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What age do you get/allow your kid to have a pocket knife?

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aggieland09
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11:18a, 12/7/20
AG
My son is 8 and in cubscouts this year he earned his whittling chip. I was thinking about getting him a small knife for Christmas.

My first knife was a case peanut and I was around 6. I was leaning on either the same or going with a swiss army.



What age and what was your kids first knife?
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Old RV Ag
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In reply to aggieland09 • 11:30a, 12/7/20
AG
Don't remember exact knives (but were similar to what you have above) but I'd say around six was the typical age for my kids.
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CT'97
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11:36a, 12/7/20
AG
I think 8 is fine but from experience with both my son and watching a cub den turn into Scouts, start with a cheap knife as they get lost a lot.

For my son's, proof they could maintain and care for a cheaper knife lead to receiving a nicer pocket knife when they got their Totenchip as Scouts.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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drummer0415
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11:40a, 12/7/20
AG
My first was a classic red Swiss Army. I don't remember exact age, I want to say around 7 or 8?
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LRHF
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11:42a, 12/7/20
AG
Grandpa gave me a knife when I was 5!
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Showertime at the Bidens
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11:42a, 12/7/20

As soon as they're old enough to understand the 'blood circle' rule.

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Stringfellow Hawke
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11:43a, 12/7/20
AG
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
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Old RV Ag
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In reply to Stringfellow Hawke • 11:45a, 12/7/20
AG
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Oh how have things changed. All my kids took their knives to school.
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MAROON
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In reply to Stringfellow Hawke • 11:46a, 12/7/20
AG
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Good advice!

my son won a swiss army knife in some sort of Cub Scouts deal - don't exactly remember the details. BUT I DO REMEMBER the details of getting called to his school by the assistant principal because he took the knife to school to show it off. He almost got suspended for 5 days - actually per the principal it was an auto suspension but he swept it under the rug.
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Jason C.
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11:57a, 12/7/20
AG
Got a Swiss army camper model for Christmas when I was 8 (the one with the saw blade!). Cut my pinky finger within 2 minutes. Was trying to wipe some of the excess oil off the blade, ha. Had to hide that from mom and dad the rest of the morning opening presents.

For my kids it will depend on the kid. 7 for one and 10 for another.
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1990AG
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In reply to Old RV Ag • 12:12p, 12/7/20
AG
Old RV Ag said:
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Oh how have things changed. All my kids took their knives to school.
I graduated HS in 86 and always had a shotgun in the truck....crazy....

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ccard257
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In reply to aggieland09 • 12:16p, 12/7/20
AG
I was 7 or 8 and still have it. Still the most likely knife I own to cut myself with as it is tough to close but comes down hard once the blade passes the point of no return.

Mine aren't old enough yet, but here in a couple of years the oldest will get something that

  • is cheap and not overly sentimental
  • locking blade with the disengagement being on the spine and not inside the handle
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Jason C.
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In reply to MAROON • 12:16p, 12/7/20
AG
Man I remember my absolute terror when I realized I'd taken my pocketknife to school in third grade (1980s). Sweated it all day but didn't get caught.

A buddy in HS had his shotgun in his truck (1990s), a great guy or he'd have been expelled, and spent the rest of the year in Alternative School.
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CSTXAg92
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12:21p, 12/7/20
AG
My yougest got his whittling Scout badge last year as a Wolf, but I wasn't confident in his decision making skills yet, so we did not get him a knife to mark the occasion. A year later (three weeks ago in fact) we were on our way back from a cub scout camping trip to Matagorda and he had demonstrated he was thinking things through, including consequences, in a way that I felt confortable that he would be responsible enough to own a knife. So on a Bucees stop, I spotted him eyeing the pocketknifes in the display. I asked him if he thought he was ready for the responsbility that comes with owning a knife, and the size of his eyes grew to saucers. :-) He picked one out and was proud as a peacock of it.

To answer your question, he is 9.
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Todd 02
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12:22p, 12/7/20
AG
I got my first knife when I was around 6 or 7. We went to Ruidoso, NM for the weekend and Dad bought me a little souvenir folding knife when 2 or 3 blades.

I tried to use it as a screwdriver and broke the blade off.

My grandpa gave me one when I was about 8. It was an Old Timer with three blades. Still have that one.

