I suggest a rubber axe for a 10-year old. Maybe I am too safety-conscious. I think a gun could be less dangerous in the hands of a 10-year old than an axe.
got my first knife at 8 I still have it
I think I was a Bear scout when we earned our whittling chip , a business card size card with my name on it and the rules printed on the back , a set of rules we had to follow , should you get caught breaking one you lost a corner of your card if you lost 2 or 3 corners it was ripped up and you could wait til the next years bear scouts were taking their whittling chip training and retake it with them.
as a WEBELO scout age 10 we upgraded to a Totin chip this added hatches , ax and saw lessons and rules.
at 10 I also got my compound bow , was allowed to practice in the backyard by my self , shot for hours and hours in the back yard
10 seems young in this coddled society , but I don't think it is so young as long as the safety is taught and when and where the ax may be used is laid down.
My dad hunted and had his shotgun and that was it , when I was 11 my dad bought a 22 then a shotgun for me to use well we got more into guns after that.
I think it was some where around 6 or 7 my son got his first knife.
about 10 he had a tomahawk but used my axes at
8 or 9 he was running a log splitter
I think he was shooting at about 6. I got a red ryder when he was 4 or 5 to start him on and a air rifle shortly after that
7-8 he was shooting 22 rifle and not long after 22 handgun
he was decent with a 9mm handgun about 9 1/2
at 10 he bought/earned his first shotgun. he had some money and worked the rest off splitting wood.
he bought / earned his 22 rifle at 11 more wood splitting
he started shooting action pistol a few days after his 12th birthday. I have the video of his first run , he was dropping steel fast enough and with every hit that you can hear one of the guys in the background that had been talking stop , say whooow how old is that kid?
this was of course all well trained and supervised
this summer he turned 18 , bought a Glock 19 and ran his own gun in action pistol
running chainsaw actually gave me the most pause , I don't think he ran chainsaws till he was 15 or 16
10 for a hatchet doesn't seem too unreasonable
if you never give them responsibility in little steps and make sure they earn the next steps then well you end up with child like adults unprepared for the world , you only get them for so long before you have to let them go be their own people , make sure when they fall to their level of training you gave them a solid base to work with.