Outdoor knife suitable for a child?

CelticRambler

Just about every child that I know around here would have a knive by the age of 12; and just about every granny too! (Caused no end of aggro when we had to confiscate them at our festival in July due to French "anti-terrorism" laws :rolleyes: ) and mine were using kitchen knives from about the age of about seven or eight (same time as they started cooking their own dinners on a gas stove).

On the one side of the family, they've got a father who (apart from using supersharp knives at work) thinks it's better to teach them how to use stuff like this correctly than ban it; and on the other they've got a hard-core arts-and-crafts mother who couldn't live without a cutting board. Our two girls have stuck with the delicate knifery but the boys have an impressive collection of weaponry between them. SonNo.1 has since progressed to using some of his personal gear on behalf of the Irish state - he's in the reserves - but most of his arsenal stays at home in France.

You sound like you've got this wrapped up for now, but if you happen to be in France while your daughter is still interested in this subject, call in to one of the big hardware stores - she'll think she's in heaven! And you'll see those "My first Opinel" knives on sale at the checkout where Irish stores have sweets!

Feisar

Things have changed, I'm thirty-two now and was given a Swiss Army Knife (SAK) at around eight I think. Things have changed though and now it would probably be seen as negligence.

On the other hand if I was to give a folding knife to a child I'd advise a one with a secure locking mechanism. It's to easy to fold a knife on one's fingers. It's never happened me but it can easily happen. On that note while Opinel has a great locking mechanism I would personally advise against it as it's a lock that the user must engage.