First Pocket Knives for my boys? Suggestions?

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Sheaman

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Nov 8, 2007
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Regards! Ok, my boys are 9 and 8 and I want to get them their first pocket knives next month at the Reno Gun show. Theyve been asking for one for coupla years. I would like to buy them something very nice but not over the top bank breakers ( Like my new JD Barth and Muller Forge knives!-New to the hobby and took care of myself first), but something of lasting quality. Any suggestions? Price range? Thanks Again!
 
I would recommend a SAK of some sort. They’re fairly inexpensive, good quality, and great first knives in my opinion. My first knife was a Victorinox Classic when I was 6 years old. Still have it too.
They have several different models from which to choose, so I’m sure you could find something each one of them would like for a very reasonable price. Plus, if they “misplace” the knife is no big deal to replace it.

Here’s a link to Victorinox at SMNK: http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/prodlist.jsp?Mode=Brand&Brand=117&A

Hope this helps, let us know what you end up going with.

-sh00ter
 
There's a child's model Victorinox, might be just the thing.

I set aside one of the youth Opinel knives for my boy when he's old enough. It has a rounded tip for safety.

There are also youth model Mora knives, if you'd consider a fixed blade. Just like the regular Mora knives, but with guards and smaller handles. Got one of those for my boy too.

Good Luck deciding!
-Bob
 
I would say a CASE too, with a locking mechanism on the blade. I think the cheetah or cheetah cub model might be nice because it has a small guard too. Not too expensive, but still very nice blades.
 
I will make a few suggestions with two central facts in mind. First, odds are VERY good that your kids will lose or break these knives in time. That's ok. How many of US still have our first knives? With this in mind, I'd stay under $40 max and that's easy to do - there are a lot of great affordable knives out there.

Second, your boys WILL cut themselves. Buy some Band Aids. Again, I think that's ok ..... a nip now will help them learn respect for the tools and learn how to handle them with skill and care. And again, how many of US have been cut? :o

Now, for my suggestions ... if your kids would prefer something more modern and "gadgety," get them a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. Specifcally, I'd opt for the 84mm version of the Tinker. I don't like the "my first SAK" or the kids Opinel because I consider them marketing gimmicks designed to make a buck off nervous-nelly moms. And how long till your guys are embarrassed to be carrying a "baby knife?"

If your kids would be more into a traditional slipjoint, some good affordable options are the American-made Buck 303 stockman, and just about ANY knife from Case. I think the Peanut, the small Texas Jack, or the medium stockman would be good choices for small hands.

Now, on locks ...... my preference would be a slipjoint, not a locker. This will help your "young men" learn careful, responsible handling of a knife.

On steel ....... there are two trains of thought: These are kids, and kids aren't going to be that responsible, so better to get them easy-to-care-for stainless steel. Or: These are kids and they should learn how to take care of their things, so a good carbon steel ("CV" in Case's case) will help them learn how to do that since they'll have to keep them clean and dry and oiled. When I was a kid I used to LOVE to rub down my carbon steel knives with steel wool and naval jelly and then slosh 3-in-1 oil all over them. Most of my jeans probably had oil stains in the pockets. :D Anyway, I don't think there's a "wrong" answer here. If you do decide on carbon, look for a Case knife with a yellow handle (most, not all, of their yellow-handled knives are CV), amber bone handle (most, not all, of their amber bone-handled knives are CV), or a Red (CV) handle. Boker also makes some good carbon slippies these days.

Lastly, please keep us posted on what you choose, how your boys like them, and how their mom deals with it. :p My little guy is just 2 now but he shows a LOT of interest in my pocketknives, always wanting to see me cut something. Won't be too long till I'm in your boat.
 
I think the Victorinox Soldier would be a good choice. So handy to have those screwdrivers, and the price is right.
 
my son started off with a SAK over the summer and now has 4 of the damned things :D The are an incredible buy for the money.
I dont own any case yet but im sure those would be excellent also.
My son had his knife for 3 weeks before he got bit, 3 stiches but it taught him how potentially damaging they can be, way better than my constant nagging.
Good luck whatever you choose im sure they are gonna think your the coolest.
ivan
 
IVANKERLEY said:
My son had his knife for 3 weeks before he got bit, 3 stiches but it taught him how potentially damaging they can be, way better than my constant nagging.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the cut. But you're right, I don't think he's a lad that will be stabbing any trees or cardboard boxes in the near future. Had he come up on a locking blade, though, he might still have a dangerous false sense of security.
 
