A sad Opinel review from the UK...

Macchina

Macchina

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I am posting this here for the mood of the review, not the content. The review is of one of the smallest Opinels (think keychain SAK) and it starts with the uneasiness of the reviewer to include it in his kit for the Backcountry...

http://backpackbrewer.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/opinel-knife-a-review/

I am stationed in Italy for a few months and specifically brought an Opinel (#9 Carbone) in case we go hiking for it is one of the few places you can carry any knife (you need a "good reason").

It's pretty sad to see the hesitation in someone to even bring a knife hiking on this side of the pond. The bronze sword was actually perfected just South of here....
 
Thats pretty depressing. Why do people have to be so negative and hesitant towards knives? I have yet to hear of a crime involving a knife, especially a folder. And when they are its probably a crackhead or nutjob with a kitchen knife.
 
The strange aspect to me is that in EVERY restaurant and EVERY kitchen there absolutely must be knives. Even beyond the line in airports there are cable-tied and/or large plastic knives because they are essential to food preparation. Kitchen knives are kept in a separate part of the mind of the public than EDC or woods knives because everyone uses kitchen knives and not everyone sees the need for EDC or woods knives. Therefore, EDC knives are lumped in with knives used as weapons and therefore seen as weapons. The irony here is that kitchen knives would (and very often do) make a vastly better weapon than an Opinel. Ironically many kitchen knives are specifically designed to cut flesh. It's very much like banning firearms based on cosmetic features alone.
 
I live part of the year in Australia and we get a lot of UK news and TV shows. Great Britian has gone crazy with stabbings. The government has gotten rid of guns and the bad guys went to knives. Now the are trying to legislate knives. A flat piece of metal in every kitchen in the world.....good luck with that.

This may sound crazy.....it's not the gun.....it's not the knife.....it the bad guy who will be happy to use a hammer. Don't follow the Common Wealth.
 
Sadly, this is what it has come to in too many places. Australia, IIRC.

Knife%2520Stupid.jpg
 
we have restrictions, not unlike some areas in the US. Carrying a knife is perfectly acceptable in the UK. We have a pretty clear law that protects that right, we can carry without having to give anyone (inc a police officer) any reason at all
a none locking 3" bladed folder. Private venue have the right to bar you if they doesn't want you to - think night club, soccer stadium or a government building (e.g. courts).

we can carry other knives if we have 'good reason'


unfortunately the media seeds fear
 
From the Australian Government's Productivity Commission Relative Costs of Doing Business in Australia: Retail Trade - Interim Report (linked below):


" 'Some regulations don't make sense — like the requirements for proof of age to buy plastic picnic knives or regulations which effectively mean that a retailer selling both outdoor lighting and indoor lighting faces more restrictive trading hours than one selling only outdoor lighting.' "


http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/study/business-costs/retail-trade/interim
 
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The real underlying problem is that the citizenry sits back and allows these restrictions to happen.

The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance.
 
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Smithhammer said:
The real underlying problem is that the citizenry sita back and allows these restrictions to happen.

The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Click to expand...

No kidding, those two sentences sum it up. That is really all one needs to remember.

Living in Texas, we are finally starting to go the other way with our legislation, whether by hook or by crook. When concealed carry (guns) didn't increase crime, it gave politicians pause for thought. Lots of folks carry, here. A LOT. Yet, crime has gone down in Texas over the years.

Certain types of automatic opening knives are now legal, as the pro knife forces fought so hard to make the legislature define the difference between an "switchblade", an "automatic opener" and an "assisted opener", the attorneys couldn't define it 1) closely enough or 2) broadly enough, to make an enforceable law. So we are down to city/county codes and ordinances, as well as an overall state law on length as the laws we have to observe.

Our "Castle Laws" have been expanded, and now within certain rules and with justification you can shoot someone on your property within the law if you or a family member are threatened with deadly force or you are protecting your property.

Texas is a different place to be, no doubt. Pretty peaceful for the most part.

Robert
 
''If you are really worried about carrying even the smallest of camping knives, opinel even do a round tipped safety knive.'' ...... That's one screwed up outdoor mentality.
 
Guys,

Could you imagine for just one second there are democratic nations that do not have the second ammendment

England has always had very strict gun laws, which allows most of the police to go unarmed
Along with this strictness are the knife laws, which looks at locking knives as potential weapons

It is not such a big deal
 
david tn said:
This may sound crazy.....it's not the gun.....it's not the knife.....it the bad guy who will be happy to use a hammer. Don't follow the Common Wealth.
Click to expand...

This is the perfect quote. No matter what is banned, someone who wants a weapon will find one. Or they'll use an illegal weapon, because they're clearly not all that concerned about following the law.
 
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