I bought a training knife like the one below for my oldest when he was 4 or so. He "lost" it and hasn't ever worried too much about it. Maybe I'll give it to his brother or sister instead...

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S.A. Aggie
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12:51p, 12/7/20
AG
I remember my brother getting his Swiss Army knife when he was 10. Layed his thumb wide open opening the knife.
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NoahAg
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In reply to Jason C. • 1:14p, 12/7/20
Jason C. said:

A buddy in HS had his shotgun in his truck (1990s), a great guy or he'd have been expelled, and spent the rest of the year in Alternative School.
That happened to my brother (also 90s). Principal knew he was a good student and not a thug so he just told him to take it home. Wouldn't happen like that w/ today's stupid zero tolerance policies.
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Bradley.Kohr.II
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1:22p, 12/7/20
AG
If a child, cannot be trusted with a Swiss Army knife, they shouldn't be in normal school.
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BrazosDog02
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1:55p, 12/7/20
AG
There is no set age. Depends on the kid. Literally you are the best person to answer the posted questions, not the internet.

Some kids are ok with firearms at the age of 8, some kids I wouldn't trust with a sharp stick at the age of 19 without supervision.
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fightingfarmer09
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2:30p, 12/7/20


My almost 5y/o is getting this for Christmas. It will be a fun craft project for the two of us, and he will get to have a "knife" of his own. I think he is probably a year or two away from his own real knife.
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GSS
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2:40p, 12/7/20
Similar to my first knife, probably 8 yrs old...and likely lost /left behind within 6 months. The first of many knives owned in my youth.
NRA Life
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JABQ04
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2:48p, 12/7/20
AG
My son is a Bear Scout this year. After Christmas we are working on their Whittling Chip. As Den Leader I'm buying his whole Den a pocket knife for our Den Christmas party next week. My boy, who is 9, doesn't know about the knife but knows he gets to use one this year and is pumped. I'll probably get him a better quality knife for Christmas.
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jellycheese
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2:54p, 12/7/20
AG
My grandfather gave me my first knife when I was 7. I had grown up watching him and my uncles use and care for their pocket knives and they seemed to have a sort of reverence towards them similar to how they treated their firearms.

I never asked but I assume he gave me mine when he felt like I had that same understanding of the knife as a tool that could be dangerous if disrespected. I still have the one he gave me as well as a box of his well used dailies.

As far as knife selection, pick something simple with just one or two blades like the Case you mentioned. Having all the extra tools in the knife invites play and misuse. The tools in the Swiss Army knives aren't very good at what they do anyway. Maybe Case now and that leaves the option for you to get him a Leatherman in a couple years.
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MouthBQ98
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3:22p, 12/7/20
AG
My first knife was a little victorinox SA knife. I was maybe 7-8. Frankly, if I wanted a knife, I knew where the knife block was and the kitchen drawers, and where they were in the garage, but I only viewed them as tools.

By age 8 or so I was already proficient with knives due to the "catch it, keep it, clean it" rule. I wanted to keep a mess of bluegills for dinner? I had to clean every one I kept, so I had free access to small filet knives from an early age, and carried one with my tackle regularly.
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91AggieLawyer
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3:35p, 12/7/20
AG
I got one about 8 or so, but that's probably too young now with school restrictions. Plus, now that they are available, I'd recommend a training knife for a year or two. Spyderco and Kershaw make them. They can practice carrying, opening, closing, etc. and keeping them in their pocket under your watch (i.e. you keep possession of it) and then by, say, jr. high when they're old enough to be trusted not to take it to school, then get them something.

I probably carried mine most days to school. The pencil sharpeners sucked (they'd often cut the lead off too) so I sharpened my pencils with my knife! Many of my friends also had knives. I understand why they don't allow them but its too bad.
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Rattler12
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In reply to Old RV Ag • 3:42p, 12/7/20
Old RV Ag said:
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Oh how have things changed. All my kids took their knives to school.
Back in high school us country kids regularly had rifles and shotguns in the gun rack attached to the back window behind the truck seat. No one gave a tinkers dam. Try that now. My first knife was a Case Trapper... the knives they made then and the knives they make now are worlds different in quality and ability to take and hold an edge. It cost about 3,95 at the local Western Auto in town.
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Stringfellow Hawke
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In reply to Rattler12 • 3:56p, 12/7/20
AG
Rattler12 said:
Old RV Ag said:
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Oh how have things changed. All my kids took their knives to school.
Back in high school us country kids regularly had rifles and shotguns in the gun rack attached to the back window behind the truck seat. No one gave a tinkers dam. Try that now. My first knife was a Case Trapper... the knives they made then and the knives they make now are worlds different in quality and ability to take and hold an edge. It cost about 3,95 at the local Western Auto in town.


