Don't look at the national rules, look at the local council, troop, and (summer) camp rules. Between them there is usually some rule. Plus camp staff love to confiscate things just so they can play with them. I got a bali confiscated in a bali legal state a few years back when I took it out to cut some rope. I later heard the same guy who took it was playing with it. I did get it back, though with some perminant wear marks and edge chipping.

I looked too for a national rule, but this is all I could find:
"While there is no official national rule against scouts carrying a fix blade most Boy Scout camps do have a policy of no fixed blades. Older Scouts might remember when the Boy Scouts sold fixed blade knifes which had about four inch blades. Many scouts decided they wanted bigger knifes so they started to bring seven and eight inch knifes. In the interest of safety scout camps forbid them. In most cases only small knife is needed. "

I figure, if the scoutmaster says it is okay and the kid uses it the way it is supposed to be used it is fine (I myself carried a small fixed blade for the last two years of scouting, though I was a totin chip/paul bunyon/wood tools instructor). However, from my experience this is only maybe 5% of scouts, so the folder rule seems to work very well. I've had hospital runs with a 1" blade SAK, I wouldn't want to have a 6" blade hospital run. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

USAF Issue Pilots Survival Knife <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
All the KaBar in a smaller package. 5" blade. Inexpensive, but ruggid and well built. It's beefy enough to take a beating, and if you do manage to break it, you're out less than $30. A great deal stronger than folders for heavy duty general purpose camping work as well.
$19-29


Course, I carry several knives.... For 99% of situations, a decent folding pocketknife will do what you need done just fine (cut rope, whittle, that kind of thing).

Please NOTE:
I have NO experience of scouting and so please follow the good advice of the experienced people here. It seems that a 'lockable' folding knife from Victorinox would be suitable - just one lockable blade plus perhaps a bottle opener is enough, you don't have to buy anything with lots of tools if you don't want to, that's why they make so many models - I have one with a lock knife & 3 other basic functions and that's very compact/easy to use and I love it.
.........

OK guys, now to my point:

Isn't a large fixed blade knife the safest and the easiest and the most convenient way to cut/slice things for cooking/cutting and etc?? - condition: always use the large-ISH knife on a choping board/surface.

Isn't a folding knife (with/without a lock) more risky than a fixed blade? Isn't a decent, large-ish, fixed knife (4"-5") better/safer/more useful? Aren't we (amatuer or pro) more likely to CUT ourselves by mis-use or accident using a FOLDING knife, for example by cutting things up in the air (un-supported), and often cutting towards ourself?

I have kids and I perfer them to use a 5" SHARP chef/kitchen knife securely on a choping board - I get extremely nervous if they start using a small peeler, up in the air and often towards their own body (fingers/arms/legs).

What's your expereinece on this point please?

caio.

An additional suggestion is to steer clear of serrated blades. Plain edges are generally more versatile and better for someone who is still learning how to sharpen and care for a knife (not to mention much more forgiving during accidents -a serrated blade gives a VERY nasty cut - I can show you the scar).

I myself would lean toward the single-blade locking Benchmade, Kershaw, Gerber, or Buck than worry about having an on-board can opener. Pack a Swing-A-Way can opener in the patrol kitchen box or carry a P-38 can opener when size is an issue. The P-38s are tiney, cost less than a buck, and work better than most those on most folders.

Another knife many boys consider is a Leatherman-type multitool. The problem with some of these is that the act of opening/folding the main blade requires folding activies while the blade is exposed. In inexperienced hands this often results in cuts.

The newer versions of the Leathermans (Charge & Wave) now allow the main blades to open/close without any folding/unfolding of the handles, which makes them much safer. Of course those usually cost more than $40.

About the BSA camp rules regarding fixed blades. Though I too feel that fixed blades can be safer and much more sanitary around food, there is no sense arguing with those that make these rules. Their minds are as fixed as the blades they ban. Scouting forums have discussed this over and over. One of the things we teach the boys is to respect authority, so as a leader I simply grin and stay silent on the issue.

The funny thing is most patrol kitchen boxes have fixed blade kitchen knives - but since they are not in sheaths, nor carried outside the kitchen area, their presence at camps is usually ignored.

If origin does not matter, Buck Knives makes a a nice fixed blade for around $20. I bought one not knowing it was imported. I think it was at Dick's Sporting Goods. When I got home and took it our of the blister pack I seen it was manufactured in China. Wrote them a letter and Charles Buck sent me a letter back with a voucher for a knife of similar value. It is a very versitile knife and a good size. Diamondback™ 3.25

I asked the same question here a year ago, and Chris gave me the same answer - buy a Mora. I bought a half-dozen carbon-steel Erikson's on his advice and I bought another one from Karamat Wilderness Ways when I took a course from Mors Kochanski last summer.

I was a scout for many years and we never had a problem with any folding knives which blade was no longer than the width of one's hand. No sheath knives were allowed for any reasons, other than cooking knives and maybe the occasional filet knives.

If you are looking for a very good, and relatively cheap knife, I'd go with the CRKT Kit Carson M16 with the Zytel Handle. And it is available with a straight edged blade.
http://www.1sks.com/store/crkt-kit-carson-m16-zytel.html
Its $34.00 plus S&H.

I recently bought the M16 EDC with the aluminum handle, it was worth the money. It is so light weight I cannot even feel it clipped in my pocket, but the Zytel handle will make it alittle bit heavier.

With my experiences with this knife is that if you aren't abusing your knives this one should hold up just fine with normal activities (I was a scout so I know what normal is......). it should take a fair amount of punishment.
The only thing I didn't like about it was how the piece you have to push with your thumb to unlock the blade was sticking on mine. So I just took apart the knife and filed it down. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I think you will be very please with this knife.
Hope this help.

Frank

Thanks Burncycle, I found the USAF Survival knife on the site of my town's outdoor store I'll prbably buy that (if my scoutmaster and parents allow it).

Post deleted by Chris Kavanaugh

Post deleted by Chris Kavanaugh