Whittling
Knife safety rules in simple words, not the official card. A trained adult leader always teaches the real Whittling Chip lesson and signs off before a scout can carry a knife.
Knife safety rules
Every time, no exceptions
- Treat every knife as a tool, not a toy: it only comes out when there's a job for it to do.
- Always cut away from your body, never toward it, and never toward anyone else.
- Keep a 'blood circle': stick one arm out in a full circle, that's your safe personal space, no one else steps into it while you're cutting.
- Sit down while whittling. A knife is far more likely to slip if you're standing or walking.
- Never carry an open knife, and never run or walk while a blade is open.
- Close the knife (or sheath it) the moment you're done, and before you hand it to anyone else.
- Always hand a knife to another person closed, handle-first.
- Keep the blade sharp. A dull blade needs more force to cut, and more force is what makes it slip.
- Only use a knife with a parent or leader's permission, and only after you've been shown how.
The Whittling Chip
- Learn and demonstrate the knife safety rules above to a trained adult leader.
- Show you know how to care for a knife: closing it, cleaning it, and keeping it sharp.
- Sign (or have a parent/guardian sign for you) a knife-safety pledge with your den leader.
- Receive your Whittling Chip card, its corners intact.
The classic Whittling Chip card has four corners. Break a safety rule and a leader clips off a corner; earn it back by re-demonstrating safe handling. Lose all four corners and the card (and knife privileges) are turned back in until the requirements are retaught.
Requirements and the exact pledge wording can shift between printings of the handbook. Confirm the current version with your den leader or scouting.org before running instruction.
Types of knives
Folding pocketknife
Single, small blade that folds into the handle. The standard first knife for a Cub Scout who's earned the Whittling Chip.
Multi-tool / Swiss Army-style knife
Folding knife plus extras (scissors, awl, etc.). Good for camp chores, but more blades means more to keep track of and keep closed.
Fixed-blade sheath knife
Blade doesn't fold, always carried in a sheath. Typically not for Cub Scouts; this is a Scouts BSA (Totin' Chip)-level tool.
Carving/whittling knife
Short, thick blade shaped for controlled wood carving rather than general cutting.
Knives & whittling supplies
