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.

Ooh - that's a great knife.

When I was in the brownies my grandmother gave me her old brownie belt which included a pen knife with hoof pick incorporated (would ave been sorted if I was anywhere near a horse that had a hoof needing picking. Not many around).

Ever since I hae been drawn to good penknives/multi tool things.

Love a good whittle, me.

Op - YABU by the way!

It's a safety grip, of course worra

And yes, if it was any decent sort of kit it would have come with ready prepped grips in it!

Incidentally my son did CCF from 13 - 19 (and it was the making of him) - did bronze and silver D of E, used knives, shot guns, did heaven alone knows what out on their weekends away. They were taught respect for weapons etc and he would never have even though of taking a knife out in inappropriate circumstances. You DO have to learn to trust them - and hopefully teach them the skills to earn that trust.

Surely he wouldn't be carrying it to take to the park or show off to his friends he would only take it to the relevant d o e meetings. Maybe you could keep the knife and only let him have it when it was appropriate to the activity.My DS did Pony Club tetrahlon at that age and had an air pistol. It was kept in a locked case and taken to practises and competitions.

What on Earth do they do with air pistols at Pony Club, thegrey ? Is it like cowboys and indians? Sounds ace

Lentilly what is CCF?

{retrieves safely wrapped knife from bin and confiscates to be handed over when appropriate}

When I did d of e my DM took my penknife out of my bag for nonsensical safety reasons too. Without telling me or asking why I had it with me though

I ended up opening a tin of beans or similar with a screwdriver.in the dark on a wild camp, not a site. Far more reckless and dangerous than the opener on my penknife (along with two blades) I'm 33 now and it has yet to be replaced

I'm assuming that because you have an Amazon account then you have to be over 18, so there'd be no issue in your buying it. As far as I can see, it's not aimed at children at all.

My DD has to have a knife to take when she goes trekking; she will take a Swiss Army knife, but they're very sharp (as I proved when demonstrating to DS how dangerous it was - cut my finger ). I think you are being unreasonable.

On a side note, I hate the way that everyone is now not allowed to carry a knife because of the tiny minority of fucked-up idiots who think it's big and clever to go around threatening/stabbing people.

I should be free to sit and wittle if I want to .....

CCF = Combined Cadet Force

That's what it was at his school so they took instruction from all 3 of the Armed Forces instead of concentrating on just one.

Cool, thanks Lentilly.

YABU

A knife is an essential part of a survival kit! Also although Gryls is chief scout, he is a lot of there things too.

I know a lot of adults (myself included) who love outdoor and adventure sports, who would love this kit.

I did my d of e as a teen and IMO this is prob too advanced a kit for your ds's needs.....however the knife might come in useful!!!!

Are you going to insist that he doesn't play with fire aswell???

Yay!

So so glad the knife has been retrieved from the bin. I will sleep a little better tonight.

More money than sense!!

What was that about? It was part of a birthday pressie

It's about chucking perfectly working items in the bin for no good reason.
If you don't want it pass it on to someone who can make use out of it.
Chucking like that shows waste.

There were just so many things wrong with your post. That being one of them.

The Scout Association's stance on Knives

Within our Scout Troop the boys can bring knives to camp but we take them in and look after them. The knives are handed out as and when needed and only to those who have passed their "Knife & Axe". This is training on the correct way to use and operate knives/axes/saws etc. The Scouts are then tested on what they have learnt and it is reassessed every 2 years.

I have seen some of the Scouts in possession of knives such as the one OP is talking about but tbh most of them have the Swiss Army penknives. Most stick to what we recommend, and it's the ones who like to "show off" who have different knives (not that I'm suggesting thats what OP DS is doing). If it's recommended by Bear Grylls then of course many of the Scouts would love to own such a piece of kit.

YABU to be horrified by it when you have purchased such an item. Did you not check the details of the item?

see as per CleanHankie's post, the Scouts use knives and have a kind of code of conduct for them.

The knife is quite clearly in the photo of the kit

YABU-clue is in the title, would be a pretty shit survival kit without a knife imo. My hubby informs me that when he was in the scouts many moons ago they hunted (with an air rifle I believe ) & skinned rabbits-would assume a knife was required to get that job done

When DH was at school in Devon (ages ago!) they had a whetstone in the yard so that the boys could keep their penknives nice and sharp,' cos you are more likely to hurt yourself with a blunt knife

DS is doing his DofE Bronze this summer through school. They have been told "no knives allowed". So I can only assume they will not be doing anything that they need a knife for!

DS is 10 and has a knife with a blade that size. He uses it when camping for whittling sticks and making them pointy to toast mashmallows with, and things like that. I wouldn't let him take it to the public park in S London, no, but that doesn't mean he can't have a knife under any circumstances.

A knife is a tool. Only a weapon in the hands of the bad and the bloody stupid.

My brother used a knife like that in the scouts when we were young. I think every previous generation to this would have expected a decent knife in a survival kit.

Just had DS's kit sheets through today bigblue and no sign of needing a knife either.

I've also made a mental note of a few user names that I shall definitely be keeping to hand to lamblast at the earliest opportunity

I don't understand why you bought it then, if he doesn't need it and you don't want him to have it .

Do you remember when yoyu could get tiny penknifes on a key chain? I got one from a cracker once

Disclaimer - I am old.

They were the days weren't they Coco.

That's a good question Ephiny, why did I buy it?

I succumbed to pressure "All the others have one, blah blah blah" and in my naivity I really did think that as Bear Grylls was a huge promotor of the Scouts movement the knife wouldn't be like it was. Penknives are far less threatening to the eye, even though they could probably cause as much damage.

Also I guess living in London and the fear from that these days added to my reaction.

I understand your horror at knives MissF but the knife is just a tool. It is how it is used that has to be considered.

It's like cars. A flippin good invenvention and very useful but if one is used to delibrately run over some one or as was in the news two weeks ago to ram a horse and rider because they asked a driver to slow down then there is a problem.

I suggest that you put the knife away for now. Chucking it in the bin is a huge over reaction. Let your son feel confident using knives in a safe way.

My kids have been knocking round their dad's works unit all there lives and from a young age have been around knives, chainsaws and other working tools and these things hold no mystery to them. I have a knife in my rucksack that has had to come out over the years ( I also have a swiss army knife but that is a tiddler in comparrison!)

Knives need to be sharp to work unless they are for buttering toast!

OP - yes you are being unreasonable, he is 14.

Bear Grylls haters - YABVU. He is a lovely man!