Uncle Russ, why do you keep your knives so sharp?

[MacTech]

This was a question asked of me by my 6 year old nephew, he's just started noticing I always have pocketknives on me, and he's starting to get curious

First, we were talking about the tomato plants I have growing in my Aerogardens, one of them, downstairs in the kitchen is a "Golden Harvest" yellow cherry tomato, and one of them upstairs is a "Micro Tom" dwarf cherry tomato plant, I was telling him how small the Micro is, he asked me how tall it would get compared to the Golden we were looking at

I got out my Swisstool to measure it
"Boy, Uncle Russ, that tool has a lot of stuff, what else does it have?"

I showed him the toolset, he was transfixed, then he asked the pivotal question posted above

I explained to him that a sharp knife is safer than a dull one, and to demonstrate, I picked one of the ripe, yummy cherry tomatoes, found one of the dull steak knives in the knife drawer, we went over to the cutting board and I had him *try* to cut the tomato with the steak knife....

He squished it, squirting the seeds all over the cutting board, then ate the tomato

So, Logan, how hard did you have to push on that knife to try to cut the tomato?

"I didn't cut it, I squished it, I was pushing hard"

Now, watch this...
I grabbed another cherry tomato, opened the plain edge blade on the Swisstool, rested it on the tomato, and using no weight or pressure, pulled back on the knife, the Swisstool cut the tomato cleanly in half, no squishing, no juices, nothing, a surgically clean cut

He was *amazed*!

So, Logan, what knife do you think is safer?
"the sharp one"

We then discussed why it cut so cleanly, and more importantly, why it was so important to use knives safely, I ended the subject letting him know that getting cut accidentally is par for the course with sharp knives, especially if you're careless, but it's nothing to be afraid of, it happens to everyone, yes, even *me*, and the best part about getting a cut from a razor sharp knife (if there can be a "best part" ) is that the cut doesn't hurt very much, and it heals quickly and cleanly

I think he's beginning to understand, he's been showing a lot more interest in my knives lately, and once he matures a little more, I think there may be a Victorinox SwissChamp in it for him, it's definitely a great first cutting tool for a curious youngster....

And I *KNOW* he'll respect the blade after seeing what a sharp knife can do

Yep, gotta' start 'em young...

[jzmtl]

Haha, good story!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Great story- I got my first knife around that age and quickly learned to respect it.  I still have it, and it's a valued part of my collection, despite being one of literally millions of identical SAKs out there.

I'll bet today's lesson will stick with Logan for the rest of his life.

Def

[WhichDawg]

exactly, he'll keep that bit of knowledge forever!
good job and nice story, thx for sharing

[Mike]

Great story and well done. Logan has an awesome uncle. 

Mike

[Ben X]

Yes, I agree with everyone above, well handled! A lot of parents are afraid of their children trying "dangerous" things, but those kinds of settings are the best way to learn. Heck my best friend just got his license in January and it was an icy night the first night he had it, and his mom was concerned about him driving a (RWD no less) Mercedes in adverse weather. Rather than let her freak out and smash out his healthy sense of responsibility, I told her I would see to it he drove home well. I had him gas it, turn hard, and brake hard etc. in the parking lot we were in before we ever left so he could see how it was going to handle and push the limits in a safe setting. Despite seeing numerous crashes on the way back, he drove home flawlessly that night. The bottom line is anything can be dangerous if you are ignorant or careless.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

A important lessoned learned there

Well done mate

[Craig]

I wish more children were taught that lesson

[Smitty44]

Thanks for sharing Russ,great story,but now I want to eat a cherry tomato,my grandson will be 6 this year,time I start teaching him also,now that I'm old enough to go fishing for free,I'll teach him how to cut bait.

[cliosguy]

thanks for sharing  :tu:and kudos for sharing that piece of wisdom so nicely