jack knife

My 9 year old grandson wants a jack knife. I told him I would give him one when he turns 10. That's when I had my first one. How old were you when you had your first knife?
Chas.

My Mother ordered me a pocket knife from Sears when I was in the first grade. I toted it and subsequent replacements through school and all the way to the present. But that was in a far different country than what I live in now. Today they"d call out the SWAT boys on me for that.

Chas. Ont.,
Sad story . . . My Dad bought me a jack knife when I was 9 years old.
My Uncle always tried to get me in trouble with my Grandma over it, to this day I can't figure out why she didn't take it away from me as that was the usual thing to do at the time.

However I was sitting (balancing myself) on the outhouse seat, admiring it turning it over, thinking how lucky I was to have my own knife . . . Then Plop my heart went with it, it was deep and I always wondered what would happen if I lost my balance as my feet didn't touch the floor. Those holes were made for bbbig people.

Nobody ever asked me what happened to that jack knife.

grandma ordered me one of those Swis army knives when i was 8. Had my initials engraved on it. still have it 11 years later. Now i cary a folding pocket knife everywhere i go. When im working at the farm or dealership, i cary my Leatherman also

Just make sure you teach him how to handle it before he gets one, and not to go showing it off. Better yet, teach him how to play mumblety-peg. I was about eight when I got my first one.

About 7 or 8. That was 30 years ago, so I'm not sure. Carried that knife for about 5-6 years, until I lost it while cultivating corn. I know which field it's in, but...

Sad, but true, and the SWAT team idea isn't that much of an exaggeration. Before I ever gave my child or grandchild a knife, I would carefully explain that it never goes to school. Because today at best it would be taken away if a teacher or administrator ever learned it was at school, and at worst, it might result in a criminal charge and/or suspension. I would not want the child to get in trouble because of something I gave him.

I understand where the school people are coming from, what with the incidents that have happened in schools the last 10 or 15 years. They say zero tolerance, and they mean it.

When I was in school in the 50's and 60's, almost every boy had a knife in his pocket. And later it was the fashion to carry a sharpened rat-tail comb sticking out of your back pocket. No other persons ever got stuck, but I stuck myself on that dumb comb a couple of times. That went on until the teacher said they all the sharpened combs had to go home, and if they came back, they would be cut off or confiscated. In high school, I and many others had deer rifles at our rural school, in our lockers, to be able to "hunt home" after school. Nobody ever got in trouble over the firearms and no one got hurt. But that was a different time: today I think it would be a FELONY to bring a gun to school in my state.

So I would do some careful thinking and talking before I gave a child a pocket knife. Kids will be kids!

Chas,

I bought my grandson an Uncle Henry when he was 10 years old. Unfortunately, the danged thing is so hard to open, he still can't open it very well three years later.

Whatever you buy, be sure to open and close it few times before buying it to insure that your boy will be able to open it easily (but not too easily).

Tom in TN

How old were you when you had your first knife?

Click to expand...

I got a folding knife from my grandfather when I was 8 or 9, and have carried one ever since.

My first knife was a Craftsman (Gramp worked for Sears-Roebuck in the small-engine department). It had three blades, rosewood handles and brass bolsters. Nice, but heavy. Now I carry a single-bladed Gerber with the lightweight black composite (plastic?) body to use for cutting wood/string/paper/etc., plus a nearly-identical Chinese knock-off that I use to scrape rust, strip wires, and do any other tasks that are not conducive to keeping a quality blade sharp.

I think that's a great gift for your grandson, and something he'll remember the rest of his life. The only thing that I would caution, besides the usual always-cut-away-from-yourself talk, is to make sure he knows he mustn't [i:049f784603]ever[/i:049f784603] take it to school (like we [u:049f784603]all[/u:049f784603] did when we were younger!) or [b:049f784603]big[/b:049f784603] trouble could result, i.e., police and suspension and the whole deal. I don't agree with these new policies, but unfortunately that's the way it is these days; many folks can't make the distinction between a weapon and a tool, and it's easier to say "zero tolerance" than actually think...

My grand dad taught me to sharpen and care for a knife at about 7. I have carried one from that point on. Favorite brands are (old) Case, Barlow, Newer, Buck, Gerber, and Schrade. None of them made to the west of big water. Jim

I did hear of a small school in Wyoming where a kid's pocket knife fell out of his pocket in PE. Sent to the principal's office, presumably to be kicked out of school.

Principal knew he was a ranch kid. He asked the kid if he fed cattle in the morning before school? Yep.

Do you use that "tool" to cut twine on hay bales?
Yep.

Don't bring your tools to school any more. We have a policy against sharp tools, that might hurt someone.

End of matter.

At least SOME people have a lick of sense.

Its a dark spot in my youth.

I think I was about 8 or 9- dad got me a pocket knife, and as a compromise with mom, forbade me from using it unless he was present.

Agreements to the contrary notwithstanding, I decided to carve a stick (a "frolic and detour" from the contract, in legal parlance), and cut the dickens out of my thumb (note to self- carve AWAY, not toward yourself). Caused a major domestic uprising- Many "I told you so's" from Mom, Dad was caught in the middle because I had been such a dolt. Knife was confiscated, that was the end of that. Don't know what ever happened to that knife, and after all the drama, didn't much care. Lessons learned, lets move on.

Driver's Ed teacher in HS was an avid hunter. He'd drive by my house after school load up my Lab, shotgun, one other pal, and we would road hunt pheasants til dark. That's how I got my driver's ed ticket punched, pheasant hunting in the high schools 57 Ford..

Gordo

No problem with the age. Now for school and anti everything A$$ wipes now days it is tough to grow up in the present world.

Same thi9ng happened in Montrose,CO a few years ago,ranch kid forgot and left the "string cutter" in her pocket....got arrested and suspended.Straight A student,honor roll,etc etc.The community supported her,the "establisment" threw the book at her.How sad.

(quoted from post at 22:35:45 12/28/10) <snip> The community supported her, the "establishment" threw the book at her. How sad.

Click to expand...

That's what I meant when I said

(quoted from post at 14:48:09 12/28/10) many folks can't make the distinction between a weapon and a tool, and it's easier to say "zero tolerance" than actually think...

Click to expand...

Thinking must be too strenuous for the public at large these days...

Just one more reason why I am glad every time I hear of somebody home-schooling their children. Ever notice how home-schooled kids tend to be better-behaved, more mature compared to their public-school counterparts, and ask more intelligent questions?

It's galling, how our tax dollars are used for schools that continually fail us, fail our society, and take away from our nation's potential. (Did anybody see the recent news article wherein the Department of Defense revealed that only 25% of the kids who take the ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery] test [which measures math & language skills, understanding of mechanical theory, etc.] actually score a passing grade??? That's 3/4 of our nation's youth who are not qualified to serve in the armed forces! Shameful. Shameful, indeed. )

End of rant. Sorry to hijack the thread.

I was about 7-8 years old, but at 6-7 I used to sharpen grandpa's corn knife and grandma's butcher knives on the old peddle grinder on the farm. Boy, could I get them sharp!

A little O.T. -but at 8 (third grade) I had even taken grandpa's Springfield 45-70 trapdoor on the bus to school for show & tell. -And that was in the suburbs of Minneapolis. How times have changed!

Bout 4 years old when I was sick in bed(happened a lot) Little pen knife we called them with white pearly handle only about inch and a half long. First thing I did was stuck a hole in my ma's good pillow. Felt bad, too late. Nobody ever asked me what happened. Still have it at 67 years. On a chain with Ford rotunda memento. Rotunda burned down in the 60's. Dave