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Scouts will now be a little worse prepared after they were banned from carrying their traditional penknives due to the fears of those in charge of health and safety.
New advice published in Scouting, the official in-house magazine, says neither Scouts nor their parents should bring penknives to camp except in “specific” situations. Scouts have traditionally been taught how to use knives correctly, using them on camping trips to cut firewood or carve tools. At one point Scouts were allowed to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform although this is no longer the case. In recent years the Scout Association guidance has been that parents should carry knives to camps or meetings.
Dave Budd, a knife-maker who runs courses training Scouts about the safe use of blades, wrote that the growing problem of knife crime meant action had to be taken.
“Sadly, there is now confusion about when a Scout is allowed to carry a knife,” he wrote. “The series of high-profile fatal stabbings [has] highlighted a growing knife culture in the UK. “I think it is 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.”
Leave it to the Brits to suck all the fun out of being a boy. I’ve been thinking lately, when we are done with this war on terror…we need to invade England.
Sad.
My advice. Don’t call it a pocket knife. Call it a “multi-tool”. Once I tried to mail a Leatherman to a friend overseas and wasn’t allowed to do it. I had called it a “pocket knife”, which is considered a weapon, which is banned. So I called it a “Multi-tool” and Customs let it slide through.
Of course the irony is that the only reason there’s a knife crisis in the UK is because guns were successfully banned.
Get rid of the knifes and the kids will only end up killing each other with pointy sticks. Ban sticks, and they’ll just use their bare hands.
“I’ve been thinking lately, when we are done with this war on terror…we need to invade England.” /// Yes, to free oppressed people everywhere. Well said.
I assume the USA Fifth Amendment covers knives as well. For years, I used to carry a one inch blade on my key chain–used it to open letters or clean my fingers nails. Then one day in one of the public buildings a cop looked more closely at my key chain and was going to arrest me for bringing a weapon into a Federal Building. I just said “I’ve been doing it for over 10 years without a problem—-Sorry.” he had to go to his supervisor to clear me to come back and get my weapon after my business was thru. My name got put on a list as a first offender. Haven’t had clean fingernails since.
“Last call for smores, fellas. Say, did I ever tell you guys the spooky story of the Eagle Scout that beheaded his entire troop in their sleep with his pocket knife one night. It happened Cardiff back in 2009…”
I feel sorry for the UK when the inevitable zombie apocalypse comes to pass. No guns, no knives…good luck MF!
“Scouts have traditionally been taught how to use knives correctly, using them on camping trips to cut firewood or carve tools.”
Cut firewood with a POCKET knife?
Either the scoutmasters in the UK are bastards or they never knew how to use them properly in the first place.
You use an ax for the logs and hatchets on the kindling.
If they did not know that then they should not HAVE a knife or anything more than twine. And this I would keep an eye on them.
Cursor_
Blah, England is not worth having…drab, dirty, rude and filled with busybodies and drunks.
Next, they’ll want to ban sonic screwdrivers in the UK.
More knives and guns for everybody kill the pigs burn down schools……oh never mind.What a bunch of silly shits the Brits are.
When I went into basic training (1971), the drill sergeant confiscated my Scout knife. Not only that, but the Army wouldn’t send it back to my parents. I’m not sure how infantrymen are supposed to survive in the woods without a knife. Yeah, they have bayonets, but that’s a completely different kind of knife.
#5: Don’t forget alien invasions. Can’t forget about them!
I got an idea, lets just give them firearms instead…
#2 or a bowl of raspberries!
if they come at you with a pointy stick just pull the lever that releases the vicious tiger!
Our Brit cousins cowering from spotty hoodies brandishing fish forks aside for the moment, is it true that in the US of A parents can no longer buy their kids a chemistry set?
“Be prepared”
Is no longer viable.
6,
Granted the man was being a tad sweeping in his statement, but you would shave tinder and such to start a fire with a knife.
