What is a good first knife for son

[joppaj]

The first knife that I ever bought for myself was a Bucklite. I still have it, although I haven't carried it in years. My duty and every day carry is a Spyderco Rescue, but that's a long, fully serrated blade. For what you describe I think the Syderco Endura would be hard to beat.

 

[NickZac]

The first knife that I ever bought for myself was a Bucklite. I still have it, although I haven't carried it in years. My duty and every day carry is a Spyderco Rescue, but that's a long, fully serrated blade. For what you describe I think the Syderco Endura would be hard to beat.

That's a nice knife, especially when using it close to skin. Have you ever used it to cut seatbelts? The blade shape, large hole, and use of teeth seem to make it an ideal seatbelt cutter even when wearing gloves.

 

[trickg]

You say your son is a teenager?

I carried a lot of different knives when I was a kid - growing up in a small town in rural Nebraska, kids carried pocket knives - that's just the way things were back then.

My first knives were multi-bladed pocket knives - nothing locked. The first big step up for a knife came with my Ka-Bar 4-bladed pocket knife, although I never really dug it too much.

I think that the knives I enjoyed the most were the mid-sized, single bladed lock-back knives, of which I had several that would compete for a place as my favorite. The first was a Parker Cutlery (back when they were still in Chattenooga, TN) Mustang with pickbone scales. I lost that temporarily (it was found by a friend and I later got it back) and my Dad gave me a Parker Cutler Gunboat with smoothbone scales.

Later on my Dad found a toolbox spilled all over the road (he was a police officer and came across it in the middle of the night) and among the contents was a Buck 112 Ranger with brass bolsters.

Those three lockback knives were by far my favorites for knives I carried as a kid and teenager....actually, I think they were the only three I carried as a teenager.

Of course the world of pocketknives has changed a lot over the years, so something with a pocket clip and G10 scales (or titanium, or stainless, etc) might be more desirable to today's teens. With that in mind, it would be tough to go wrong with anything by Kershaw, Spyderco, Benchmade, Colt Steel, etc.

 

[303_enfield]

Honestly, everyone's first knife should be one of these:

I still have mine. The cool lockblade collection can come later.

The above. Started in Cub Scouts with one Granddad carried in WWII. Does more then a cool knife everyday.

 

[Gryphon]

Buck - I just bought a Buck Lux-Avid for my nephew. Nice knife, a little pricey perhaps for your son's first, but I got it at Accurate Pawn in Elkridge for only $50. Nice guys there.

http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=product.detail&productID=3945

 

[Sam Salvati]

Find a nice vintage carbon steel lineman's knife.

 

[circleshooter]

My first knife was a Barlow jack knife that my Dad gave me for my birthday when I turned 13. I wish I still had it. On my 18th birthday, way back in 1980, he gave me a Buck 703 Colt. This one I do still have.





The Buck 703 is a great knife, and I love the "Gentleman's knife style," but I agree with a lot of the posters that a single-blade, spring assisted folder would probably appeal to a kid nowadays. I guess I'd suggest that if your son is 13 I'd go with a less expensive model - like something by CRKT, Kershaw, or Gerber. Kids lose stuff. If he's older then I'd get him a nice knife - like a Benchmade. Something that he can post a picture of 30+ years later on a forum like I can with my Buck 703 and declare with pride and fondness, "my Dad gave me this."

 

[Ender]

I know it goes against the made in the USA point but my vote is for the Swiss Army Pioneer. I carried and still occasionally carry Spyderco Delica 4s for years while in the military but at home and in a work/school environment I get a lot more use out of the screwdriver/can opener/awl on the Pioneer. It has a classy finish, not the outer plastic of the other Swiss Army knives and is much less threatening to people when I pull it out as opposed to my Delica. Another plus is that it has an engraving plate on the handle which you can have engraved right when you buy it if you order it from the right website. I die a little inside when I lose a Spyderco knife, when I lose a Swiss Army I just go online and order another for $20-30.

 

[Allium]

swiss army was sons first - second was K-bar for utility/camping.

 

[cantstop]

The Swiss army knives are cute and I own a few, but I would suggest the a smaller Buck with a locking blade. I really can't see why anyone would suggest a non-locking blade.

 

[joppaj]

Have you ever used it to cut seatbelts?

Oddle enough, yes I have. It tore right through them.

 

[Mark75H]

My first knife was a Barlow jack knife that my Dad gave me for my birthday when I turned 13. I wish I still had it. On my 18th birthday, way back in 1980, he gave me a Buck 703 Colt. This one I do still have.
-
The Buck 703 is a great knife, and I love the "Gentleman's knife style," but I agree with a lot of the posters that a single-blade, spring assisted folder would probably appeal to a kid nowadays. I guess I'd suggest that if your son is 13 I'd go with a less expensive model - like something by CRKT, Kershaw, or Gerber. Kids lose stuff. If he's older then I'd get him a nice knife - like a Benchmade. Something that he can post a picture of 30+ years later on a forum like I can with my Buck 703 and declare with pride and fondness, "my Dad gave me this."

I agree. Something like this or a similar Spyderco is the most appropriate for the intention

My first knife was one of these Barlows

Teenagers are hard on the locks of lockblades, I would wait until after the first gift knife for a larger lockblade. Once the kid has shown the responsibility of ownership, only then would I move up to something better.

 

[SWO Daddy]

Looking for a good knife for teenager that:
1) stand abuse and is not a "show" knife
2) reasonably priced so if it gets lost I wont be crying
3) folder
4) a more traditional style no zombie killing devices
5) for general use
6) made in the usa

and most importantly - should be of good quality so that it hopefully can be carried into adulthood and passed on to grandchildren?

