To be horrified at knife in this survival kit

[MissFaversham]

DS (14) goes to Explorers/Cadets etc. and is just about to do his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze.

He was raving about the Bear Grylls "basic" survival kit, so I sent for one.

Well there's a flipping knife in there that is sooo ruddy dangerous! It's nasty looking too and could do more harm than a stanley knife.

This is being sold to kids and in the wrong hands or even the right hands (just childrens) is immensley worrying.

Sorry, don't know how to link (hopefully a skilled MN linker could help me out?)

Take a peek and see what you think?

Have now thrown this in the bin and bought the recommended DofE ROUND topped penknife.

The round topped knife is the "recommended" DofE one.

Dont think DS has to stab anything on his stint

Debsbear, not so. You can carry a blade of up to 3 inches long providing it's capable of folding (ie Swiss army knife good, veg knife bad). You can carry larger knives only if you can prove that you have good reason to. For example, I have a good friend who's a head chef and who has a case of his own (alarmingly expensive!) knives. It would be perfectly legitimate for him to carry them in public in order to reach his new place of employment.

OP, if the knives are being sold to kids then bring it to the attention of the authorities as no-one under 18 may purchase one. Other than that I don't see why you're so stressed. Does your DS not use sharp knives to cook without feeling the need to go out and stab someone with them?

You know you shouldn't have chucked it in the bin

It's deffo IN THE BIN so there

i was taught to use a machete when i was under 10... chopping down brussels sprouts stalks! lol

Well I can't understand is why did you either
a purchase it without knowing what was in it
or
b purchase it knowing what was in it and being horrified.

It is plain to see what it is . There is a description.

what a waste!
not to mention potentially dangerous.

It's really your own fault for not looking at what was included in the pack, a knife is a sensible and logical part of a survival kit. Whether or not your son needs one is up to you, there's no need to get all het up about it's inclusion. A round tipped one simply isn't as useful in unpredicable circs outdoors.
Just take it out, et voila, no problem!

Also, I don't believe it is illegal to carry all knives? I thought it was just any knife with a blade longer than 2". I always used to carry a short penknife as a child/teen, it was really handy where I lived (middle of nowhere) and I was sensible enough to be trusted with it. I hasten to add i stopped taking it out when I moved to London! :)

Does your DS not use sharp knives to cook without feeling the need to go out and stab someone with them?

When did i ever say he felt the need to do this then?

I'm sure the binmen will appreciate that if the knife is as dangerous as you say..

I thought so long as the blade was less than 3" long and it folds that it was fine legally
Scouting dates back to the times when boys of 10-14 weren't the mollycoddled infants of today

I live in London and I'm sure it would cause all manner of problems to carry a knife like this????

I agreed to purchase it thinking that "Bear Grylls" was some sort of Kids "Scout" Hero, helping to make the Scouts seem a bit more up-to-date.

The piccy also doesn't do justice to the real thing.

He's 14! Is he allowed to cut up his own steak? If so, I wouldn't worry about him having that knife, unless I was worried in general about him being aggressive/reckless.

My younger son has had "survival" knives like those since he was about ten or eleven, for general woodland whittling etc.

this is actually quite interesting.

I know that your son isn't actually in a survival situation, but he's learning to be isn't he? and I guess the right knife is still important.
there is a lot you can do with a pointed knife that you can't do with a round-tipped one.

Hope you have recycled the knife in the right bin.
More money than sense!!

I live in London too and if he could prove he was on his way to Cadets and the knife was being carried properly and safely tucked away in the kit, it wouldn't cause any problems.

My eldest has done DoE Bronze, and reckons they didn't even take a blunt knife. They did camp, but it sounded like a glorified sleepover to me, with very little in the way of slaughtering grizzly bears.

"Does your DS not use sharp knives to cook without feeling the need to go out and stab someone with them?"

"When did i ever say he felt the need to do this then?"

You didn't, which is precisely my point. If your son can be trusted with a bread knife or a paring knife surely he can be trusted with a three inch max long goddamn penknife!

Took me a second to wonder why you were addressing me there bof

"I live in London and I'm sure it would cause all manner of problems to carry a knife like this????"

well it might do if he was carrying it openly and behaving in a threatening manner.
and quite rightly so

but he isn't. he is using it for his DofE. (well, he isn't... but you know what I mean!)

Bonkers. What next? Sewing without scissors? Cooking without kitchen knives?

You shouldn't just throw knives in the bin. Did you wrap it securely?

I hate to say this, because I'm a softy, but you're coming across as a bit of a drama llama. I had a knife a lot scarier than that at his age, and didn't so much as nick a fingernail with it. As long as he's a sensible 14 year old then I wouldn't have had a problem with it. However, you know your own son better than us, and if he's the type to go waving it around and generally being a twit with it, then maybe babying him is for the best.

The knife is clearly pictured as well, how could you not spot that it's pointy?!

PS the blade is less than 3", so legal to carry. It does look rather vicious tho!

Overall Length: 6"
Blade Length: 2.22"
Closed Length: 3.07"

The is the same one as from the kit; www.gerbergear.com/Essentials/Knives/Paraframe-Mini-Knife_22-48484

In Scouts they are taught how to use knives and axes safely. YABU