Don’t fret, I have yet to get writer’s block nor do I want to quit. But I do want to explain why I know I am a long way from ending this blog.

Lots of people have written or talked about gear. Lots of those people got into the hobby, got excited, took the next step into making content, and then burned out. Since I started this blog a lot of folks have come and gone. Dan’s still around. Nutnfancy still sometimes reviews knives. But aside from a handful of folks, a lot of people have come and gone.

I’d be lying if I said I never thought about stopping the blog. After all I have posted at least once a week every week for 12 years. Sometimes Saturday morning sneaks up on me. Sometimes I struggle with topics. But I always have an article ready (typos and all) and get it out the door. The blog is a respite from my everyday life. I have a very good life with a wonderful wife, two curious and caring boys, a good family, and a job I enjoy. Those things can be stressful. For me, the blog, and by extension, gear, rarely is. It is the place I can go to do my own thing on my own terms. The reality is I love the blog format, I love the reader feedback, and, after all these years and hundreds of gear reviews and thousands of blog posts, I still get excited for new gear.

In fact, as I write this article, I am eagerly awaiting by second ever plain jane Sebenza, this time a Sebenza 31 in S45VN. As is often said, your second Sebenza is the keeper. You go get one, your like “okay, but…” then you sell it, venture off into the realm of nutty expensive knives, and then realize after thousands of dollars and probably a few customs, that the Sebenza is an amazing knife. Then you buy your keeper Sebenza.

It was while I was waiting that I realized why I still love writing this blog. If I am still checking for delivery updates every ten minutes while waiting for a knife, I have the knife bug bad. You see, for me, this blog is a pursuit of the enthusiast mindset. Knives and gear are almost secondary to that pursuit. But if you have the enthusiast mindset, the careful, almost phenomenological study of the item in question, is endlessly enjoyable. So yeah, I still have that impulse to talk about gear.

But another thing has happened over the years—I have come to really appreciate nice things that work well over a long period of time. A lot of my gear that is in the personal collection and not part of the review stuff is old. My Haiku is still the original, albeit with a new drop in, and that like is 12 years old. I have my original HDS, my original Dragonfly (with modded scales), my AG Russell Boy’s Knife, and my original Small Shamwari. My Aeon Mk. III is still around too. These pieces of kit all do something really well and I have come to know and rely on them. Having tools that work, that have real use on them, and are both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional even with that use is deeply enjoyable.

In the same way that walking into another person’s garage or workshop shows how they work and what tools they like, my gear collection is a good summation of my tastes and thoughts about what is good in gear. Work is an essential part of the human experience and tools are a part of work. Therefore, in a real way, our tools define part of us. If that is the case, I’d much rather be defined by a Sebenza (which means “work” in Zulu) than a Wal-Mart knife. Once that passion fades, once that flame starts to gutter, its time to quit.

But quittin’ time ain’t comin’ soon for this blogger. I’m waiting for my keeper Sebenza.

It arrived. See above.

Amazon Links:

Spyderco Dragonfly