How do i explain to my dad why i need a knife for bushcraft?

barleywino said:
Perhaps he’ll agree to letting you have an Opinel or Mora blunt-tip knife. If you file the spine to a right angle, you may be able to use it on a ferro rod, and you can still do a lot without a pointed tip. Batoning is not terribly effective anyway imho and you would be better served with a silky saw (my opinion). Just don’t bring the knife to school, as that’s illegal.
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This is a very valid concern, in today's world of zero tolerance BS, and may be a big reason your dad is saying no. If you don't have one, no way you can bring it to school. If you do have one, no matter how much you promise to be good, there's still a chance.
 
E Edgarthewanabebushcrafter

Outdoor survival skills include much more than only those thing requiring a knife.

Resourcefulness and motivation will take you into the woods "with what you have" and then get to work learning.

Showiig your father responsibility and diligence in your activities, such as your chores and school-work, as well as your progress and learning of aspects of wilderness skill activities that don't require a knife, will go a long way in proving to your father that you are a responsible young adult.
 
barleywino said:
Perhaps he’ll agree to letting you have an Opinel or Mora blunt-tip knife. If you file the spine to a right angle, you may be able to use it on a ferro rod, and you can still do a lot without a pointed tip. Batoning is not terribly effective anyway imho and you would be better served with a silky saw (my opinion). Just don’t bring the knife to school, as that’s illegal.
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Excellent suggestion.
I gave an Opinel like this to my daughter when she was around 10 years old.

 
I think the young man is very lucky to have a father that cares. Right or wrong he has a father that cares. And that's something that we are having less of these days. After reading these posts I have come to the conclusion that If it was my kid I would get him a good knife and then teach him how to use it. That's what I did with my two sons, that's if his dad agrees to learn something new. I gave my 14 year old grandson a knife. He likes whittling wood, if it keeps him out of trouble sitting on his porch whittling wood then so be it. But I had to have his mother and father's permission before I did anything.
 
mqqn said:
E Edgarthewanabebushcrafter

Outdoor survival skills include much more than only those thing requiring a knife.

Resourcefulness and motivation will take you into the woods "with what you have" and then get to work learning.

Showiig your father responsibility and diligence in your activities, such as your chores and school-work, as well as your progress and learning of aspects of wilderness skill activities that don't require a knife, will go a long way in proving to your father that you are a responsible young adult.
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Thank you for the advice I will work on learning skills that don't involve a knife and on my school work.
 
If you can be more specific as to *why* you think your father objects to such a knife, maybe we could address it. High cost? He thinks you'll harm yourself? Thinks you'll harm someone else? Thinks you'll get into trouble with the law? Is he ok with a small knife? Is he ok with a knife without a sharp point on the end? Is he ok with folding knives? Is he ok with a cheap knife?
 
barleywino said:
If you can be more specific as to *why* you think your father objects to such a knife, maybe we could address it. High cost? He thinks you'll harm yourself? Thinks you'll harm someone else? Thinks you'll get into trouble with the law? Is he ok with a small knife? Is he ok with a knife without a sharp point on the end? Is he ok with folding knives? Is he ok with a cheap knife?
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I am not sure, because he let's me use his fixed blade for starting the fire place and stuff like that, I own a small folding knife and I try to do some bushcraft with that but it is not very safe I have had it fold back on my fingers but I am fine.
 
OK so you do have a knife, you just need to learn how to use it.

Post a photo and someone here will be able to comment on why it folded back.
 
Edgarthewanabebushcrafter said:
Hello I am 15 years old and I have been interested in bushcraft and have tried to practice as much skills as I can but found that I need a knife for a lot of them: carving, batoning, chopping, fire craft. But the problem is my parents don't allow me to get one, my mom says it's fine but my dad says I don't need one, even if I try to explain he says no, I have tried countless times but still no i have been trying for 4 years. Any advice on how to convince or explain to my dad why I need one for bushcraft?
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As long as you don't have any independence, then you are stuck doing what your parents tell you to do. You turn 18 soon. 3 years is a very short amount of time. It may seem like a long time to you now, but that's because you have only been alive for 15 years and you weren't really making any memories for the first 5 of them.

Do you earn your own money? Your money, your choice. Get a job and you can buy the things you want, local laws permitting. If the law allows you to buy the knife but your dad still says "no", then you're kinda screwed. "My roof my rules" is pretty iron clad, and unfortunately you do need to be 18 before you can rent a storage unit where you can keep your own stuff.

One thing you can do is try meeting your dad halfway. Earn the money yourself, buy the knife (if the law allows it) and give it to your dad for safekeeping. Have him hold on to it for you and then ask him for it when you want to use it. This will give him some discretion and allow him to fulfill what he may believe are his duties as your father by keeping you from doing something stupid. After all, most of us older adults can remember how stupid we were when we were young.

