age to carry a knife

[Mlnarik]

I want to get my kid a spyderco but im wondering, is he allowed to carry it or is there an age restriction on whether or not you can carry a knife.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I remember having and owning and using knives both pocket and fixed blade starting around 11 years old.
Before that I was into toy swords and toy knives, made of wood and plastic and rubber.

Some schools are now extremely intolerant of knives, even in rural areas. They have what they call "zero tolerance policies". They will not even allow a child to carry a Swiss Army Knife on school grounds, those ones.

[Calicoast]

My dad had purchased me a SAK Classic for Christmas when I was in the 8th grade. While I was discussing homework with my teacher: I pulled out a piece of paper with some notes on it + my keys that had my SAK attached. (Never even brandishing it and or thinking about it) my teacher spotted it, and reported it to the principal. I was then suspended for a week. Case then went on to the school board, and then I was expelled for several months, and made an example of. It was beyond ridiculous.

[BrianMcCord]

Kids get suspended for forming guns out of pop-tarts...like before stated, zero tolerance in America. My son has had Spydercos for a few years now, and he is 12. I let him carry if there is a reason to, like in the woods.

I think 16 years old is the age limit for purchasing at wal mart, if that helps.

[TomAiello]

Kids get suspended for forming guns out of pop-tarts...like before stated, zero tolerance in America.

Depends on where. Our local newspaper ran this a while back, and it got picked up by the AP.

[TomAiello]

I want to get my kid a spyderco but im wondering, is he allowed to carry it or is there an age restriction on whether or not you can carry a knife.

Where are you located? Laws vary dramatically by jurisdiction.

[Doc Dan]

The days and attitudes of my youth are long gone. I got my first knife when I was 6 years old. However, in my culture boys were taught knife safety and use from very early. The same was true for firearms.

In today's world, I would not get a kid a knife before he or she turned 14 and maybe even 16. The maturity level is just not there.

[jimmd]

Cub Scouts may earn the Whittling Chip Award, which earns them the privilege of carrying a pocket knife to Cub Scout functions, including camping events. The youngest age at which this typically occurs is probably 9 years, more commonly 10, I think.

In order to earn this privilege, a scout must:
Know the safety rules for handling a knife.
Show he knows how to take care of and use a pocketknife.
Make a carving with a pocketknife.
Read, understand and promise to abide by the "Knives Are Not Toys" guidelines and the "Pocketknife Pledge."

That still doesn't mean he can take it to school.

[veeteetee]

I got my first self-inflicted major puukko cut at the age of five and have been using a puukko or knife ever since :) My son got his puukko at the age of - you guessed right - five years.

[Bloke]

The days and attitudes of my youth are long gone. I got my first knife when I was 6 years old. However, in my culture boys were taught knife safety and use from very early. The same was true for firearms.

In today's world, I would not get a kid a knife before he or she turned 14 and maybe even 16. The maturity level is just not there.

I got my first little pocket knife around the age of six too and to this day I've never transgressed with a knife.

My first rifle, a .177 air gun was a different story. I got it when I was about nine having saved my pocket money. You probably won't believe this but I was a menace to man and beast, anything that moved most likely.

I remember like it was yesterday laying in wait in our front yard behind the low brick wall that had staggered bricks in an ornamental fashion every fix feet or so that allowed me to shoot through the wall sniper style, well concealed in amongst mum's well maintained shrubbery and shoot old ladies in the butt as they walked by on the opposite side of the street. It was great sport and couldn't have hurt them too much because the pellets certainly didn't penetrate clothing or anything. I knew this because I'd shot mates and they'd shot me too.

This particular day I shot this woman in the butt and rather than jump, rub her butt, look around confused as all the others had and then move on she jumped all right, rubbed her butt, looked around for a moment, crossed the road and made a beeline straight toward me.

Laughter turned to panic and I bolted down the side of the house crouching like a soldier under fire, gun in hand to the backyard and hid in the garage.

It was most unfortunate for me because she knocked on the front door and dad answered.

I won't go into detail but suffice to say I arguably got the flogging of my life and the greatest gunsmith on earth couldn't have repaired my slug gun. :rolleyes:

[Doc Dan]

The days and attitudes of my youth are long gone. I got my first knife when I was 6 years old. However, in my culture boys were taught knife safety and use from very early. The same was true for firearms.

In today's world, I would not get a kid a knife before he or she turned 14 and maybe even 16. The maturity level is just not there.

I got my first little pocket knife around the age of six too and to this day I've never transgressed with a knife.

My first rifle, a .177 air gun was a different story. I got it when I was about nine having saved my pocket money. You probably won't believe this but I was a menace to man and beast, anything that moved most likely.

I remember like it was yesterday laying in wait in our front yard behind the low brick wall that had staggered bricks in an ornamental fashion every fix feet or so that allowed me to shoot through the wall sniper style, well concealed in amongst mum's well maintained shrubbery and shoot old ladies in the butt as they walked by on the opposite side of the street. It was great sport and couldn't have hurt them too much because the pellets certainly didn't penetrate clothing or anything. I knew this because I'd shot mates and they'd shot me too.

This particular day I shot this woman in the butt and rather than jump, rub her butt, look around confused as all the others had and then move on she jumped all right, rubbed her butt, looked around for a moment, crossed the road and made a beeline straight toward me.

Laughter turned to panic and I bolted down the side of the house crouching like a soldier under fire, gun in hand to the backyard and hid in the garage.

It was most unfortunate for me because she knocked on the front door and dad answered.

