Every man should own a knife. And every man should receive his first knife when he is a young boy. At this moment, I can hear every man saying, “darn right!” I can also hear every woman screaming?!? Women (not every woman) tend to freak out over knives (story below). But knives are simply tools. TOOLS! Let me say that again, a knife is a TOOL!
Side story – A few weeks back I pulled out my Boker to open up a box that was taped up. The four women teachers around me freaked out and all backed up like I was about to stab them in the neck or something. After pressing them, 3 of the 4 admitted that their husbands carry a knife too. Their response is just typical of how we have vilified TOOLS. TOOLS PEOPLE! IMPORTANT TOOLS!
The thing to remember is that with everything (and I mean everything), boys need to be taught about knives and how to use them appropriately. But handing a kid a knife also provides a parent with the opportunity to teach responsibility, respect and sets them on the road for what they are hardwired for, being a man!
Responsibility – Boys needs to learn responsibility. If not, they won’t know the value of things. Boys could choose to be irresponsible. When they are irresponsible, it should be viewed as a teachable moment. For instance, my son has a knife that he purchased at a gun show. He really likes it. But one time he left it just laying around – he didn’t value it enough to put it in its place, he was irresponsible. I conveniently picked it up and put it in “my” place. Later, when he realized he couldn’t find it, he came to me to let me know. I used that time to teach how important it is to be responsible. If he didn’t know where his knife was, he wouldn’t have it when he needed it. It is up to the parents to show and express value in important items and teach responsibility.
Respect – Who doesn’t think that kids nowadays couldn’t use some lessons in respect? Could it be that kids aren’t respectful because parents haven’t taught them to be respectful? But boys don’t need to learn only how to be respectful to others, they need to learn how to respect “stuff.”
How does one teach respect? Touching a hot grill will teach you a little respect when dad’s bbq’ing. But that is learning the hard way. Kids need to respect and trust their parents in order to respect what their parents say, that is a whole different post. But hopefully it suffices to say, respect rises with a good relationship. You can’t have one without the other.
Manhood – Men are hardwired to kill their food and bring it home to their families. In the past 30 plus years, there seems to have been a huge effort to wussify boys (recall the story above when I pulled out my Boker). Boys are going to gravitate to boy things, be rough, play cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians and get muddy. Let boys be boys!
I’m glad that I can be there at school to run interferences with young elementary boys when they draw a picture of a gun fight or make a paper gun. Yes, there needs to be wisdom, but come on! That young deaf boy, who recently was told that he couldn’t sign his name because he had to sign a letter that looked like a gun was not wisdom! Those educators are idiots! It wouldn’t have happened if I was there!
Having a knife won’t make a boy a man, but it does signify what every man was hardwired to do.
What do I carry – Because I work in an elementary school, I carry a Boker Plus Urban Survival Knife. This is not a bushcraft knife or one that you would use to cut wood for whatever reason. This is purely a self-defense weapon. It works for me in this setting because the top looks like a pen cap. It also comes with another cap that will break glass if you want that option. It has studs to flip it open, but it does take practice; I’ve become pretty quick with it. The end also has sort of a hook that can be pressed into someone when pressure is placed with the thumb.
You can purchase the Boker Plus Urban Survival Knife on Amazon. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt. Again, this isn’t a bushcraft knife.
Side Note – I recently linked to an article by Sigma 3 Survival about knife fighting practice on my other website – Prepper Website.
When I’m not at school/work, I carry a Kershaw Shallot.
So what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment.
Peace,
Todd
This article first appeared on Ed That Matters.
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Todd Sepulveda
I'm the owner/editor of Prepper Website, a DAILY preparedness aggregator that links to the best preparedness articles on the internet. I'm also a public school administrator and a pastor. My personal blog is Ed That Matters, where I write about preparedness and from time to time, education. Connect with me on one of my social media outlets below.
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Back when I was a boy you knew you were growing up when dad gave you a Barlow knife. I don’t know if these are even made anymore. But. Back then every boy in the neighborhood had one. Currently I carry a couple of knives one old timer pen knife and one uncle Henry folding knife (like a buck 110 or 112)
I used to have a buck when I was younger. I’m not sure of the model number…but I wish I would have been a little bit more “responsible” with it. 😉
This is what I think. Outstanding read. We need to teach our children responsibilities. Kids that are just not what they are suppose to be and it is our fault. I tend to want to think of PROVERBS 22:6 and DEUTERONOMY 6:6-7 We have to get back in control of our society. Keep up the good work. Look forward to your stuff. Doug <
I agree that every young man should have a knife and know that it is a tool and how to use it as such.
But in your last paragraph you completely contradict yourself. You describe your Boker as a weapon , carrying it because you work in an elementary school. I think you need to step back and reevaluate.
When I was a kid we all carried knifes to school and nobody got hurt. Our nation has become a nation of wimps when we can’t consider a knife as a tool.
Simply stated boys being surrounded by a group of undiluted women is bad for boys (and the women who want the boys to grow up to be strong, responsible, can do, problem solving, brave men).
