It was years ago, but I remember when I was a bear and a pocket knife and a bar of ivory soap was handed to me to start carving. Over the years I still carry a pocket knife in my pocket. Also, over the years my hands can attest to the cuts received from my pocket knife. Every time that I have received a wound or cut, it was because I was not being smart or paying attention. The worst cut was when I decided to make a baseball bat on the first hour of our week long camp out at Island Park Scout Camp. My whole week was ruined because I was not using my pocket knife correctly. We were too far from the hospital to get it stitched up, so the first aid cabin decided to super glue the gash on my hand. This resulted in zero water activities in the hottest month of the year. Be sure to treat your knife with respect and it will serve you well. Treat it badly and either you or the knife, and possible both, may get injured or damaged.

Gathering Activity

Here is a quiz to help your Bear Den (and really all your scouts) understand some simple and basic knife “know-hows”. Print off the QR code for your scouts to scan and take the quiz on their own device.