A gentleman folder with a safety?

khsaccali

khsaccali

Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
31
Hi all, I'm new here. I tried to research this first, so sorry if I missed an easy resource somewhere.

I have small kids who are smart eough to get into trouble with a sharp knife I've accidentally left around, but still young enough to be fooled (temporarily) by a safety.

I would like an excellent quality gentleman folder with a wood handle and with a smaller sized blade in the $100 range. I assume a knife like this will be very sharp. This is why I would like a safety.

If they don't make safeties for this type of knife, I think I will just go with a (I assume somewhat dull) Swiss Army knife. This is for EDC.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
 
The only knives I know of with safeties are modern automatics and assisted openers.

With a strong pull slipjoint, the blade is difficult to open unless you've got a lot of hand power, so that's really the only kind of traditional I can think of to recommend to you.

I don't mean for this question to be assuming or deriding, but why would your children have access to your knife? Is it not an option to keep it in your pocket and then out of reach when it's not in your pocket?

Knives come in varying degrees of sharpness, but a SAK isn't something I'd call dull enough to be "safe" if improper handling is a concern.
 
Get a good sharp knife if thats what you want. Dull knives are useless.
Knives are no different that anything else dangerous. As a parent you need to be more responsible and not leave sharp knives laying around where kids can get them. You would not "accidentally" leave a handgun "laying around" would you?
 
First, price point does not indicate the sharpness of a knife. I have a swiss army knife that is crazy sharp that i use at work daily.

You can let your knife get dull if youd like, but that would be counter productive. My advice would be to teach your kids how to safely handle a knife. Doing so would aleviate the curiousity factor a bit, and also give you a way to show them how dangerous mishandling a knife can be.

Eg."see how well a knife can cut wood? Our skin is alot softer than wood, so think of how much this could hurt you if you dont use it properly."

This is in no way ment to be insulting, i learned how to handle a knife under watchful parental supervision starting when i was about 3 years old. When i was 5, my dad gave me my own knife.

Have fun with it and teach them a useful skill
 
A Kershaw Leek is the only one that comes to mind that can be locked closed right now. I don't know of a version that comes with wooden scales though, but you could probably get some nice aftermarket scales for it and still be close to your stated budget.

Better would be to just get the knife you want and keep it away from your children, since locks won't stop a curious kid indefinitely (it's just slider really), and properly educate them on how to handle knives as soon as they're old enough.
 
I have the knife that GooberBoober mentioned. In fact, it was immediately what came to mind after reading the OP's query. However, as nice a knife as it is, it is far from a traditional knife though.

I think you are going to find some difficulties finding a traditional pattern that comes with a "safety". Your other criteria is easily met though and I think if you found one with a good stout pull with a half stop, pair that with some supervision/education for your little ones, you will be in great shape.

P.S. Oh, and Swiss Army knives can be wicked sharp, just takes continued maintenance and care like any other good knife.
 
Welcome! A dull knife is a dangerous and somewhat useless tool, so don't use that line of reasoning to prevent accidents. Perhaps a better option would be to teach your kids to be careful of and to properly handle knives:) As far as keeping very young children from opening your knife... keeping them safely stored is best and a nice stiff pull slipjoint will keep busy fingers from getting nicked.
 
Well, an Opinel No.6 in Ebony or Bubinga fits the bill. Its safety collar would not be easy to open by accident. Plus it will cost you a LOT less than your price limit, and they're very sharp in Sandvik or carbon!
 
Will Power said:
Well, an Opinel No.6 in Ebony or Bubinga fits the bill. Its safety collar would not be easy to open by accident. Plus it will cost you a LOT less than your price limit, and they're very sharp in Sandvik or carbon!
Click to expand...

Yes! :thumbup: I completely forgot about Opinels, the collar does indeed lock the blade closed if the user so wished.
 
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khsaccali said:
Hi all, I'm new here. I tried to research this first, so sorry if I missed an easy resource somewhere.

I have small kids who are smart eough to get into trouble with a sharp knife I've accidentally left around, but still young enough to be fooled (temporarily) by a safety.

I would like an excellent quality gentleman folder with a wood handle and with a smaller sized blade in the $100 range. I assume a knife like this will be very sharp. This is why I would like a safety.