In small numbers (or where women are not in charge) I can ignore or disparage the safety nazis (almost invariably women). When they are in charge I avoid them or undermine them.
No, “if even one life can be save then …(fill in any constraint of behavior) is worth it”, is NOT WORTH IT!
Better a broken arm then a broken spirit.
summary: keep boys in the company of strong men.
I agree. We are letting our boys be mommied to death (spiritual death). Get them out of the mommy academies (public schools). And get them back among men, real men, so that they may become men.
So, if they don’t go to the “Mommy academies” fer sum readin and ritin lessons, where might you suggest they go Monday-Friday, to be among the “real men” you refer to. Also, what qualities might you deem neccessary to have in order for one to be considered a “real man”?
I’ve carried a pocket knife since I was a boy scout. I learned proper knife handling (including treating it as a tool, not a weapon) in scouts. Never lost a corner of my Totin’ Chip card.
One of my grandmothers gave me a nice Swiss Army Knife (a Wenger, one with a blade and a few tools, not one of the over done ones). A few years I decided to leave this one at home and got a more recent version of the same model, as the original one has sentimental value.
I recall one time at work pulling it out to open up some boxes. You’d think I had pulled out a switch blade. Funny thing is that several co-workers walk around with Leatherman’s of various sorts in holsters on their belts or the like.
I guess hanging around scouters and similar types, I’m use to people carrying knives.
MB says; “You’d think I had pulled out a switch blade”
That’s what you get when you are in a Oprah watching woman dominant environment. You need to get out and be around where the real men are.
I have carried a knife and a lighter almost my whole life. You never know what you are going to have to fix or build. For a time I carried a multi-tool. With some duct tape you could take over the world! LOL!
Everybody should carry a knife. I’ve given my daughter several.
Well said. I agree wholeheartedly that every boy should learn to use and then carry a knife. Further, it should be sharp. You are far less likely to cut yourself with a sharp knife than a dull one.
Thanks for the post!
Joe
Girls should too. I’m a middle age woman. I own two very good fighting knives. I also always carry a pocket knife. The one I got from my grandpa in fact. My daughter got her own swiss army knife at nine. Girls need to be able to defend themselves.
I’ve carried a knife since I was a boy & was taught to respect it as a tool that can be practical or deadly (all depends on the person handling it & their intent). I live in Texas, so people don’t freak out as much when I pull out my Spyderco Military Folder to open a box… ah… I love my Texas
In the 1980’s while everyone was massed outside the jr. high school doors waiting for the gates to open for the school day a bunch of us boys would get together in the middle of the entire crowd.
Two boys would stand facing each other about two feet apart. One boy would throw his pocket knife into the ground near the foot of the other, then the other boy would have to move his foot to the spot the knife pieced the ground.
The boys would take turns throwing the knife into the ground to make the other boy spread his leg further and further from his body without giving up ground with his other foot.
The game was over when one boy couldn’t stretch any further out. It was a Great game.
No one Ever used a knife in a fight, or for any other reason, that I’m aware of.
I’ll bet certain do-gooders would be mortified to find 12-14 year old boys doing this on the front lawn of the school. Ha.
I think perhaps those do-gooders were the same People to get hit by spitwads in class when they were young… and not do anything about it. ?
Ha, pierced, not pieced.
“…the knife pierced the ground.”
That’s what I get for relying on spell check.
I teach in an elementary school also, and carry a knife as well. And – I’m a (gasp) woman.
Three years ago I was at a small local horse show at our county fair, and an eight year old girl was tying her quiet old gelding to a D ring on their horse trailer when the gelding set back for some unknown reason. He pulled her fingers into the ring, and while she screamed (and screamed, and screamed) those of us around tried everything to release her – her panic only frightened the horse more, and while we tried to untie the knot, unbuckle the halter, unsnap the leadrope – what we really needed was a knife. In the end, parts of the girl’s hand ended up in the dirt of the parking lot – and when I got home, I put a knife in my pocket. It’s still there. The word “case” is almost polished off the little plate in the handle, but if the school board ever gets nasty with me they’ll find out that the knife is more important to me than the job is.
Common sense – practicality…. hopefully it still has a place in our world?!???
Tell that to the teacher who suspended me when I brought out a pocket knife from my backpack at lunch that I left in their during a camping trip.
Your article is terribly biased. If more girls had knives then maybe so many women wouldn’t be afraid of them. I grew up in scouts and I’ve got way more guns and knives then my husband and most men. My daughter is very much into knives, my sons are more into guns. I think you need a woman to “educate” you… By the way, my mom was into guns and hunting until she married my dad – who wouldn’t allow a firearm in “his” house. My brother and I both grew up to carry a gun everyday – go figure.
Kathy,
You are taking the article too personal. This wasn’t an article about how women and girls SHOULDN’T carry a knife. This article simply looked at it from a boys/man’s perspective. I welcome you to write an article from a woman or girl’s perspective.
Peace,
Todd