Knife Ideas for daughter

RobertK

RobertK

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My oldest daughter is 12 next month. She's shown herself very responsible, and she's asked for a pocket knife for her birthday. (She's had a SAK for a few years now and has done very well with it.) She would like something with a clip and something that can be opened with 2 hands. She does not want a flipper. She prefers blue, but it's not necessary.

I was leaning towards a Spyderco DF2 or Delica. While those are still on the table, she didn't prefer them by appearance. It must lock, and I would really prefer something in the realm of 2.75-3.25 inch blade. I would greatly value your suggestions.
 
It's a lot of fun when we start thinking about what to get our daughters. I bought my 10 year old her first SAK for Christmas this year. We are going to be near SMKW over spring break, so I asked her if she wants to go in and look around. She's beaming and so looking forward to it. Like your daughter, blue is her preferred color. Since my daughter is still one to lose things, I'm not quite ready to plunk down Spyderco money just yet. I plan on checking out the Kizer section at SMKW. They have a couple of blue G10 handled knives that come in under 3" and lock open. The Mini Domin is one of the knives I think my little girl may be drawn to.

Good luck!:)
 
My vote is the Blue Delica. Just for sport.. how about a Translucent Blue Tinker as an add-on?
 
If she doesn’t like the Delica look, how about the Native 5 in dark blue with a back lock, or a bit longer is the Manix 2 in Translucent Blue with a ball bearing lock. Both have clips. Their both currently in stock too.

Native 5 Dark Blue. 2 different upgraded steel choices, $120-$148.
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Manix 2 Translucent Blue. This one $105.
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herisson said:
Go to Horsewright Horsewright ... He has beautiful knives in all sizes and the women like them !
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Thank you for the shoutout. I do fixed blades though, not folders. I do indeed sell many to the ladies and sometimes my daughter helps to make them:

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As does the wife:

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Lots of sales to the ladies:

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When she's ready for a small fixed blade, we'll be around:

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Hi RoberK, Good job on starting you daughter of right with learning about and proper care of pocket knives. I to started my kids (boys in my case) of with a SAks and as they got older Delicas. My recommendation is not to push your daughter in one direction but to allow her to choose her knife she wants to carry. With my boys, they saw me carry my Pakkawood Delica to our scout meetings. I wanted something that looked traditional and wouldn’t scare the parents. When they turned 12 they wanted a knife like Dad’s. For non-knife people Spyderco look strange and ugly. If you have a Delica or Dragonfly maybe loan it to her for a spell. It would still be Dad’s or Mom’s knife but she would get to experience and experiment with it. I would also throw in so others to try so it is her choice. Keep the blade steel selection simple and go with VG10, SPY27, or other easier to sharpen steels. Remember, they are still learning. Congratulations on raising a future Knife Knut.

JonesE
 
I’m a big fan of the Dragonfly especially for a ladies knife. It fits in the otherwise useless tiny pockets. The Dragonfly punches well above it’s weight class. I wish it would be offered with a ball bearing or possibly a compression lock.
The Lil Native is only slightly larger and both are available in a variety of colors.
 
When I graduated my daughter from SAK's to other knives I went with the good ol' mini-grip. She had juvenile arthritis and is a southpaw, so that limited my options with locks. Nevertheless, it ended up being perfect for her.
 
I just got my (10yr old) daughter a folder. She had carried her Izula for long enough to step up. I struggled with the decision, for a while BUT had just bought a Para 3 for a friend that I hadn't gifted yet. I let her check it out, she liked..... enough where I gave her that one and ordered another for the friend who was supposed to get that one.

She plays with it all the time, loves the thing. That was something important to me because I figured the more time she spent fidgeting with it, the more she would get used to handling it. Familiarization through fun, basically.

So.... all I can tell you is - My little girl loves the Para 3 and I am really happy I went with it :) Well, other than the fact she is insisting I get some pink scales for it and the search has been pretty rough.

Good luck
 
Going to throw a random one at you, since you said 2 hand opening and short-medium blade and dont like spyderco looks.

Civivi Rustic Gent. It comes with a little leather slip with a clip, the knife itself has no clip. And its pretty.
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WE banter comes to mind too, but is kind of ugly. Some of the smaller cold steels are 2 hand opening and very safe (careful closing them)

Also kind of random, try some of the Manly knives, like the Peak. 2 hand opening, locks, colorful, cheap. Quality is good.

You can post this on KnifeAQ and have DCA answer it lol

Good luck!
 
One of my friends recently got his daughter a DLT red and black 20CV Delica for her 17th birthday. If the Delica looks too much like a real Spyderco for her, the aforementioned Native is a great suggestion, although I don't know if S110V is the best beginner steel. The SPY27 Native LWT is available as current production and also has a blue handle, similar in color to the S110V version, but should be much easier to sharpen. Various flavors of Manix would also be a good option, such as the BD1 (now made in BD1N) version pictured above. The Para 3 also has some blue variants, but I think the Native is the superior 3" model (and this is coming from a PM2 guy).

Since you're shopping in the neighborhood anyway, I'll mention that the best performance option available right now is going to be the Rex 45 Native Chief sprint that's currently dropping. It's too big, and the wrong color, and the blade is a non-stainless tool steel, but it might be the the highest performance folder ever made by Spyderco. Right now you can find it for MAP, but in a couple weeks it will be secondary market only, so I'm just mentioning it out of courtesy.
 
I was turned off by the Delica profile too once upon a time, if she's not too against it I'd say push it on her to give it a shot. But, if she's just looking for a more classic shape, I'd recommend the Ontario RAT II
 
I got my daughter a Kizer Mini Domin in purple. She loves it. It's cute and compact. It snaps open nicely with the thumb studs and locks up solidly. It's nowhere near as slicey as a Delica but it works for her level of use. It's also less expensive. I like the idea of starting out on budget gear. The N690 has good corrosion resistance and edge retention perks up with subsequent sharpening.

Here is a picture of the blue one:

Kizer-Vanguard-Domin-Mini-LL-Blue-SW-V3516N2-BHQ-93991-jr-large.jpg
 
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