Recommendation? New knife for my kids daycare teacher...

19-3ben said:
OK I think I'm going to clean up my Tenacious (no real wear on it, just adhesive from cutting packing tape) and put one hell of an edge on it and give it to her tomorrow. It'll go a long way.
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Get her the SAK SD Classic or Signature (has an ink pen) too. That way she'll have the scissors on her at all times, too. :)
Seriously though, the Tenacious is a very generous gift. :)
 
cnm123 said:
Tenacious is a good knife.
Maybe offer to teach her how to sharpen and maintain it also.
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Definitely something I'm going to offer. Frankly, from the look of the way her current knife is ripping through boxes, she hasn't sharpened it ever, so it's why i was thinking of something thin behind the edge so that even when the sharp edge is gone, it'll still cut.

Perhaps around Christmas time, a SharpMaker might make a nice followup gift for her...

hhmoore said:
It wasn't intended to be funny. (okay, maybe a little...but mostly serious.)
It also wasn't intended to offend.
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No worries. No offense was taken, and I took it with the good humor that was intended. With my expenses and income as they are, the ZT was a stretch purchase for me recently. I'm just not in a position to give away something I can't afford to replace at the moment.

I do realize that the recommendations for a box cuter are practical, but ya know what? She likes and wants to use a knife, and as a guy who would make the same call, who am i to say otherwise? It's an excuse to give someone a knife that may be a stepping stone into a quality level she wouldn't otherwise know about never mind experience... Who knows, maybe in another 6 months a new member by the name of "daycareknifegirl" shows up on the forum, and gets involved in the community.
 
whitty said:
Coolest titled thread I have seen in a while! Shoot me an email to scott@usamadeblade.com and we will send you a Link to give her for free! I think it is cool that she carries a knife and that the Daycare center is cool with it! Need more places like this in the U.S.A.
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You are classy A.F.

It's a rare thing indeed, especially here in Connecticut. If I were in the south or midwest I'd be less shocked, but in weeny New England where people are scared of their own shadows, I was surprised when I saw it the first time. To them it's just a tool and that's that.
 
19-3ben said:
You are classy A.F.

It's a rare thing indeed, especially here in Connecticut. If I were in the south or midwest I'd be less shocked, but in weeny New England where people are scared of their own shadows, I was surprised when I saw it the first time. To them it's just a tool and that's that.
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My oldest is in a private Catholic School. A couple of years ago she had to build a Teepee for a school project. We built it in our backyard and then took it down and took it to the school to put it back together. We had some twine we were using to put it together. The principle came out and was helping us. I had my Half Track out and was cutting some twine. He then asked to borrow my knife. I reached in my pocket to pull out my secondary carry, which at the time was a ZT0456. I handed him the 456 and he did not say a word, he just went to work helping us. When he was done he closed the knife and handed it back to me without a word. It was not until I got in the car and left the school that I realized how that could have never happened at a public school around here. I would have probably been arrested.
 
It's hard to find decent edge retention below 30 bucks. I think the Rat in D2 would be the best option.
 
The Ruike and Ontario folder are both great choices! I really like the 14C28N steel that Ruike(and Real Steel) uses. Both have a good HT and blade geometry. Ontario RAT is another great option.
 
I am going to go with the
Spyderco Ambitious
With a offer to keep it sharp as long as your kids are there .
 
Nice gift, a kershaw link? that's a 3.5" blade in 420hc? cool that whitty donated this - is the ht similar to what buck manages with 420hc? That is the gold standard for the steel type, I may have to try it out :)
 
19-3ben said:
He is. Whitty wins the thread!

I've been in touch with Whitty. She has no idea she's in for a major upgrade from her current knife.

Thanks again guys! This is case closed!
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Very cool guys. If my wife saw me giving a knife to another woman she might think I'm cheating .

You must be single ;), jokes aside.

I love surprise gifts . They really brighten someone's day. Awesome job. Ive gifted a few knives/ tools this year to people who carried nothing and it totally changed their perception.
 
