The largest knife collection in the world is held by a California man who has collected 2,175 knives during 50 years of knife collecting. He started collecting at the age of 5 when his uncle gave him his first knife as a gift.

The Guinness Book of World Records gave Luis Mercado of Fremont, Calif., the record of biggest knife collection after he submitted his collection for inspection in late 2016. The official designation came the next year. Mercado still owns the record, according to Guinness.

Earning The Biggest Knife Collection Record

No one had ever attempted to earn the record for the largest knife collection before. Guinness had set a threshold of having at least 2,100 knives to attempt to earn the record. They arrived at that number by talking with knife dealers at boutique and specialty stores across the nation, Mercado told the East Bay Times.

The knife dealers gave Guinness their total number of different knives in stock to determine the number, which averaged about 2,100 per store.

Mercado then had to display all his knives. He carefully laid them out in nine rows on the floor of the karate gym he owns in Fremont, located between San Jose and Oakland. His family and friends helped him lay all the knives out. It took three days.

Guinness then approved two independent weapons experts who went over every knife, double-checking that every knife on Mercado’s list was displayed in the collection. In March 2017, Guinness officially gave Mercado the record for the largest knife collection.

What’s In the Knife Collection?

Mercado started collecting knives when he was five. Still living in Mexico at the time, he received painful injections that were part of treatment for chronic adenoiditis, Mercado told Knife News. His uncle gave him his first knife for being brave during the treatment.

It’s still part of the collection. Since then, Mercado has purchased, on average, a new knife every eight to nine days. The collection includes knives from 29 countries, six continents and 400 different brands.

The rare knives include a Kiku Matsuda Subaru and Microtech Jagdkommando, a rare production piece. Mercado has kept most of the knives in mint or near-mint condition, only carrying and using a few of the knives.

As amazing as his knife collection is, Mercado suspects his reign as the record holder will not last. He told Knife News he believes other people likely can outdo his records. He said, “I am certain other knife collectors have more than me. They just had not thought of setting a world record.”