At what age do you start your young one out with a knife?

sixfeetdeep

sixfeetdeep

Joined
Feb 1, 2004
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817
Hey to everyone on here. I tried to do a search on this, but maybe I didn't use the right words becasue I came up with nothing.....


Anyway.....I am obviously a knifenut like the rest of you on here. I have alot of young ones in the family asking if they can buy knives from me. I tell them the only way to do so is to get there parents permission. Now I know what kids are capable of handling a knife safely & which ones are ding-dongs that don't......but what to do?

I know to properly teach them about what a knife can & can't do & how to properly handle a knife....but I am still scared to do so. Hell, my first knife was given to me from my mom of all people & not my dad & I wasn't told anything about knives then. It was a piece of junk sterling silver fancy pants thing that had NO edge to it whatsoever with rounded edges on the blade....yuck! Needless to say, it didn't last long. I basically taught my self the likes & dislikes of the knife needs & what to look for. I think that I have done a decent job of things, but I still have much to learn.

I want to teach the young ones about knives, yet if something was to go wrong where they cut themselves or worse....I would feel terrible!

Any advise is always appreciated. FYI, the kids range from 6years-12.
I also have a clue as to which knives to start them out with...like one of the smaller Spyderco's for example, but....hell, I don't know. I want to do the right thing to help them out & to educate their parents as well, but it gets confusing.

Any books on this or anything else...like I said is very much appreciated.


Thanks all!
 
My general policy is to clear it with the parents first, and that only after you feel they are mature enough to handle a knife properly and understand that it is a tool to be cared for, and never to be used to threaten anyone. Then, when you give it to them, teach them the basics on how to use it safely and keep it properly maintained. Offer sharpening services until they can do it themselves, or someone else in the family. The kid has to be mature enough to take on responsibility. And if they then cut themselves, which is pretty much inevitable (I challenge you to find anyone on this forum who hasn't cut themself at some point in the past), let it be a learning experience for them. Remember that you have involved the parents in this decision, and the parents also have the obligation to provide proper supervision.
 
Hey...

Well,, several years ago a good customer and friends gave me a Buck fixed blade for my son, so I kept it safe for him until I thought the time was right...
He knew it was his and he only handled it when I was around..Everything was cool...


When the time was right,, I taught him how to use it,,proper this,,proper that,,everything was cool... One day he decided he wanted to whittle...

Soooo,,, I set him up on the living room floor,,with a blanket a stick and a freshly sharpened Buck.. Well.....

I leave him alone for 5 minutes to check and email, and here he comes with his hands cupped, an entire handful of blood...

My wife hears whats going on, Freaks out,,and now theres blood from carpet to ceiling...

OMG,, I thought he cut his wrist when I first seen it..There was so much blood that I couldn't see the wound,and didn't know where it was....

My wife is screaming,,getting dizzy (she's not good at that sort of thing) so I grab him,and wash the wound to see what kind of damage.. Ok,, no cut wrist,,so I go to work on it applying pressure, my wife is on the phone with 911...

After 15 mins,,no ambulance,, I said F-it,, I'm taking him myself..As we get in the truck,,the ambulance shows up.. They check it,,do a quick patch job on my dressing and said it wasn't that serious,and that I could take him.....

Anyway,, he filleted the meaty part just under the thumb really good,,a few stitches(11 I think) and he's good to go....

I get Reamed out all the way home from my wife.. :rolleyes:

Well,,he had a decent fear of knives for quite some time after that, however he's slowly coming around,, and now has his knife permit from Scouts, and proudly wears his favorite Buck to camps, meetings, but my wife draws the line at shopping.. LOL (He actually asked if he could wear it to go shopping) That's My Boy!

He hasn't cut himself again yet,,but he will,, we all do.. hopefully nothing serious...

So anyway,, thats my little story about when is the time to give a kid a knife... The time was right,, but Dad was a dumba$$ for leaving him alone with it....


