All About Pocket Knives

I am a volunteer who purchases supplies for the crafts shack at Camp Unalayee, a wilderness camp in the trinity alps of northern California. Last year I got a request for carving tools as many kids are interested in carving and have no pocket knives. They carve a variety of things but spoons are a favorite project. I know nothing about carving, but would like to get some knives that the kids can use.I think it needs to be pocket knives because backpacking is a prominent activity at this camp so for safety it needs to fold up. Any advice on a low cost knife for beginner carvers? The age range is 10-17.
Any ideas would be appreciated. There is also soapstone to be found at the camp. Is the same knife going to be good for wood and soapstone? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I am no knife expert by any means and haven't done any whittling since I was a kid and that wasn't really whittling, it was just stripping bark off a branch.

Recently I came across an imported knife; Imperial Schrade #IMP14 that is small and very functional. It has 3 blades and is barely 3" long closed.

I am sure for the price you can afford to obtain a number of them from Amazon or eBay.

Hope that helps a little.

He's talking about the traditional Boy Scouts knife.

I do a little whittling myself.
Mostly walking canes and staffs.
The guys who posted before me are right.
The Schrade imports are not bad and you can get them for a cheap price.
I have been using three medium size 3 blade stockman's for three years now strictly for carving.
They have past my test for ruggedness and work well for whittling. Plus cost less than 10 buck each.
Here is one that is much smaller at a price you can't beat.

http://www.knife-depot.com/knife-321598.html

If you decide to go with a traditional Boy Scout / Camp knife they have one made from all stainless steel at a fair price.

http://www.knivesplus.com/schradeknifesc-scamp4.html

Hope this info helps~

J W

maybe you should look into buyin some murphy bench knives they would be alot cheaper than pocketknives unless you are going to let the boys keep them, the only draw back with the murphy knives is that they will need to be sharpened when you get them.


bart

You might also want to look at Rough Rider knives. They are made in China, but have very good quality & I have nothing bad to say about any of the dozen or so I have bought/traded/given away. These are fairly inexpensive knives (about $12) & I have and use the Congress Whittler & again - no complaints. Please teach them knife saftey first & if possible have them wear a protective glove. Plus, a dull knife will cause the most physical damage to body parts - so stress to everybody - KEEP IT SHARP.

Wood carving and whittleing with out the proper knife will just frustrate anyone just starting out. Here a link to a pretty good starting knife that you can order by the dozens and is only about 10.00 each. http://stores.woodcarvertools.com/-strs ... Detail.bok You may want to find a local wood carver to help with teaching technique. That is just as important as have a good knife.