[Closed] What age did you/your kids get a penknife?

OK - this is a very difficult decision and depends upon the individual child.

For the record I was 14 when I got a knife but it was a fixed blade sheath knife.

I was very responsible and I loved having it. I still have it and it brings back lot's of good memories.

Calling all hand wringers, hand wringers to the thread please.

i had one by nine,

a two bladed job, very thin.

Edit: on reflection i think I had one but it was controlled, ie in the company of dad or mum it was given to me. its not just your kid remember has he not got any wee headcase friends?

I think I was 11 when I got mine as I was in the Scouts. I then progressed to lock knives when I realised the Swiss Army style was rubbish for whittling wood and general shenanigans.

Can't remember but about 10 I guess. I had one from about 5 (at the oldest). We all did as kids and I can't remember anyone doing anything more than inflicting a minor nick on themselves. No stabbings or borstal.

5 and 8 for my girls to whittle sticks when camping. My eldest prefers a Stanley knife, but I still don't feel at ease with my wife's decision on that one.

Very good whittlers they are too and so far, touch wood, they've been very careful and not had an accident.

It is an absolute right of passage to own a brand new quality penknife and then to promptly cut yourself whilst testing its sharpness, due to the quality of blade it should not be that painful and in fact ideally you dont immediatly notice until THE RIVER OF BLOOD that follows and that you vainly try to mop up in an attempt to hide the fact that you cut yourself within 30 second of being alone with it.... not that i know anyone who has done this.. 🙂 . At ten id be happy for my kids to own one but it has to be a judgement call on who it is you are giving it to and why I suppose.

Calling all hand wringers, hand wringers to the thread please.

Never had one, never needed one. Other than the once when backpacking in northern Spain when I discovered something sharper than spork would have been handy for chopping bits off some chorizo I had bought at the last town.

I can see the point in say, having one in a fishing tackle box, if he's into fishing. But just having one for no particular reason other than some imaginary survival skills is completely pointless.

I had a very small pocket knife bought for me when I was late primary school IIRC. It was blunt/not very sharp from the outset and my dad wouldn't sharpen it for me. Used to take it out and about when playing the woods next to the house and building dens n such like.

7 or 8
Small Swiss army ones .

They both used knives in the kitchen from an even earlier age ( with supervision obviously 😉 )

I think I was about 10. I still have it. I got the odd nick here and there but didn't do myself serious damage.

Unlike when chopping wood for the fire with a massive old saw. Nearly lost a finger on that one, just before school exams. Still remember the red streaks across my test paper.

I was 12, but the world was a much better place in the 80s wasn't it?
I remember cutting my fingers on it, mainly when it snapped shut on my finger. I remember cutting up bits of paper and rubbers in my bedroom - nothing living.

its not just your kid remember has he not got any wee headcase friends?

Hmmm, good point. Might have to set some ground rules when certain friends visit.
I've just had a nasty thought that I might have been 11 when I got mine. I can distinctly remember being sold a good sized lock-knife when I was 12. Presumably the shop keeper was impressed by my Scout scarf.

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I let my son buy one of these with money from his 7th birthday. 3 yrs later; no one has been stabbed, no limbs have been lost, no pensioners have been mugged and I am fairly relaxed with him doing stuff with bigger knives. 10 is fine for a sensible kid.

My boy got a mini Swiss army knife at 10... We told him the rules and he knows not to take it anywhere inappropriate....(mainly used on camping trips)
TBH he hardly even uses it....
I grew up in the 70s/80s... as said before it was a rite of passage to own a pen knife...

me and my brother had various pen-knives from age around 8 if I remember. We also had sheath knives and my brother had a rather nice jack-knife. we used to go to our den in the woods and make bows and arrows! 🙂 The biggest problem back in the day was kids trying to bring flick-knives back through customs from France

The biggest problem back in the day was kids trying to bring flick-knives back through customs from France

Again, nobody stabbed anyone and they soon realised they were useless for anything (other than stabbing people) and lay forgotten in drawers.

My mate's mother found his a couple of months ago and asked if he wanted it. He told her to bin it. He's 45...

I had a sheath knife from about 8 or 10 I believe, pen knives earlier than that.

