Boy Scout Knife. What should I get?

[Benjamin Liu]

Official BSA knives are also made by Victorinox (made in Switzerland) and Case (made in the USA).

I was referring to the actual Boy Scout Knife and Cub Scout Knife models, the type that was sold in Scout stores for decades. IIRC they've been made by several companies, the ones I had were carbon while Camillus' were stainless.

In that post I mentioned the Victorinox models and recommended them. IMO the Huntsman would be more useful in the field but the official models would be better for collecting.

The Case models look nice but I wouldn't recommend them for kids until they are more experienced. They are far more expensive than the other models and like I said, kids lose knives, and unfortunately, there is also a tendency for knives and other items to become "lost" at Boy Scout camps. They would be a good gift for a kid earning Eagle.

 

[Maikutis]

Oh, yeah.
I specifically wanted the saw, which is why I had to order that Hiker.
Figured he'd spend more time playing with that, and cut himself less than with the blades!
The 3-4 places I looked around here had Tinkers, Super Tinkers, Recruits, and some larger models, but nothing in a 3 layer with a saw. Lots of stuff out of stock from Christmas. Thought about the Farmer, but wanted him to have the tweezers. I've pulled splinters out of him a few times with the one in the Classic on my keys.

Good stuff. I just got into SAKs. Seriously, like two weeks ago. Check out SOSAKonline.com. I got the same model for my first of certainly a few more to come (got a soldier on the way). The Hiker with three layer with tweezers and a saw, screw drivers and philips, can opener, all that stuff. Perfect knife, perfect EDC. I use it to compliment my mini-grip.

 

[rickydave]

it can't be a fixed blade i would suggest a leatherman



if you need a knife go with leatherman!

 

[Limeyfellow]

Bushman5:
man Scouts sure has changed since i was a kid....we used to carry our rifles , fixed blades, folders with us and we spent a LOT of time in the woods, even in the bitter cold of winter.

I just checked out the local troop here (for a friends kid) and its pretty sad what its become. (your regions might be different, i dont know?)

So did we get to do all that stuff and I was living in the UK at the time. A knife was essential when out camping and stuff and winter camps where awesome. Heck we even used firearms on multiple occasions.

They tamed down Scouts across the world. I can't believe they make the BSA take a knife badge to carry a knife. Really weird.

 

[tsacain]

I would go with a case sodbuster or a different slip joint.

 

[Leftoverdj]

You may want to check with his local Boy Scout council, but some Boy Scout events don't allow fixed blades.

Yeah, check with his troop. Different troops may have different restrictions, some of them insane.

It's likely that your godson has gotten his "whittling chip" rather than a badge, per se. The whittling chip is a token that the kid has had basic knife safety training and can be trusted with a knife.

Stick with something pretty basic. I like locks on knives for kids where permitted. Official BSA helps in dealing with the adults. Don't go overly expensive. Kids lose stuff.

 

[cultivateitnow]

I second the Offical BSA knife. They also have a few others on their website with the BAS logo if you want to get him two knives.

 

[NotSoSharpBob]

PERFECT if it came with a pocket clip

 

[Dorito Monk]

I definitely second (or third, or fourth...) the SAK recommendations. I started with a Bantam myself (I think...).

 

[Sep]

I also recommend official BSA-licensed Victorinok SAKs. Personally I'd go with the huntsman for boy scout purposes.

 

[MikeInMo]

I bought my son the BSA SAK last year. I don't remember the model though. It's the one with bright yellow scales. Seems pretty solid. I think any of the official BSA knives are safe bets. There are some cool centennial collectibles this year too.

Our troop prefers fixed blade knives (I think we could be a Mora distributor), but they are not allowed at our local BSA camps so +1 the comments about checking local rules if you consider a fixed blade.

I guess this thread is almost a year old so hopefully the original grandson has a knife by now.

 

[brets-ftw]

ok well first off great choices guys but from my experience as a BSA Councilor for the past 4yrs at SR2 all the bsa titled knives are way over priced for what they are, if you want to get him something, a nice sub $40 single blade knife and a leatherman will do him fine, anything in the gerber line is fantastic, and most of all it has to be abuse resistant ive seen these kids act like their knives were invincible so nothing fancy,

also BSA policy is that they are not allowed to have a knife that is fixed which also dums it down a lot and it cannot be over 3in or the width of their palm so please no spyderco police models or anything that would be rediculus for a 12 yr old

 

[smitty44]

http://www.agrussell.com/remington-2009-boy-scouts-of-america/p/REMhhh19860/