Advice needed: DD has put "penknife" on Santa's list

[doesthismatter]

She is 9 and very sceptical about Santa but still seems to want to believe. She told me she had put a secret on her list to see if Santa brought it (and so to test if he was real).
I said he would not bring anything that I didnt know about. So she told me she wanted a penknife....
Apparently she had seen one recently at a friend's party. I had no idea about this but friend is generally quite sensible.

The thing is DD was very serious about wanting it and promising not to be dangerous and to stick to "any rules" I make and never to take it to school etc. But of course these days for a child to have a knife of any sort is not so acceptable is it? I am undecided what to do as I dont even really know how dangerous a penknife is to be honest as I have never held one I dont think? Where do you get them from?

I would really appreciate advice from people who may have them for their DC. Or any negative experiences. Would it be okay to let her have one on condition that she cant take it out of the house/garden?

Also advice as to if I do say no to having one (am not yet decided but suspect DH will say NO) then how can I explain it to DD so she understands that I do trust her, but....

Sorry to ramble on - just looking for a few more points of view before I let her know. I am tending to saying no, but I know how disappointed she will be. She loves using scissors, digging in the garden and making a mess outdoors generally so I can see how the knife appeals to her. She got hold of our garden shears this summer and before I knew it she had "helped" by cutting the roots of a beautiful flowering vine that had grown for many many years....

I have had a Swiss Army knife for years and it goes everywhere with me. I love it and use it nearly everyday.

I also had a little penkife at her age. What about getting her a little antique silver fruit knife - very pretty and an heirloom for the future?

when i wwas 10, making my brother around 7, we went down to our local hardware store to buy ourselves penknives. we were all by ourselves as well.

twas a fab day

we took them everywhere and used them loads, building dens etc. my brother did actually cut his finger quite badly at one point but it taught him to be more careful...

this was only around 20 years ago as well...

mind you, if ds (11) asked me for a knife i would sooner give him a box of matches, not necessarily because i thought he would chop himself up with it, but becasue i wouldn't trust him not to sneak it to school and show off with it :( = instant permanant exclusion...

i am not sure entirely what my point was but i loved my little penknife, it had 2 blades and was blue with a silver diamond pattern...

LOL Seeker

just give the child the handle bit, having removed all the useful attachments

doesthismatter that's why she needs a penknife! How can she put things back together without a multifunctional tool including a diddy little screwdriver?!

like i said, i thought op was concerned about the blade.

filing it off OPs dd gets to play with the other bits that come on army knives and op doesn't worry about the blade.

i thought it was a sensible suggestion

I'm so sorry, Bamboo, truly no offence meant towards you or your actually most sensible suggestion.

It was Seeker's fault, she made me laugh

Hope you can forgive.

My son does not have his own knife, but he is allowed to use our camping knife to "skin" small branches of trees and turn into bbq skewers for hotdogs and marshmallows. My cousins 7 year old dd has her own knife for that purpose.

But norwegians are barbarians anyway,

I second the idea of both a swiss army knife, and the silver heirloom knife. Ds2 got the latter as a Christening present, but in swiss army knife style, with a lovely engraving of a little boy fishing.....

hmm, i think about it!

ok, i forgive you

I had a pen knife when I was young and loved it!

Look folks, the swiss army knife isn't the most covetable ... you want one of these. DH bought me one as an anniversary present this year. My happiest moment of 2010 was sitting up a mountain by a lake eating an apple which I'd cut up with it.

Both my children have knives - younger DD has a small swiss army knife, older DS has a leatherman and a tiny Opinel knife - both used when we're camping, fixing stuff at home, taking things apart, doing modelling - all sorts of useful stuff. Both are aware of the law and never take them out of the house unless we're camping/walking.

That said, I do keep my little knife in my handbag - massively useful and no more dangerous than a pair of scissors.

All this hysteria is just silly (and I live in SE London...).

notrightnow
Ah, but I cannot open a bottle of wine with your lovely knife. Which is the reason for buying one why I am going with the Victorinox Mountaineer Lite

Well I am not really after the Opinel type of knife for DD

Am now almost wishing I had a pen knife myself or had one when I was a child so I could have all these memories of whittling etc...

Without sounding too thick - is there a link or someone who can spell out exactly what the law is? I know knives cant be sold to under 16 (or 18?) year olds and obviously I know people shouldnt go around using them as weapons or threatening to. But what else is actually set out in the law? There is something about carrying a knife isnt there - is it a certain size one? I just want to make sure I am not contemplating breaking any actual laws.

Get her one. DD has 'my first Victorinox' which has two blades, a saw, a pair of tweezers which double as a toothpick and a can opener.
She has never, to my knowledge stabbed anyone and I think I can say I'd know if she had.
Hers is rounded on the ends of the blades. She loves it and particularly likes alternating the chain and the material straps.

I have a teeny tiny pink swiss army knife - it has a little sharp blade, some scisors and a nail file - my DS8 was obsessed with it. We were at a big, mainly adult army do, in london last summer and he was bored so I showed him how to whittle twigs. He was entertained for 4 hours - and the boys men there were queing up for their turn. After that i got DS a little penknife of his own. We have very strict guidelines as to when it is appropriate - he isn't allowed to take it to friend's houses and he has to tell me if it is going outside the house (den building etc). His friends now all have them - although I did disapprove of the one friend who was given a machete...

Have just googled the subject and it seems penknives (with small blades) and the carrying/purchase thereof even by the under 16s is not illegal - although some shops may err on the side of caution and of course a school can impose its own rules about such matters. Still interesting to note they are not considered dangerous to be covered by those laws.