Small Knife recommendations

[Nike]

Does anyone have recommendations for small pocket knives in the $15 range?

 

Currently our GS committee has a set of #7 and #8 Opinel single blades. I'm open to buying some #5s and #6s, since some of our Daisies and Brownies have really tiny hands, but looking for suggestions.

[DancesWithSpreadsheets]

Not a recommendation, as I have not seen one in person, but I was browsing on REI.com recently and I noticed this:

 

http://www.rei.com/product/816211/gerber-compact-scout-knife

 

Lockback, 2.5" blade, 3.3" folded, $14.95, it looked like something I'd consider for my Cub Scout.

 

Anybody seen one of these up close?

 

Regards,

 

DWS

[pchadbo]

I am a BIG fan of the Opinels but remember if you are looking at the little ones the No 5 does NOT have a locking mechanism. . .

[drmbear]

The serrated part of that recommended knife really causes a problem for me. I spent a lot of time looking into possible knives as I was looking to teach Bears for their Whittling Chip. The serrated blade causes a problem for what these young boys will mostly want to be using the knife for, and that's whittling, right?

 

I really wanted to find a very inexpensive knife, that was like the old Camp King Boy Scout knife that I had as a kid - I still have that original knife, so I could show what I was talking about. The problem is that I have had the hardest time finding anything that quite compares, and cost is probably the hardest thing to overcome. Even the Scout Knife that is available from ScoutStuff.com is not really like what I was looking for, particularly by squaring off the edges (uncomfortable to use) and not having a lanyard.

 

About the closest I've come to find is the Victorinox Tinker (or even Small Tinker). I think, for a young boy or girl this is about the best overall design for a knife they can count on for camping, whittling, and most general needs. I like that it has both a small knife blade and a larger knife blade. It has a can opener, screwdriver, and an awl. Don't really need anything else, and it is not so fat with useless tools to make it not practical to carry in your pocket.

 

That's what I'm now recommending for parents.

 

PS Just a couple weeks ago I searched high and low through the Smoky Mountain Knife Works retail store to find a good basic Scout knife like the one I used to have, and there is not a single manufacturer that is making anything like it. They actually had some old historic knives for sale that were like my original, but considering I paid maybe a couple of bucks for the one in my pocket in the early '70's, the fact they wanted $70 to $120 for ones just like it in the store made me consider selling!!

[perdidochas]

DRMBear,

 

What's wrong with the scout knife that National sells? It's only $20. It looks rounded, and it does have a lanyard attachment.

 

http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?cat=01RTL&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=CAMPING&C3=KNIVES&C4=&LV=3&item=24080&prodid=24080^8^01RTL&

[Old_OX_Eagle83]

The Case Peanut is a good first knife. The serration stuff is horrible in my opinion, stay away from knives with serration, or plastic construction.(This message has been edited by Old_OX_Eagle83)

[perdidochas]

I agree about serration. It's good for bread knives, and for a second blade on a knife. Serrations are good for cutting rope fast.

 

 

[kari_cardi]

The Victorinox Swiss Army tinker is the first knife we bought for our own family scouts and what we recommend to parents. It is inexpensive, between $10 and $15 depending on where you purchase the knife. It is readily available at Target in red and in a wide variety of colors on Amazon. My Girl Scout loves her purple knife. I can attest firsthand that it survives the washer and is plenty of knife to carve wood furniture.

[ned_rothstein]

I also recommend the Tinker for the Scouts in my Pack. Built like a tank, relatively inexpensive, and small enough for Cub hands (paws???).

[Scoutfish]

When it was time to buy a knife for my son, we went to a military surplus store. Bought a 2 1/2 inch lock blade.

 

The cool thing was that the handle was thicker than most knives and really fit his hand good.

 

Stainless steel, extra large rivits holding it together, and the unlock mechanisn is on the backside of the handle instead of right next to the hinge end of the blade.

 

Was $9.00 but only cost us $6.00 after the guy found out what it was for.

 

 

[drmbear]

perd,

 

I recently purchased the Scout knife from ScoutStuff when it was on sale. I bought two of them, and they do not have lanyards. Maybe they do now - I don't know. It still looks like the same overall make, though, and the edges of the handle are definitely squared off and uncomfortable to use. My old $2 KampKing is 100 times better. The blue Cub Scout knife isn't bad, but I wish it had a better selection of blades. The small Tinker (I don't like the one with scissors, useless on a starter knife) is a far better knife, and at least $5 less expensive.

[desertrat77]

Concur with the Swiss Army Tinker suggestions...price, size, functions, reliability are tops.

[Nike]

Thanks all for your suggestions. Looks like I'll be looking for a Tinker to test out.

[IM_Kathy]

knowing girl scouts... I'd really recommend waiting until the last year of brownies before having them handle anything than a kitchen knife and carrying around a knife and using when you aren't always watching. My girls have always been better behaved than my boys were with knives, starting them at brownie level would still be a bit sooner than the cub scouts get theirs.

[perdidochas]

The Tinker is a fine Swiss Army Knife. My oldest son has one, and I chose it because it has a bottle opener/screwdriver, can opener, awl and philips screwdriver in addition to two blades. They have a Boy Scout edition as well.

 

Another good Swiss Army knife (albeit a bit larger and more expensive) is the Adventurer. Again, it is a minimalist design like the Tinker, but it has a longer blade that locks.