Gift for a Teenage Girl

Munk, I think there is a lot of truth in your post. I still think I'm going to go chop down a tree with an 18" khuk, though.

BTW, this is the knife in question.

This one is waiting for my little brother the next time we go camping together. I think he might give me a more positive reaction.

Everyone who has posted here is very kind. Thank you.
 
Hondo3

Thanks. That's the only way this place is worth a damn- talking straight.

I am going to give my son Carter a full size khuk for his 11th birthday.
We've got a lot more safety reinteration first, though.
It'll be kept in my safe and used when we go hiking under my eye.
Too many cougars around here.
I might let him carry it alone in the woods, but no chopping. Strickly defense as needed, PRN.

You have to base what you do on who the kid is. My second in command has a much more dynamic personality and may not get his khuk until he's 16, or 22!


munk
 
Hondo.3 said:
Munk, I think there is a lot of truth in your post. I still think I'm going to go chop down a tree with an 18" khuk, though.

BTW, this is the knife in question.

This one is waiting for my little brother the next time we go camping together. I think he might give me a more positive reaction.

Everyone who has posted here is very kind. Thank you.
Click to expand...

WOW!!! :eek:
beautiful kardas... im sure she will come around :)
please let us know the reaction of your brother on the next camping trip :D :thumbup:
 
Yup, give her a good chef's knife with an 8" blade, and teach her how to use it properly. Maybe even give her something like Julia Child's "mastering the art of French cooking" to see how real chefs use and sharpen a big blade.

Then next time you go camping, mention that the pretty karda with the "little blade" will do the same work for her while cooking at the campsite, and be a whole lot more convenient to carry 'round.

God, what a beautiful thing that one is.
 
Hondo, if your sister isn't a knife person, she might not realize exactly how useful such a knife can be. Maybe she needs a bit of brotherly coaching.

Also, at this point, it sounds like you're relying on your father's impression of what your sister thought. Maybe you should talk to her about it.

I'm sure once she gets out and uses it in the field a bit she'll appreciate its usefulness and value.
 
Hondo, I gave my mom a Karda like that for Christmas back in 2001.. It's one of her most Prized knives. She uses it in the kitchen, all over the house (cuts up cardboard and carpet like a lazer) and took it camping with us last fall. As others have probably sugested, talk to your sister about it. She'll probably warm up to it once she knows how usefull it is.

From your Thread Title I thought at first you were asking for sugestions... LOL. Mine is a SOG Revolver. I've loaned mine out to girls that are going camping. They love the handle, 5" blade and 5" saw it has. Also a folder is good.

Since you've already given her that sweet Karda, I recommend you go camping/hiking with her and show her how cool it really is. :) Good luck!

Heber
 
beautiful knives man!

she'll warm up to it eventually I'm sure.

I've been thinking about asking yangdu about a set of 3 matched knives that I could personalize somehow for my lil bro, lil sis, and myself. I think it would be way cool.
 
Wow -- that's a beautiful knife and sheath! Even if she isn't a "knife person", I think she'll still have to appreciate how cool that rig is eventually -- definitely a lifetime heirloom type thing. Don't feel bad, you did good. :thumbup:

I agree that a big chef's knife would be a neat gift, if cooking is one of her hobbies. If she hates cooking, though, getting her kitchen stuff might get taken the wrong way, especially if she's 19. I'm just saying. :o

That Miss-A-Kit thing is super cute for urban girls! My non-knife friends tend to react well to the sebenza and Spyderco Native. I find that a small Swarovski crystal cell phone lanyard "girls up" a knife quite nicely, but it's possibly not for everyone. Here's an example seb with "tactical" baby chicken and jingly bell:

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Those kardas are both beautiful! Amazing work...

Well, she might like 'em...time will tell. Did you tell her about HI, about all that history that comes with this knife, the community, the people, Yangdu, Uncle Bill?

Keno
 
She lives in a different province, and I haven't spoken to her since she opened the package. My plan was to tell her about where the knife came from, what the company is all about, and where to find more information about the fraternity/sorority she has just been inducted into.

Thank you for all the words of praise for the knives. I thought they were pretty special too. I'd like to give credit to Vadim Grynko of www.vessleatherworks.com. He's the man that stitches all my cowhide for me. I've got a Seax and a Cherokee Rose on the way. When my finances are a little better, I'm going to ask him to pull out all the stops and make some sheaths for those too.
 
Hondo.3 said:
The girl in question is my nineteen-year-old sister. She is a university student studying geography. She enjoys camping, hiking, and the outdoors. Next semester she will be taking some field classes that will have her outside for considerable amounts of time.

The gift in question was a razor sharp 10" Kumar Karda with a carved horn handle. I had Vadim make a beautiful sheath for it, complete with her initials tooled into the back.

Her reaction, according to my dad, was one of surprise. She thought it was enormous, like something the Crocodile Dundee would have carried. He didn't say that she was disappointed, but I could read between the lines.

Crappy, eh?
Click to expand...

How would you feel if a girl in your study group pulls out this glimmering 10" blade to cut a piece of dental floss? Kinda intimidating, and not very feminine.
So if she’s not a tomboy, you can bet she wont be waving that thing around. Shed probably be very reluctant to use it even to cut meat or any other fitting task.

I got my sister a CRKT KISS spectra, which is pretty and small. Anything bigger would just stay in the draw...
 
Hondo.3 said:
The girl in question is my nineteen-year-old sister. She is a university student studying geography. She enjoys camping, hiking, and the outdoors. Next semester she will be taking some field classes that will have her outside for considerable amounts of time.

The gift in question was a razor sharp 10" Kumar Karda with a carved horn handle. I had Vadim make a beautiful sheath for it, complete with her initials tooled into the back.

Her reaction, according to my dad, was one of surprise. She thought it was enormous, like something the Crocodile Dundee would have carried. He didn't say that she was disappointed, but I could read between the lines.

Crappy, eh?
Click to expand...

Get her a date with a young Buck from the local university.
 
Grime said:
How would you feel if a girl in your study group pulls out this glimmering 10" blade to cut a piece of dental floss? Kinda intimidating, and not very feminine.
Click to expand...

Well.. that would seem inappropriate, but she's probably not going to be using a Kumar Karda to cut dental floss in the library. She's an avid outdoorswoman. It would be just as inappropriate if a girl pulled out a fingernail clipper to clean a fish or sharpen a stick, don't you think? :)
 
I got my wife a 10" Kumar Karda as a Xmas present, for use when
we go camping & hiking. She has not been a "knife person", but in
the last year or so she has been educating herself about knives,
& I have been helping her.

She had a Glock knife to use in the outdoors. I explained to her that as a
camping knife, the Glock was a good bayonet. ;-)

When she got the KK, my wife was very impressed at the quality.
I'm pretty sure that she liked it, because she came back to it a couple of
times after the rest of the giftshad been given, pulled it out of the sheath
& looked at it.

I would agee with the other folks who said to tell your sister the
"story" of HI, Uncle Bill, Yangdu, the kamis, etc. You might be
surprised, it may really change her attitude to your gift.

I had already told my wife the HI story a long time ago. She has some
friends from India, & so has some idea of the conditions over there,
& knowswhat the income from HI can mean to the kami's family.
I told her where the knife came from when i gave it to her.

Lastly, I also agree that as your sister finds it useful "in the field",
her attitude will change. I've been there myself. Don't beat yourself
up for doing it, it was a fine thing to do. You just have to let
the situation "ripen".

John
 
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