Only a generation away.

My dad grew up in small town South Dakota and the some of the students and teachers would chat about before school started. Usually took place in the parking lot.


Also, in junior high, they would all learn fire arm safety and shooting. As a former teacher/coach, I would love to see shooting sports in the schools.
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jtp01
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4:49p, 12/7/20
AG
I guess around 8 or so for my 2 boys. My oldest (12 now) has accidentally carried it to school on several occasions. But luckily we have a VERY small rural school where nobody really cares about a good kid carrying his little pocket knife.

Typically that has happened when he has been feeding calves before getting on the bus. I give him a pass on those things. If it becomes a problem we will crack down on him.
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Gone Camping
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In reply to JABQ04 • 4:54p, 12/7/20
AG
JABQ04 said:
My son is a Bear Scout this year. After Christmas we are working on their Whittling Chip. As Den Leader I'm buying his whole Den a pocket knife for our Den Christmas party next week. My boy, who is 9, doesn't know about the knife but knows he gets to use one this year and is pumped. I'll probably get him a better quality knife for Christmas.
I did similar and seems like it was bears so 3rd grade for non-scouters. I taught the whittling chip and parents approved and chipped in for the boys to all have matching knives.

Now my nephews I gave knives when for sure the little one was too young, 4 and 7 I think. Little Swiss army's. My brother and I always had to give obnoxiously loud or somewhat dangerous gifts to each other's kids. I knew he'd teach them how to use them and supervise but it was fun seeing his eyes get big.
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Old RV Ag
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In reply to Rattler12 • 5:55p, 12/7/20
AG
Rattler12 said:
Old RV Ag said:
brs4688 said:
I got mine around 5th grade.

Side note. Make sure that you check said kid's pockets before they go to school so they do not accidentally take knife to school.
Oh how have things changed. All my kids took their knives to school.
Back in high school us country kids regularly had rifles and shotguns in the gun rack attached to the back window behind the truck seat. No one gave a tinkers dam. Try that now. My first knife was a Case Trapper... the knives they made then and the knives they make now are worlds different in quality and ability to take and hold an edge. It cost about 3,95 at the local Western Auto in town.
Same here. They always had rifles in the gun racks in plain sight. Even parked in the school parking lot. Some of my kids and their friends had buck knives in belt sheaths worn at school. I'm aware of all the changes due to the grandkids. Sad how extreme it's become - sure doesn't help parents who are doing everything right to teach maturity, respect, and safety.
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JABQ04
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In reply to Gone Camping • 8:19p, 12/7/20
AG
Yep. Sons in 3rd grade. We have a small pack and only 5 total kids in the den.
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Martin Cash
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In reply to Jason C. • 8:28p, 12/7/20
AG
Jason C. said:
Man I remember my absolute terror when I realized I'd taken my pocketknife to school in third grade (1980s). Sweated it all day but didn't get caught.

A buddy in HS had his shotgun in his truck (1990s), a great guy or he'd have been expelled, and spent the rest of the year in Alternative School.
When I was school board president, a kid drove his pu to school, not realizing his dad left his dove hunting shotgun under the seat. Dog alerted on pu. Under those damn Zero Intelligence laws, he should have been expelled. We expelled his pu instead. No parking privileges for the rest of the semester.

And I've carried a pocket knife every day for 61 years - since first grade.
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AnScAggie
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9:02p, 12/7/20
AG
My dad gave me a cheap one around 5 or 6 and a good one when I was 9. I still have it both but do not carry either anymore because they have too much sentimental value.
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Bob_Ag
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9:57p, 12/7/20
AG
My first knife, hell I wasn't even five yet given to me by my Godfather. I wouldn't trust most kids these days with a dull spoon.
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jtp01
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In reply to AnScAggie • 10:00p, 12/7/20
AG
It's interesting you don't carry it because of sentimental value. That's one of the reasons I enjoy carrying my grandfather's pocket knife. It was the one he carried most of his adult life and the one he carried the day my momma married dad. I cherish that more than some folks value their prized possessions.
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