How old was your child for penknives

[shaggystu]

I don't have children but I was given a penknife (SAK clone) at 7 or 8, I cut myself with it pretty much the first time I was left unsupervised with it. Really quite badly too, the problem was that I'd been shown how to use it safely and I knew that the way I'd be using it when I cut myself was wrong, so I thought I'd get into trouble and tried to hide the cut from my parents. Luckily grandad noticed the wound, dealt with the infection (my first aid skills weren't up to much at that point), dressed it, and came up with a good excuse for me to give to my mum. I still have the scar.

If I had kids myself I'd probably give them a knife at a similar age, but I'd really really go out of my way to make sure that they knew they were never going to get into trouble if they accidentally cut themselves with it, even if they had been using it incorrectly.

Cheers,

Stuart

 

[MikeLA]

Thanks for all the great replies. I think I was about 8 when i got my first knife. My 7 year old is in the beavers and asking. So from all the common sense advice i will teach him under supervision and see how he gets on with opening (usually the difficult bit for a child) and using a SAK of a blunt ended opinel.

Thanks ALL. Great to get feedback when you are not 100% sure.

 

[Screaming Skull]

My son was 9 it was our first camping trip together,yes he has since stuck the scissors through his finger leading to a late night trip to the nearest childrens hopsital but he has learned a lot form the experience and is now ultra safe when handling sharp things

 

[alpha_centaur]

I was about 8 when I got mine. It was an opinel which was great in that it didn't close on my fingers. but really hard to open. And I cut myself with it so many times.

I recently saw thumb studs that you can retro fit to a knife, that might make it easier for little fingers to open a knife.

 

[Man of Tanith]

I believe I was seven
Shan was given a brusletto balder and a Mon premiere opinel at around seven herself.
Jake will be around the same age I suspect

 

[Corso]

I got my first SAK (copy) at 8 shortly followed by a MIHK sodbuster

got my first Rambo knife at 11 (my grandad brought it back from the US)

 

[Willowisp]

Got my first tiny SAK (copy) from my grandfather when I was around 6 years old. It had a very small blade, not more than 2". I've used it quite often for small tasks and it never bit me.

 

[demographic]

My mother bought me a Swiss Army knife when I learned to read.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I gave my daughter an Opinel when she was thirteen, when we went to the 2009 bushmoot. This was after she had attended the knife safety awareness talk given by Tony at the moot.

 

[georann]

Wow surprised (in a good way) at the age some of you got knives!
Got my first SAK age 8, and shortly after had my first injury when I wasn't careful and managed to close the knife around my thumb by cutting something the wrong way round. Then my first proper fixed blade aged 10. Still got them both (and a fair few more )
However, a lot of people think the age I was given a knife was mad, especially friends (Im 18 now), sign of changing times I guess.

If you're thinking of giving your kid one, the main questions are do they need one/have a use for one, are they sensible enough to use it correctly, and what sort of knife is right for the purpose. It may be an idea to train them on one of your knives or look after the knife when they're not using it. Also a fixed blade (e.g. a good reliable Mora) may be more useful than a SAK. And finally, one of the big things I would instill as well as safety would be looking after the knife- teach them how to keep it clean and sharp- If they look after the knife, it will look after them.

ATB
Dan

 

[NS40]

I'm old enough to remember taking a penknife to school to sharpen pencils with (pencil sharpeners were for the posh kids). We'd sharpen pencils into the bin at the front of the class and it was pretty much the norm. I must have been about 6 or 7 when I remember buying a small folding knife (with fake horn scales and a little metal shield inlaid).

My wife was always dead set against our kids having their own knives but changed her mind after seeing them using mine under supervision (and after I got her her own knife which broke down some of the phobias she had about blades). They all got small SAK clones when we were away camping, my eldest was about 11, my youngest 7 at the time.

Two of them now have fixed blades which they got only when I was convinced that they could use them safely and continue to supervise them closely. Interestingly enough, it was my youngest who got his first as he had been consistently meticulous when using knives and showed good knife safety skills - he would have been 10 or so and inherited one of my old knives that was ideal for little hands. The decision had less to do with age and more to do with individual competence and maturity.

They don't have access to them when I'm not around as our knives are kept in a safe which they have no access to just to remove any temptation to take them to school, show them to friends, etc. As much as they are very responsible with knives, they are still kids, will occasionally do silly things, submit to peer pressure or feel the desire to show off.

As much as my kids enjoy using their knives for bushcraft, early exposure to blades seems to have removed a lot of the fascination & fixation kids have with knives.

 

[JonT]

My 5 1/2 year old has shown an huge interest and aptitude for mushroom hunting with her old man so I bought her a relatively cheap mushrooming knife for Christmas - loves it but doesn't have free access to it.