Swiss army knife whittling for a beginner, okay or big no?

[Reverand]

I once knew generations of old men who stood out in front of the County Courthouse who might offer a different opinion! Those old gentlemen carried sharp knives and cedar sticks, and could whittle out long, perfectly curled shavings all day!
I believe that pocket knives work well for whittling if you are not putting too much pressure on a longer blade. I pulled a couple of pictures off of the Internet of knives designed specifically for whittling and carving.

Sarge Oar Carver

this Sarge oar carver is about $32 from Woodcraft. It is an imported knife, but I believe that Case and other companies make similar patterns. The have short, thick blades that stand up to the stress of woodcarving.

Schrade slinter carver

This is one of the newer Chinese-manufactured Schrade knives. I bought one for my Dad as he enjoys whittling and carving too. It can be handy, but the steel seemed a little soft, and some of the rounded blades are all but impossible to sharpen. I now consider it more of a novelty knife.

[eveled]

Find old pocket knives with carbon steel blades. Alter the blade shapes thin them a little. Have fun.

The stainless blades on a SAK won’t stay sharp as long as a carbon steel blade.

[ea42]

Schrade made a couple of folders in collaboration with Warren Tool Co that were specifically for whittling. Warren specializes in carving and woodworking tools. Fred Clark, who owns the company, is an avid whittler.

Eric

[Steve Warden]

My grandfather gave me and taught me to whittle with a Kutmaster stockman.
Use the Swiss army knife.
But he's your dad, not mine.

[eveled]

Ideally if you are whittling at home a roll of dedicated fixed carving knives are a joy to use.

These flex cut knives are a good starting set. Notice the blades are short the handles are long. This gives more control.

If you are away from home use whatever is in your pocket. When I whittled a lot as a kid I used a Camillus 72 I used the awl on my SAK to drill holes or add dimples.

[Doug51]

What is yall's opinion?

You can. There's probably better options. More important than any knife is to wear a cut resistant glove and keeping your knife sharp so you don't have to use excessive force and learning to use controlled cuts. This will prevent you from possibly getting cut badly. Watch videos on making stop cuts, push cuts, v cuts, paring cuts. Accidents can still happen but a lot of pocket knives get blamed for getting cut by people who were using bad technique even in every day use. That said a flexcut style fixed blade knife will be the easiest cheapest to start with because it's designed for whittling/carving. Pocket knives usually require the edge to be modified to make them preform the best. Doug Linker and Gene Messer and many others have some great beginner videos.
Good luck.

[andreeoeen]

What is yall's opinion?

You can. There's probably better options. More important than any knife is to wear a cut resistant glove and keeping your cookie clicker knife sharp so you don't have to use excessive force and learning to use controlled cuts. This will prevent you from possibly getting cut badly. Watch videos on making stop cuts, push cuts, v cuts, paring cuts. Accidents can still happen but a lot of pocket knives get blamed for getting cut by people who were using bad technique even in every day use. That said a flexcut style fixed blade knife will be the easiest cheapest to start with because it's designed for whittling/carving. Pocket knives usually require the edge to be modified to make them preform the best. Doug Linker and Gene Messer and many others have some great beginner videos.
Good luck.

A Flexcut style fixed blade knife might be a better and easier option for beginners, as it's designed specifically for carving.

[DanielS]

On YouTube I've seen guys using SAKs to produce nice carvings. One guy uses a Stanley utility knife for roughing out. A few use Mora sloyds. Use whatever you want!