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19-3ben said:
Yup. that's right. One of the teachers at my kid's daycare carries a knife daily, as she is only part time in the classroom and the other half of the day, she is doing food prep in the kitchen. She's not cutting up the actual food (they have a full time cook for that) but she is opening crates and boxes, shrink wrap, cans and such.

She and i have discussed it before, because I NEVER see her without a knife clipped into her pocket. I finally got a look at her knife today. It's an old beat up worn out turd. Looks to me like maybe an old Ozark Trail, though it has no markings on the blade.
It's a slim flipper with thumb studs and a liner lock. The lock slides all the way over, and the blade has terrible rock side to side and up/down. She says she wants a new knife. She's good to my kids, so I told her it would be my gift. She's not a "knife knut." To her it's a tool. And it will be used, and used in relatively light duty work but with enough frequency that it will get serious wear. Probably as her only knife until it dies and is replaced. I'm thinking though that with a better quality knife, it'll hold up much longer than the one sue uses now.

Realistically, here's what I'd like to go for:
Price- $20-30ish.
Size- nothing huge.
Appearance- Not a huge concern.
Blade shape/grind- thin enough to cut cardboard well, since thats a big part of thing knife's job. I'm thinking a robust tip will help since she may be prying a little but i don't know for sure how she uses the knife tip.
Steel- Something that can hold up to real use in an EDC. Will not be babied.
Lock- She's comfortable with frame locks and liner locks. I havent discussed other locks with her, but since her's is a liner lock, she's good with that, and when she checked out my ZT0450 today, the frame lock came as second nature to her.
Opening- Knife has to be one hand open/close. Thumb studs, flipper, or sypdie hole would all be fine.


My top contenders at the moment are:
Ruike P801
Ontario Rat2
Kershaw Link

Alternatively, I have a Spyderco Tenacious that I could gift her that has seen very little use and would likely fit this role very well and survive with that kind of use for years if not decades.

Thoughts?
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Did you per chance get an estimate of the blade length on her knife? It might help narrow down which is a good knife to replace it with. If size doesn’t matter I say Ruike 801 all the friggin’ way.
 
Can't go wrong with an SAK, but they are slower on deployment and harder to pocket without something like a TEC clip. Alternatives should be single blades and probably one hand opening like she's used to if it's an ozark style junker. So a blade with thinner stock and a shorter height would be ideal if you're cutting through media like cardboard. But it shouldn't draw unwanted attention, especially in a school. Also something easier to sharpen (with for instance, a pull through) is also ideal.

I think both the Rat and the ruike fit that bill. Though the Aus8 rat 2 may be better for a layman. D2 can give people a fair bit of trouble, and I am not sure how chippy ontario's d2 is. Aus8 is pretty much good to go in terms of toughness, even if it isn't great in edge holding relative to nicer steels. But it sharpens up extremely quick, and can take a pretty nice edge.
 
whitty said:
Coolest titled thread I have seen in a while! Shoot me an email to scott@usamadeblade.com and we will send you a Link to give her for free! I think it is cool that she carries a knife and that the Daycare center is cool with it! Need more places like this in the U.S.A.
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Dude you are the link for linking her a link!

That is too awesome of you! People like you make bladeforums what it is.
 
BellaBlades said:
Very cool guys. If my wife saw me giving a knife to another woman she might think I'm cheating .

You must be single ;), jokes a
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My wife’s two most recent “acquisitions” were stolen from me. One is a Manix 2 S110v (the G10 edition), and a Benchmade North Fork.

She’s ok with me giving knives to other women so long as she gets better knives!
 
I think any spyderco, especially a tenacious is gonna take up a LOT of pocket real-estate in dress-casual women's pockets vs a rat-2. Maybe too large to get carried...
 
Hickory n steel said:
That's what I was going to suggest.
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Opinels are great, but they don't fit into the one hand open/close, liner or frame lock, and pocket clip criteria.
That said, I keep one in my desk at work, and it is by far the best box cutting knife i own.
 
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