What do you teach your kids about wilderness stuff and knives ?

Myal

Myal

Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Messages
1,850
My kids get a fair amount of bushcraft learning , and the usual knife safety stuff too , but now my oldest is taking it a step further .

cutting.jpg


that is him cutting out his first blade this afternoon .

He has been bugging me to show him how for a while , I figure its as good a way as any to really learn to respect a knife is by making your own .

He was doing this while I was putting something resembling a cutting edge on my machete , quality time as a family :) , what better things are there than things ya can do as a family ?
 
Safety ?? It's not safe to use a power tool and hold the part with your fingers !!!
 
I neer knew that ...
actually I should took the pic from the other side , to show the tech screws holding the blade down .
the fingers is to know when the steel need cooling .
 
That was his last cut , I jammed the back of the blade under a couple gyprock screws , now I do the rest .. totaly free hand no clamps , no bench , just steel held in my bare hand ... something I learned as a panel beater doing rust repairs
 
Im only 15 so no kiddies yet, but I would be grateful for a parent who would teach me stuff like that. My dad likes the outdoors but not the whole wilderness side of things more like fishing, family camping and stuff. Im considering making a knife too but cant think of a good design.
 
My son and I regularly go for short hikes. We identify plants, animals, tracks, trapmaking and found objects which could be used for survival.

He is almost 4, we only cover the most basic stuff and make it really fun.

Of course, most kids get a steep course in survival like, "don't walk in the road," and other, "don't put your hand in holes in the dirt." etc.
 
I never had a 4yr old in my care yet , I deal with out of control kids 5 yrs and up that have run out of places to live .

Id love to have my own kid tho , but that aint gunna happen .

I reckon it would have to be the coolest thing to have your own kid , from seeing your womans belly swell and the kid grow from baby ...

nuff dreaming .

The dont put your hand down holes is good , we have wolf spiders and other trapdoor spiders in big numbers in our yard , I have to watch out the kids dont decide to play with them , poking sticks down their holes . They do , and then jump and run whent he spider does come out to play
 
My 8 yr. old is a woods,& outdoor addict. We make firestarters, sharpen knives, put together kits, watch Les, Ray Mears, and make fun of Bear the British Bafoon. On a side note, it is funny when an 8 yr. old kid, unprompted, will call out a so called expert for stupid stuff. Anyway, He can prep a fire with tinder, kindling, and strike a pretty good spark with his little Hotspark. He is a pretty good fisherman, can call out deer sign pretty well, and is generally game for just about anything woodsy. There is nothing quite like having your little 8 yr. old come up and want to show you the kit he just put together by himself, and you see it is about 75% on the mark!!
 
Well i have no kids as my girl doesnt want any yet. However I take my younger bro/cousins and sis's b/f out hiking, fishing and trapping with me. They seem interested enough when they go, I dont know if it is something they would do w/o me but they definatley have learned alot.

I have taught everyone in my fam about knives, from quality, to grinds, to edge types. About sharpening and care. I learned alot about trapping and bushcraft from my father and uncle and just pass it along to whomever is interested.
 
Myal said:
I never had a 4yr old in my care yet , I deal with out of control kids 5 yrs and up that have run out of places to live .

Id love to have my own kid tho , but that aint gunna happen .
Click to expand...

Theres a special place in heaven for people like you.

Thank you for giving some leadership and skills to the very kids that need it the most.

Skam
 
mete said:
Safety ?? It's not safe to use a power tool and hold the part with your fingers !!!
Click to expand...

that was my first thought. Glad to hear it was screwed down. I just have a vision of a piece of jagged steel shooting out and hanging out of a shin bone. I've lost a few pieces myself. And the knicks on my leather gloves are proof I can't do jack without gloves.
 
I've been doing skills with the kids for a while now whenever they show the interest. With my son that is all the time, with my daughter, it is every so often. She's 12 but can baton, identify 5-6 common edibles, and use a mag bar to start a fire (she did that at 6th grade camp this year and was quite the celeb for it.) She is also my shooter, likes the 10-22 and Kimber 1911. My son doesn't shoot yet, I want him a little more steady and controlled (he's 8 and good at being 8...)
As far as knives go, the kids got a SAK classic when they turned 7 and if they followed the rules and behaved themselves, they could get a bigger SAK or multi-tool at 10 (my daughter picked a SAK Huntsman). If they contiure to be responsible they get a sheath knife at 12 (she picked a Ka-Bar skinner, much like my 1st fixed blade) and can opt for a axe at 14.
For anyone interested my main knife safty rules are:
Keep it clean and sharp
Cut away from yourself
Do not use the knife on your brother/sister
It is a tool, not a weapon. Treat it as such.
No knives at school (even if I don't agree with it), or on a plane except in a suitcase.
You lose it, your forfit the right to carry one until your next age bracket.
Violation of any of these rules means I take it for a month on the 1st infraction. Only had to do that once.

Sorry if I rambled,

Mike
 
JackBauer24 said:
that was my first thought. Glad to hear it was screwed down. I just have a vision of a piece of jagged steel shooting out and hanging out of a shin bone. I've lost a few pieces myself. And the knicks on my leather gloves are proof I can't do jack without gloves.
Click to expand...

And PLEASE put back the guard onto that grinder. 10.000rpm is not fun. I'm glad he's wearing safety glasses.