Edited to Add:

Every once and awhile,, one of my customers sends a knife for him.. He's gotten 3-4 from forum members, and dad has made some sweet deals on trades for him, a couple nice multi-tools,,a Camillus folder,a Gerber folder, a Queen D2, and a matching Dad/Son set of Spydie Salsa's...

When I finish building my shop,, I'm going to give him his own drawer for his growing collection...:)

ttyle

Eric....
 
When my daughter was 10 or 11 she was in the brownies and they had a lesson on handling pocket knives. Because of some bad experiences I refused to give her a slip joint like most scouting type knives. I let her handle my liner locks and compression locks. In the end she felt most comfortable with a red handled finish butterfly camping utility knife. So I let her use this. Of course her sheeple cow brownie leader didn't like it but that's another story. I did get her a spydie delica and a LM micro eventually but it was against school policy to have any kind of multi tool or pocket knife. The same people who ruined her school system are probably running our airports and have managed to insure that law abiding Americans are lucky to get plastic utensils while all manner of crumbums seem to get on with all types of devices of varying degrees of lethality. These same pc cretins have also managed to deprive us of access to what in my opinion are some of the easiest to use and most useful knives all because they are "butterfly" knives. Shoots I gotta get off this soap box.
 
Got my first knife when I was five years old--cheap little barlowe pocketknife with "IRELAND" stamped on the blade. Cut myself in about ten minutes. What was funny was, once I learned it was serious business, I didn't play with it--I just brought it out when I needed to cut something. One incident did arise a few months later (so I'm told, I don't remember) where I got my butt warmed because I'd apparently decided I 'needed' to cut a couch cushion. Again, though, I learned--in this case, the difference between genuine need and curiosity need. ;)

No matter what age you first give someone a knife, be it 5 or 55, they'll cut themselves. Get it over with, know up front that you'll have to deal with mistakes, and let experience do its job. Alot like training out of diapers.

And if it's for somebody else's kid, make sure THEY understand this before they get a knife from you.
 
I would start out by letting a child use a knife of yours under constant supervision. It depends on coordination as well as caution in the child. Somewhere around 6 or 7 is probably right. That is the age where I started in Cub Scouts and part of the first merit badge was learning to sharpen the scout knife.

The knife that you let the child use should have a short blade. I like the small pen knife blade on the Tinker model of SAK. When the child seems to understand how to cut away from themselves and keep there eyes on what they are doing give them something with a short knife blade plus other tools. One of the key lesson you want them to learn is to use the proper tool for the job, don't try and use a knife blade for the wrong thing. A multitool or SAK make good first knives so that they learn to use the screwdriver blade to turn screws. Another nice starter knife is a cheap little gadget called a "Trim Trio". This is a small 3-blade pen knife with a folded sheet metal handle. You buy them in drug stores where they sell nail clippers. It has a short sheeps foot blade, a combo cap-lifter/screwdriver blade, and a nail file. A Victorinox Classic is another nice small starter. Remember you are teaching the child about tools as much as you are teaching them about knives.
 
Hey Jeff..

In retrospect,, it was completely irresponsible for me to leave him unattended with any knife, for any period of time....

Since then I've given him a RUK SAK, which he now carrys along with his Buck. He's becoming better at picking which knife to do what with...

Thanks for the insight,,great ideas..

ttyle

Eric....
 
I got my first knife when I was 10, and I'm gave my son his first knife at 10. I don't think it's a magic age. Some kids probably shoudn't get a knife until they're 40 or so. :eek: A really responsible and well supervised kid could get one younger than 10 and be fine. It's all going to depend on the particular kid.
 