My first was when I started to go fishing without an adult. Probably about 9. Didn't get a Swiss army one bought though, took an old bone handled one from a drawer at home and asked if it was OK? I got the reply, not unless you sharpen it, so I had to learn that too.

I think I was a bought an Opinel in france somewhere in the 11-12 region and got a Swiss army knife a few years later and subsequently a larger one a decade or so ago. Swiss army knife lives within easy reach of me and gets almost daily use. I can remember the last time I opened a tin can with a mechanical opener, and Im pretty sure I'd be faster with a swiss army knife still.

I guess it depends on the maturity of the child and how responsible and sensible they are. I think I was a pretty grown up at that age. Which is ironic considering how immature I am a lot of the time now 😛

My eldest had a swiss army for his 11th birthday and of course my 9 year old then wanted one, so I gave him an old blunt bone handled one that I had in the garage. He is getting his swiss army this year.

Never had any mishaps with either of them. They quite often whittle away at sticks in the garden and they always take them camping.

Swiss army knife at about 10 or 11. Still have it.
It has never killed anything

Had Swiss army knife, probably about 8 or 9. Used it for fishing.
Remember all the kids having Rambo knifes around the age of 10-11, had the top which unscrewed with matches fishing kit etc in it. Remember getting in trouble for lighting a fire with the matches.

Depends on the kid, I let my son use a tenon saw under supervision from about the age of 3, I'd rather teach them to use these things at an early age so that they are used responsibly. Age 5 he now knows how to use it and keep his hands out of the way!

What about a Leatherman?

6, my Granny gave me my Granda's knife when he died. I'm still here!

from about 5/6 I had a small knife (blade, saw) (went sea fishing with dad and river fishing with mum so it did get used), I also had a breadknife - laugh you may but it was a truly wonderous piece of Sheffield that I used to build treehouses, damns etyc etc with because it could turn a 4ish" diameter tree into a log pretty quickly, at that stage I was using the hand axe but only to do kindling under parental supervision with a dirty great leather ex MOD motorbike gauntlet on the non axe hand.

Prolly about 10-11. Whenever I was in Scouts.

HMP Borstal is now called HMP Rochester, so prolly trying to shake off that Borstal image. Be alreet. Myra Hindley used to be next door.

I was about 10 and wanted to get my son one at the same age, but was poo-pooed by the wife. She suggested, I think fairly, that as he would only need it for cub-type trips it should be run past the cub leaders.

I was about 8, saying that I wouldn't give my 10 year old nephew one. Depends on the child in question.

My grandad gave me one when I was 4. He taught me to make whistles.
I showed the knife to my friend who asked how sharp it was.
I gave it to him. He slashed my finger. I still have the scar to this day.

I got a 7" sheath knife with an antler handle at ten.
Loved it, and was really sensible with it.

It must have planted a seed though, because I have just ordered 50 of these for Christmas gifts for clients...
[img][url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/11083779505_792b4e4d7e.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/11083779505_792b4e4d7e.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/93992733@N02/11083779505/ ]knife[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/93992733@N02/ ]GreasyChipKarate[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Seem to be the same as most people here- around 10 when I got a pen knife. No real reason to have one, just enjoyed whittling odd bits of wood around the Cubs/ Scouts time of life.

It is an absolute right of passage to own a brand new quality penknife and then to promptly cut yourself whilst testing its sharpness, due to the quality of blade it should not be that painful and in fact ideally you dont immediatly notice until THE RIVER OF BLOOD that follows and that you vainly try to mop up in an attempt to hide the fact that you cut yourself within 30 second of being alone with it.... not that i know anyone who has done this..

This 😀

At 13 I had a Commando survival knife, a Black Widow, throwing stars and a pen knife. I accidently cut myself with the pen-knife of all things sharpening a piece of wood FFS.

What I will say is he WILL cut himself accidently. Its going to happen, the good thing is as soon as it happens hes respect for said knife(s) will go up massively and it'll be a 'cheap' lesson. I still have a scar on one of my fingers. I was more careful after that.

Had a sheath knife about age 11, we used to wear them on our belts at school. They were great for playing splits and chicken and throwing at trees.

No one died, although we all did cut ourselves, didn't help me learn as I still cut (well more nick) with my razor - ho hum

...a fixed blade sheath knife.

