Which knife/knives for your child/children?

When your child or children become of age and are considered responsible enough to handle knife ownership well, which knife would you get them as a first knife? Why?



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Harry

L'audace, toujours l'audace!!!
 
My son, 'Hurricaine' Andrew is now 8 yo. He has been able to handle a liner lock for about three years now. In fact, when he was 6, we made a video, as we were sending some liner locks to people who didn't know how to use them. He demonstrated the correct procedure, how to just move the blade a little bit with the tip of your index finger, then get EVERYTHING out of the way, and close the blade.

However, I still like him to have a fixed blade. He has a MD Lab Rat, which he loves. He has never abused his knife using abilities, never cut himself. I am next going to teach him how to field stip a 1911.

Walt
 
W

Walt Welch

Joined
Oct 7, 1998
Messages
1,838
Kozak; your quote is one of the most misattributed ones in existentce. Fredrick the Great, various French Kings named Henry, Napoleon, the list goes on.

However, the one who spoke the words was one Georges Jacques Danton, who was addressing the French Legislative Committee on Sept. 2, 1792. What he said was:

'De l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace!'

Walt

[This message has been edited by Walt Welch (edited 03-26-2000).]
 
Walt, merci beaucoup!
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Harry
 
Walt, are you absolutely, 100% retired as a physician? I've never had the good fortune to be attended to by a doctor with whom I could completely relate. I have no idea where Alamo is located, but if you ever decide to come out of retirement let us know as I'm sure it would be worth the drive.

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Semper Fi
 
SemperFi; you are, I take it, one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children?
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Well, as far as retirement goes, it was caused by me having a heart attack at age 49, and subsequent bypass surgery a few months later. Weird thing is, I never had any pain at all. The heart attack was discovered entirely by chance. I went into the ER and saw one of my colleagues for a sore throat. He heard some extra beats of my heart; I told him not to worry, they were PAC's (harmless), and I had had them for at least 10 years. He says, 'I'M the f... doctor here!' So, I meekly complied and had an EKG. Showed that since June of the previous year I had had a big heart attack.
Now, here is the weird part. This is on April Fool's day. If I hadn't recognized my own EKG, and read it right after the tech did it, I wouldn't have believed them.

So, since by Kaiser policy, if you are board certified (which I am), you have to be able to return to your specialty, or you have to retire on disability if you can't return to your specialty after 5 years. Since my heart attack, most unusually, was ruled by an independent MD to be work related, I obviously can't go back to work.

Thus, I am forced to stay at home (or travel wherever I want), and chase after my 8 yo son, 'Hurricaine' Andrew. As well as visit my older three kids, and one granddaughter. About the most weighty choice I make these days (other than which kid's movie to go see) is which Porsche to drive.
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I take great pleasure in teaching Andrew, who has an avid interest, about knives and guns. Much to his mother's chagrin. Heck, that is what ex-husbands are for, isn't it?

So, sure, I will provide medical information for you; I'll even take a look at you if you visit or fax an image of a body part!
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I routinely treat my neighbors; just steri-stripped a laceration on my neighbor-down-the street's kid on St. Paddy's Day.

I have treated other posters over the net (NOT a practice I recommend, but I have done it). I treated (so to speak) Jim March, and once, in a state of temporary insanity, Vampire Gerbil!

So, should you have any questions, just write. Walt Welch MD
 
I'd pick a Swiss Army Knife with a moderate number of functions. For years the 4-bladed "Boy Scout Knife" was considered a mandatory part of maturing. I like the model called the Tinker since it has a Philips head screw driver. The problem with kids and knives is that kids need to cut things to use a knife blade. There are far fewer things that really need cutting than the child has urges to use the knife. Discipline is needed, but there is no need to make it more of a problem than it needs to be. With an SAK a child can usefully open cans, open bottles, fix things, and whittle. The smaller blade on an SAK is a particularly useful slim whittling blade. The handle on an SAK fits well enough to make it a handy whittler. The blades are generally short enough to reduce the likelyhood of killing or maiming themselves. Sure they'll cut themselves, but that's part of life and learning.
 
