My middle son, now 7, has put “pockut nif” [that’s ‘pocket knife’ for those of you who don’t speak early elementary spelllling] on his Christmas list, with stars and underlinings to draw Santa’s attention. So, is he old enough?
I know it depends more on the individual’s responsibility, temperment, personality, and so on, but I’m curious, how old was your child (or how old were you?) when s/he got a first pocket knife?
My eldest son at 9 hasn’t received one yet because he hasn’t asked, but I’ll definitely give him one if I decide to give one to the middle. But to complicate matters (for me), I know the THREE-YEAR-OLD boy will instantly begin crying loudly if his brothers get knives and he doesn’t. Of COURSE that doesn’t mean he’ll get one too, but it does mean I may need to think of something that ‘looks’ approximately like a one to give to him.
I gave my son a Victinorix Swiss Army knife at 10 which he promptly lost. Ummm… unless a child was in a rural environment where a knife is not a privledge but a necessary tool, I think 10 is about the youngest I’d consider, and it would either be small and/or have a locking blade. 7 is just too young IMO.
I would also wait - remember that most schools these days forbid even pocket knives at school, and a 7-year-old would definitely be very tempted to bring it to show it off to friends, or forgetful enough to neglect to remove it from a jacket pocket before going there. The last thing you need is to get a call that your son is being expelled/suspended/whatever for having a “weapon” at school.
Boy this brings back memories.
My dad is a believer in the old school, and I had a knife as a boy. I spent my summers in a rural setting, and often used the knife for all the kinds of things knives are good for.
The knife was good for whittling, cutting twine, and other basic practical uses.
These days though, schools frown on children with knives. A child will have to be trusted to handle it responsably. (Excuse me: hahahahahahah)
Ahem.
Ten years is probably the youngest you can go. And you will have to spend a certain amount of time lecturing the boy on “acceptable uses”.
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When/where did we go so wrong?
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I got my first pocket knife when I got my pinewood racer kit. That made me 8 or so and a Cub Scout. I remember sitting on the front steps with my Dad next to me as I shaved off the sharp edges of the semi shaped block of wood as he taught me the proper way to whittle.
When I was not whittling the racer, the knife resided in my Dad’s drawer. I was allowed to take it with me to pack meetings as part of my uniform, clipping it to the official BSA belt hook thing. I returned it to my Dad back home when I changed out of the uniform.
I suppose if you do buy your older sons a pocket knife, their first project could be to whittle out a knife looking object for their little brother. Make sure there’s no sharp edges or points before you make the presentation.
This is so true.
Most schools have a "zero tolerance’ rule about weapons. Even if he brought it for a show and tell thing in class, he could be, probably would be, expelled for bringing a weapon onto school property.
No matter how innocent it may have been, zero tolerance iz zero tolerance, regardless of the situation.
I wouldn’t give him a “pockut nif”, until he could spell it right, then have him explain to you what responsibilities go along with owning one.
But you know your boys best, and what’s good for 'em.
Like most males my age, I had one, and ended up cutting up alot of things to shreds, but that’s me.
I keep all sharp objects away from my boys, because they are like me, and would start cutting things up just to see what that baby could do. And they’re 16 and 12.
Sit all your sons down and talk to them about the fact that your middle son wants a knife. Tell them that if they want a pocket knife when they are 10 years old (set by prior posters) and they understand the responsibilities involved with having a pocket knife (you probably need to make a list) then they can have one at that age. Don’t get the older son a pocket knife just because the middle son gets one, do it only if he asks for one. The youngest will see that his older brother had to wait and therefore should understand that he has to wait also. Ranger’s story about the Cub Scoouts would be a good way to handle giving the middle age son a knife sooner. The other two son’s would not qualify unless and until they joined the Scouts and had a project that required a knife. I guess the important thing here is for you to communicate with all of them, don’t just start handing out pocket knifes.
When I was a kid, I got a pocket knife for my eigth birthday from my dad. Before he got me one, he spend a long time teaching me all of the safety rules and when it was appropriate to use it and that it was a tool, not a weapon. I had it for a long time and I still carry one today.
My son is a Young Marine. When he was eight, they all went camping, on their supply list was an optional pocket knife. I went over all the same rules with him that my dad went through with me and we got him one. That was two years ago, we have never had any problems with it.