For reference - spyderco, zt, benchmade all look like good candidates - I just have no idea as to what I need to look for in the knife to meet these criteria!

Thanks

Swiss army knife. It emphasizes that it's a tool and not just something to cut stuff with.

 

[Mark75H]

Swiss army knife. It emphasizes that it's a tool and not just something to cut stuff with.

On the other hand, it distracts from the blade and the responsibility of blade ownership ... the proverbial double edged sword

OP has to decide what he intends and what is important to him, which lesson he wants to teach at this time

 

[cb51]

The Swiss army knives are cute and I own a few, but I would suggest the a smaller Buck with a locking blade. I really can't see why anyone would suggest a non-locking blade.

Because locking blade knives create careless knife handling habits. People think a lock on a blade means it can't fold up and cut you. Two of the worst hand injuries I've ever seen were caused by someone thinking they could get away with leaning on a knife because it had a lock. In one case, a young idiot at the shop were I worked was leaning on his Buck 110 in a very stupid manner. He was told to knock it off, and use another tool. His smart ass reply was, "It's a Buck knife, it'll take it" Famous last words, just after lunch break he amputated his right index finger, and almost took off the middle finger. The shop forman picked up the finger from the floor, put it in a cup of ice from the cafeteria, and sent it along with the EMT's. They did reattach it up at the John Hopkins Hand center in Baltimore, but he had nerve problems with it and the middle finger.

About 5 years ago I needed some surgery on my left thumb, so the better half drove me up to the Carroll Country hospital where the doc was out of. While waiting to be taken back for my out patient surgery, we were sitting in the waiting room across from a middle age lady and her teen age son who had a lot of bandage on his right hand. . The son was waiting for surgery to his tendons and ligaments on his right finger to get it working again. It came out in conversation between her and my wife that he was fooling around with his latest tactical knife and the blade lock failed and cut the ever lovin' crappola out of his finger, severing some important things.

I'm a social security old fart, I admit that, and they didn't have lock blade knives when I was a kid. Except for the James Dean stilletos the punks in the duck tail haircuts carried. I was in my teens when Buck came out with the folding hunter, and even then I thought "Why?" If I need a knife where the blade does not fold, I'll use a sheath knife. Been that way my whole life. A pocket knife is for cutting stuff. That's it. It ain't a ninja slaying weapon, and I certainly am not going to bother trying to use a knife for a self defense situation. Knives are lousy weapons, and there are way better choices.

So if you take out the punk weapon thing, then it's just a cutting tool. If you have half way common sense, the forces in play during cutting keep it open. A Swiss Army knife will do anything a lockable knife will do, nd then some. With a few basic tools, a swiss army knife becomes a little tool kit in the pocket that you can really fix things with when there is not a tool kit around. I've lost rack of how many things I've fixed with one. The clothes drier door latch, a motorcycle conked out on a gravel road far from anywhere, an electric trolling motor on a very big winding lake, splinters pulled out, and cans and bottles opened. You won't be doing that with a lock blade knife.

Then there's the under the radar look of the swiss army knife. Red handles with the silver cross, nobody gets excited over it. It doesn't scream weapon to the more herd like people out there. It has a low profile, and that's not a bad thing these days. All three of my kids got a swiss army knife as their first knife, and two of my grandkids did too. To this day, it's the one knife they carry. My daughter won't leave the house without her's in her purse, and it's come in handy for her. To date, not one of my kids or grandkids have lost any fingers from a knife folding over on them. They are aware how it works, so they are careful.

Being careful is a good habit to instill in them.

So to answer your question, I can't see why someone would suggest a locking blade knife.

 

[toncapone1]

I loved the Victorinox swiss army knife I had as a kid, lots of styles with some nice tools

 

[ohen cepel]

I would suggest a Buck, maybe a 112 or 110 depending on how large his hands are. They are date stamped and if you look around should be able to find one made in the year he was born which is neat.

Some of the Buck line is made overseas however, the 112 and 110 never were. Should be under $50. Classic made in America knife by a 5th generation knife company.

 

[cantstop]

Because locking blade knives create careless knife handling habits. People think a lock on a blade means it can't fold up and cut you...

I don't necessarily agree that locking blades cause careless handling. Careless people cause careless handling. I would think the OP is going to do his best to teach his son to respect any knife he handles.

I just feel that locking blades are more controllable than non-locking ones and work better for cutting things like nylon rope.

I do agree that the Victorinox red knives are a much lower profile when pulled out in a social settings. Unless I'm hiking, I carry a wimpy little non-locking Victorinox manicure knife (This one.) When hiking I carry the Kershaw Vapor III Serrated (This one.)

 

[240 towles]

+1 for buck 110, my dad gave me mine after my mom tried to give me a playschool plastic pocket knife. I was disappointed for Christmas and my dad stepped up and I felt so great. Still have that knife to this day, though I carry a boker or a S+W.

 

[JHE1956]

I am not usually a fan of Swiss Army-type knives, feeling that the more functions one tries to build into any device, the less well any given function works.
That being said however, my first knife (in 1964) was the Cub Scout version of the basic Boy Scout Knife (the Cub version lacked the can opener). There is a lot to be said for the classic Boy Scout knife as a boy's first knife (or the USGI version http://www.mooremilitaria.com/P7160001.JPG ). It definitely is a tool, not a weapon, is not so overloaded with tools of marginal utility to make it too heavy to carry in the pocket, and is pretty indestructible. New old stock or the GI all stainless version can easily be found at online surplus dealers quite reasonably.