I was very responsible and I loved having it. I still have it and it brings back lot's of good memories.

Likewise, although I was half your age when it was given to me. I seem to remember running in a field in just outside of Swanage one year and sticking the bloody thing in the back of my leg. I feared the consequences of telling the truth and attempted to cover up what was simply an accident (kids, eh). Weirdly, because we were camping at the time, it wasn't the knife that was confiscated, oh no - it was a Mister Bump pen top thingamajig. To this day I still think WTF.

Anyway, although too small for my hands, nowadays it gets used to peel bark from certain logs before taking them inside/splitting etc. Bone-handled, no less.

I guess I was about 10 - as knife ownership coincided with going up to Scouts.
I'm from an era where most of us (inc me) were running around the woods with huge knives in our early teens - usually a 'survival' knife, bought from the high street army surplus shop, and tucked down the back of my denim shorts while riding my grafter.

(I'm 40 now)

Got one at 7 years old and promptly cut halfway through my middle finger as it snapped shut on it on the journey home from the knife shop 😆
Saying that we had a few old swords about the place too 😯

The biggest problem back in the day was kids trying to bring flick-knives back through customs from France

Those and bags full of the massive bangers 😉

Dunno But I was definitely in junior school so under 11. Didn't have the big survival knife was more your traditional whittling style penknife.

I was about 6, my grandfather gave me the first one. It was kept in the knife draw, which had everything from a blunt, rusty bread knife, to a couple of razor sharp Martini hunters and filters. Those buggers were so sharp you could literally shave with them. I was allowed full access to these knives, and that would have been from aged 5 or less, as it was just a drawer in the kitchen table. However, because it was completely normal, I didn't bother with them at all and adopted a very mature, conscientious approach. I think that's the key, normalise it and your kids won't go crazy with it, they'll just do the sensible thing.
Actually, when I look back, I had full access to a range of 410 and 12 bore shotguns as well, complete with ammunition (they were in the pantry) and somehow I avoided killing anyone.

Around 6-7 (1960s) I was given my first one , I could only have it when I went fishing with my grandad . I had about a dozen by the age of 10 .

Early sheath knife (cubs, scoutes) with nice leather lace to tie around you legs. Bought what I thought was a flick knife in Ambleside at about age 11 and so disappointed to see that it was only a lock knife!!!

Funny to think that you could walk around with your big chopper out and openly tied to your leg in those days!!!!

I think I was around 10 when I got a 7 inch sheath knife whilst on holiday in France - my Dad got one too and my younger brother got a 4 inch one.

I already had a pen knife then but can't remember what age I was when I got it. Got a proper Swiss army knife aged about 12 which I still use now. I don't recall ever hurting myself with any of them.

It is an absolute right of passage to own a brand new quality penknife and then to promptly cut yourself whilst testing its sharpness, due to the quality of blade it should not be that painful and in fact ideally you dont immediatly notice until THE RIVER OF BLOOD that follows and that you vainly try to mop up in an attempt to hide the fact that you cut yourself within 30 second of being alone with it.... not that i know anyone who has done this

One of my sons stuck a scalpel (used for Airfix kit modeling) in his hand at a young age. Thought he'd better keep quiet and go to the bathroom to stem the bleeding. It's only when I went fo a pee some time later and saw the blood everywhere that I knew something was wrong!

I have a step-neice you managed to stab herself in the leg whilst whittling.

Our youngest got this when he was 11.
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11 for me, and I still have 2 scars I gave myself with it.

Gave my eldest a Swiss Army knife when he was 11

My three all have their 'own' Mora fieldcraft knifes. They had them at 6 or so. They are not yet allowed to use them freely - they come out on trips and when they will be useful, and used under supervision.
The eldest at 12 has used it once away from adult supervision.
They are great with them, and only once have we had an issue (eldest was walking along carving a stick and refused to stop / dropped back from us on the walk out of sight to do so). I would also always go for a fixed blade for safety.
We have three rules:
1. If you are not using it, it is in its sheath. (and this means even for 5 seconds, it goes away).
2. Always cut away from yourself and your fingers.
3. Cut onto another bit of wood.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/7501952598/ ]Loch Voil canoe pootle[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matt_outandabout/ ]matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr
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If you lived in many Scandinavan countries, knives are on the curriculum at school, from about the age of 6. They learn to carve potatoes and carrots, progress to sticks and on from there. They also have the lowest knife crime incidence in the world I believe - knives are seen as tools.
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Our youngest two go to a Scottsh state school where they do Forest School each week, and school train them to use potato peelers and knifes, as well as lighting fire and building shelters. There are a lot more schools up here (and growing) that are out weekly/daily and are into outdoor learning.
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[i]I don't think the best safety lies with the avoidance of risk and danger, but in learning how to deal with it for yourself.
Tom Price (1966)[/i]

