Thread: How young is too young for a pocket knife?

You know your kid's maturity best. While I agree with a lot of what was said about possible trouble, you did say he would only have it when you were around so I don't see what the issue could be.

In scouts when we were able to carry a knife we were given a card. A "whittling chip" or something like that, whenever an adult saw you mis-handling your knife they would tear a corner off the card. If you lost all 4 corners you couldn't carry the knife anymore for some amount of time and until you proved again you knew the rules.

In addition to the child version victorinox makes a series of small knives, they are just like the full sized counterparts only a little smaller. They may be perfect for a kid.

As with some others here I can't remember for the life of me when I got my first knife.. I was whittling letter openers out of walnut by the time I was 7 or so though, and don't remember a time when I didn't have access to a knife.
by middle school I carried one with me anytime I wasn't at school...
These days if I find when I get to work (or wherever) that I forgot my pocketknife I go into temporary panic mode. Mine gets use on everything from touch up shaving ( I try to keep it "razor" sharp), hacking throuch cardboard and whatever, to screwdriver/pry bar.

I adore that TED talk and have fond memories of my own grandmother....
she's always been a big supporter of guns knives and fire....

My grandmother had be playing with fire from perhaps 6 onwards and my great grandmother gave me a hatchet to play with (UNDER SUPERVISION from 4 years old onward) and grandfather playing with knives from 4 onward...

That being said I likely did not get my first bb/pellet gun until perhaps 10 years old? And did not start having my own serious knife collection including 12" short swords :P until 12 that I could have sans supervision but I had experience and teaching regarding sharpening and sharp things for years previous to that. Let him have access to sharp knives I'd wait a bit before he proves his ability to always cut away from himself and others before giving him his own...

I should say that I was NEVER given a knife as a child or allowed to play with one or experiment with fire. Just not allowed. At about 11 yrs. I found a piece of concrete on which to safely torch a few pieces of paper towel. Everything went as planned and I learned a little something about fire. The scorch mark was reason enough for a strapping though. I don't hold the same attitude. By 13 I was firing large bore rifles under supervision and learned that guns (and weapons in general) are not to be feared because that makes you dangerous with them, not to be empowered by because that also makes you dangerous with them, but to be respected and treated accordingly. This is what I believe children should be learning form about 5 or 6. I guess it depends on the child a lot too. I will also NEVER strap or hit my son except in the unlikely case of self defense for a lesson about personal sovereignty. I highly doubt we'll ever get there because we're on a different path than that.

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