Shop Steel River Co. Knives
So my son’s monthly issue of Boy’s Life arrived and the front cover included a knife review and he asked me what knife of the ones they picked I would buy for him and as you guessed, my answer was, “It depends”. It hit me that I have not done you justice by putting out some information on what kind of knives are out there and how you should pick the one you need. I have the privilege of having done some consulting for a knife brand (Steel River Company) and so they were nice enough to provide the Cadre a discount, so I’ll throw in a discount code somewhere in this article that will knock 30% off any purchase of $100. Since when I buy a knife I usually pay between $40-$60, Spending $60 to get 2 or 3 knives sounds good to me.
Before we get into talking about the various knives, we should probably settle on a common language here so allow me to propose some knife terms.
Types of Knives
I am going to focus on the key-ones here which I will break down really into knives that are for cutting that fold, knives that go into a sheath, and knives where the knife is not always the star. I am leaving out all the outliers that are ones that are sometimes illegal and sticking with the ones you should look at buying.
Jack Knife – This for me is the most popular starting knife for kids and the one I will get for my son as soon as he earns his Whittling Chit. Typically this is a single blade folding knife with a single hinge and with the intent on being an every day carry cutting knife. My first one was a small Buck Knife and but there are so many kinds of tips today but we will take a look at that in a moment. The key for me is a strong locking system that will stop him from accidentally folding the blade back in on your fingers. You need to make sure this has a strong locking mechanism that won’t fail, but we can talk more on that later.
Fixed Blade – This knife is what we might think of as a hunting knife, but they extend way past that including bowie knives, push knives and countless others. the key here is that they have continuous steel that runs from the blade through the handle for stability. These can be used for chopping to gutting and are an essential of the outdoor hunter. We won’t cover these today as we will focus on the folders.
Multi-Purpose Knife – This knife does more than cutting and is usually a little bigger than you might want for an EDC, but I do know many people that keep their old Swiss Army Knife on them all the time. Evolutions of this knife have expanded into various specialties as well but you may find them easier to carry on the belt like the classic Leatherman or Gerber Multi-tools.
Types of Knife Blade Styles
The blade will very with each knife, and some knives have multiple blades in the case of a double hinged jackknife or a multi-tool. The tip, the shape of the blade, and the angle from the handle dictate the style.
Recommendations for Kids
Keep it simple. For a first knife, I would stick with a single blade knife. I spent two summers running a Boy Scout Camp, and years before that staffing at them. I would say that most of the injuries that happen with a kid and a knife that end up in stitches (assuming the kid was following the rules and not throwing the knife, cutting towards themselves or walking with a knife) were from either using a knife that did not fit their hand or it was an issue with a hard to close knife that required extra pressure which resulted in a loss of control. The Scouts have the classic multi tool that is modeled after the Swiss army knife, you know the one that comes with the toothpick! Well I think for a kid any knife with two blades is asking for trouble. Find a knife that does one thing only for starters. Make sure it fits them and make sure they can close it. On the BSA Store they have one I’ll link in the image below, but the reviews say they are having some trouble closing it.
The knife I am giving my third grader this year is my old buck knife from when I was a kid. I think I saved up like $20 to get it and it’s not the Buck brand, but it is very similar to the one below. It’s under 4″ and I have broken in the lock on it over the years so I know it will be manageable for him and the lock is reliable. I as a leader in my son’s Scout group, I am going to work with Steel River to see if we can come up with a good adaptation of this at a much easier price point.
Multitools
Now if you’re set on getting that multitool for camping, there are a few to consider. I would look at the two classics although there are many out there on the market.
So starting with the classics you have Gerber and Leatherman. I own both so I can run them both down in an additional article, but in short they are really solid and durable. You really need to carry it on the belt as opposed to your pocket so this needs to be your second or third knife purchase not your first. If it were me, I would order both and try them out. They both have 30 day returns so you are only out the shipping.
Leave a Reply