Wanna give my 11 year old "brother" a knife for his bday, but...

How 'bout talking to the parents about your wishes. Tell them you would like to to buy him a knife, and let them hold it until they feel comfortable for him to have it. Maybe they would let you use it to teach him proper use, sharpening, etc. and then give it back to them for safe keeping. Also, maybe they are uncomfortable with knives themselves and need to be educated about the practicality and joy of knives. Does the dad have a knife? Perhaps you could gift him with one first.
 
My two penn'orth for what it's worth: You clearly feel a deal of affection for this boy Kenny, but perhaps it's for his father to give him his first knife?
 
Get him a flashlight. Another useful tool that he'll appreciate, and his parents shouldn't object to.
 
Sorry dude, but parents wishes are the Royal Flush. I know if someone gave my kid something after I said no I would be very upset. I don't have kids, but it's a no brainer. Change their minds first, or no knife.
 
marcinek said:
Uhhh....yeah.

"Sir, I'm going to take your daughter to the movies and make out, and here's some advice on bringing up your son."
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Hahaha, yeah, exactly what I mean.

You know I hadn't considered that his dad should give him his first knife at all, that's a really good point. Luckily he's a knife guy too, carries some kind of barlow, but I haven't had a close look at it.

The thought of giving HIM a knife definitely didn't occur to me lol. Seems like that would be kind of a random gift :P

Anyway yeah, seems like I should just wait given all the points mentioned. I'm sure the parents don't wanna have to explain to his brother why he had to wait until he was 13 either so even if they were okay with it I could see that being enough of a reason to wait on it.

Schucks, almost the perfect gift
 
I gave my 7 year old his first knife. (opinel #6).

I bought him a #23 pattern GEC made Scharade badge pioneer, but he can't open it with his fingernails.


I would talk with his dad and mom, show them the knife you were thinking, and see what they think.

That way you are showing respect to them, getting their input (and letting them know you also care about the kid too). Worst case, they tell you no, but you still get the credit for caring.


Reminds me of a talk I had with my father in law. I asked for his permission to marry his daughter. He asked me what I would do if he said no.

I looked at him and told him I would marry her anyway.

He paused for a minute and said "fair enough". He respected the answer.
 
Coming from a parent, you should definitely not go against his parents wishes. They will probably take it away, then what have you accomplished? Nothing but pissing off your GF's parents. Talk to them about it and see if they would be will to let you get him a knife but only let him play with under adult supervision. Maybe they could hold onto it.
 
KennyB said:
Luckily he's a knife guy too, carries some kind of barlow, but I haven't had a close look at it.

The thought of giving HIM a knife definitely didn't occur to me lol. Seems like that would be kind of a random gift :P
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you could always wait until the next time you see his barlow and strike up a little conversation about his particular knife.

you could always gift him a knife when the holidays come around.
 
jimnolimit said:
you could always wait until the next time you see his barlow and strike up a little conversation about his particular knife.

you could always gift him a knife when the holidays come around.
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Ahh true didn't even think of that lol

Well, maybe what I'll do is bring the knife and when I have a moment show it to his folks, tell them why I want him to have it and then just see what they think. No persuasive arguments or anything. That seems harmless enough...
 
Some good some bad but all of it advice:) I think a good way to go might be give the father two of the same SAK and gently ask if he would give the son the other one when he is ready for it ,that way the boy knows about it and that you care but the parents are still in control. And when he hangs around you let him use a specific knife (of yours) that you might give him after the parents give him the SAK.
 
KennyB said:
Ahh true didn't even think of that lol

Well, maybe what I'll do is bring the knife and when I have a moment show it to his folks, tell them why I want him to have it and then just see what they think. No persuasive arguments or anything. That seems harmless enough...
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i would start off slow and wait until you build a better relationship with your girl's parents. after all, there is no rush for giving him a knife ;)
 
Just to repeat my earlier point, I really do think receiving your first knife is a very special thing, and that where circumstances allow, it should be done between father and son, that way it's something both parties will always remember. Your girlfriend's dad carries a knife, so I very much doubt he hasn't thought about this, and he might be very annoyed by the subject being broached by his daughter's boyfriend, who he doesn't currently have much of a relationship with. I'd really think hard about taking this any further at all. If you want to give the boy something he'll really appreciate, there are plenty of other gifts he'll hopefully treasure also. How about a classic outdoor book to set him on the right path for example? Bernard S Mason's Bushcraft & Camping did it for me, but there are plenty of other, and more modern books out there.

PS Just to add, I DO have a knife my sister's boyfriend gave me, and I've had it 30 years, but I was in my twenties at the time, already had plenty of knives, and my sister's boyfriend was a year or so younger than me. He later became my brother-in-law!
 
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