Dull blade on the first knife?

E

EdgePal

Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
316
In my opinion, a dull egde makes bad wounds and the wounds get often infected because of bacteria’s on the blade. The wound gets often deep because of the dull blade, because, more power must be used when using the knife.

When I give a knife away to young people, I give away a sharp knife. Together with my gift is also some time to learn how to use the knife. I sit there ready with some band aid to take care off wounds. If they cut them self’s the first time, and they often do, the cut is clean, do not hurt so much and the cut Is straight and heal nice and fast without infections.

Other people give away dull knifes and try to protect the new knife owner against wounds. In my mind, dull knife are very dangerous tools and they give often bad wounds.
What is your opinion? Dull or sharp edge on the first knife?
And - what edge was it on your first knife?

Thomas
 
With young children (6 yo), I give a small swiss army with blade, scissors, toothpick, etc. I ask if they want a dull knife or sharp at the beginning. With a slipjoint, many children are afraid of cutting themselves with the closing of the blade. The knife is dull, thus it won't cut and can't give a wound. The slipjoint I give, also has scissors, so the kid can still cut things. They quickly learn about the blade and want it sharpened. But now they are confident with its use.

A really dull knife isn't dangerous, its when the blade can still cut but is dull enough to slip or hang up that it becomes danderous.
 
i agree with you completely. i got my first knife (SAK) when i was about 9, it was razor sharp when i got it & to this day it remains the only knife i NEVER cut myself with.
 
First real knife, sharp, but I'd teach them the basics of how to close and open their first slipjoint or lockback on a dull blade. Maybe give the knife to them dull and have them learn how to sharpen it? Then you could kill 3 birds with one stone :p
 
The first thing I learned about knives as a kid was " a dull tool is a dangerous tool" and I don't give a sh1t how dull you think it is it will probably still cut you. Besides what the h3ll is the point of having a knife that you can't cut anything with? Is that a zen riddle or something?
 
I'm soon to face the same question, with 2 grandsons now aged 5 and 6. Their mother is not a freak when it comes to knives (I've given her a SAK and a Spydie lockback over the years, and she uses them), but of course she doesn't want them to get hurt, and neither do I.

Maybe a combination of both - first, a slipjoint knife SO DULL that it can't cut them. Let them see how it can snap shut on them. They'll jump a little, maybe say "ouch", but not get cut. Then, explain how a "real" (i.e. sharp) knife would cut them (and they certainly understand what that means). THen, after seeing that they seem to have respect for that possibility, move on to the real thing...
 
Hey LOBO103 you don't seem to know children very well. At age 6-10 a knife is a toy first, tool second. This is nature...not nuture. Children will play with anything. Even adults play with knives :) A truly dull knife is not dangerous because it can not cut you. It can still be used as a toy and the point can still be used to gouge. A young child is first afraid of knife, because they've been taught it will cut you. Victoronix sells a totally dull knife for young children to get familiar with. Some knife stores sell wooden knives to introduce kids to folding knives. I prefer to buy a used one that is already dull, but can be made serviceable once they learn how to open and handle it.
 
I agree with brownshoe. If the child is very young the safest thing could be a dull blade. If the child is responsible then a sharp balde and proper instruction is the way to go. In my opinion anyway.
 
If the kid isn't old enough to learn properly (in the parent's opinon anyways) the difference between a dull real knife and a toy, then you should give them a toy, as opposed to a dull knife. There is a visible difference, and the last thing you want is the kid to associate their neato dulled "toy" with one of your fully sharpened knives.
 
There is an old saying: "A sharp knife is dangerous, a dull knife is more dangerous".

As to the toy vs. knife thing, I agree with yoda4561, if you give a knife it should be a sharp knife, if not ready for a sharp knife give a toy that is obviously a toy. You can start kids out by carving soap with a wooden blade or spatula.

Luis
 
Well, many wise words about sharp / dull edges.
We have all different experiences, we live in different parts of the world. What’s normal in Sweden can be abnormal in other country’s and vice verse. If I live in a big city, a small city or out on the country, makes differences on my opinion and experiences.

A knife is a knife, knifes, in my world, is never a toy.

Some children can be knife owners in young age, other must wait, some shall never in their life have a knife, not even as adults. We are all different in that matter.

Conclusion so far:
Sharp knifes is a better and a safer gift to young people – but let them first train to open and close a dull folder for safety reasons.

Thomas
 
Here's a short story, about 6 years ago I was at a local 10 day music festival.

While there I bought a Bloomin' Onion,(a deep fried onion that opens/blooms like a flower when cooked) I was going to share it with my wife and daughter so I whipped out my freshly sharpened BM Ares, the onion was on a paper plate in my hand so I decided to cut the onion in half while holding the paper plate in my hand.

The knife passed through the onion, through the paper plate and through the flesh on my left pointer finger.

Now having had several alcoholic beverages my blood was a little thin,(I bled like a stuck pig).

To the point, after the rescue squad suggested an ambulance ride to the local hospital I opted to have a friend drive me to a hospital that was familiar with my records,(I'm a frequent visitor to the local hospitals, always breaking or cutting something on myself).

After bleeding into a tray for 45 mins. the doctor comes in and we trade info he looks at the wound and says, "Well good thing the knife was sharp." to which I replied, "What are ya tellin' me, a dull knife and a bad bruise would have been worse than a clean cut?"

We both laughed, then the bast*rd gave me 8 stitches, no painkiller beecause I had been drinkin' :grumpy:

BTW I still agreea sharp knife is way safer. :)
 
What Brownshoe said in his first post. I've given my little ones ( 7&9) Vic Classics and dulled the blades first. The 9 yr old isnt very coordinated and has been seen using the back of a knife to cut with. The 7 yr old is much more interested in knives and loves to use th scissors. I've recently purchased Vics with no blade. I will wait until they are ready more. They have a tendency to not put things back and I dont want these lost.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top