![\"Kid](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from <\/em>The Young Adventurer’s Guide to (Almost) Everything<\/strong><\/a> — a book addressed to kids.<\/strong><\/p>\n It wasn’t so long ago that most kids were given a knife at some point before their tenth birthday, taught how to use and care for it, and, perhaps most importantly, were trusted with it. In many instances, this was the same knife a child\u2019s parent or grandparent had used, and handing it down across the generations was part of the family\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n Of course, these days most kids don\u2019t live on farms or even in the country, and the need for children\u2014or adults, for that matter\u2014to carry a sharp cutting implement isn\u2019t what it was. But once your start rediscovering “old-fashioned” outdoor projects\u2014from building fires and forts to crafting wooden whistles and baskets\u2014you’ll find more uses for a knife than you can shake a stick at.<\/p>\n Fixed Blades<\/strong><\/p>\n Most people think of a pocketknife as the best knife for a kid, but truth is, the safest, most useful knife is one with a fixed blade in a belt sheath. Thanks to its lack of moving parts, a fixed-blade knife does not fold or slide and is typically stronger due to the tang, which is the extension of the blade into the handle. With a fixed-blade knife, there is no chance of it folding on your fingers when you least expect it. As a bonus, these knives are usually more comfortable to hold and work with.<\/p>\n We get most of our knives from Ragweed Forge, through the website www.ragweedforge.com<\/a>, and especially recommend the Mora knives made in Sweden. They are made with Swedish steel and skilled craftsmanship and are the best bang for your buck around. They are simple and easy to sharpen (although they come from the factory very sharp). For fourteen bucks, you can get one of the \u201cClassic Mora\u201d knives, which comes with a plastic sheath that goes on your belt and will last you a lifetime (if you don\u2019t lose it!). The site also offers more expensive leather sheath options, or you can, of course, make your own sheath<\/a>. If you are new to using knives, the Classic Mora can be purchased in a version with a blade guard so your hand cannot slip down the handle onto the blade.<\/p>\n If you think you will be mostly carving with your knife, look in the wood-carving section of the Mora catalog and you will find #106, a knife that is narrower and pointed and our favorite for that purpose.<\/p>\n Lastly, Ragnar at Ragweed Forge is super accommodating and happy to answer questions, so don\u2019t be shy.<\/p>\n Folding Pocketknives<\/strong><\/p>\n We know that no matter what we say here, some of you will dis\u00adregard the sage advice of your elders and get yourselves a pocket\u00adknife. That\u2019s okay, you\u2019re young; every so often, you\u2019re supposed <\/em>to disregard the sage advice of your elders. Here\u2019s what we recommend when it comes to pocketknives:<\/p>\n Locking blade.<\/strong> Don\u2019t get a knife without it. These knives have a mechanism that locks the blade in its fully opened position. The lock must be released before the knife can be folded, eliminating acciden\u00adtal closures.<\/p>\n Quality.<\/strong> Don\u2019t get a cheap junker. It seems like you\u2019ve gotta throw down at least thirty bucks for anything decent, and the $35 to $65 range has a heck of a lot more options.<\/p>\n Simplicity<\/strong>. Get a sin\u00adgle midsized blade. Big and small blades are harder to control and less versatile. Those pocketknives with all kinds of gadgets that try to prepare you for the zombie apocalypse always com\u00adpromise on something\u2014if you don\u2019t lose comfort in the hand, you might end up with enough weight to drag your pants down around your ankles.<\/p>\n Not to beat a dead horse, but a fixed blade solves all those issues, no muss, no fuss. Don\u2019t say we didn\u2019t warn ya!<\/p>\n __________________________<\/p>\n Excerpted from <\/em>The Young Adventurer’s Guide to (Almost) Everything<\/a> <\/strong>by Ben and Penny Hewitt \u00a9 2019 by Ben and Penny Hewitt. Illustrations by Luke Boushee. Reprinted in arrangement with Roost Books<\/a>, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from The Young Adventurer’s Guide to (Almost) Everything — a book addressed to kids. The Most Important Tool You’ll Own It wasn’t so long ago that most kids were given a knife at some point before their tenth birthday, taught how to use and care for it, and, perhaps most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":104934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,42278,42276],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-104494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-gear","category-lifestyle"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium_large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-BLANK-768x429.jpg","large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-BLANK-538x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-BLANK-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-BLANK-320x179.jpg","reactor-640":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Best-First-Knife-Header-BLANK-640x357.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104494"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125682,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104494\/revisions\/125682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104494"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=104494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Most Important Tool You’ll Own<\/h3>\n
Choosing a Knife<\/h3>\n