If you want something tested, give it to your 15yr old

D

DocGP

Joined
Feb 22, 2009
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586
:eek:

I have always had a tough time really testing things. I work hard for my cash and don't like to beat my stuff up. Well, I usually use the internet for rough use tests, but have recently started turning to my 15 yr old son. He is really a good kid, but since he has no skin (cash) in the game, he tends to be a bit rough on stuff, not baby it. Not to mention, that is the nature of a 15 yr old boy. I haven't told him what I am doing, but it is handy. So far, he has put 3 Blindhorse knives (Bushcrafter, Bushbaby, and the necessary nessmuk necker), a Hennessey Hammock (he is 6'6" and weighs about 235, so he tested the limits), several brands of fire steel, and most any gun out there.

He is really into making walking sticks. Like batoning down small trees (3" diameter) and hacking away at them until he has a 6-7 ft staff.

Oh yeah, we occasionally have to test out the small FAK!

Anyhow, just a thought.
Doc
 
That's one of the most sound testing methods I've ever heard of. I was hell on gear as a teenager. I have a friend in NC who swears by Estwing axes because that's the only one he's found that his Scout troop couldn't break.
 
I work with teenagers, and I've finally stopped asking the question, "how did you not realize that was a bad idea?" I wish Busse made physics lab equipment...
 
You should tell him you only payed $25 for it. Then he would REALLY test it. I have a coldsteel trailmaster copy that I payed 25 for, and I have done everything from chopping, to hammering, to throwning it.
 
Hell, when I was that age I was tough on everything whether I paid for it or not. Excellent real world test method bro......
 
DocGP said:
he is 6'6" and weighs about 235
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a boy like that, who likes guns and knives and breaking things is a Marine Recruiter's wet dream!

like a buddy of mine always said, give a Marine two 1" ball bearings and lock him in an empty room, he'll break one and loose the other. :eek:

my nephew is 11 and probably on his way to being about the size of your son. i'm planning on getting him a GI lensatic compass and a SAK for next Christmas.
 
fixer,

Compass is a great idea. We have done some of that. FOrgot about that one...he tore up one of the Chi-Com 5 dollar compasses (GI knockoff), but it lasted about a week. But he did learn something about using a compass.
 
fixer said:
a boy like that, who likes guns and knives and breaking things is a Marine Recruiter's wet dream!

like a buddy of mine always said, give a Marine two 1" ball bearings and lock him in an empty room, he'll break one and loose the other. :eek:

my nephew is 11 and probably on his way to being about the size of your son. i'm planning on getting him a GI lensatic compass and a SAK for next Christmas.
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My PSG always said you could lock a private in a room with an anvil and , after 24 hours, he'll either have broken, eaten, or lost it. Not sure who he was talking about...
 
Carolina River Rat said:
My PSG always said you could lock a private in a room with an anvil and , after 24 hours, he'll either have broken, eaten, or lost it. Not sure who he was talking about...
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Lock'em in a room with 2 bowling balls, in the morning, 1'll be broke, the other, pregnant. Moose
 
You guys are killing me! I have my share of "Soldier" stories...man, troopers are great at breaking things:D

My son is 11 and I've been buying him "milspec" everything since he was about four or five. He's very effective and pushing equipment to its breaking point! He already broke the tip off his Leatherman's flattip tool; put a big ding in his 12" Ontario machete (I was able to straighten that one out), he's left his old Mora and newer Brian Andrew's bushcraft knives out overnight in the rain (plenty of admonishment over that:eek: and a good lesson on blade maintenance and accountability); he's broken shovels, rakes, firesteels, fishing poles, canoe paddles...I should have kept a list:D

Yeap, my son is my official tester on equipment:thumbup:

ROCK6
 
Esav Benyamin said:
I started laughing before I even opened this thread.
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Likewise. This is turning out to be pretty good. No kids here yet (or none that I'm aware of anyways), but my younger brother was always good about trashing things. The thing is that he never really cared much for the things I did, so my knives and such were all safe. Just never trust that kid with cameras or any other kind of electronics.
 
As a 17yr old who has to buy his own gear, I'm very rough on my equipment. Some items, like my Gerber Harsey Hunter, takes everthing I can throw at it whilst others, like a cheap folder I bought for cadets, lasted about a month. Under the strenuous conditions I subject my gear to, the poor quality stuff gets weeded out pretty quickly.
 
Heh, I know what you mean because I've had my Buck 119 since I was 12. I can't believe the crazy shit I did with that knife.

Once I used a log and hammered it into the base of a tree to use as a step. Keep in mind I've always been overweight, and when I was 12 I was probably the same weight as a full grown man (175-200). Then keep in mind how hard it was to hammer it into a tree--I probably spent an hour just pounding it in, and there was still about an inch of it sticking out. Then when it came time to get it out, I hammered on the back of the handle until I cut out a slot I could wiggle it free from. I can't believe that blade didn't snap; I'd like to see that dude in the mask do that on his "destruction tests".

I can't believe I didn't lose a finger or an eye or something. I once used it to dig a hole when didn't have a shovel either, and it was as if the rocks didn't mean anything to it. Past that I can't count how many trees it got stabbed into or saplings it cut down and whittled into spears.

Now I'm a little bit more aware of the world and realize how crazy most of the things I did with it were, but also now realize just how amazing that little knife is considering I still have it. Put a really nice edge on it about a year ago to make up for the years of abuse, but the edge was so mangled that the bevel I had to grind in is literally 1/4" wide at some points. It's still a terrific knife though.

About the only time I go, "Man I wish I wasn't so rough on this," is when I look at the sheath and all the carvings I took out of it to see how sharp the knife was.

I know what the difference was for me personally. I didn't have to buy that knife myself, didn't really understand the value of a dollar, and just didn't appreciate the actual value I had in my hand for $50. Now days when I spend 50 of my hard earned dollars on a knife, I wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing half the crap I did with the 119 with some of my other knives, even I think they would handle it better than it did. I'm a little more worried about harm to myself than the knife these days.
 
Excellent.

I haven't got any 15 year olds around here, so I rely on 3x teething Lab Puppies.

The lotion bottle never had a chance. It lookes like it survived an attack by a chupacabra using a chainsaw.
 
In about a year your going to find out how tough your car is.

Especially the tires, brakes, and speakers.

:D
 
Been there, broken that. Managed to blow up two ratchets, a number of sockets, and a vespa moped flywheel at age 16 trying to get the thing running.
 
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