I won't go into detail but suffice to say I arguably got the flogging of my life and the greatest gunsmith on earth couldn't have repaired my slug gun. :rolleyes:

Hahaha! I got my first BB gun when I was around 6. I got my first shotgun when I turned 9 and I got my first .22 rifle that Christmas. I was already well versed in safety. My father or my uncles would give me a gun when I was small (unloaded) and we would go hunting. They would spot check me to make certain the safety was on. If it wasn't, I got a whipping right then and there. Also, if I pointed it at something I was not supposed to, I got a whipping right then and there. I have, to this day, never done anything unsafe with a gun or a knife, as a result.

[Evil D]

I don't plan on letting mine "carry" until they're 18. Too many chances for drama. He could simply forget and take it to school and then I'd be in a world of crap. Like others mentioned he has them for when he needs them but doesn't have free reign of them.

[Calicoast]

I don't plan on letting mine "carry" until they're 18. Too many chances for drama. He could simply forget and take it to school and then I'd be in a world of crap. Like others mentioned he has them for when he needs them but doesn't have free reign of them.

My parents were divorced at the time that I was suspended + expelled from school around 1990. When my dad gave me the knife, I can vividly remember him telling me not to take it to school, etc. I would usually take it on and off my key chain, but the one time that I forgot is all that it took.

It was kind of rare to see my parents together after the divorce, but there I was with both of them in front of the school board. My parents were arguing the size of the knife, me not showing it or playing with it in class, how ridiculous they were making this, etc.

Even though I have to agree, (SAK Classic?) looking back and having discussions years later with my parents, that was the wrong position to take with the school board. The school board didn't want to hear any of that. They said I minimized the danger, safety of others, etc. In the end, it was a world of crap like Evil D stated for me and my parents.

Knives came back years later when I would go camping and fishing. Now it's a true addiction, and Spyderco is the affair within my marriage.

[Evil D]

I carried all throughout school and I'm not exactly old, I just went to a school in the country where people have a bit more common sense about things like pocket knives. If someone needed to sharpen a pencil they just did so and nobody thought twice. If you pulled a knife in a fight you better be ready to get beat down by everyone there. But, Columbine happened around the time I graduated and that certainly changed everything. It's a different world today and my kids don't go to the same hillbilly school I went to.

[TomAiello]

The days and attitudes of my youth are long gone. I got my first knife when I was 6 years old. However, in my culture boys were taught knife safety and use from very early. The same was true for firearms.

I don't have any boys, but that's about the age that both of my daughters got their first knives.

In my view, it's my obligation as a parent to teach my children to safely use the tools they will encounter in their daily life as adults. That means I have a responsibility to teach them to drive cars, light stoves, cut with knives, and handle firearms (along with about a million other things). Whether I personally think that such things are "good" or "bad" is a lot less important than the simple reality that my children will encounter them in the future, in a moment when I will not be present to supervise.

[TomAiello]

I carried all throughout school and I'm not exactly old, I just went to a school in the country where people have a bit more common sense about things like pocket knives.

When I was in high school, we still had rifles in racks in the back windows of trucks in the student lot. And this was in California, believe it or not. Times do change. Still, where we live now (rural Idaho) my kids' school has a shooting team (the kids have to be 10 years old to join).

[SF Native]

In today's world, I would not get a kid a knife before he or she turned 14 and maybe even 16. The maturity level is just not there.

My kid is 12 and is way more mature than I was at that age. She is extremely responsible. It all depends on what we require of them. But you are right that the world around us has gotten wound tight. My girl has my dragonfly and uses it around the house regularly. Told her not to carry it in town or at school.
Oddly, she learned knife safety in kindergarten as they would make soup every Friday and the kids would cut the veggies. More schools should be like this.

[Mako109]

When I turned 7 years old my father bought me a Daisy BB gun for my birthday. At the time I was only allowed to shoot in our basement where he had set up a little jib board "shooting range". Later my mother gifted me her fathers pocket knife that he had acquired as a young man in Germany. He had gifted the knife to her when she was a teenager and before she immigrated to the US for college. It had beautiful scroll work and a fancy leather sheath. I don't believe it had significant monetary value as it was mass produced, but it did have great sentimental value to my mother. It was my first pocket knife. A few days later she caught me with the knife duct taped to the muzzle of my BB gun, bayonet style :D. That was the last time I saw that knife.

Flash forward 50 years. I'm visiting my mother (who's now well into her 80s) who says, "I have something from your grandfather that I want you to have, it means a lot to me," and she hands me this little leather sheath. You can imagine my surprise.

I can tell you the knife's sentimental value has increased two fold, and by now might even be worth a little something to collectors. At the very least, I can tell you that by now I've learned my lesson and treat all knives with care and respect :)

[Eee]

The days and attitudes of my youth are long gone. I got my first knife when I was 6 years old. However, in my culture boys were taught knife safety and use from very early. The same was true for firearms.

I don't have any boys, but that's about the age that both of my daughters got their first knives.

In my view, it's my obligation as a parent to teach my children to safely use the tools they will encounter in their daily life as adults. That means I have a responsibility to teach them to drive cars, light stoves, cut with knives, and handle firearms (along with about a million other things). Whether I personally think that such things are "good" or "bad" is a lot less important than the simple reality that my children will encounter them in the future, in a moment when I will not be present to supervise.

I have a similar approach with my two girls.
They would have been around 10 I think when they each had knives. One has a Byrd Wings Slipit and a Michael Morris fixed blade, the other has an ESEE Izula. Fixed blades are good for them because they won’t carry them habitually and I think they are generally safer.

I think we make a difference by educating rather than accepting the ‘Nanny State’, which is why I’m proud that our Scout Troop teaches air rifle despite being in a country with some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the world.

[crazywednesday]

My father gave me my first knife at 8. It was a fixed blade with bone handle. If I could replace one thing from all that I have lost it would be that knife. 8-12 is the perfect age for first knife. Definitely depends on maturity. I wouldn't recommend anything too expensive.