The end of sanity is upon us!

[Styerman]

I checked out British blades Forum , the whole thing is based on a misquote of Dave Budd ( a UK knifemaker ) by the Daily Mail , The British scouting movement and indeed Mr. Budd are greatly pissed ! The story gained more traction , as other media outlets picked it up . Knife crime stats will probably magically rise in the UK in the near future , as hospitals are now under mandatory reporting for knife related injuries , just as they are for gunshot wounds . Some of thesewill undoubtably be labled as " Knife Crime ".

Chris

[Gareth]

You beat me to it Styerman.  Here is a link to the original article (page 50) that Dave Budd wrote for the Scout magazine form which all the "quotes" came from.  Dave has done no additional interview with the Daily Mail.

http://scouts.org.uk/magazine_files/2009/apr_may09/scouting.pdf

Parts of that article seem to be paraphrasing the Scouting Guidelines.

https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/1515

PS I may not agree with all their positions, but it should be pointed out that nowhere does it say that they are going to ban knives from the Scouting movement.

[max6166]

I can't tell you how happy I am to find out it was a false alarm. The story had been troubling me all day.

To be honest, I really don't agree with the original article either, but it is just an opinion piece.

When I was in scouting, we started carrying folders in Cub Scouts, and fixed blades, axes and saws in Boy Scouts.

We used knives a LOT of the time as well. Most of our activities required a knife to some extent. We simply couldn't have learned the skills we were taught without one. The primary skill being how to get through most situations with just a little ingenuity and a knife.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

You beat me to it Styerman.  Here is a link to the original article (page 50) that Dave Budd wrote for the Scout magazine form which all the "quotes" came from.  Dave has done no additional interview with the Daily Mail.

http://scouts.org.uk/magazine_files/2009/apr_may09/scouting.pdf

Parts of that article seem to be paraphrasing the Scouting Guidelines.

https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/1515

PS I may not agree with all their positions, but it should be pointed out that nowhere does it say that they are going to ban knives from the Scouting movement.

Well that is a relief then

Let's hope they don't quietly phase them out either

[Whoey]

today's scouts will only need to learn to use google maps on their cell phone to get to the nearest train station

[Gareth]

I think most of the confusion comes from the fact (as I read it and I believe as Dave Budd meant it) that the article is about fixed blade knives, not SAKs and other legal EDC folders.  If I'm right then that point needed made much more clearly. 

This to me is the only controversial part:

I think it is probably safest to assume that knives of any
sort should not be carried by anybody to a Scout
meeting or camp, unless there
is likely to be a specific
need for one. In that
case, they should be kept
by the Scout leaders and
handed out as required.

I don't like the "of any sort" part at all.  I can see the argument for not having them at the weekly meet, but I'm unhappy about having camps lumped in with the same thought process.

My final point I suppose is that (other than the clarification of the UK law) this is all advice and guidelines not hard and fast rules, so it's still up to the senior Leader as to what happens in his/her group.

[CUTZ SIX]

A few weeks ago, a 19 year old guy got busted with 2 stanley knives in the trunk of his car, that he uses at work.
Got a fine of about 500$ i belive, and 7 days in lockup. Plus, he wanted to be a policeman, and he cant now because hes got a record now.

Crazy! 

[AHB]

A few weeks ago, a 19 year old guy got busted with 2 stanley knives in the trunk of his car, that he uses at work.
Got a fine of about 500$ i belive, and 7 days in lockup. Plus, he wanted to be a policeman, and he cant now because hes got a record now.

Crazy!  

From what I read, They were in the sidepocket of the cardoor and he got busted at night in front of a discoteque.. Not very smart of him.  
But I totally agree that our laws regarding carrying/owning knives is way beyond reason..  

[Freudian Frog]

... I'm glad I'm a non-threatining asian living in America.

[Craig]

You beat me to it Styerman.  Here is a link to the original article (page 50) that Dave Budd wrote for the Scout magazine form which all the "quotes" came from.  Dave has done no additional interview with the Daily Mail.

http://scouts.org.uk/magazine_files/2009/apr_may09/scouting.pdf

Parts of that article seem to be paraphrasing the Scouting Guidelines.

https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/1515

PS I may not agree with all their positions, but it should be pointed out that nowhere does it say that they are going to ban knives from the Scouting movement.

Thank goodness for that. It seems like some a*sewits journalists will write anything if it sells papers

[Neil]

Well I'm glad it wasn't quite as bad as at first it seemed.  I read the original article before and wasn't particularly impressed by that either.  When I was in scouts a couple of decades back, wearing a sheath knife was mandatory on camp.  Wow have things changed.

[max6166]

Well I'm glad it wasn't quite as bad as at first it seemed.  I read the original article before and wasn't particularly impressed by that either.  When I was in scouts a couple of decades back, wearing a sheath knife was mandatory on camp.  Wow have things changed.

That's what I don't get. Even as Cub Scouts, part of our weekly meetings were usually devoted to learning skills which required a knife in some capacity. Don't the kids do that stuff anymore?

And like you said, everyone was expected to carry a sheath knife by the time they were Scouts, and we used that knife constantly.

We were carefully taught how to use our knives, and Heaven help any kid who was caught goofing around with one!

In my many years of involvement with Scouting, including World Jamborees with literally thousands of people carrying knives, I have never even heard of a Scout being involved in any knife-related violence.

I am sure there has been a couple of freak incidents somewhere at some point, but the media doesn't seem to point out that millions of of boys have gathered together while carrying knives with nary an incident over a century.

If anyone was going to mention that, I would have thought it would be a Boy Scout magazine!?

[Gareth]

Well I'm glad it wasn't quite as bad as at first it seemed.  I read the original article before and wasn't particularly impressed by that either.  When I was in scouts a couple of decades back, wearing a sheath knife was mandatory on camp.  Wow have things changed.

That's the kind of thing that's down to the group leader though.  I would have been in the Scouts at about the same time as you and we didn't wear our sheath knives (how the old terminology come back, fixed blades as far as most are concerned) at all.  It was perfectly acceptable to carry a small folder on camp but the sheath knives only came out for specific tasks and not everyone had one.  That said, the first sheath knife I ever owned was bought for me by my Dad form the Scout supply shop here in Edinburgh as I was 11 and moving up from Cubs to Scouts.