Is this an "old man's hobby"?
 

Wanted to have a little poll amongst members.
Have been discussing the 'average' age of collectors of edged weapons today with Spiral and most seem to me men in their 60s!

So wondered if you would all indulge me in a non-scientific litmus test of the age range here?

I'm 43

Hah I did wonder about this. My age is 26 :-)

Passionate for swords all my life though.

I think it is young and old, but of course, our collections (and hopefully understanding :) ) get better with age, like fine wine... ;) :)
I'm 55.

60 for me but next year I'm going to reverse the whole thing and be 59. Hopefully I'll be back in my late twenties or early thirties when it's time to take a dirt nap.:D

Robert

59, but I did start my first collection when I was 14 by the time I reached 18 I sold it all to concentrate on wine, women and, well, more wine and women. ;) :D
Regards,
Norman.


P.S. Best buy of my early years was a 17thC katana with an earlier tsuba in WW2 mounts, cost me £1-10/-. In todays money £1.50p, bought a lot of the aforementioned wine, women etc. when I sold it. :) Oh for the gift of hindsight. ;)

Ok, I am 71 and have collected for 45 + years.
Jens

I'm 61, and collect ethographic edge weapons by 12 years.
Paolo

two years on the high side of a half century

MY MIND IS 20 BUT MY BODY IS A VERY HARD USED 66. :D I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING ETHINOGRAPHIC EDGED WEAPONS ON AND OFF FOR 50 YEARS. MY FIRST AND MOST TREASURED ITEM WAS AN OLD WW2 COLLINS MACHETE WITH SCABBARD AND BELT I GOT WHEN I WAS 8 AT A OLD ARMY SURPLUS FOR $1.50. IT HUNG DOWN TO MY ANKLES IN THOSE DAYS AND WENT WITH ME ON ALL MY EARLY RAMBLES AND ADVENTURES IN THE EAST TEXAS HILLS,WOODS AND TRINITY RIVER BOTTOM. I FORGED THRU MANY JUNGLES AND BUILT MANY FORTS WITH IT AND STILL USE IT FOR YARD WORK THESE DAYS.

THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR YOUNGER COLLECTORS AS THE INTEREST IS STILL THERE IN ARMS AND ARMOR AND SHARP POINTY THINGS. THE BOYS AND SOME GIRLS STILL LIKE CARTOONS AND VIDEO GAMES WITH HEROS WITH EDGED WEAPONS SO PERHAPS THEY WILL GROW INTO IT AND CATCH THE COLLOCTORS DISEASE. THE WINE WOMEN AND SONG DOES TAKE ONE AWAY FROM COLLECTING AS IT SHOULD BUT WE LEARN WITH AGE THAT THE SHARP POINTY THINGS ARE FAR LESS DANGEROUS THAN THE FAIR SEX. :D

Oh how true, how true. :eek: :D

25 - but been at it for a decade off and on.

So far, Iain and Lotfy are the hope for the future ;)

Doing my best - my wife says I'm already grumpy enough to be in my 60s. :D

Gene, do you know something we don't? :eek:

I'm 72, started with a gift from my grandfather when I was 12.

I am 53 now and started 20 years ago.

We are both young and ambitious, my friend.

I, m 38 years old,and I have been collecting during 20 years.
best regards
carlos

I bought a khukuri 10 years ago, and that started it. I'm 59.

Steve

I'm 44. I bought my first piece of militaria at the age of 9 at a local gunshow with money I saved all year ( WWI British Tommy helmet in winter finish ) and have been collecting on some level evey since.

Well I am 149 (according to the youth I teach)........

My body is 49 years old.... (began cca 20 years ago, but slowly)

I am 29, and have been collecting for 21 glorious years, I hope I have at least another 21 in me!

43, pretending to be 40- something for the next 6 years ;)

My father (79 now) had a javanese golok which he traded as a young boy for a defective wristwatch. It was always laying next to his tool box.
It was an intrigueing object. as a small boy (approx 10) I thought it to be a knights sword, but playing with it was off-limits.