But it's good to see some kids not in front of the tv/pc :)
 
that was my first thought. Glad to hear it was screwed down. I just have a vision of a piece of jagged steel shooting out and hanging out of a shin bone. I've lost a few pieces myself. And the knicks on my leather gloves are proof I can't do jack without gloves.
Click to expand...

I was more worried about him losing his nuts if the steel caught on the cutting wheel .....

And PLEASE put back the guard onto that grinder. 10.000rpm is not fun. I'm glad he's wearing safety glasses.
Click to expand...

That is my personal grinder , with an ultra thin cutting disk , that is pretty worn , I take the guard off my grinder specificaly because when doing car body work , it gets in the way big time , I learned to keep fingers well clear of spinning disk real fast , like back when I was a kid myself

My boy is using it because the bugger grabbed it instead of the "shop" grinder he was supposed to use . My fault for not being vigilant enough .

The guard will not be going back , but I will be more careful about what tools he uses . If he follows my path and gets into car restore work he will soon enough be throwing away his own guards off his own machines , but this will be when he is making enough income to buy them himself

Theres a special place in heaven for people like you.

Thank you for giving some leadership and skills to the very kids that need it the most.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that this morning , I reckon its more like a special kind of hell here at times . we had over 20 kids , love everyone of them as our own , and I reckon it hurts as much as losing one of our own when the dept decides they need to move on to a "more suitable placement" since the kids havent assaulted anyone for a good few months now ... ya do a good job and lose ya kids for it , sucks , but there is no shortage of kids to take their place who need the same love as the last ones ... someone got to do the job .
 
lumpymike1 said:
I've been doing skills with the kids for a while now whenever they show the interest. With my son that is all the time, with my daughter, it is every so often. She's 12 but can baton, identify 5-6 common edibles, and use a mag bar to start a fire (she did that at 6th grade camp this year and was quite the celeb for it.) She is also my shooter, likes the 10-22 and Kimber 1911. My son doesn't shoot yet, I want him a little more steady and controlled (he's 8 and good at being 8...)
As far as knives go, the kids got a SAK classic when they turned 7 and if they followed the rules and behaved themselves, they could get a bigger SAK or multi-tool at 10 (my daughter picked a SAK Huntsman). If they contiure to be responsible they get a sheath knife at 12 (she picked a Ka-Bar skinner, much like my 1st fixed blade) and can opt for a axe at 14.
For anyone interested my main knife safty rules are:
Keep it clean and sharp
Cut away from yourself
Do not use the knife on your brother/sister
It is a tool, not a weapon. Treat it as such.
No knives at school (even if I don't agree with it), or on a plane except in a suitcase.
You lose it, your forfit the right to carry one until your next age bracket.
Violation of any of these rules means I take it for a month on the 1st infraction. Only had to do that once.

Sorry if I rambled,

Mike
Click to expand...

I used to teach my older kids ( teenage boys ) "your knife is like your testicle"

if your not using it , its in your pants , never let anyone else use touch it , unless you REALLY REALLY trust them , keep it clean and well looked after .

This worked for a good few years , but I stopped after a 5 yr old came in to the room loudly announcing to their brother "you left your testicle on the floor ya know , if you dont want other kids playing with it you better put it in your pocket "

I dont tell them their knife is like their testicle anymore after that
 
My kids took after their mother, they knew it all at birth. My oldest boy is a survival and knife nut. The other two can only survive in the world of electronic gadgetry.
 
The other two can only survive in the world of electronic gadgetry.
udtjim

That could be a thread in itself. How can we compete with the false reality of TV-land? I try to use pirates and other fantasy type things that my son likes to bring his interest outdoors.

Pirate Buried treasure, adventurer, desert explorer, are all games we play while we are outside. All the survival related stuff is so the pirates can make it back to the ship or something like that.

Our whole time together is not all premeditated, it just flows with his interests. If he says he likes knights then I show him how real knights held their swords.
 
Its tough. As bad as my kids are, my grandkids are worse and their mom thinks that if they can't learn it in church then they don't need to know it. We learned all that outdoor stuff because we had to and we lived it. We made life way to easy for our kids. They now just expect to have what the wife and I have spent a life time accumulating.:confused:
 
I have been focusing on tree, track, and bird ID, however, I really take advantage of every opportunity to teach them about the circle of life when it presents itself. Did this just yesterday with persimmon fruit we ate on a walk - why did the tree use its energy to make food for animals? Where did it get its energy?...

My five year old can collect material to start a fire and I let her blow a tinder bundle to flame; she already knows over 20 birds and at least a dozen different tracks. We are still working on the trees - she probably knows five. My son (3) knows about six tracks and 12 birds - he is a little more interested in trees and can identify six regularly (red maple, sweetgum, white oak, pine, eastern hemlock, grape vine). Although I show it to them all the time, everything else that is low is poison ivy - I guess thats a good thing.

They both know to stay put if they get lost. I make them wear a whistle on a break away chain anytime we are out!!! They are trained to use it anytime they are in trouble or lost. If you have kids, you should make them wear a whistle. The Fox 40 Rescue Howler Micro is great for kids because it slimmer than most of the other rescue whistles and louder than the original.

No excuses, here is a link and a better price than I paid...

http://www.survival-gear.com/rescue-howler-whistle.htm
 
Good stuff getting him interested bro but please be carefull when he uses those cut off discs, Iv'e had them shatter on me and it's then a case of checking for cuts and missing fingers !!!
 
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