Need advice from the fathers out there...

There are plenty of blunt training knives out there,they still look the real deal.....5 is definitely too young for a real blade !!!!
 
Old buck folder,... round it down so it cant cut or penetrate.. at that age he can play like daddy...

my 2.5yo has lots of 'mock' tools, some big plastic joke parts to play like daddy, some real stuff i 'made safe.' I mow the lawn, SHE pushes her popping thing... I build in my shop, she sits in the carpeted step down room next to me and twists a screwdriver and grabs things with her pliers (yes, already).. no doubt she will have a round/ground-down folder one day...
 
My uncle gave me a knock off of a Barlow electrician's knife when I was 5. I couldn't even open it because it was too stiff, but the fact was he gave me a knife. Giving a kid a knife is a very special thing like a first bb gun or a bike. It was a real vote of confidence from him.
 
At 5 he could own a knife, but not have possession of it. If you present him with one, but keep it in your desk drawer, to look at and fondle once in awhile, that's fine. It would always be "his knife" but only to be used with your supervision. I would even suggest getting a couple blocks of soft wood and showing him proper cutting techniques while whittling some kind of little object.
 
Ya know, they do make a tool for prying the bricks apart. You should also be teaching him a knife is not a prying tool either
 
Table knives are great for prying Legos.....
Had my first knife at 4, (46 years ago). My daughter got hers at 6, at 13 got a dagger (girl's best friend) and has graduated to swords.
Getting cut badly is just part of the process.... prying with a sharp blade will assure this happens sooner. Especially with a non-locking folder.
Eeeeew!

'Ironballs', I am sorry, but having a child anywhere near a moving lawn mower is far worse than giving them a knife. I used to do the same with my l'il cutie till I was shown the danger. It is great to share things. Funerals and hospital visits are not good to share.... No matter how well manicured, the chance of an object being flung is far too great, especially in a yard where kids play with, and leave, all kinds of things in thick grass. Years ago, in my 'town life', my push mower stuck the end of a piece of twisted wire coat hanger through a wooden lattice.
Please think about it, Bud. I want you enjoy your daughter's teen years as much as I am with mine......

Today, my 'mown area' is kinda rough and my 'lawn'tractor frequently fires golfball-size, and up, chunks of Texas Hill Country into the neighboring states. Nobody comes out until the blades are disengaged.
 
i taught elementary school for a while, and worked quite a bit with pre k and kindergarteners (4-6 yo). they don't have the motor skills to use a knife safely. watch how they hold and use something like a pencil or scissors. I'd wait until at least say 7 or 8, and even that might be a little early developmentally speaking.
 
I received my first knife, a Barlow, from my older brother when I was 7. it was the Christmas of 1949, just after my 7th birthday, and he received the first Swiss Army Knife that I had ever seen, so he gave me his old Barlow. It was quite sharp and I carried that knife for some years until I lost it. By then, it had been replaced by a generic "Scout" knife.

It is my feeling that seven is about the right age. That is when I gave my son his first knife and spent some time teaching him knife safety and how to sharpen it.
 
Some great posts above. Takes me back to my first knife - a cheap folder I bought down at the general store when I was about 8 - it was junk but it was mine and it made me feel 'grown up'. My son is now 14 and I have given him quite a few knives. The first was at about age 8 - a cheap but strong WASP folder. The last was a CS AK47 this past Christmas.
When I was about 12 I had a cheap fixed blade with a fake horn handle - it looked pretty mean and I really felt proud of that knife - until I broke it. You may wish to consider a fixed blade as a first knife (Buck?) - it will be appreciated, cannot be carried easily thus will be left safely at home and accidents while trying to open it will not occur.
Final thought - my father passed away this year aged 86. He had one eye. The other was lost in a whittling accident when he was a young boy of about 5 or 6. Even a blunt knife in the eye can cause serious damage.
 
Although not a certified expert, I frequently deal with children of ages 4 through 16 as an arts program instructor and also a parent (my little boy is now 44, pinch his cute little cheeks :D )

Depending on the individual, 10 to 12 years old is a better age because motor skills and, more important, judgement will have matured to the point where a knife can be RELIABLY handled safely, and even then some guidance and supervision would be in order. Although a parent may feel a younger child is ready to deal with an inherently dangerous item, he or she is actually not. It is not wise to rush the process.
 
As my friend, Bruce Blackistone, has observed, tongue firmly in cheek, “Give your children sharp things to play with and they’ll grow up careful; or maimed; or both.”
 
