My 5-year-old is turning six. He has informed me that six-year-olds are allowed to own pocketknives. Since this is a kid who a) has learned to split wood with a small hatchet at our friend’s wood shed and b) likes to stash stuff — from cool stones to lizard tails — in his pockets, I’m wondering if this might not be a worthy gift. No worrying about nature deficit with this boy!

Also, no worrying about finding a suitable model, what with about 1,800 versions of pocketknives available on PriceGrabber.com.

But I’m looking for something that falls somewhere in between this Swiss Army Swiss Champ, which offers about 400 tools, and the Valor Pocket Knife, which resembles the choice of a backwoods psychopath.

Now, here’s a model that has appeal: The Victornix Swiss Army Knife 53857 Midnight Manager in sapphire. The blue is a definite plus. Also, the knife is only two and a quarter inches long. It includes a small blade, some scissors, a pen, a nail file with a screwdriver tip, a magnetic Phillips screwdriver tip and wire stripper, plus an LED minilight.

I like having a few options, but not too many, because the recipient will be able to find what he needs without taking an hour. Plus, because it really only offers one blade among eight functions to dink around with, the likelihood of his losing a fingertip falls drastically.

Reviewer omahawk likes this knife too, because he (I’m almost certain omahawk is a “he”) says it’s small enough to get through most airport security and the knife and scissors will stay sharp for years. But he does point out that there’s a tradeoff: having that light means no place for tweezers. Considering my guy would probably end up losing the tweezers on his first official outing with it, that’s a loss I can live with.

Posted on June 30th, 2008 by dian