I train Scoutmasters and other leaders, and that sort of ‘ban’ is extremely unlikely in the US. That said, some Scoutmasters will (and have always) collect knives from the youngest Scouts until they learn to handle them appropriately.
#10 Floyd – I did basic at Fort Ord in ’70. I wasn’t allowed to carry my trusty old Buck knife in my pocket but it sat in my foot locker available for use.
If Scouts are not allowed to carry knives, what will they use to whittle toothpicks from logs?
17. Well that never happened to me, but that was the 60’s.
What a bunch of dipshits. Really. D I P S H I T S
In other news, residents of the UK have been ordered to eliminate beef and other meats from their diets, since these foods also would perhaps lead to the people attempting to possess steak knives. Similarly, citizens have been ordered to allow their lawns to grow continuously, since lawn mowers are also being confiscated. Nail clippers are now being closely studied, and a report is forthcoming.
Scissors! Must ban scissors! It’s not just the running, and the stabbing, but the society threatening snipping!
Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!
Assuming I havnt been banned for being Vegan (Yeah, I mean you Mister Moderator 🙂 ), is it a good idea for young boys to be carrying knives about?
I was in the NZ Scouts years ago, and I had a pocket knife and never tried to stab someone. I actually caught the scout leaders ear with a fish hook while I was learning to fly fish, he walked behind me for some unknown reason and got snagged in the ear!
Seriously though, Eagle Scouts in particular are a scary breed. If you go through the list of Eagle Scouts, a very large number seem to end up in jail.
Should small boys carry knives everywhere? I dont think so.
#6
You could make tender or kindling with your pocket knife. However, yes, you would normally use a hatchet to make your firewood.
#10
It is not just useful, it is one of the 10 essentials for camping, hiking, backpacking or mountaineering.
Scouting in England, without a trusty pocket knife at the ready, would make the uniform a magnet for every rampant pedophile and neo-facist knee cap fancier from Dover to the Isle of Sky.
Arm the little blighters.
# 21 Faxon said,”…citizens have been ordered to allow their lawns to grow continuously, since lawn mowers are also being confiscated.”
You’ve gone too far, Faxon. It’s illegal in the UK NOT to mow your lawn. Keep it short lest you receive a citation for antisocial behavior. Uh, sorry: behaviour.
I am from the UK and practice bushcraft. I tried being in the scouts but all we did was ride bikes, tie knots (not sure how they will cut the string now) and run cake stalls. So in all truth the scouts are uselessnow anyway. I joined the army cadets instead, that was much better we actually learned to survive! However this pathetic anti knife culture is stupid, almost all knife attacks involve a kitchen knife. And we can be arrested for carrying anything that could be a weapon if the police decide we intend to use it as a weapon. Examples include walking sticks, screwdrivers, pens, hammers, drinks bottles oh and of course maglites.
The crazy thing is we all carry lethal weapons all the time, our hands! And the members of society that would carry knives have started to keep wolf hounds, doberman dogs, etc that they train to attack and just walk them and use them as legal weapons in a truly dispicable way. So this kind of poxy nanny state drivel really solves nothing, so I will keep carrying my Gerber gator, leatherman, machete and I have a chainsaw for some zombie beheading 😉
just had a thought if you left school at 16 to train and work as a electrician, chef or carpenter, you could not buy your tools as they are officially offensive weapons by law and only people over 18 can buy them. So the law is preventing you from training and working! I wonder if someone could sue?
My first knife was presented to me by my Scout leader (actually it was Cubs) It was a Swiss Army Knife with my name in-graved on it.
Scouting without knives…doesnt sound like much fun. kids who want to carry knives will and Id rather have a program that trains the kids proper handling.
Ill compromise… take the knives away, but the BSA has to give up its homophobic policy.
jaywontdart says: If you go through the list of Eagle Scouts, a very large number seem to end up in jail.
Possibly you saw this list?
http://tinyurl.com/2c2yz8