Cutlery News Journal conducted its first knife collector survey. Portions of this survey were reported, as well as all the survey data.
Today, I think you will find it interesting to see the actual knife type preferences of the 1295 respondents.
Click to enlarge.
For additional information on the survey, including data collection and answers to the other questions visit the 2009 CNJ Collector Survey Page.
In the first post of this series, we discussed the number of survey participants and how the survey was promoted, along with the answer to the first question of the age of the participant.
Today let’s look at the answers for the second question.
Question #2- How many years have you collected knives?
(Click to enlarge. If browser fails to load, please click chart)
CNJ Collector Survey Q #2 Results
Interesting to note- Fifty-two percent of the collectors have collected 5 years or less, including a whopping 31% for 2 years or less.
This chart clearly shows the future of knife collecting is very bright as an entire new generation of knife collectors are already actively enjoying this hobby.
This trend is particularly pronounced when you look back at the age proportions of the collectors surveyed as revealed in Question #1.
We have a whole new generation of collectors who have just recently started collecting knives as a hobby.
It will be interesting to see if when these collectors are the old timers, whether or not the really old and sought-after vintage knives of that day will be the early tactical and survival knives they collected back when they first got started collecting. Let’s just say, I’d be willing to place a wager, if I thought I’d be around to collect on it.
Cutlery News Journal conducted an extensive survey over a two and a half month period earlier this year. The findings will be published soon. There are some surprises too.
1308 collectors took the Cutlery News Journal’s 2009 Knife Collector Survey. It was conducted from January 15th to March 31st, 2009. It comprised of 10 multiple choice questions.
Today, I am presenting the answers to the first question in the survey. It simply asked the participant to indicate the age group he or she represented (click on the chart to enlarge. Each time you click the chart will zoom in).
If chart fails to load, click image to display.
2009 Knife Collector Survey
The survey was heavily promoted through the major knife forums, Blademag.com, Yahoo Knife Groups, Cutlery News Journal, ElephantToenails.com, the National Knife Collectors Association, YouTube and various knife company communities, as well as the NKCA Knife Show in Dalton, Georgia March 13- 15th 2009.
The finding show that of the 1307 participants who answered this question- 43% are 25 and under. 33% represent the 20 and under age group, with an additional 10% from the 21- 25 age group.
I will refrain from adding editorial comments at this time. Instead, I will publish the survey results in an official report.
I’ll only add that most folks would have guessed the 46 to 60 age group to have made up the largest age segment, when in fact those ages only represent 23.5% of the collectors.
There are many conclusions that can be drawn here, and a bunch of questions. From a knife collecting organization’s perspective, one question begs asked: “What are we doing to reach out and engage this active younger collector?”
Consider this- E*Trade reports at the end of 2008, cash in money markets and bank accounts reached right at $9 Trillion. You read that right, that’s TRILLION with a “T.”
Just think of all those investors who are now looking for another place to park some of those dollars. Plus, though I am not an economist- just a knife collector, we know we will have tremendous inflationary pressure as we begin to come out of this slump, knives can be a tremendous hedge against inflation.
On a related note- The results of the 2009 Knife Community Survey confirm, close to 50% of knife collectors are new collectors- close to 30% have only collected less than 2 years. I’m preparing the report on the survey now, but you will also be surprised to learn, close to 50% of the collectors are under 25 years old. These two stats provide a very healthy future for our wonderful hobby and it flies in the face of the belief that the vast majority of collectors are 50+ years old- that simply isn’t true.
Our hobby is very alive and well, I’m glad to report. Now all we need to do is tap a few hundredths of a point of the $9 Trillion and funnel it our way.
The first official knife community survey is history. A record 1308 collectors participated.
If you missed out, we’ll run other surveys, polls and contests here at Cutlery News Journal.
In fact, my suggestion is to sign up for CNJ UPDATES so you won’t miss out on the happenings, which is really important, especially if you only check in off and on.
I’ll be burning the mid-night oil studying over the results. A formal report will be published once it is complete.
The results are significant because the collectors represented all age groups, knife types and years collecting.
The entire knife community rallied around this project, in particular the knife folks on the forums and YouTube.
I’ve taken a sneak peek and think you will be surprised by many of the findings.
Thanks again to all who took part.
Just a quick note regarding the 2009 Knife Community Survey, we are closing it the end of this month.
Many of you are new readers of CNJ since we started the survey a couple of months ago and I want to invite you to participate.
Take 2009 Knife Community Survey. It is only 10 straight forward questions- nothing personal. No name. No email address.
Once completed, the survey results will represent the most comprehensive collector profile in the history of organized knife collecting. It will be a real-time snap of today’s knife collector. Moreover, the findings will provide valuable insights for all in the knife industry on a wide range of topics and trends.
Thank you for your support and participation.
Cutlery News Journal 