About 7 I think, with increasing levels of sharpness as I got older - I still have the Russian Army knife I was presented with at age 10, in the Siberian woods by some drunk Russians. That's pretty big and sharp!

I've also still got the scar on my thumb from when I found my father's extremely sharp oboe-reed-making knives when I was about 6. Almost cut the end of my thumb off.

It's a right of passage thing - and a good learning experience too. When I shut a Swiss Army knife on my finger, all the way to the bone, I learned to be more careful around knives - a useful life lesson. I was about 8, and I remember bleeding all over my best friend's kitchen floor and his cat happily lapping up the blood then looking to me for more 😉

I don't think the best safety lies with the avoidance of risk and danger, but in learning how to deal with it for yourself

Here here 🙂

Proper sized Opinel knives when they graduated to scouts.

EDIT: Now ask what age to start using those ultra sharp ceramic potato peelers - as I sliced open the tip of a finger only last week 😳

I got a sheath knife in France when I was about 7 and a pen knife when 10 by which age I also had access to modelling knives. No serious injuries till I was 22 and sliced the side of my thumb taking a peel oh flesh off down it's length.

I can see the point in say, having one in a fishing tackle box, if he's into fishing. But just having one for no particular reason other than some imaginary survival skills is completely pointless.

No idea about England but in Scotland the penknife should have a non locking blade less than 3" long if carried in a public place without good reason.

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?24137-Scottish-knife-law-a-reply-from-the-office-of-Lord-Boyd-QC

I'm not a hand wringer, before I get a load of grief. I had pen knives when I was a kid, but I was brought up on a not so small small holding. I was a keen fisherman and I was also a cub and a scout, where it was expected that you have a pocket knife.

Do all the posters in this thread either lead a Bear Grylls lifestyle and have their kids in tow, work on farms, or live in the remote highlands? If not, what does a 10 year old need a knife for in suburbia? I'm just curious. I doubt that even as a scout you're allowed to bring a knife to a scout meeting these days?? I don't know.

Do all the posters in this thread either lead a Bear Grylls lifestyle and have their kids in tow, work on farms, or live in the remote highlands? If not, what does a 10 year old need a knife for in suburbia?

The American side of me tends to come out in these discussions - why shouldn't I have a knife? It's a useful thing to have, and there are lots of other ways I could kill you if I wanted to. I need a knife for opening packages, whittling things, cutting things, making marks on things and fettling things.

The American side of me tends to come out in these discussions - why shouldn't I have a knife? It's a useful thing to have, and there are lots of other ways I could kill you if I wanted to. I need a knife for opening packages, whittling things, cutting things, making marks on things and fettling things.

I have no doubt you need a knife Ben, but I doubt that you are 10?

Same answer when I was 10 😉

I always had a pen knife from the age of around 7 & a sheath knife from about 12(it was a boat/yachty thing)....But never bought the kids either when they were young...Shame they missed out on "splits" though 😯

I was a child of the 80's too and had a well stocked armoury by the age of 12. Butterfly Knives were probably the most useless, but fun trying to flick them around like a ninja.

I'd say it's fine too, for a sensible kid. Only problem is: aren't the laws much more anal these days?

Yeah, did anyone manage to throw a ninja star without stabbing themselves in the hand?

😀

Nope. Or use nun-chucks without smacking themselves in the chops?

8 here. I cut myself a few times, but spent most of my time whittling, and pretending I was an 'adventure man'.

Nope. Or use nun-chucks without smacking themselves in the chops?

I had one at about 8 and bought my son a decent swiss army knife at the same age with all the tools and gadgets on .Even the one for getting boy scouts out of girl guides

My daughters aren't interested in knives so it's not a question I have an informed view on.

