Knives for children- Sharp or not?

D

darthsoaker

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May 2, 2006
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I often hear knife knuts say that they give their children a knife that is either deliberately dulled, that has its point removed, or both.

One would think that presenting a knife shaped object as a toy would be highly irresponsible. As I do not have a child, and am admittedly horribly under-educated in the subject of raising one, I ask:

What do my fellow knife knuts think?
 
i think a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife.

id say give them the tool with proper instruction or dont give it at all. if they cut themselves, well, that's just the price of being young.
 
My philosophy is different. A knife is not a knife unless it's sharp. If I can't yet trust my child to follow safety instructions and exercise good judgment, then no knife for him/her. Giving the child a dull knife can diminish his/her respect toward it, making him less aware about the danger a "real" knife can pose.
 
My Dad gave me a regular 3 blade pocket knife when I was 6.
Living out in the country I was fully aware of knives, axes, hatchets, fishhooks, fish/frog gigs,tobacco spears/knives and all manner of sharp metal objects (even barbed wire) everyone used daily, nobody tried to hide them from me.
It just never was a big deal or an issue. Now all of a sudden all you hear about is concerned parents.
I honestly believe a normal child that isn't sheltered, will have less problems with sharp tools from an early age, than the ones with mother-hen type parents.
 
Definitely sharp, my daughter who's 11 has been working with knives in the kitchen with me and mom since I can remember. So when I felt it was time, about 6 mo's ago, I gave her a nicely used Victorinox tinker with a fully sharpened blade. There's not much you can do with a dull blade besides learn bad habits. Then again I might not be dad of the year material.
 
Nothing teaches a child to be careful with a knife better than the first time they get cut. Make sure it's a clean cut!:D My parents didn't want me using knives, and as a result, my first cut was unsupervised, and messy. And my dad was trained as an army surgeon. Tragic...
 
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I think they should be taught to properly use a knife first, and than given a sharp knife. If it is dull they may think all of them are that way and get severly injured. A dull knife will hurt more if you get cut with it than a sharp knife, that is for sure.
 
I have taught my daughters to use knives as tools.
A knife is for cutting so it needs to be working sharp.

That's how my girls use and carry their knives.
 
When I was young (maybe 6 or 7) I was sitting on the porch whittling with a SAK, the knife was dull and slipped off the wood cutting myself badly in the thigh. If the knife had been sharp that wouldn’t have happened. I may have still cut myself but I don’t know if the cut would have been nearly as bad.

That being said it wouldn’t have hurt nothing for the point to have been ground off, or at least dulled.
 
I dulled up a little lock back for my 2 1/2 year old daughter. Every once in a while, when I'm using a knife, and she asks to help, I pull out the dull folder and hand it to her. She opens it and I give her something soft (like a peeled banana) to "cut". I tell her, "be careful". She has pretty good safe knife handling discipline for a small child. She knows that knives are sharp and they cut. How does she know? When I cut myself, I usually let out a mild expletive and walk to the bathroom to clean and dress the cut. She asks "what's the matter daddy", and I tell her I accidentally cut myself with my knife. I show her the cut, and the blood, and tell her that you have to be careful when you use a knife because they're sharp, and you can get cut if you're not careful, and it hurts.

It would be irresponsible to let a 2-3 year old use a "sharp" knife. There would be nothing gained by it.
I'm not giving it to her as a toy. It's simply a safe training tool.
 
My 2 cents: (actually my dad's from way back when)
When I first got a knife from my dad, it was sharp. Way sharp. I had had a very beat up 2 blade pocket knife that was not quite as sharp and had cut myself badly...which scared me for a few months away from knives. I think I was maybe 8. Anyway, dad made me handle all of his knives after that. Buck 110, case pocket knives, everything he had he made me handle, open, unlock, fold etc. Then he gave me one. Showed me how to care for it and everything. Told me if I ever pulled it on someone or "showed it off" to my friends he'd whup the tar out of me. When it started to get dull, he showed me how to sharpen it on his crock sticks. I respect him for that. He did the same thing with all of his guns (except he didn't give me one of those). :) He wanted to make sure that my sister and I knew that knives and guns were tools and weapons. Now, I firmly believe that he was right on the money. If you teach children responsibility and respect (and in some cases scare the hell of out them...I was 7 when dad took me shooting the first time, he made me shoot his .44 Mag. I never forgot that first impression) then they will be fine. I've already earmarked the knife in my collection that I'm going to give my little one when she'd old enough.
Gray
 
i got my first knife at 3. never got any really bad cuts, however i do reccomend a not-pointy knife, swiss army knife blade shape is ideal i think and make sure you teach them to sharpen it themselves, that is very importent in my opinion, other than that, just stick to the old "Dont cut twords yourself" "dont stab people or animals" and "Dont use it on rocks" and you should be ok:D
 
It really has very little to do with the AGE of the child and everything to do with the MATURITY LEVEL of them PLUS your ability and willingness to take the time to educate and teach them.
 
I've helped my kids handle knives safely since they were old enough to pick one up. I gave my two sons each a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife when they turned 7 and joined the Cub Scouts. I made sure to teach them how to handle them safely. My boys are 8 1/2 now, so for the last year and a half, they have used the heck out of them. I've helped them sharpen them as well. Since they got them, There has only been blood spilled once, and that was my own blood when I was using one of the knives.
 
Wait until they are old enough / mature enough to have a knife and respect the responsibility that goes along with ownership, then give them a sharp one that suits their needs.

A dull knife is a dangerous knife.

Kevin
 
I gave my 14 year-old son a one-handed opener and haven't sharpened it yet. He alarms his mom flipping it open now and then. I agree with the sharp, but not scary sharp comments above. He has a big Wenger (Toolchest?) with many blades and tools that he seems to use more prudently, but seems mor likely to cut himself with (had to show him how to cut open a clam pack without commiting Harakiri.

My 12 year-old daughter dulled up an SAK classic and we just put it back to razor sharp. (I think she can handle it.) I also got her a Wenger Highlander that she uses whenver she can.
 
I have three sons, aes 13, 10, and 7. They all respect knives, because at some point they have each cut themselves with one of my sharp tools. I started out by "loaning" them a dulled fake SAK. I explained that this was a "training" knife, that they could use to show me that they could be responsible with it. They had to treat it as a sharp tool, never take it to school, take good care of it, (cleaning and oiling occasionally), and never leave it about. Once they showed maturity with it, they received a sharp tool. They have all spent hours whittling and cutting, and have always shown respect for the steel. They are even learning to get scary-sharp edges, although not quite like Dad's, yet. In my opinion, sharp or not, how and what you teach is more important, as is the relationship you have built with you children, hopefully from birth.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
i think a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife.

id say give them the tool with proper instruction or dont give it at all. if they cut themselves, well, that's just the price of being young.
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IMO, a faux knife can help kids develop sloppy habits that they later have to unlearn.

I waited to give knives to my children until I felt that each was able to use a sharp knife safely and responsibly. Each also had to ask for one. My daughter did not ask until she was 17, although I felt she was ready much earlier.
 
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