup will run you well over a grand, unless you build your own stuff like I did. The crazy thing about the audio stuff is that so much of it is snake oil... like for serious absolute snake oil. When you as a company can buy a couple hundred meters of copper wire for less than $500 bucks, cut it into 1 meter segments, drop it in liquid nitrogen for a week, then sell them for several thousand dollars a pair, something is wrong. The audiophile consumer has really killed that market for people who really do want something that sounds better than a crappy Bose but doesn't want to pay out of the arse for it. I never was even able to get into an actual "high end" stereo system, the cost was just way to high. When people will drop $100k for a turntable... well, then you can begin to imagine what the whole system costs... not to mention the dedicated rooms you can build for the equipment.



I still do high end audio and while it is expensive used gear is usually a fair price and cables from monoprice or bluejeancables, transports the signal as well as I have seen. True though that an entry level headphone rig will run over 1k easy, if you want you can pay 2200 or so for a pair of cans. Hobbies make your life more interesting, just having discipline enough to wait until you can pay cash is the hard part.


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## UglyJoe (May 22, 2011)

I know... what I really want is a Stax SR-007 headphones with this to drive them. Unfortunately I can't drop $8k on a set of headphones and an amp. Sigh.


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## rockbox (May 22, 2011)

rahimlee54 said:


> I still do high end audio and while it is expensive used gear is usually a fair price and cables from monoprice or bluejeancables, transports the signal as well as I have seen. True though that an entry level headphone rig will run over 1k easy, if you want you can pay 2200 or so for a pair of cans. Hobbies make your life more interesting, just having discipline enough to wait until you can pay cash is the hard part.



"Audiophiles" don't buy their cables at monoprice. Do you want to see what a 2000 dollar power cable looks like? :scratchhead: Yes, the cable that connects the wall to your electronic component. What makes it more ludicrous is that that is probably 50-100 feet of "crappy" cable from your circuit box to the outlet, and people claim that 3 feet of expensive power cable makes enough of a difference to justify spending hundreds/thousands of dollars. That is why audiophiles hang out at a board called audioasylum. They are all crazy and at one time, I was one of them.


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## apicius9 (May 22, 2011)

A friend of mine in Germany started a company for audio gear that may not be totally insane but scratches at the high end level. But his real passion - and money-maker - is working with architects to plan the house and the wiring for optimal sound. Makes a few thousand $$ for a cable look cheap...

Stefan


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## UglyJoe (May 22, 2011)

rockbox said:


> "Audiophiles" don't buy their cables at monoprice. Do you want to see what a 2000 dollar power cable looks like? :scratchhead: Yes, the cable that connects the wall to your electronic component. What makes it more ludicrous is that that is probably 50-100 feet of "crappy" cable from your circuit box to the outlet, and people claim that 3 feet of expensive power cable makes enough of a difference to justify spending hundreds/thousands of dollars. That is why audiophiles hang out at a board called audioasylum. They are all crazy and at one time, I was one of them.



Hah. That's a great example of the snake oil. One of my favorites is also the cables for digital data transfer... you can't seem to drive it into their heads that it's ones and zeros, it works or it doesn't. Funny how my printer never "loses quality" because of the cable, but your digital audio stream does.


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## UglyJoe (May 22, 2011)

apicius9 said:


> A friend of mine in Germany started a company for audio gear that may not be totally insane but scratches at the high end level. But his real passion - and money-maker - is working with architects to plan the house and the wiring for optimal sound. Makes a few thousand $$ for a cable look cheap...
> 
> Stefan



At least there is legitimate science with that, though. Same for speaker rigs and amplifiers. Cables though... sigh.


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## rockbox (May 23, 2011)

UglyJoe said:


> Hah. That's a great example of the snake oil. One of my favorites is also the cables for digital data transfer... you can't seem to drive it into their heads that it's ones and zeros, it works or it doesn't. Funny how my printer never "loses quality" because of the cable, but your digital audio stream does.



Not total snake oil, but mostly snake oil. It is true that digital cables carries just ones and zeros, but sometime those one and zeros get lost. All digital interfaces/mediums have algorithms that fill in the missing bits but they are guesses and are not totally accurate. There is also things like jitter than can degrade in digital sound quality. An extreme example is if you ever made a VOIP call, and the sound quality is really bad. The main issue is jitter/latency and latency packet loss. However this is something that can objectively measure. You can send a set of bits through a cable and check if the bits actually make it.


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## Andrew H (May 23, 2011)

Everything is relative. One golf outing can cost you 400-500 bucks easy, and that's assuming you don't have to travel. Then you have clubs, classes, etc. 
Easily more expensive than collecting knives.

Then you have the person who goes fishing with their friends, isn't into hightech gear, and brings home some great fish for dinner. 
Less expensive.

Overall I'd say it's an average priced hobby for middle-high income people.


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## goodchef1 (May 23, 2011)

I told my bosses that I started collecting culinary knives, and that they can go up to $20,000 a piece. He told me they collect apartment buildings, and $20,000 won't even get him out of bed. 

So to put it in perspective, knives are not a very expensive hobby, and I think it's great to be more into and collect things you're passionate about. Even if it is more then the average person. For me, it's better then collecting blenders, pots, or pans.

When I can afford that $1,000 Popsicle, then I know I have arrived :juggle:


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## Cnimativ (May 23, 2011)

oivind_dahle said:


> Say no more:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Princess-Beatri...ps=63&clkid=102652472399463087#ht_2635wt_1139


 
Charty auction off some historic event is at a complete level compare to knives. It will be the equivalent of a auction Sumarai sword equiped by an imperal Japan admiral...


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## rockbox (May 23, 2011)

Anything you make significant amount of money on is not a hobby. Apartment buildings is an investment. I think we are talking about stuff that we know we are going to lose money on. Knives making equipment is a hobby for me since I will be lucky if I break even just on materials. Where DT and the other knife makers here spend tens of thousands on equipment because it makes them money. 




goodchef1 said:


> I told my bosses that I started collecting culinary knives, and that they can go up to $20,000 a piece. He told me they collect apartment buildings, and $20,000 won't even get him out of bed.
> 
> So to put it in perspective, knives are not a very expensive hobby, and I think it's great to be more into and collect things you're passionate about. Even if it is more then the average person. For me, it's better then collecting blenders, pots, or pans.
> 
> When I can afford that $1,000 Popsicle, then I know I have arrived :juggle:


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## bokkers (May 23, 2011)

Funny thing is, audiophiles might look at--

a) Shakti stone tweak, $199





vs

b) Nakayama Hatahoshi natural stone "tweak," $1350





and think they're in the wrong hobby


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## heirkb (May 24, 2011)

How has no one else commented on that hat? What the hell is up with that thing? Maybe I just missed somebody's post, but come on guys! What would you think if you saw a lady walking down the street in that hat?:happy2:


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## MadMel (May 24, 2011)

Awful...


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## mano (May 24, 2011)

heirkb said:


> How has no one else commented on that hat? What the hell is up with that thing? Maybe I just missed somebody's post, but come on guys! What would you think if you saw a lady walking down the street in that hat?:happy2:


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