Use a Knife Safely

A knife is one of the most useful tools a hiker can carry. It can cut cord, slice food, and shave a dry stick for kindling. But a knife is a tool, not a toy - it is sharp, and one careless move can hurt you or someone near you. You only ever use a knife with a grown-up’s permission and with the grown-up right there watching. Learn the safe way now, and you will use it the safe way every time.

🌿 The Wild Way (a knife is a tool, not a toy)

• ASK FIRST: only touch a knife when a grown-up says yes and is there to watch you.
• BLOOD CIRCLE: before you open the knife, hold your arm out straight and turn slowly - nobody should be inside that circle, and your grown-up watches from just outside it.
• SIT DOWN: sit with your elbows on your knees so the knife stays steady and in front of you.
• CUT AWAY: always push the blade away from your body and away from the hand holding the stick.
• PASS IT SAFELY: close the knife before you pass it, or pass it handle-first with the blade pointing down and away.
• CLOSE IT WHEN YOU STOP: the moment you stop cutting, close the blade or slide it into its sheath and put it away.

Never with a knife

• NEVER RUN: walking or running with an open knife is how falls turn into cuts.
• NEVER THROW: a knife is never thrown, at a target or to a friend.
• NEVER CARVE LIVE TREES: cutting into a living tree hurts it - use dead, fallen sticks instead.
• SHARP IS SAFER: a sharp knife needs less force, so it slips less than a dull one. Only a grown-up sharpens it.