If they don't make safeties for this type of knife, I think I will just go with a (I assume somewhat dull) Swiss Army knife. This is for EDC.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Welcome. As a dad of two girls under 5 I have thought a lot about keeping their little fingers off of the things that can hurt them. My oldest actually has a bleeding disorder to make it all the more complicated. A saftey is a way to be safe yet it should not replace educating your kiddos and taking responsibility of your knives. Im sure you know this though.

Both of my girls started talking at a young age. Some of their first words were "knife" and "cut." They knew what daddy's knife was and not to touch. They knew what kitchen knives were later and other things that cut but daddy's knife was learned quickly. When my oldest was 18 months she brought me my knife off the table and said, "dadda, knife, cut."

Educting them early and constantly is your best safety imo.


Edit: Just wanted to add that each of my girls has their Cadet. They ask to carry thier knife almost daily. I carry it for them and open the blunted screwdriver to let them practice cutting. This teaches them how to handle it. When they start to play, I take it away.
 
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Teach your kids, the earlier the better. There are knives all around my house. I'm not just talking about slipjoints, but kukris, kitchen knives, puukkos, and a straight razor. All very sharp. My daughter (7 now) likely knows where they all are as she has seen me use them all at one time or another since she was old enough to walk. It has never been a problem. I like to think it's because she has been educated about them from the beginning. She knows knives are tools that can be dangerous if not treated properly. She's also seen first hand the effects of carelessness, that sloppy technique with a sharp blade ends up with blood and pain. As a result I already trust her with a knife more than I do some adults.
 
Besides Opinels, there are some other European traditional knives which lock closed (I'd post a pic of my Spanish example, but I'm on my phone right now). I'd also echo what everyone is saying :thumbup:
 
I can only echo what others have said here. Keep your knife somewhere they cannot get their hands on it until you are sure you have taught them to respect it. A dull knife is in many ways more dangerous than a sharp one.

I agree with the suggestion of an Opinel. It can be locked closed as well as open and would be tough for young ones to unlock. But, not impossible. So, again, keep your knives where they can't get them.

Get in a habit as I did when my kids were little of putting your "stuff" in the same spot every day when you get home. Obviously, that spot should be up and away from little hands.

Best of luck with that.
 
First of all I wanna say welcome to the porch.
Now I don't really know of any traditional slipjoints other than the old imperial trick knives ( imperial made great inexpensive blades which can still be had for very cheap on eBay...ect )
These are the ones where you have to hold them in the right orientation and press in on the blade for it to open .
the Christy knife where you have to press on its locking button to slide it open.
And lastly you have leverlock knives, but none of these are exactly secondary safety switches or available in wood other than the leverlock.
BTW Victorinox knives may not be expensive, but don't underestimate them as they come with razor sharp blades.
I think you're best bet would be just to make sure to keep your knife put up, and to teach them about knives as soon As possible, a great way to do this would be to order a few case wooden pocket knife kits. They're inexpensive , and are a fun project which are designed to teach a kid about knives by assembling one. Knowing not to play with your knives, but also knowing how to operate one without getting cut if they do happen to pick one up is a very good thing.
 
I was thinking opinel also. Cheaper and the ring lock could fool them for a little bit if they don't see you use it. Even better if it's one with a stiff pivot that takes a little more muscle to open. Might not stop em but it should slow them down.

I think many of the kershaw speedsafes have a safety but it's really not hard to disengage.

You might consider something with a blunter nose like a sheepsfoot so the kids would be less like to stab themselves but the cutting possibility is still there.

A different option might to be to get the kids their own "fake knife." I think spyderco and some other brands have wooden or plasitc knife kits that essentially give the kiddos something that resembles a knife but without the danger of a sharp metal blade.

Here's a spyderco dragonfly wood kit as an example.
http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/WDKIT1/Spyderco-Wooden-Kit-Dragonfly/789
 
Let's keep the recommendations traditional, please.
 
The Antonini Old Bear locks closed. If you think your kids will open your knife though, they could presumably open the safety. Maybe get yourself an old British Army clasp knife, with a pull of 11 on a scale of 1-10.

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