Edgarthewanabebushcrafter said:
I am not sure, because he let's me use his fixed blade for starting the fire place and stuff like that, I own a small folding knife and I try to do some bushcraft with that but it is not very safe I have had it fold back on my fingers but I am fine.
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Don't baton with it. If you must practice batoning with a folding knife, then disengage the lock first and fold the knife halfway closed to roughly 90 degrees with the handle so that the knife is perpendicular with the wood that you're trying to split, while the handle is parallel with the wood. This way you can't cause the folding mechanism to get damaged so easily.

I don't recommend batoning in the first place because people can get rather stupid with it. A knife is not an axe. It's only for splitting small pieces. There are better and smarter ways to split wood without bashing your knife through it and risking breaking the blade.
 
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Edgarthewanabebushcrafter said:
I am not sure, because he let's me use his fixed blade for starting the fire place and stuff like that, I own a small folding knife and I try to do some bushcraft with that but it is not very safe I have had it fold back on my fingers but I am fine.
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You could tell your dad that you found this bushcraft knife on the internet for half price
If he is interested in buying it, I can ship it to him if he sends me a check for $60. I originally bought it for $106 but it has been discontinued. As you can see from the review, it is suitable for batoning and other applications. If you have a iPhone or similar, take a 10 second video of him stating his name and saying to please send this knife to *him* and email the video to me, then he can send me a check and I can send the knife to him. What he does with it afterwards is entirely up to him.
 
Guy McVer said:
As long as you don't have any independence, then you are stuck doing what your parents tell you to do. You turn 18 soon. 3 years is a very short amount of time. It may seem like a long time to you now, but that's because you have only been alive for 15 years and you weren't really making any memories for the first 5 of them.

Do you earn your own money? Your money, your choice. Get a job and you can buy the things you want, local laws permitting. If the law allows you to buy the knife but your dad still says "no", then you're kinda screwed. "My roof my rules" is pretty iron clad, and unfortunately you do need to be 18 before you can rent a storage unit where you can keep your own stuff.

One thing you can do is try meeting your dad halfway. Earn the money yourself, buy the knife (if the law allows it) and give it to your dad for safekeeping. Have him hold on to it for you and then ask him for it when you want to use it. This will give him some discretion and allow him to fulfill what he may believe are his duties as your father by keeping you from doing something stupid. After all, most of us older adults can remember how stupid we were when we were young.



Don't baton with it. If you must practice batoning with a folding knife, then disengage the lock first and fold the knife halfway closed to roughly 90 degrees with the handle so that the knife is perpendicular with the wood that you're trying to split, while the handle is parallel with the wood. This way you can't cause the folding mechanism to get damaged so easily.

I don't recommend batoning in the first place because people can get rather stupid with it. A knife is not an axe. It's only for splitting small pieces. There are better and smarter ways to split wood without bashing your knife through it and risking breaking the blade.
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The knife folded because some screws got lose and I tried to fix it because the liner lock kept scraping the blade on the handle but the liner lock failed when trying to spark a ferro rod, and now I haven't been able to fix my knife.
 
Guy McVer said:
As long as you don't have any independence, then you are stuck doing what your parents tell you to do. You turn 18 soon. 3 years is a very short amount of time. It may seem like a long time to you now, but that's because you have only been alive for 15 years and you weren't really making any memories for the first 5 of them.

Do you earn your own money? Your money, your choice. Get a job and you can buy the things you want, local laws permitting. If the law allows you to buy the knife but your dad still says "no", then you're kinda screwed. "My roof my rules" is pretty iron clad, and unfortunately you do need to be 18 before you can rent a storage unit where you can keep your own stuff.

One thing you can do is try meeting your dad halfway. Earn the money yourself, buy the knife (if the law allows it) and give it to your dad for safekeeping. Have him hold on to it for you and then ask him for it when you want to use it. This will give him some discretion and allow him to fulfill what he may believe are his duties as your father by keeping you from doing something stupid. After all, most of us older adults can remember how stupid we were when we were young.



Don't baton with it. If you must practice batoning with a folding knife, then disengage the lock first and fold the knife halfway closed to roughly 90 degrees with the handle so that the knife is perpendicular with the wood that you're trying to split, while the handle is parallel with the wood. This way you can't cause the folding mechanism to get damaged so easily.

I don't recommend batoning in the first place because people can get rather stupid with it. A knife is not an axe. It's only for splitting small pieces. There are better and smarter ways to split wood without bashing your knife through it and risking
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Boattale said:
Does anyone think the OP will check back in on this thread?
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I do check back
 
Edgarthewanabebushcrafter said:
I am reading all you're advice.
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With the way you’re handling yourself here, I see no problem with you having a knife.

Parents can be protective. You’ll still be there baby when you’re 35. Hang in there.

Talk of knives can be upsetting because of all the violence in the news.
If they let you have a folder now, maybe shoot for a little better quality one rather than a bigger one. You can do a lot around camp with a folding knife, including building the camp.
 
Maybe ask for a scout knife. By name. That's what a lot of boys start with. An ice breaker so to speak.
 
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