First knife and what age?

hoopster

hoopster

Joined
Jan 12, 2007
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Twitchyblade's thread about what knife you consider a hand down heirloom got me thinking about what would be the perfect first knife and at what age. My son is only two so I know he's got a while.
I'd love to hear personal experiences and pros and cons of different knife styles.
Forgive me if this has already been discussed to death!
 
I was around 6 and I got a case knife, the simple black one with 2 blades, can and bottle opener.
 
A nice SAK would be good. That way he would have several tools to use besides a blade.
 
I think I was about 9 when I got my first from a family friend. Was a simple black frn case lockback.
 
7 or so and it was a "camping" lockback from my granpa. its still sitting in its leather sheath i cant bring myself to use it.
 
I got my first knife when I was 8, it was a SAK.
 
I appreciate the acknowledgment there hoopster....Technically my first knife was when i was only 13 i bought a Gerber Truss 2.0 while at a target. I didn't have an allowance so i had to save up my own money. I usually bought video games before that so it took some time to save up my money. I had laid eyes on it every time i went into target after i went camping one time with my family. My brother was 17 at the time had had a Gerber of his own, i believe it was the AR-2 or something. My parents didnt like knives since i was so young so as soon as i bought it i hid it from them. Then one day they ask if i have a knife to use since i was always taking my brothers to use. I mistakenly pulled out my gerber..... then came the questions!.... where did you get it? how much was it? why did you get it? etc... i told them i saved up for it and i really loved it. They were ok with it as long as i didnt take it to school... It was a knife i had up until i was around 16 when it was stolen from me when my parents bathroom was being remodeled. My knife was covered in caulking from helping my dad the previous day. So i was trying to clean it. One of the workers snatched it off the bathroom counter. I plan to get a replacement one day.... So that is my story on my first knife. There was a different knife that i took from my brother when he and i went to a bait shop in Fort Pierce, Florida, it was a Frost Cutlery Raven Claw i believe. I still have that one to this day, its on my keys for when ever i need another knife to open something. Its next to impossible to sharpen but i will never let it go.
 
I was ten when I got mine. It was a plastic handled Leatherman knockoff from a hardware store that came with a SAK classic knockoff.

However I would say that 6 seems an appropriate age for a kid to get his or her first knife. A good SAK or multitool would probably be best.
 
I was around 10 years old when I asked for, and received a Rambo knife (clone) for Christmas. It was the kind with the hollow handle. I chopped a ton of trees in my backyard with it until eventually the blade loosened and broke off at the handle. Even so, it was one of my favorite Christmas presents ever, and to this day I remember it fondly.

I later saved up my allowance and replaced it with an 'Air Force survival' knife very similar to this one:
http://www.uscav.com/ProductInfo.as...ebase&cm_mmc=Google Base-_-Products-_-SF-_-V1

I paid almost the exact same price that it still sells for today, actually. That knife performed well, although eventually the handle guard and pommel started to loosen a bit. It's incredible the amount of torture a young boy can put on a knife. In some ways I think they require an even tougher knife then adults.

Anyway the knife had a full tang construction so even though the guard and pommel loosened up a bit, it held up. I still have it laying around in a closet somewhere.
 
I think I was 5 or 6. I got first knife was very nice... very, very nice Buck 55 clone or real deal. However it looked like Buck 55. I lost it in woods few years later... Then I got Vic spartan...
 
I was 8. I was at Gibsons discount store. It was an Imperial KampKing. It cost me $1.09. I didn't have enough to buy it with tax, so dad came through for me. I carried it till i was 18 or so. It looks like it has been through a war. It did though, stand all the use/abuse. I still have it. It is still usable. I do remember tightening the blades once or twice by pinching the bolsters in a vise gently (blind pins). I bought a KampKing for my son, gave it when he was 8. He had me find one for my grandson, gave it to him when he was 8. I have upgraded to a Victorinox Tinker.
 
I was somewhere around the age of 5-8 when I got my first knife. It was a laminated Mora with a red wooden handle. Not soon after my dad gave it to me, I sliced my finger carving a spear and freaked out my mom when we were camping -so you see I am a quick learner:rolleyes:, but my dad let me keep it anyway -figuring the worst was over (good choice Dad!).

After that (maybe a year or so) I joined the cub scouts and got a cub scout folder (the blue one with an awl and what not). After that a VIC SAK. And at the age of about 9-10, after I was more trusted with knives, my mom brought a RAMBO knife back from a yard sale and gave it to me. Other than pretending to be RAMBO I never really used it.

I still have the red Mora that my dad gave me -it is a great knife. I will alwayd be a die hard scandi/ Puukko fan.
 
Little pearl-handled slipjoint. And when I say "little," I mean TINY. I must have been 6 years old when my dad gave it to me. It was his first pocket knife as a boy, too.
 
an opinel or a sak
i think i was around 8 when i got my first opinel and begin to learn making wood baskets with my granfather
 
Age really ought to turn on the maturity of the child. Some children could responsibly handle knives at an early age while others cannot. As for type of knife, that is an interesting question. My first was a non-locking Cub Scout knife (at age 7). Do you go locking or non-locking...interesting question.
 
When I was about 6 or 7 I seem to recall receiving a cheapo imitation Buck 110 with plastic handle scales. Lost it in the woods while picking fiddleheads.
 
I got my first knife at age 11, a tiny POS SAK when I joined the Boy Scouts. I upgraded to a larger SAK when I was 15.
 
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