I certainly had a penknife from the age of about 8 - one of those ones you can open the blades on by twisting the a key ring at either end. I then inherited my grandfather's scout sheath knife at the age of 10. Did cut myself, did enjoy having them. Never any suggestion of misbehaving with knives - apart from 'splits' on the school playing field of course 😉

The bangers and flick knives on French trips brings back memories 😀 Plus itching powder, insoluble sugar lumps etc.

Although flick knives were a bit out of order, the general attitude 'back in the day' was a lot more innocent - in rural Shropshire anyway. On a primary school youth hostel trip to Wales one of my mates bought a mahoosive kukhri (sp?) with two mini knives in the same sheath, at an antiques shop. It was confiscated on the trip but he got it back when we got home. Think we were 11.

My father gave me one when I was 8 or 9. I'd take it to school and everything, most of the boys did the same. They'd only be confiscated if you realy mucked about with one. The local sweet shop used to sell them, there was a card display with the knives attached to it by elastic bands. Times have changed a bit !!

My first knife i got from my grandad when we went on a fishing trip to the hill loch above the house, he died soon after so i guess i must have been around 6ish so perhaps 1977/78, i still have it somewhere as it's a really nice ivory handled two blade knife, one blade is small and slightly curved and the other has the standard 2.5" rounded end.

I didn't have the sort of upbringing that i guess the vast majority of stw'rs had as i was brought up in darkest Galloway and the outer reaches of Argyll, we used to take our knives/fishing rods to primary school in Argyll as we were allowed to go fishing in the burn that ran close to the school if we did well in class or behaved exceptionally well (there was less than 20 kids in the entire village school), at lunchtimes we would head off into the big forest behind the school and play in our treehouses and massive rope swings that dropped us into the waterfall pool which was brill in the summer - knifes/bow & barrows (proper ones) were just a given for us as kids, we all had them from the biggest swiss army knifes to the latest Rambo style knives with a compass on the end and matches/fishing line+hooks/twine etc in the hollow handle.

(At the risk of causing an uproar) We all owned our own air guns or air pistols as well, i started of with a .177 diana pistol for my 8th birthday, for my 10th i had progressed onto a .22 Webley Tempest, for my 12th i got a Weihruach HW77 .22 rifle with telescopic sights - Awesome gun...i was a friggin ace shot - i could place 10 slugs through a ping pong ball (stolen from the school games hall) at the length of our garden (quite a distance away).

Also got a 24cc brashing chainsaw for my 12th birthday as my dad worked in the wood at that time so every weekend and school holidays i used to work ahead of him and brash all the trees and he'd come along behind me and fell them, then i'd back up and work along the felled trees-he'd cut the larger ones into sized logs and i'd cut the rest and bing them for pulp, then throw the brash into the centre for our run at the end of the day wi the forwarder to collect them and take them to the roadside. i got to drive the forwarder and the large wood tractors so i was king of the forest as far as i was concerned.

It was bloody hard work and often bollock freezingly cold in the winter but i was getting paid well for my labour and more often than not i used to really enjoy it as i could buy pretty much anything i wanted with my own money.

I'm so glad i was brought up in that way in the countryside, i'd consider it to be soul destroying to be brought up in a city or town - i need the hills and forest around me, still do to this day.

EDIT : just read the last page of replies.

Ninja stars 😀 ....especially home made ones out of my dads workshop made from sheet steel and carefully cut out so they are perfectly symmetrical and spin through the air with ease, i used to love the satisfying "thunk" as they slammed deep into a tree, or the door. I later learned to drill a series of small holes around the stars to aid in removal as you could place a length of rope/twine through the hole and yank them out with ease and they used to hang from a large karabiner type keyring from my belt....we were tooled up kids ready and waiting for the coming Zombie apocalypse 😉 , shame the Zombies never came as we would have whipped their arse!.

I had a little swiss army knife when I was about 7

still got it, ever stabbed , or tried to stab anyone with it

teaches you respect ( and sharpness)

but then I lived int country

Had an old wooden handle lock knife (was quite blunt by the time it was handed down to me) when I was about 8 for using on ny grand dads farm. Dad brought me home a Swiss army knife from Switzerland when I was about 10, I still have it, lost all the toothpick/pen etc bits in about 5 minutes though.

Do all the posters in this thread either lead a Bear Grylls lifestyle and have their kids in tow, work on farms, or live in the remote highlands? If not, what does a 10 year old need a knife for in suburbia?

My old man gave me an old rigging knife, complete with marlin spike, when I was 8. Best present ever! Still in the toolbox.

What Matt said just there.
I had one when I was about 7, got it in the Lakes & it was a cheapy with an image of Grasmere on the handle. I lost it in some fields where we used to knock about but found in a right rusty state about 3 years later.
I also had my 1st air rifle when I was 12 as then we lived in the country & next to a disused quarry, where I also rode my 1st 'motorbike' a Honda 50.
I've never hurt anyone with a knife, air rifle or motorbike & I'm 57. Not too bad eh?

I had my grandad's ex wd jack knife (blade and a spike thing) when I went to Cubs - about 7 or 8 and then a sheath knife when I went to Scouts at about 10 (Webley Junior for my 11th).

I think the value of this post is that as parents you know that your child has a knife and develops a healthy respect for knives and the responsibility that goes with them. The problems come when parents don't know when their kids are going around tooled up.
Thinking about it, I'm surprised I survived childhood, with an older brother who was a teddyboy nutjob. There were always air rifles, air pistols, bow and arrows and even a couple of old African spears somehow involved in our games, apart from when we were wrestling so no weapons were allowed. Character building stuff and didn't have any adverse affects on me at all, well apart from needing primal scream therapy.

I don't think any of us are suggesting that we carry them round all day every day, or that our kids go to school or cinema with them.
Ours come out when we are out, when we go for a walk, a ride, a canoe.
The value at the moment is not in the USE, but in learning HOW to use one safely and skilfully.

Well said

I had knives from about 8 or 9 onwards. Never killed or stabbed anyone. It saddens me that this now seems to be the focus of knife possession. We thought they were great for den building, making bow and arrows, carving stuff. Most kids around where I lived wore sheath knives on their belts and no one [b][u]ever[/b][/u] used one in anger against someone else. Pocket knives were also common.

I had a knife by 10 - have a pretty decent scar on my left thumb from slicing into it back then, hid the cut from my Mum in case she decided to take it from me.

Worst thing I did though was to make a spear with the knife tied on the end then played chicken with a rather unwilling mate, unfortunately my aim wasn't too good and I managed to stick it in his leg.

I got my first fixed blade when I was 10.

Twenty minutes after receiving it I was on my way to hospital with a tea towel wrapped round my finger to stop blood spurting everywhere, shocked in the knowledge that I've seen my own bones and tendons.

sometime in the late 60's and I am 50. I discovered a copy of Eric Newbys "Love and war in the Apennines" in the library whilst at junior school. It had an Opinel on the cover and I managed to persuade someone to buy me one pretty soon after that.
Not the school library, that would have been Janet and John books.

Come to think of it both Stig of the Dump and The boy with the bronze axe were favourite books in those days so perhaps cutting things was ingrained. I had already skinned rabbits by then.

I got my first aged about seven, from a posh cracker at a posh mate's house. He got a pewter thimble 😀

It was a tiny little thing and very blunt so I was allowed to keep it. I then went through a series of slim, vintage, two-bladed pocket knives found at my grandad's house. He was happy for me to have them.

Like the guy on the previous page, I grew up in the time when every lad worth his salt had a survival knife - I had a ridiculously huge Rambo knife, the length of my thigh!

Oh god yes, I had one of those! Complete with compass in the handle and some waterproof matches, a wire saw etc. it was such poor quality steel and so blunt, I'd stand more chance of cutting someone with the blunt end of a cricket stump!

I got mine at age 7. I've carried and used it every day since. It gets used for everything from making my lunch and cutting my nails, through repairing things in the lab and mid-commute bike repairs to skinning rabbits.

Can't really imagine how annoying it must be to have to have a separate tool to do all those things when you can just have one in your pocket. 🙂

Funnily enough the OH constantly nags me about how its not needed yet invariably requires its services. I suspect when we have kids this will come up. It will just have to be our little secret.......