Safe to buy a kid a pocket knife anymore?

f86sabjf said:

Nice I wish I still had mine

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That wasn't my original one, I'm not sure where that came from. My original was basically the same pattern, but it had red plastic scales. I took it fishing once, and left it sitting in a puddle of salt water in the bottom of the boat. It rusted solid, and that's how I learned about carbon steel.

it is sad that a child can not have a pocket knife at school , we had a honor student get 30 days of alternative school cause she left a small buck folder in her backpack after being on a camping trip that weekend before.

A knife in pocket is a sense of adventure, confidence against the hardships life may throw at you, a sense of responsibility and very importantly for todays kids, a reminder that life is something that is more worth experiencing with all your senses and with tons of sweat and grind and not by watching a monitor (although I'm an avid gamer my self). Anyhow, this is the knife I wish someone had given me when I was a kid. It's a case trapper and the most iconic pocket knife I know.

Yes it is safe to buy one but just make sure he never takes it to School !

We used to take our rifles to school and show them of in agri class,we even had a skeet shooting team.

But now it's this, http://www.infowars.com/fbi-instructs-high-schools-to-inform-on-anti-government-students/

I got my first knife at around age 8, but I was handling them before that. I used to take a pocket knife to school with me every day in the late 1970's and throughout the 1980's.

I gave our son his first pocket knife at age 9, a simple Victorinox Bantam Swiss Army knife. I drafted a short contract that spelled out my son's responsibilities in owning a pocket knife, and one of his responsibilities was that he would never take the knife to school or any school related function. The final part of the contract stated that if he failed to live up to any of his responsibilities, he could no longer have a pocket knife. I made him sign the contract before he received the knife. That was a little over two years ago, and so far he's treated it very seriously. After he signed the contract, he asked me if I was going to file it with the government. I replied "Even worse. It's going to be filed with me." So far, it's really worked out very well.

tube_guy said:

I got my first knife at around age 8, but I was handling them before that. I used to take a pocket knife to school with me every day in the late 1970's and throughout the 1980's.

I gave our son his first pocket knife at age 9, a simple Victorinox Bantam Swiss Army knife. I drafted a short contract that spelled out my son's responsibilities in owning a pocket knife, and one of his responsibilities was that he would never take the knife to school or any school related function. The final part of the contract stated that if he failed to live up to any of his responsibilities, he could no longer have a pocket knife. I made him sign the contract before he received the knife. That was a little over two years ago, and so far he's treated it very seriously. After he signed the contract, he asked me if I was going to file it with the government. I replied "Even worse. It's going to be filed with me." So far, it's really worked out very well.

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Good Job !

This is such a sad thread. It's sad that we're even required to have such a discussion.





Both of my boys were given pocket knives before they turned 10. I taught them the proper way of using it and where they could and could not carry it. End of story.





One is 22 and the other is 18 now. Yes, both have cut themselves at least once and learned a valuable lesson from it. I guess growing up in a more rural area I struggle with why this topic is so controversial. I never question letting a 10 year old use a steak knife or a screwdriver and at 10 my boys learned to mow grass so why is carrying a pocketknife so much different?

Cause this Nation got duped into Zero Tolerance Discipline for our public School's pulse we let women and weak minded men change our behavior about carrying a knife. I'm glad I grew up in a Rural area where a pocket knife was a Right of passage.

" women and weak minded men "?

My kids are probably considered rebels by most over protective parents standards. They can swing an axe, build and start a fire, whittle with a pocket knife and shoot slingshots at 9 & 11.

Kids will be kids, get them off the freaking couch and away from the video games.

Clearly the boy will be unable to take the knife to school and not get expelled. So be reasonable about that.

But give him a knife, like your father did, and my father did, and scores of other fathers here did.

We will never restore sanity to the social norms by giving in. We must show with evidence that mere possession of a pocket knife doesn't produce a slasher.

I grew up in the 70's. I had a knife from my dad and he would have skinned me if I brought it to school. There may have been schools that did not care if a kid had a pocket knife, but no schools wanted kids playing with them at school, ever.

Today the schools will suspend a student for using, showing or otherwise advertising a pocket knife. It's not like they just search kids for 2 inch pocketknives.

It is the same zero tolerance policy that permeates all areas of society for good or bad. If a kid brings a knife to school and is playing with it, I would hope the parents punishment would be a hell of a lot worse than the suspension..... Part of owning a knife means being responsible with it and leaving it at home when going to school. If you don't think your kid can handle that it's too early.

My boy will get my Blake and Lamb trapper when he can hande it, but not before. He is seven now and he is not ready.

Brucered, that young gentleman looks like casting from "A Christmas Story" great pic my friend

I grew up in the 60's and 70's and always carried my Jack Knife and would bet that at least half the guys in my classroom were carrying them too. Some of us were in Boy Scouts and knew how to actually sharpen them and of course we had regular knife and ax safety lessons constantly reinforced.

At the time we certainly had our share of schoolyard fights, but knives were never a factor. Today's educators mange risk more comprehensively than the old "common sense" days. Having had the benefit of competent adults and older boys "training" me about using dangerous tools safely, I still lean in that direction.

I grew up in the rural Deep South, and I can assure you that practically every boy in the school had a pocket knife in his possession every day. And as mentioned, many had a rifle in the back of the pickup.

The public thinking has changed in the ensuing years. Now mere possession of an object that had been given social "weapons status" is construed as intent to commit criminal behavior.

The obvious answer that a knife can be used to peel potatoes for dinner or murder your neighbor - but the intent lies within the perpetrator rather than the object - is getting lost.

But we're not gonna fix that here. I say give the boy a knife.

mrb7 said:

We will never restore sanity to the social norms by giving in. We must show with evidence that mere possession of a pocket knife doesn't produce a slasher.

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Such idiots will never believe the evidence of their own eyes, and must be removed from positions of authority for the good of eveyone.

teach them young i say, i had a utility knife when i was 10. it was clear that if it was brought to school my sharp edge privileges were over for a long time. but it helped me understand and respect knives, also cemented them as an invaluable tool for everyday life. i remember when a kid in my middle school went hunting one weekend and forgot to remove his deer Skinner and some loose '06 ammo, another kid saw it and went into panic mode. after it was all said and done, all that happened was he got written up, and the front office held his bag until his parents came to pick it up at the end of the day. my best advice is to tell them if they forgot the knife and brought it to school by accident, is tell them not to try and hide it, but rather go straight to a trusted teacher explain what happened and ask them to hold it until the end of the day. its the best they can do, be honest about a mistake. a kid in my high school faked a bomb threat and was only suspended, after a huge suspension and community service. anyway just my pennys worth. opinel makes some great basic knives, so does victorinox. good luck

I too grew up in the deep South and when I started school the Fall of 1972 I carried a 3 inch Imperial Stockman to school with me. I opened packages for teachers, sharpened my pencil and played mubley peg during recess. I had one in my pocket all though 12th grade and every day since and I turned 50 in Dec 2015.

When I was a kid, practically every boy in school carried a pocket knife. Not even a 6 inch fixed blade knife in a schoolbag would raise an eyebrow (however, a combat knife would draw a crowd, and it would be passed around in admiration and appreciation, lol). We certainly had a few playground scuffles, with the occasional black eye, but never did any boy whip out their knives in threat to another. Were we smarter as kids years ago, or are today's parents just not as bright?