I just bought my 10 year old daughter a CRKT Neck Peck for her birthday last week. My 7 year old carries a Ladybug on her backpack/keychain, but she never uses it. But hey, she knows it's there. When my son was 5, I bought him a SAK. Now that he's 13, he carries a BM Mel Pardue and a Livesay G-45. My wife is pregnant, and we're already talking about what knife to get the baby. Some of the choices are a Busse Battle Mistress, a Hossom Millennium Machete, or a JSP Katana...
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I have two daughters (ages 18 and 21).
They could care less about knives right now In fact, I gave them both Benchmade Leopard Cubs about two years ago and both of them are now "lost".
When they get older they will get one of my Reeves folders. I have a large and small Sebenza and an Umfaan that are engraved with my name.
I don't have any idea who will get the third knife unless I get married again.......
maybe it would be smarter to just keep it myself
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Bill
 
My twin boys first knife was a Wenger Swiss Army knife, their second was a Chris Reeve old style Sebenza. Both were given to them this year because of their graduation from cub scouts into the boy scouts and also for their continuous good grades at school. They only use their knives under adult supervision though.

Mark

P.S. Boys almost 11 years old now.


[This message has been edited by Mark W Douglas (edited 03-27-2000).]
 
My daughter was given the choice years ago on receiving her first knife, she wasn't interested. I also gave her a Wegner Swiss Army knife when I gave my boys theirs, she doesn't want any other knives, she really didn't want any at all. Takes after my wife, doesn't care for knives!
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Mark

P.S. Daughter almost 17 years young now.


[This message has been edited by Mark W Douglas (edited 03-27-2000).]
 
I tell ya, if other folks taught their kids about knives and guns like us knifenuts, there would be a whole lot less crap goin on all the time and kids would'nt be gettin in so much trouble. We must be the most level headed best parents on the planet. Well, I gotta go test fire my spud gun now. Take care knifenuts and knifenut juniors!! Michael

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Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
 
My first knife was a craftsmen stockman. Its 3.25" closed and was a pretty good fit to my hand when I was 9. I used it alot for whitling and chip carving. Different blade shapes were really useful for that, and it gave me something constructive to do with it, instead of looking for things to use it on. It also taught me to respect knives and how to sharpen them. I never had it fold up on my hand, which seems to be a big worry for a lot of people. It is a risk, but if your careful and use the knife right it shouldn't be a problem.
One thing to remember no matter what style knife you choose, is it shouldn't be one of these new ultra hard, super steels that are difficult to sharpen.Learning to sharpen a knife is an important skill if you plan on using them, and its a lot less frustrating to figure out with a knife thats easy to sharpen.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
When each of my 2 daughters and my son was about 10 years old, they got a swiss army "swisschamp". While still a knife, it's more socially acceptable than most other blades. Plus, it's a heck of a lot of fun! My daughters are no longer interested in knives, but my son has graduated to a Dozier elk hunter, a balisong, and several other nice blades. (He still uses his original SAK a lot.)

[This message has been edited by yitz (edited 03-27-2000).]
 
Kozak,

The kind of knife is less important than the instruction and time that go with it, IMHO. A gift of a knife provides an opportunity for safety instruction, as well as time to spend together, learning how to make fuzz sticks, cutting sticks for roasting hot dogs, learning how to avoid getting arrested by the police, etc.

That said, here’s the knife my little daughter got on her 10th birthday.

SirupatikhukB3.jpg


I guess you can think of it as an ancient Nepalese style “swiss army” knife.

 
Of my 6 kids, it seems only 3 have an interest in knives as I do. I'm giving my daughter a neck knife by Warren Thomas for her upcoming 18th birthday. For my #3 son's 13th, I gave him a Randall Made Pathfinder. My #4 son received a small drop point by David Ruana.
 
Alright I don't have kids, but when you buy a young 'un a knife, you want to be concerned with safety, of course. So with this in mind, I'm going to suggest to you what I consider the most importand safety factor in a knife, the handle. So, when buying, make sure it has a sizable solid guard to keep fingers away from the blade. And make sure it has a very grippable non-slip handle. Personally I think finger grooves help a lot also.
+------------------Ed

[This message has been edited by edrozen (edited 03-28-2000).]
 
Schrade makes a small locking folder with different colored handles. I gave my son one and he hasn't cut himself yet! I was really proud one day when he and a friend (8 and 7 years old) looked at about 75 very sharp knives. They were unsupervised and neither got a scratch! There are allot of adults that couldn't pass that test!
 
Hi Guys -
My kids first knives were: Son got a cub scout knife which he promplty lost over the side of the canoe... later - he got a sak classic with his car key... My Daughter's first was a "Brownie" knife - I think she still has it.... When she got her car key she demanded a sak classis for her own - she still has that but has to fight off her husband for it and hide it from her kids. it's the only sharp knife in the house! - I plan doing the same for the grand kids - a sak classic - It goes anywhere except school! -even a "classic" is grounds for expulsion here in Minnesota. Watch you backs guys !

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knife Knuts are sharp people

Jonesy!
 
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