I got my first pocket knife when I was about 7. It was one of those really little ones that only has a small knife, scissors, and a screw driver. The deal was that if I coud take care of it responsibly, I could get a real (real, being an actually useful sized knife with actually useful things on it.) one when I was ten. I was abe to be responsible and my dad got me a big one when I was ten. It even had pliers on it. I still haven’t to this day. I wasn’t even a particularily respnsible kid. I just understood that bringing it to school was not an option, plus my dad gave me several big long lectures on proper knife care and handling. I will agree with saying that it does depend on the kid. I was a girl so I think the need to show it off was a little less since none of my friends would have been interested in it. I didn’t really want to take it to school.
12 I think. But this sprung up a fasination with the things at my collection is somewhere around 25-35 knives currently. I wouldn’t give it too him till hes at least 11. And as other have said lay out ground rules and start with a small 1 inch or so blade. And make sure hes careful! My first knife was the only one that I ever cut myself with, and this was long after I started my collection. I don’t think it likes me. It has taken more blood from me then any other injury I have. So safety first!
I was nine when I asked for one, and my dad gave me one for my tenth birthday. It wasn’t a necessary tool, per se, and I don’t use it as much any more, but it’s always had pride of place on my desk.
Incidentally, I am a girl. An odd little girl at that - all my friends at school wanted Barbies…
I got one when I was 10 or so, too. I think my parents waited until they were sure I wouldn’t cut Barbie’s hair with it. (I was only 1/2 tom boy:D ). I wouldn’t give it to a child younger than that though, I remember having some pretty dangerous and stupid ideas about what was “safe” when I was seven.
I have a brother just one year older than myself, so I’ve always gotten stuff a bit earlier. We were both given knives when he turned 10 and I turned 9 (I was born on his birthday, which was both convenient and annoying to gift-givers). I was fine with it until a couple months later, when our step-father showed us how to use a whetstone. The very next day, my dull-knife-practiced whittling went right through the stick, and I cut my left index finger badly. My big brother was quite disturbed by this event, since it happened while we were some distance from home, in the woods by the creek. He did, however, manage to get me home alive, where I was conveyed to the local medex for 4 stitches (it wasn’t really that major a cut). Thirty years later, it is still the second-most-prominent scar on my entire body, though that may be more attributable to the medex’ technique than to my knifework.
Take from that what you will. I’d say 10 is a good age. In fact, I support kniz’ plan, since it will really drive home why all your boys need to wait for that special age. But do remember to tell them my story when you show them how to sharpen the thing.
I got my first pocket knife when I was five. I’d been given the safety instructions since I was three, and got to handle bigger knives then too (under supervision). Depends on the child, I guess.
(by the way, I’m a city boy; I thought a pocket knife would be useful and fun. It is.)
I got my first at 8. I was told I had to be old enough for Scouts first (I have 3 older sisters, who all had knives pretty young, too). Until I was 10 or 11 I had to turn it in when not using it, and request it when I wanted it from my parents - in other words, there was some supervision in use going on. But nothing I found unbearable.
Then again, I started using kitchen knives and cooking around 6, so knife safety wasn’t a new concept.
Bought my first one for myself at 10 and promptly lost it, but bought another one very soon after because they are very useful. I have a small one that resides in my wallet.
I am a country boy and got my first knife when I was six. I used to cut myself all the time (accidently), including stitches, but no one ever lectured me about it. I learned how to properly use a knife and have a collection of about 70 of them. I am fifty years old now and hardly ever cut myself at all anymore. :smack:
8-10 seems a reasonable age for a pocket knife, seven seems a bit young. You might want to consider getting him (and the youngest one) something like a pocket knife that doesn’t have an actual blade (like one of those folding combs, I remember having a switchblade comb as a kid). You need to teach the kid safety with the knife, but as long as they’re not doing really dangerous stuff with it (throwing it, running with the blade out, etc.) they’re not going to risk ‘death or dismemberment’, just a cut on the hands somewhere. My only scarring cut as a kid came from a tape measure (one of those metal ones sliced open my finger when I retracted it), and most of my knife cuts came when I was older and using an exacto knife, so I wouldn’t say a pocketknife is especially dangerous. My only worry would be the kid forgetting about it and running afoul of a zero-tolerance school policy, what you might want to do is buy/make some kind of holder and require your kid to store the knife there when its not in use.
:smack: