A boy's own knife. UPDATE #42!

[Rustyt1953]

Last month, my grandson Logan (11) went on vacation with his best friend and his family. The dad is their little league coach and works hard with them as they are good athletes and even better human beings. The dad is a police officer and a knife guy.

He took the boys to Smokey Mountain Knife Works and told them to pick out any inexpensive knife they wanted.

He was floored at the massive inventory and took hours to nail one down. He told the dad that he had saved money from his summer of grass cutting and could he pay for his knife himself.

This is not fancy or high quality but it is his and what he chose:





Logan now wants to collect so I have given him another to add to the pile.



He has the bug I never caught.

 

[woodsltc]

He told the dad that he had saved money from his summer of grass cutting and could he pay for his knife himself.

Rusty, what your grandson told the dad says so much about how he has been raised and what kind of man he will become. You have a grandson to be proud of....congrats.

BTW, that's a neat knife he picked out.

Don

 

[Penquin]

Love that story Rusty! Thanks for sharing it. I think Logan will need a display case real soon as his collection grows.

 

[Sistema1927]

Good for him, but I can't help but feel sad due to the fact that if he takes either one to school he will end up in handcuffs. In grade school we all had a pocket knife, and in high school most guys carried a Buck 110 on their belts.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I remember my first day attending school in a Cub Scout uniform, complete with the official Cub Scout pocket knife on a brass chain attached to my uniform belt. Clip blade, can opener, bottle opener, leather awl, that knife had just about everything that later made Swiss Army knives so popular and useful.

That was over 60 years ago. Today I would be expelled from public school for possession of the knife, and not allowed back in until I completed counseling to correct my actions in joining an organization that excluded females and required the Pledge of Allegiance at every meeting. Obviously, merit badges that required individual commitment and effort shouldn't be tolerated because of the damage it might do to other peoples' little self-esteemers (believe it or not, they actually taught us how to build fires, catch fish, snare small game, cook our own food, survive in the wilderness, and other useless stuff).

Maybe another time I will share my experiences when I showed up a day or so late for a Boy Scout camping trip on my motorcycle, with a really cute girl on the back seat, and a few adult beverages. Up until that day I didn't know that Scoutmasters were capable of language like my drill sergeant later instructed me with.

Disclaimer: No animals were injured in the production of this post, nor were any innocent teenage girls, and I think my Scoutmaster survived after his emotional outbursts and a good peaceful nap without my motorcycle around the campsite.

 

[smitholdtimer]

Rustyt1953

Thanks for letting the youngster become a collector, something he can enjoy for a long time and while your at it, teach him to recognise quality so his collection will appreciate as he adds to it!

 

[Marshwheeling]

Steer him over to Bladeforums.com. There is a lot of knowledge over there about modern knives, traditionals, collecting, using, modifying and making knives and much more. It will help him refine his taste in knives and appreciate quality in both expensive and inexpensive knives.

 

[wingriderz]

Awesome wow !!!Love this Smokey and Shepard Hills are Awesome

 

[pawngal]

Even tho they are made in China, MTech are very good knives at their price level. I sell a lot of them in my shop. The variety is endless

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

My first knife-at age 12-was a Boy Scout knife, over the years I think the can opener got the most use. Yes, carried mine to school in the 1960s, nowadays......

 

[JayFramer]

Looks like a good first “boy’s knife”, as it were.

Along with the normal use for daily chores, it behooves you to teach the boy also the art of knivesman’s fighting. There are many videos and classes you can look into. Michael Janich is a great resource. All boys should learn to be able to defend hearth, home, and country with their carry knife.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Make sure that he learns safe knife handling and etiquette as well.

 

[Pisgah]

I can sympathize with his difficulty in picking out a knife at SMKW. I stopped in a couple of months ago and was glad I didn't have my wife with me. As it was, I spent 2.5 hours looking, and could have spent all day if I hadn't committed to be home by dark that day!

 

[JJEH]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[KSDeputy]

I collect knives, too, mostly bowie's. I found Case still made my Dad's pocket knife and bought 3 new ones. One for me, and my two brothers.

 

[wundudnee]

When my son was about six or seven a guy I worked with asked me if I thought if I thought my boy was old enough to have a pocket knife? I told him that kid was born about half grown and I thought he could probably handle it. My friend gave my son a new Craftsman knife. I had a long talk with my son and explained that it was a tool and not a toy. I also instructed him on the use of the knife and if he was careless with it I would take it away for awhile.
About a week later I noticed he had a nice straight cut on his thumb and I asked him how did he hurt his thumb? He looked me right in the eye and said "I hit it with a hammer." I kept a straight face and said "I see". I didn't have the heart to take it away from him, but I realize I probably taught him to lie. He's in his 50s now and I would bet money he still has that knife.

 

[Onomea]

A boy and a pocketknife. Dad says, “Son, this is a knife. Not a toy. It’s sharp, and if you are not careful, it will cut you.” Boy says, “Yes, Dad!” And, of course, is absolutely delighted to be entrusted with a knife.

A couple of days later, boy, careless, cuts himself. (Hell, we all did!) But he learns the truth of his father’s words, and he learns the nature of a knife.

It is a good thing, to give a boy a knife.

(And, truth be told, every now and then, I still cut myself with a knife. Six decades on. Just life’s way of keeping me on my toes, and the knife’s way of telling me, “See? My nature has not changed.”)

I like knives a lot.

 

[Rustyt1953]

That's a nice comment, Arlo.

He hasn't cut himself yet but he has declared that all things that need cutting or opening are now his job. He has already sharpened every pencil in the house. I have to follow him around with a Dust Devil.

 

[Rustyt1953]

When Logan got home from school today he had a package waiting for him from member jlrhiner. I'll just let the pics tell the tale.

We were both speechless.











Jim, Logan said: "thank you and friends for life".

 

[Rustyt1953]

There was a knock on the door and I was handed a package from pawngal addressed to Logan. My heart almost stopped. I knew waiting for him to get home after his ballgame to open it was going to be tough.

The look on his face!!!

Again I will let the note tell the story:











We are touched beyond words. There are truly some splendid examples of human kindness on this forum.

Becky, thank you and Ruthie, Logan and I won't soon forget.