First knife for a 12 year old

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Check your PMs, Ebuff75.

[EBuff75]

Finally got the okay from my brother this morning (I had to send him another note).  He emphasized "starter" in his email, but did mention that my nephew has had some basic knife safety training, which is good.  I sent my brother links to a few knives and he's okayed either of these:

Buck 375 Deuce
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Old Timer 33OT Middleman
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I'm leaning toward the Buck, but any reasons I should go with the Old Timer instead?

Also, my brother said that they don't have anything for sharpening, other than whatever it is that they use for kitchen knives.  I could get a sharpener to go with it (like a Smiths Pocket Pal), but I sort of like the idea of an actual whetstone / sharpening stone instead. 

This RH Preyda stone / oil / pocket seemed like a nice option.  (I'd never heard of them, but they're a small, family-owned company in Arkansas).  Thoughts?

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[EBuff75]

Dawned on me that (at least at first) it might be good for him to have some cut-resistant gloves too.  Yes, I know this sounds a bit over-the-top, but I'm actually somewhat surprised that my brother/sister-in-law are going along with me giving him a knife in the first place! 

Something like these maybe?  https://a.co/d/bpZNiYB

[MacWa77ace]

Some of these too?

[EBuff75]

Some of these too?

I think they've already got those covered!  He's a pretty active kid and they've likely had to patch him up a few times already from various calamities! 

[Moab]

An Arkansas stone is the best material for whetstone making available in the US. Should be good. Small is good for carrying it with your knife. But larger would be easier for a first time sharpener. More surface area means less likely to cut yourself. And easier to slide the knife across in a full motion. Versus an abbreviated smaller motion. Maybe buy him the small one and the larger $10 version I posted above with the non slip rubber base? 

[EBuff75]

That same company does offer a stone that's mounted on a base:  https://a.co/d/hO3iV7q  and I had wondered if that might be a better choice.  It's not a super-small stone (I've got some of those myself) in that both of them are 4-inch by 1.6-inch.  That's seems like a good middle size and I think it would work well for a knife with a 2-inch blade. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

The Old Timer is cheaper and therefore you're not out much money should it be lost, but the Buck has a lifetime warranty if it breaks.

ETA: I just checked the links and the Buck isn't actually that much more than the Old Timer. Maybe a couple bucks difference in price.

That said, I say go with the Buck.

[Moab]

That same company does offer a stone that's mounted on a base:  https://a.co/d/hO3iV7q  and I had wondered if that might be a better choice.  It's not a super-small stone (I've got some of those myself) in that both of them are 4-inch by 1.6-inch.  That's seems like a good middle size and I think it would work well for a knife with a 2-inch blade. 

Thats plenty big. But yes the base is a wise choice for a kid. 

[MacWa77ace]

An Arkansas stone

This is how I initially interpreted these three words.

[EBuff75]

Nah.  I'm WAAAAAY lazier than Bilbo, so there's no chance you'd even get me to leave on that quest! 

"So you're saying that you want me to leave behind my comfy house, in my quiet town, where I have a fully stocked larder, and a collection of books that I can read in front of a crackling fire, to go walk hundreds of miles cross-country, facing danger the whole time, only to challenge a dragon for it's hoard when we get to the end?  Uh, don't let the doorknob hit you in the ass on the way out Gandalf!"  *slams and locks door, while shaking head in disbelief*

However, from the Wayback-Machine-of-EBuff's-Mind, one of the local BBS's that a friend and I used to use back in the 80's was named Minas Tirith.  Since it wasn't as common (at the time) for people to really know about LOTR, it was a sort of fun thing for those of us who recognized the reference. 

I also recall that one of the shareware games of my youth, (either 'Temple' or 'Castle') had a 'Palantir' as one of the items you had to find in order to win. 

[majorhavoc]

The geek is strong in these two ...

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I could never get into the LOTR stuff. I watched the movies one time and the whole time I was cracking jokes about it ala MST3K (pissed off my sister's ex-fiancee when I did that, but I didn't care.)



Only geeky thing I ever really got into was Star Wars and then the prequels came out and screwed that up. 

[EBuff75]

The funny part is, if I could've found a LOTR-related knife for him, my brother and sister-in-law would probably have been more enthusiastic, as they're huge fans!

[majorhavoc]

The funny part is, if I could've found a LOTR-related knife for him, my brother and sister-in-law would probably have been more enthusiastic, as they're huge fans!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

The funny part is, if I could've found a LOTR-related knife for him, my brother and sister-in-law would probably have been more enthusiastic, as they're huge fans!

I did a quick search on Google for LOTR pocket knives and all I found were some Franklin Mint collectors ones.

And the quality on those is apparently just slightly above gas station levels.

Did find plenty of swords, but those might be a bit much for a 12 year old as a first knife, though.

[EBuff75]

The funny part is, if I could've found a LOTR-related knife for him, my brother and sister-in-law would probably have been more enthusiastic, as they're huge fans!

I did a quick search on Google for LOTR pocket knives and all I found were some Franklin Mint collectors ones.

And the quality on those is apparently just slightly above gas station levels.

Did find plenty of swords, but those might be a bit much for a 12 year old as a first knife, though.

Yeah, I did the same and got those same results.  A mini-Sting pocketknife is a cool idea, but apparently there's a limited market for such things with any level of quality! 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

The funny part is, if I could've found a LOTR-related knife for him, my brother and sister-in-law would probably have been more enthusiastic, as they're huge fans!

I did a quick search on Google for LOTR pocket knives and all I found were some Franklin Mint collectors ones.

And the quality on those is apparently just slightly above gas station levels.

Did find plenty of swords, but those might be a bit much for a 12 year old as a first knife, though.

Yeah, I did the same and got those same results.  A mini-Sting pocketknife is a cool idea, but apparently there's a limited market for such things with any level of quality! 

It would be kind of neat to see some good quality LOTR styled pocket knives.

[flybynight]

I could never get into the LOTR stuff. I watched the movies one time and the whole time I was cracking jokes about it ala MST3K (pissed off my sister's ex-fiancee when I did that, but I didn't care.)
Only geeky thing I ever really got into was Star Wars and then the prequels came out and screwed that up. 

How can you not like LOTR ? ( the books )


Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily....

After a while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of the siege and the outer fields. Still they were unchallenged, and still Théoden gave no signal.... A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow of death. The horses were uneasy. But the king sat upon Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas Tirith, as if stricken suddenly by anguish, or by dread. He seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him.... They were too late! Too late was worse than never!....

Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering....

But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing second it stood dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle: and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great boom.

At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:
Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them.
 

[MacWa77ace]