It's about time for me to put some more knives up for sale here because I have too many still. but I'm always naively thinking: wouldn't it be so much easier to give them as gifts to friends/family/coworkers? I am always considering it and then see them do things with knives that say loud and clear: a knife is a durable tool, meant to be tossed around and not cared for.
Selling knives is such a hassle, especially when I feel a personal, meaningful connection to them (thinned, refinished, made a custom handle for it, used for years, etc etc). I want to gift it to someone close to me (especially someone who uses a knife all the time at work) but I am pretty certain all of these people would, chip up, bend, leave dull, let rust over, etc etc this special knife and therefore completely subvert my reasons for gifting it to them. :/
Am I just another arrogant, covetous a-hole?
One example: I have a boss at work who buys j-knives and then lets everyone use them, including apathetic high schoolers who throw them in sinks when washing dishes. All of these knives are bent, rusted over daily, chipped, sharpened aggressively, never thinned. He asks me what knife he should buy next, I tell him not to buy a knife, I tell him buy a Kiwi if he must buy another. I'm exaggerating just a little when I say my workplace is a graveyard of knives, where j-knives go to die. I'm sure there are others out there who mistreat knives much more but but but but AHHHHH
Have y'all ever gifted or not-gifted special knives to friends/family you didn't believe in?
I feel like I could have written your post nearly word for word. I do gift Tojiro DP's to friends and family and include sharpening with it but I am highly selective about it and give a ton on advise when gifting. This has worked fairly well.
What really bothers me though is trying to gift entry level carbon knives to co-workers who should know perfectly well how to care for a knife. If anyone follows good knife hygiene of rinsing and sanitizing when setting a knife down then the only other step needed is a quick dry wipe. I have had the same w#2 gyuto come back to me 3 times; I can not give it away. Most of these people know how to take care of their boards and to keep them clean but can't/will not keep their knives clean, sanitized and dry. They use a house knife for a while then toss it in the pit and grab another and another... ugh. And don't get me started about knives in the dish pit or left in sani-buckets.