At the age of 15, after watching the television series "Shogun", I wanted a replica katana, (made in spain) and with my parents consent I bought it for NLG 230, which is appox Eur 105,- nowadays. :eek:

I wish I had bouhgt a 17th cent. katana like Norman did ;) , as I still have the bloody replica katana as a token of bad taste and quality :D :)

Best regards,
Willem

Ps. remember Anjin San / Richard Chamberlain.

[QUOTE=asomotif] I wish I had bouhgt a 17th cent. katana like Norman did ;)

Hi Willem,
Absolute luck and sheer ignorance I can assure you. :o
Regards,
Norman.

I turned 53 this year and have been collecting antiques of one type or another most of my life. Two years ago my father passed away and left me his weapons collection. Now I am in REAL trouble. Antique weapons are rapidly taking over all my other hobbies.

350 dog years or 50. Been at it 15 years.

All the Best
Jeff

44

Martial artist for 35+ years, which naturally led to an immediate unatural compulsion to acquire every conceivable hand weapon available. :o

32, and been collecting about 10 years.

I'm 66. Began collecting antique firearms when I was 14. Always tried to follow the rule of acquiring at least one reference book for every new piece in the collection. Bought a kukri at a gun show on a whim when I was 55 - knew nothing about it, thought it looked interesting, and tried to find out more about it. Discovered that, unlike the many firearms books available, there was precious little printed information about the kukri. Began searching the newly evolving Internet, haunted eBay, developed a correspondence with a gentleman named John Powell who outbid me on a piece I really wanted. Discovered this and other online forums. The collection continues to grow, and I keep meeting other collectors online, a much more gratifying way of learning than simply reading a book.
I think it has always been the case that acquiring a collection takes time, and collectors therefore tend to be older. Whether the field of weapons collecting is one that will continue to attract new collectors in a changing world is something I do wonder about.

Oo, oo - what kind of martial arts?

30, started collecting at 23, essentially when I joined this forum :D

I had purchased a "Lake Toba" keris-like object on ebay that turned out to be a horrible POS. One post here and some wonderful lessons from Henk put me on the right path :)
Then a look at the Vikingsword glossary and a copy of the "Big Book of Stone" got me hopelessly hooked.

THANKS GENE :o :o You really know how to strike deep!! 68 and have been collecting for about 40 years, but don't hold that against me. Age is but a number, and one can do all sorts of things with those! My mind is still SHARP :D
Stu

Bought my first bayonet, at the age of nine, 1966. Now, at 55, I still don't know what I wanna collect when I grow up.

My first sword was a waki zashi in the early 70s.
Now I am 52, which makes me the oldest of the European Borneo collectors active at this forum.
Can't we change the title of this thread from "old man" to "middle aged man" based on the replies? ;)

Michael

53 in the new year. Started as a boy with Grandads ww1 buttons.

ahh well done Gene I fear, from the repleys, I was more of less correct then.. In the western world most edged weapon collectors are a little older than us, & a very few are younger.. {Im just on 49..}

ive noticed most collecters, collect what they either saw,heard about or wanted when they were children to a degree...{With notable exceptions of course.}

In England many people wont even let there children play with toy swords or guns anymore.... I understand why, but fear this will have a greater & greater effect in how weapons collectors are seen in years to come.

These thoughts comes about because Ive noticed at arms auctions there loads of men in there mid late 50s & especialy 60s & early 70s and not many younger than me.

mmmm much to ponder....

J

Started in my early twenties (back when the original forum was around, 1990's) and am now 45 (but I feel 85, too many night shifts, ugh)
Mark

I was gonna swear we had once a (actual) poll on this subject ... statistic results and all. Now, finding it is hard deal :( .
My butt has now 65 notches and i started slowly gathering whatever type of antique weapon that came across my sight and i could (often even couldn't) afford, (only) twenty years ago. Now i am trying hard to refine my taste, following the Port Whine principle :cool: .

This December I'll reach age 63. I started in my early teens with a khukri, given to me as a gift by my parents. For some time now, I'm very into the Indonesian keris -- a lifelong love of mine, but I wasn't able to buy these until relatively recently ...