I received my first knife as a prize in scouts when I was 7, an Old Timer stockman. I had been trained in proper handling and sharpening, but I still have a scar from closing one of the blades down on a finger within two weeks of getting the knife. Kids are kids, and no matter how responsible, expect them to get a nick or cut every now and then. Heck 25 years later I still cut myself every now and then ;)
 
My son is 6 and is facinated by the knives I make. Well he just completed his first year of cub scouts and I promised him I would make him one. It will be a small lockback, unsharpened of course. One he goes through his Boy Scout training with knives, I'll sharpen it up for him.
 
sixfeetdeep et al.:

back in '02, there was a similar thread; see
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184470

Here's what I wrote at the time:
"...my daughter and son both had Swiss Army-type folders by the time they were 8 or 9. However, this came after lifelong exposure to a variety of sharp knives by watching and eventually helping Mom & Dad around the kitchen, cutting flowers, cleaning fish, working on craft projects, etc. They are now 21 & 17, and I'm pleased to report that they both retain a high level of respect and appreciation for a good sharp blade, and are comfortable using them in kitchen or field."
Updates: they both got kitchen knives for Christmas last year. My son wrote last week requesting one of my tougher puukko-type fixed blades; he's living in the woods all summer on a trail building crew.

:-)

Andrew
 
andrewb, thank you for the link. Like I said, I tried to find something with a search....but I probably didn't word it correctly.

I really appreciate all of your responses on this matter.

Case in point, my brothers sons both are into the new knives that I bring over. I let them hold them in the closed position & only the older one gets to hold one with it open. I promissed them that when the time was right, I would buy them whatever knives they wanted. However, the younger one is kind of a loose cannon & I don't see him getting any knife for a LONG time. He isn't ready & so I won't chance it. The older one has got his act together & maybe soon, I will give him one of mine & see how he does & then let him pick something out. The only problem is that if you get one something, the other has to get one too. Maybe they will both have to wait.


But for now, i am buying trainer knives to get them at least started on the opening & closing techniques. Just trying to get them at a cheapo price is hard to do.

THANKS!
 
t1mpani said:
Got my first knife when I was five years old--...Cut myself in about ten minutes.
Click to expand...


Funny you mention that. When I was 10 or so, I asked my folks to buy me a little fake stag handled slip joint we saw in our local convenience store. They said, "no," of course and told me I'd cut myself.

A simple "no" wasn't going to stop me. I saved up the five bucks or so from my paper route and bought it myself a few days later. Once I had it in hand, I wanted to see if it was sharp...so I proceeded to drag my thumb against the blade. Result: fairly deep cut. It bled all the way home as I wrapped it in my paper route bag. Never had the nerve to tell my folks :)
 
Don't have any kids myself. A friend of mine once told me that when his dad gave him his first knife, not sure the age, he rubbed the cutting edge in a sawing motion on concrete to unsharpen it. I just thought, if a kid is too young to have a sharpened knife he is definately too young to have one that he has to put all his force behind to use. Accident waiting to happen if you ask me.
 
Is this to young?

ultrasound.jpg
 
Another thing to consider for the kid's maturity level is not just if he/she respects a sharp edge, but if he/she comprehends the consequences and responsibilities in carrying a knife.

A kid will cut himself. It's going to happen. Gauranteed. I still do it. Everybody here still does it (don't lie). But worse, a kid might cut someone else. I'm not one of those pansy-ass alarmists, but I do think that TV, movies, and video games can influence a kid.* A handy knife in a desperate situation might put your kid in JV detention (or worse), and another unfortunate kid in the hospital or morgue.

And make sure the kid will never take the knife to school. I did (and this was only a few years ago), but this was pre-Columbine, before the kiddies decided to make murder a favorite childhood pasttime. A coworker of mine's son brought a dinky knife to school last year, some other kid ratted him out, and a 6 month suspension was handed out. Compared to other schools, that's lenient. Many will simply expell with no-tolerance. The point is, even if the kid is wise enough to carry and know how to use the knife, there's still things to worry about. Make sure the kid knows that suspension or expullsion from school isn't worth it, no matter how cool his friends think it is.
 
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