Dear fellow knife nut,
Welcome on my knives and photography weblog. Let me first start by introducing myself.
My name is Wouter and I live in The Netherlands. I've had a fascination for knives since I was about 7 years old like lots of boys at that age. It all started back in 1974 when I was given my first black SAK by my Father as a present. Over the past decades I have bought, traded, sold, lost and worn out many knives. I will always have folding/pocket knives, they bring me joy and assist me where needed.
For me the 1980's was all about Al Mar SERE 3002, Buck 110, Gerber Bolt Action, Kershaw 1050, Puma Game Warden & Back Packer, Smith & Wesson 6061 Maverick, Italian Switch Blades and lots of others. The 1990's was the time for me of Böker Solingen and the upcoming brand FOX knives from Maniago, Italy. It was back then more common to cary knives in public since there were no law restrictions. It was pretty normal and generally excepted that people carried a Buck 110 on their belt what nowadays is almost unthinkable.
The ones that started it all
Back in 1982 I bought my first, at the time, 'high end knife'. It was a Puma 465 Back-Packer. Initially I wanted a 970 Game-Warden but I could not bring myself to save up more money. It cost me a fortune as a 15 year old kid, but I had to have it no matter what. The 970 was purchased a decade later. In the fall of the same year I sold the Puma 465 to buy my new grail at the time, a Smith & Wesson 6061 Maverick. I still have it in a used but good condition. In 2015 I found a 'like new' Puma 465 in original box with papers and bought it to bring the memory back alive.
Click photo to enlarge
Collecting
Twice I have tried to build myself a small production knife collection, but also gave up twice. Only a few knives remain from these past attempts. Those are special for their memories and their quality. In 2009 I once more started to collect knives on a modest scale. My focus went from production knives to mainly Strider Knives and steady on towards primarily custom knives. With the high quality standard, CNC technology, new features and wide range of production knives nowadays I slowly shifted back to this category in 2019. Besides a modest collection of some customs, vintage & new production knives, users and safe queens, I can not afford to keep everything as shown here on my weblog. I feel fortunate to have owned some of the finest knives.
Traditional folding knives in my collection. Click photo to enlarge
Why SERE ?
I had this SERE for years. It's a smaler and later version, early 1990's. Click photo to enlarge
Internet
Another aspect of knives to me are knife related forums. I know most of them and have visited them frequently in the past. Now a days only three of them are left that mean something to me. The one for me on my side of the pond is Messenplatform.nl and further BladeForums and the Usual Suspect Network in the past. On these Forums I have met some of the finest people. You can also find me on Flickr.com with knives and other stuff. I don't do any Social Media.
Besides enjoying my real knives I also like to shoot knife pictures for use on knife forums as well as building my own Photo Collection and also show most of them on this Weblog. Enjoy reading & watching my photos.
One of my Favorites
Over the last decade I have owned dozens of custom folding knives. Of course many were outstanding in many ways. But in the end most got sold again. Small details, size wise, fit & finish, grinding, materials, you name it and there was a reason why a certain knife left my collection again. My custom folder by Dutch Knifemaker Dirk de Wit is an exception. It is one of my favorite knives from the last few years. The Micarta is pré WW2, the blade is Böhler M390 running on teflon washers. Besides this one my traditional/vintage knives are extra special to me.
Click photo to enlarge
User Knives
Of course I also use some of my knives for everyday stuf. A mix of Custom & Production knives. Besides several SAK's I have a modest selection and the majority of knives are alike in size. My ideal blade length is 3.75 inch but I'm getting more interested in modern and traditional slipjoints as well. The Spyderco Military Ti and Strider SMF have been with me since 2010. My Strider GB came in 2011. My custom by Dirk de Wit joined the group in 2018. The Benchmade Crooked River was a new addition for 2020. Buck Knives and slipjoints got my interest again in 2021/22.
Click photo to enlarge
Photos
My work is non-commercial. In the past I did a few photos commissioned by a befriended knife maker. I have found that I have more pleasure taking pictures when I do it exclusively for myself. This gives me the freedom to portray the knives as I see them and like. So I don't sell my work in any way. It's a hobby and I prefer to keep it that fashion. It is allowed to download images for your entertainment only. The use of my photos/images is limited by a Creative Commons license.
Reviews
Interests
Click photo to enlarge