As a former paramedic, I have seen more than my share of childhood injuries and their consequences. I would consider how adults can get into trouble prying with even a dull knife and how to explain an injury in the ER where such injuries can go rapidly to child protective services. Do you want them into your life?

just my .02,

cheers,
--Dave
 
Another point is that this use would be teaching a child to use a knife to pry with, rather than getting a proper prying tool. I gave my son a blunteded small screwdriver for this exact purpose. He's grown out of Legos now and this Christmas I was proud to present him with a Howard Viele II.

Chris :) :) :)
 
I was five when I got my first knife and from that experience i will suggest that you keep lots of bandaids and non stinging bacterial spray on hand :rolleyes:

I gave my son a SAK when he was 7, he promptly cut him self :rolleyes:. No stitches lesson learned and he's fine now.

I gave my daughter a SAK knife when she was 12 and she promptly cut herself :rolleyes: Four stitches later lesson learned and shes fine now.

Accidents unfortunatly are going to happen even with the best instruction so keep lots of banaids on hand and give the best instruction you can and...hope for the best.


After the SAK experienceI suggest a small "lock" blade something along the lines of a Spyderco Dragonfly (Dull the knife a bit). The failure point in both my kids cases was the blade folding on the fingers (poking and prying). If you son is going to pry with the knife (no one would ever do that LOL) folding will be an issue. It doesn't matter if he can't close it in time he will be able to the big thing is the knife not folding during use.

And of coarse kids "Always" do exactly as you say ;) .

Hope this helps

Bors
 
Bors' post reminds me of why New Graham always ships their knives with a small dispenser of bandaids.
 
My Father gave me my first knive when I was five and I've had one in my pocket ever since. He tought me how to sharpen it when I was in third grade.
 
My son got his first knife at the tender age of four. He's nine now, and has a more extensive collection than many adults. He's never lost a knife, and cut himself maybe two or three times in five years, all of them minor, and only requiring a boo-boo bandaid. I recieved my first knife at five, as did my wife. Neither of us having faced disastrous consequences as a result.

all three of us recieved real sharpened knives with points too, although in retrospect, if I could do it over again I'd give a knife with a blunt tip, guard, and less than hair popping edge.

One like this one:

http://www.kellamknives.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_33_59_61&products_id=97

or one of these, shortly after I introduced the tip to Mr. Grinder

http://www.ragweedforge.com/73-164.jpg

All that being said though, I'd personally get after my son if I caught him prying legos, or anything else with a knife.
 
I posted this in another thread I made, but it applies here too. My father gave me my first knife when I was 5 years old (I'm 26 now) it was a Buck lockback knockoff, one of the ones with brass bolsters, wood inserts and about 3"blade. I was good for a while until I was stabbing it into a peice of wood (carving :) and the lock broke, this left the end of my pinky hanging by a thread. I didn't get another knife until I was 10. But around 9 years old I made a grider out of an old washing machine motor and a grinding wheel and fashioned a fixed blade out of a old file (I was determined :) Which I used for cutting branches off trees, etc. I also deckhanded on my Dad's boat when I was 9 and I always sharpened his gutting knives on stones, my mom still can't believe how sharp I can make her kitchen knives. My point in all this is that 5 years old is maybe a little too early, I would wait until 8 years at least, teach them how to look after knives (sharpening, oiling, etc.) and put down some ground rules, make sure that if they break the rules they know that their knife is gone. Also if they aren't interested, don't push it until they are older. I wanted a knife when I was 5, or even before, but now I wish Dad had waited a bit longer. And buy them something that is high quality when you do, it has less chance of breaking and cutting tender young fingers up. Also I don't think you should ever use a knife as a pry bar, worse thing ever to use a knife for, teach them that as well.
 
My son got his first knife at 4. Daily carry privileges at 5. Now 7 with 5 blades plus 4 or 5 rescued paring knives, etc. Full carry privileges with his Crosman air rifle too. The .22 he will get soon will be monitored for now.

I am pretty easy going with him in general. But not when it comes to safety. Then I am a harda$$ and it pays off handsomely.

PS. I caught severe h311 the other day for getting caught using one of his knives to pry with. Wheeeee... It was good for me though. It was one of the rules I was so harda$$ about and then I broke it with "his" knife.
 
Just my two cents but I wouldn't even consider giving a sharp knife to a five year old. I've raised three kids and not one of them was close to being ready for a folding knife when they were five. Like some others, I think eight-ten is a more reasonable age to give a child their first knife.
 
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