knives

[Fat Old Guy 11]

"Its about the visual perception of a boy walking among us with a knife (weapon?) strapped to his side."

 

We have reached a time in our society when looking at something that may be used as a weapon frightens people as much as the use of that weapon but they are willing to pay millions of dollars to sit in a dark room and watch carnage on a screen and call it entertainment. Go figure.

[EagleInKY 14]

My reason for not liking the hook had nothing to do with political-correctness. In fact, I like the belt cases that a lot of our guys wear on their belts. The reason(s) for not liking them include:

* caring for the knife. As someone metioned, the knives get dirty dangling around like that.

* loss - I have seen knives or other objects come off of those little brass clips.

* safety - call me weird, but I can see Johnny hooking his open knife on his belt just for a second... maybe you don't have a Johnny, but I've got a couple. ;-)

 

[KA6BSA 10]

When I was a Boy Scout in 1957 we all had those belt hooks and the Scoutmaster required us to use it to hold our "pocket" knife. Funny a pocket knife you couldn't put in your pocket but I think the reason was that way the Scoutmaster could easily see which boys had a knife. I don't think we had anything like a toten'chip card and even if BSA had them we didn't use such a system of certification. We didn't have any specific knife safety training but young boys were more aware of how tools worked back then. Of course we did everything with our knives including pass idle moments with a game of mumbley peg (played by flipping the knife into the dirt to mark out territory in a square). The hook was definitely the only place we carried a knife... and it seemed a very Scouting thing to do. We even wore our uniforms to school the day of a troop meeting with a pocket knife proudly dangling from the hook.

[Davej775 10]

'57 and those Scout pants had pockets that could actually fold up the top and snap down so the pocket knif wouldn't fall out. My Scout knife had those blade locks, it wasn't a lock blade, and it had a special blade just for mumbly peg.

WoW! A few words, images, and I'm a Tenderfoot again, Troop 35, Northport, NY.

While at out Winter Camporee this last week-end, going thru March's Scouter Magazine one of the 10 essentials for survival was .....A fixed blade sheath knife!

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

I could write a book about knives. I personally have stuck with my 12 use multi-task Swiss Army knife over the years. Even the toothpick has been productive and useful.

 

Scouts need to start off small with a two blader. Learn to keep a good edge on the knife first without ruining the finish on the steel. Later, as you mature add the necessary but much maligned bottle openers and cork screws.

 

As far as hanging your prized possession on that do-dad on your belt forget it! Go for the leather pouch that looks good and holds it for when ya need it.

 

At Cub Day camp. I taught knife safety for several years. The first couple of years, we suggested the boys bring a knife from home to practice with during our session. The Den leaders were to keep track of the pocketknives during the day. What I found out quickly enough was that young guys have a certain fascination with knives that is similar in nature to their fascination with fire. They couldnt keep their Dads favorite knife in a safe place for any length of time but found ways to tote them around without permission and invariably lost them.

 

Later we were kind of forced to purchase a set of knives for the session. It seems several Dads were not too happy with their sons interest and inability to hang on to them.

 

This brings me to another point. The young man writing the original question gave me a scare with his deep abiding interest in knowing more about the rules and the length and so forth. It may be that he has difficulty expressing himself but somehow it reminded me of something I saw the other day. I was in the neighborhood where a knife store Outlet was attached to a manufacturing facility. It had hundreds of different kinds of cutting weapons. Now dont get me wrong, I like my SAK dearly but many of those things on the shelf in that store gave me the willies.

 

I am careful with my knife and I respect it and I want others to do the same. It is a tool.

 

I realize that people in moving pictures use knife weapons for the express purpose of hurting other people or defending themselves. In Scouting, that is not what we are about.

 

Like I said I am probably wrong in thinking in that direction but I just wanted to clear the air.

 

I certainly hope you find your answer. The knife is as much of an enigma as life itself.

 

FB

 

[Fat Old Guy 11]

" I like my SAK dearly but many of those things on the shelf in that store gave me the willies."

 

Not to worry, 99% of the people that buy those things like Klingon battle knives don't have a clue about using a knife. They are Lord of the Rings fans who live in their own universe.

 

 

[KA6BSA 10]

I looked in my March issue of Scouter for the Ten Essential article and there is a picture of a multi-tool pliers thing and a SAK. I wonder if Pedro picked up on the straight-blade error and corrected the picture? As I stated in a previous post the multi-tool gadgets are known to cause more accidental cuts with the younger boys, mostly when opening or closing not knowing how the locks work, but also because the handles and blades are awkwardly set. But still better than a showing a big straight-blade hunting knife!