Sad story.

oldrifleman said:
While I hate the initial reason for the post, the context of the discussin was perfect as far as timing goes. My wife and I had theis discussion last night. My daughter is almost six (can't believe it!) and I was letting her look at one of my knives. My wife could not believe it (no one in her family (1 girl, 4 boys) ever carried a pocket knife except her dad), I told that she needed to learn how to use a knife at a young age where I could coach her, and then she would understand them later. Wife wants a locking knife, I will use this as a reason to start with a SAK.
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Hey rifleman, go with the sak by all means for a couple of different reason.

This is the second time in my life I've seen a young guy get very seriously injured by his total trust in a blade lock. Both times, they had zero experiance with any other kind of folding knife. They had no idea of the kind of forces involved, and what direction those forces are when they get careless.

Many years ago now, when I was working in the machine shop, a young guy amputated his right index finger by pushing a Buck folding hunter the wrong way. Some of the older men told him he was going to get hurt, but the confidence of youth was in full play. Shortly after luch he had his mishap, and the quick thinking foremen of the sheet metal shpt ran upstairs to the caffeteria and grabbed a cup of ice, and stuck the finger in it and sent it off with the emt's. The finger got re-attached, but was never the same again.

I think the world had got too much idiot proofing in it. The best way to prevent accidents is to make sure the young person knows how this tool works, in what direction it folds, what way to use it so it won't fold over. We knew not to push on the point too much. We all had slip joint pocket knives when I was a kid, and I never remember anyone getting cut where a bandaid wouldn't take care of it. Okay, once, when Bobby Ryerson nailed his own left hand with his knife when it slipped off a hard piece of oak, but that was a different kind of thing.

I think circa 1940 is a good place to start out a young kid. Single shot bolt action .22, slip joint pocket knife, and later, a manual shift car.

They have to know the how these things work before they can use them safely.

The other reason a sak is a great way to start, is they are an icon. Hey, everyone liked Macgiver, right?

The red handles and white cross is so low on the radar it's almost out of sight. People will look at it with the thought "Oh, it's a Swiss Army Knife, it's okay."

Plus the tools will maybe make her think some. Maybe even make a simple fix. Heck, Karen fixed the Vacuum cleaner the other day with the old tinker in the kitchen drawer.
 
OUCH! Who here has never done something stupid with a knife? They'll sure getcha if you don't think ahead about the potential bad consequences. We can only hope this young feller gets good use of his hand some day soon.

That reminds me of the fine citizens that were passing me on the way in to work this morning. The passing lane was slick due to overnight snow but yet they felt the need to excede the speed limit to get around me. I recon they thought their cars would keep going down the road right where they had pointed it. Thankfully they did.....this time. :)
 
An abundance of caution, when practiced, will help to save you when you get distracted. While practicing trigger take-up for a match, I had an accidental discharge. The bullet went downrange, no harm done. My Dad was a firearms instructor, and drilled muzzle awareness into me, and I did the same with my students when I became an instructor.
My Dad's best friend was a gunsmith who served a young apprenticeship in Germany, and he would not chamber a round to test a weapon's fit without first removing the firing pin!! Ever!!
I went to a gunshop here in BC, and noticed a hole in the wall in the sales area. Nowhere near a bullet trap! The 'smith sheepishly admitted he did it, and I walked out to find another place to deal with.
 
waynorth said:
An abundance of caution, when practiced, will help to save you when you get distracted. While practicing trigger take-up for a match, I had an accidental discharge. The bullet went downrange, no harm done. My Dad was a firearms instructor, and drilled muzzle awareness into me, and I did the same with my students when I became an instructor.
My Dad's best friend was a gunsmith who served a young apprenticeship in Germany, and he would not chamber a round to test a weapon's fit without first removing the firing pin!! Ever!!
I went to a gunshop here in BC, and noticed a hole in the wall in the sales area. Nowhere near a bullet trap! The 'smith sheepishly admitted he did it, and I walked out to find another place to deal with.
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Good call, Charlie! :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
Hey rifleman, go with the sak by all means for a couple of different reason.

This is the second time in my life I've seen a young guy get very seriously injured by his total trust in a blade lock. Both times, they had zero experiance with any other kind of folding knife. They had no idea of the kind of forces involved, and what direction those forces are when they get careless.

Many years ago now, when I was working in the machine shop, a young guy amputated his right index finger by pushing a Buck folding hunter the wrong way. Some of the older men told him he was going to get hurt, but the confidence of youth was in full play. Shortly after luch he had his mishap, and the quick thinking foremen of the sheet metal shpt ran upstairs to the caffeteria and grabbed a cup of ice, and stuck the finger in it and sent it off with the emt's. The finger got re-attached, but was never the same again.

I think the world had got too much idiot proofing in it. The best way to prevent accidents is to make sure the young person knows how this tool works, in what direction it folds, what way to use it so it won't fold over. We knew not to push on the point too much. We all had slip joint pocket knives when I was a kid, and I never remember anyone getting cut where a bandaid wouldn't take care of it. Okay, once, when Bobby Ryerson nailed his own left hand with his knife when it slipped off a hard piece of oak, but that was a different kind of thing.

I think circa 1940 is a good place to start out a young kid. Single shot bolt action .22, slip joint pocket knife, and later, a manual shift car.

They have to know the how these things work before they can use them safely.

The other reason a sak is a great way to start, is they are an icon. Hey, everyone liked Macgiver, right?

The red handles and white cross is so low on the radar it's almost out of sight. People will look at it with the thought "Oh, it's a Swiss Army Knife, it's okay."

Plus the tools will maybe make her think some. Maybe even make a simple fix. Heck, Karen fixed the Vacuum cleaner the other day with the old tinker in the kitchen drawer.
Click to expand...
Those where the same thoughts I had. I remember Dad (he was a scout master, and later a trainer for BSA until we started moving around) giving me my first cub scout knife. He taught me how to cut and hold the knife and then let me go with some level of supervision, but let me figure it out as long as I was not doing anything really dumb (at least he never found out about those). I think it was about a week before I lost the use of the knife for awile for prying a piece of wood using the blade (small cut, not bad). Not to say I have not repeated the mistake, but I understand how things work and can see what is coming. Yes I have lock blades, but I also know at least two of them will fail if I try, but why try! I believe that she and I will spend some time this year whittling with an "extra" knife that I will just happen to have in my pocket when we go camping.
 
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jackknife said:
...I think circa 1940 is a good place to start out a young kid. Single shot bolt action .22, slip joint pocket knife, and later, a manual shift car.

They have to know the how these things work before they can use them safely...
Click to expand...
+1 on that! Even though I was born in 1960 I can relate; It wasn't too late even then.

But now! Cripes, between air bags, auto transmissions, remote controls, and "technology" I fear for our future. We've become so removed from our surroundings no one knows how anything works anymore. It's like living in a Sci-Fi novel. And I'm a technologist! (Computer engineer.)

-- Sam
 
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