This was spawned from a mild disagreement with my wife. We have a birthday party for an adult friend to attend this weekend. We were discussing possible gifts and I suggested a knife. She complained that I always give knives as gifts, which is perfectly true. There is always some appropriate knife. Kitchen knives, craft knifes, hunting knives, hunting knives, pocket knives, combat knives…I’ve never given anybody a knife who wasn’t pleased with it. Several folks, like one BIL, will outright state that that knife is their prized possession.
Knives as gifts are ok. To a point. The problem is how many do you need? I have more than I can use/display and I’ve started giving away the excess multi-tools I’ve received. I’m not a hunter or chef so they never wear out. The ten year old Buck multi-tool has never failed any task I applied it to, I don’t even carry anything else now.
Just yesterday I looked at the registry website for a wedding I’m attending. One of the items still available was a block of knives. I couldn’t think of a more awesome wedding gift than knives, so I bought them.
I’m more indifferent towards knives, I guess. Certainly no active dislike.
We have a number of blades in our household, none of which are anything special - a set of Ginsu kitchen knives (from which I usually use one of the six steak knives for just about everything), a box cutter, and a few Leatherman-type tools (on which the pliers are valued more than the cutting blade). We own no sharpening implements.
I’m not sure I’d know just what to do with a “nice knife” given to me as a gift, really. If it was really cool it would probably get displayed someplace - otherwise it would likely wind up in a drawer someplace, rarely if ever used.
I once had almost an obsession with knives. Like to the point that my friends were seriously considering some sort of intervention. I eventually got over it but I still have quite a lot of knives. And I always carry at least 2; never know when you’ll need one.
I used to carry a swiss army knife but you can’t bring them almost anywhere anymore, so, rather than have it confiscated becuase I forgot I had it on me, I stopped carrying it years ago.
I don’t do any crafts that require knives, I have no hobbies that use knives… it’s not so much that I hate knives, but I have no need of more than I have so… a knife would be a very WTF gift for me.
I once spent several hours in the shop of a renowned weaponsmith, handling various knives–mostly with my eyes closed–until I found just the right one. On the other hand, people rarely give me knives as gifts, possibly because they’ve somehow gotten the impression that I’m picky about them…
One of my more prized possessions is an old, very large Swiss army knife that used to belong to my dad. I also have a real Leatherman, a couple of knock-offs and little knives stashed here and there in purses and glove compartments. Don’t need any more handy knives.
I don’t have any really stellar kitchen knives or a good cleaver though. I’d be thrilled to get one or a set as a gift.
Obviously, it depends on the recipient and what they already own.
I’d be pretty irritated to get a knife as a gift unless I asked for it. In any case, variety is the spice of life. What do you give for repeat holidays? Do you give everyone a knife for every birthday and Christmas (which I doubt, because that would be pretty extreme)? I’d say it’s okay to give a knife per person per lifetime, maaaaybe two, but anything beyond that and I’d bet they’re just pretending to like the gift so they don’t hurt your feelings (I hope you realize pretending to like gifts is a Thing People Do). If they break the knife you got them, they would surely ask for one at the next gift-giving time.
Really, there are only so many knives a person needs (for cutting stuff and for display) before they have enough. Personally, I don’t have a need for any knives. I rent so I can’t put stuff up on the walls, and there are already more knives in the house than I could dirty in an entire week of heavy cooking. So, even though I don’t necessarily *dislike *knives, I would rather have a gift card to anywhere for the same amount.
I don’t know how gender influences the answer, but I’m a chick (if it matters). Maybe the average guy would be happy to add another knife to his collection–my dad was like this with guns. Even if he’d never use them he would still display as many as he got. I also don’t like junk (I’m a “purger”). If something doesn’t have an immediate and frequent use, I give or throw it away. I hate to say it, but I’d be pretty unlikely to keep a knife from a friend that wasn’t very, very close to me.
I think knives make a good gift when it is specific to the person. When I was a cook, someone gave me a nice chef’s knife that I still have; and some of us gave a colleague new to our line of work a Gerber multi tool like the ones the rest of the team carried for his birthday. But if you are giving people knives even if they don’t really use the ones they have and for every event, it could come off as a little weird and even a little creepy.
Last year I had a small pocketknife that I had to throw out before going into an airport as I was concluding a camping trip, and I would like to have that replaced. Other than that, a knife wouldn’t be a particularly good gift for me.
A nice pair of non-dangerous cufflinks? Sure, I’ll take those.
The only thing worse than an irritated chick is an irritated chick with a knife.:eek:
Me, I like knives, but I suck at sharpening. My birthday is next month. Just sayin.