I'll have to agree on a sak as well, for many reasons. Exellent quality, usefull, great factory warrentee, and not the least is sheeple friendly. Everyone recognizes the red handle pocket knife and it has a very low profile among the anti's. If one of the boys carries it someplace he should'nt the sak may not raise the alarm as much as something with a black handle and tanto blade. The 84mm tinker is a good choice, as is the recruit. If your kids take to knife "acumulation" then there may be a carbon slippy in the future. If they don't, then they will at least have a good sak on hand. All three of my kids were started this way, but only two of them went on to get other knives and collect different types. The oldest one never developed a knife thing, but recognizes he needs a sharp tool now and then and still has the small Victorinox tinker I gave him as a 10 year old. He carries that sak every day and its worn out enough that he has plans to replace it soon with another one. A couple years ago he put a Victorinox executive on his kleyring because in his Brooks Brothers suit it may be the only knife he has on him. Its interesting that he's not a knife knut, but now has a couple of different size sak's to go with different modes of dress.

Also I would not get them a locking blade knife at this point. Yes, the odds are they are going to get a cut, but they will learn care from that. They need to learn not only to care for the knife, but to respect it as well. A bandaid will take care of it and he won't make the same mistake again. I think a kids first knife should be a slip joint for the same reasons their first car should be a stick shift. Besides, locks can and do fail once in a while. I witnessed a terrible accident at work a few years before I retired. A young man in his early 20's was using a Buck 110 folding hunter on the job trying to cut something he should have went to get another Tool. A couple of older workers warned him he was acting foolish, but he said he'd done it this way before. He was really leaning down on the Buck trying to cut a hole trough the plasitc bedliner to go around the tie down in the pickup bed. The lock gave away and he cut off his right index finger at the second joint where his fist was wrapped around the knife. It almost took part of his middle finger with it. He had put all his trust in that lock becase he had done it before and got away with it. This time it failed to hold. I talked with him after he got out of the hospital and he had never had a slip joint pocket knife. He had always had that buck and had developed such faith in the fact that it was a lockblade that he never thought about mechanical failure. He also had never deleloped any awareness of the dynamics of cutting force and folding knives. It was a hard lesson.

Fortunalty for him, his forman was quick thinking enough that while the EMT's were enroute, he got a cup of ice from the caffeteria and stuck the severed finger in it, so it got transported to the Johns Hopkins hand center in Baltimore with him and they re-attached it. But it will never be the same, and it was a painful leason for the lad.

Let the kids learn folding knives with slippys, and if the time comes for a more rugged knife for camping or hunting, then thats what small fixed blades are for. Or as we used to call them, sheath knives.
 
Small SAK with scissors. Children at the age have more need for scissors than a blade and the small blade will assure minimal injuries until they learn knife safety. You should be able to get a nice used one, even a promotional version with a corporate logo, for 10 or less. Put a lanyard on it so they can hang it around their neck, or loop it through their belt so it won't get lost. Paracord is cheap and "cool."
 
Buy them something loosable, that it will be their grief at loosing a knife, not yours when you have paid good money for them!

I purchased for my younger kids, the small 2" Byrds, and the Vic Classic for their key ring.

The Byrds open easily for small hands, and lock and unlock easily.
They do not snap closed, which they were all afraid of the snap closed of my other knives.
With all the jimping on the blade they are easy to control.
And are cheap enough to loose!
The Vic Classic they use for the sissors, and some times the blade.
They think the multi blade knife is cool.
Both together for less than $20.

They have a Columbia Wrangler lockback with a lanyard, for camps and campouts, which they pass around. And they are doing well with it. Also if it is lost or stolen, I don't mind.

We have gone over knife safety, and what a knife can do.
We then whittle with wood so I can teach them knife control.
Been thru this 4 times!

I was doing this with my 14 year old, and she asked me, was I sure I didn't want sons.
I told her, if I can sit and teach my daughters to whittle, what do I need sons for!
 
Sheaman,

I would like to share a story with you of how I got my first knife as a child.

