Spyderco Forums

I’ve been shopping for a pair of knives to give my twin girls on their 7th birthday next month. After looking at Spydercos, Opinels, SAKs, and other stuff, I think I’ve settled on a pair of Meadowlark 2s. Opinel got axed when I realized how round they are while sharpening one of mine, no indexing at all. The SAKs got the boot when I decided I wanted locking blades. And single blades! Heaven knows I do enough sharpening without adding more multi blade knives to the household. I also thought real hard about a couple AG Russell Woodswalkers, but ultimately settled on a locking folding design.

I’ll admit I’ve had a hangup about Chinese made goods. In fact I was nearly pushed over the edge when I once saw a tag that read “Hecho en China”. I generally try real hard to stick with US made goods, but that’s becoming harder to do every day. Ultimately I decided giving 7yo kids $75 knives is not wise... the price point of these Byrds means damage and loss is less painful, and by all accounts these are decent little knives.

I downloaded pics and cropped them so they were only color squares. They both picked the blue. But they don’t really know what they are...

I’ll post impressions after they get them. We have a camping trip lined up for November, perfect time to work on fire building and kindling prep. And no, they won’t get to keep them in their room!

I've never used any of the Byrd knives but just from looking over the spec sheet on BHQ the meadowlark2 looks like a pretty solid knife for that price, and for a first knife, looking forward to hearing what they think of them.

I tend to think children may well have more fun and possibly be safer with a fixed blade like a Mora Scout particularly on camping trips putting points on stick, making feather sticks and idle whittling.

A zero grind Scandi won’t be beaten at anything that involves cutting wood, the wooden handle shape won’t fatigue little hands or cause hot spots, the finger guard ensures little fingers don’t slide down to the blade and you can buy the rounded tip Mora model 39 (I think) that mitigates an accidental stab.

Just my $0.02c worth. :)

Hi Woodpuppy,

It is just my opinion, but I think that the Meadowlark is too large for a 7 year old. The knives are large for small kinds, very sharp and the possibility of them hurting themselves is high.

I'm kinda wiith Bloke. If they will only be used for camping, a small fixed blade will serve well.

If you are set on a locking folder, I would recommend the Starling 2. Nice design, nice quality, low cost, G-10 scales.

sal

Edited...wrong section

Bloke & Sal, I appreciate your input. I considered a small fixed blade. I wrestled a little with the meadowlark vs the robin, which correlate in size quite well with the Delica and dragonfly. One of my girls already has her own 4” santoku since she really likes to help cook. They both understand about sharp knives. They’ve been using them since pre-K in Montessori. I’m under no illusion that they won’t cut themselves at some point, I still do from time to time... in the meantime, they’ve been “training” with the glow in the dark plastic Delicas. And that is why I ultimately chose the meadowlark, it seems a reasonable size in their hands, especially the cook- she’s got looong fingers and feet. If they seem too big when delivered, I’ll regroup.

Hi Woodpuppy,

With that experience, then I would trust your judgement. Both the Meadowlark and Robin would be fine pieces.

sal

Hi Wp

Your little girls are obviously well versed in knife handling which I feel is a credit to you and them both particularly being so young.

I’m sure they’ll enjoy their new knife and I wish them a Very Happy upcoming Birthday. :)

The Meadowlark sounds like a real cool gift. I know that when I was a little kid I would've been thrilled to get one :) The knives will probably not be too large, when I was 10 I got a fixed blade the size of an Endura and it never felt too large. Plus, this way they'll be able to keep using the knife for years without outgrowing it.

Good call on getting the cheap ones, too. The knives I had as a kid all ended up being chewed on, stabbed into the dirt, being used to cut up random plants with the concrete patio featuring as the chopping board, and not washed off for weeks afterwards. My brother used his as hatchets and prying tools, and managed to snap several in half, including a full-size tanto-point KA-BAR. They'll enjoy the cheaper knives just as much, and any damage or loss will not hurt nearly so bad.