Back many years ago Price Albert tobacco would send you an Old Timer small stockman if you sent in five proofs of purchase and .99 cents. I was five years old and my grandfather who I called Pop and me (mostly him) collected up old pop bottles and turned them in for the refund money. I'll never forget counting out the money 10 to 20 times and taping it to a piece of card board that would fit in an envelope. Pop made a great deal about this whole adventure, because I think, he knew it would be one of the fondest memories of my time with him. We walked to the Post office and I gave the Post master the envelope to which he replied “He needed
15 cents for postage due to the weight.” I had used all my bottle money for the knife, Pop just smiled and said "I got ya covered on this one little buddy." Whew that was a close one I thought, sure am glad Pop is here. Now as a boy of five my concept of time was that I suppose of our ol' hound Tip, so as soon as we walked back to the house I checked the mailbox for my knife, not there. I checked every 10 to 20 minutes for the rest of that day.
That night on the front porch Pop tried to explained the virtues of patients to me. The next morning before breakfast I was checking the mailbox again and did so all day. Pop and I had the same virtues talk again that night on the front porch. The next day I started my same routine of checking the mail box, Pop came and got me and said we had to go over to Mr. Allen’s place and get a load of fire wood for this coming winter. I protested because who would check the mail. Pop told me Mom would, my Grandmother, he assured me she was trust worthy and would keep the vigil going. We went and loaded the wood and when we got home, as you can guess I checked the mailbox, still no package. Hang dog looking Tip and I slowly walked into the house for lunch. Mom was in the kitchen finishing preparation on lunch and calmly said “There’s a package on the secretariat for you.”
It was here, I tore open the package and there it was the most perfect, beautiful knife ever made. Pop and Mom both joined in the celebration of the century. Pop and I sat on the front porch all afternoon and whittled and talked of how long it took for that knife to get here.

Many years later after I had come to understand the postal system and time, Pop and I sat on the same front porch both whittling and I asked him “How do ya suppose that this knife got here so soon?” Pop just smiled and said “I had ordered that knife three months earlier and set it aside for ya, I tried to teach ya a little patient, but you would have no part of it. So I decided I would just let you have it a little sooner, against your Grandmother’s wishes.” He paused, flipped a chip of wood off his pants leg and then continued “To tell ya the truth, I’m glad I did, it gave us just that much more time to sit on this front porch whittling and talking.” I continued whittling, not saying a word for a long time, then I said “Thanks Pop.” He nodded and said “I got ya covered little buddy, always have.”

Now many years later and many miles down this road of life I sometimes take that same knife and sit on my front porch and start whittling. I think of the times with Pop on his front porch, and the talks we had, and how I learned values and morals. I look at the empty chair beside me and I can almost hear him say “Tip and me have found a great front porch up here, don’t forget to bring your knife.”

That is what my first knife meant to me. I would hope whichever one your sons get, you will try and make it mean the same to them.
 
mnblade and neeman

Thanks, but them kinda stories take alot out of ya to put it all down on paper. Has been 20 years last month since Pop and I have been unable to share a front porch. Scooter and I have been spending a lot of time on mine lately.
 
At that age, look for something that is big enough to impress the boys, and big enough so that they will have a chance to find it if they loose the knife. Chances are that they will lose the knife at some point, and that is one of the biggest learning curves for any child- loss of a favorite item.

I would suggest a buck 110 folder, large enough, yet very loose-able and replaceable since they are very common, without breaking the budget.
 
culpeppj said:
I was five years old and my grandfather who I called Pop and me (mostly him) collected up old pop bottles and turned them in for the refund money. I'll never forget counting out the money 10 to 20 times and taping it to a piece of card board that would fit in an envelope.
Click to expand...

I had to save and pay for my first knife as well. It took me forever to save enough before riding with my dad to the store to pick one out. It’s probably why I still have the knife. It also started teaching me the value of the dollar and the work that has to be done for it (which is a good lesson it itself). So if you haven’t already or didn’t think of it, I’d recommend having them do small jobs around the house and paying them a little for each task. Then letting how much they’ve earned determine what they’ll be able to purchase. If they want it bad enough they’ll be asking you for jobs to do.

I don’t mean to offend anyone here but I feel that to many children (and teens) these days are just given thing and have no respect for what they have. I’m only 19 but have had a REAL job working as a plumber for the last 5 years (working through high school and now college). I pay for everything that I can (parent do help some with college because it’s just too much), but I know what my time is worth and think twice before I spend ANY MONEY. Some of the people I graduated with still have there parent paying for everything, and it shows with how they spend their money, treat their car, and so on. And even though I strapped for cash at times, I thank my parents for making me work when I was younger; I’ve seen where just being given everything gets you, and I’m glad that’s not me.

Just my .02 cents

-sh00ter
 
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