Hi all, complete knife noob here looking to get my first piece of steel soon, both because I keep running into situations where I really need a knife, and that I'm feeling a bit dodgy about walking around at night. I'm finding Mantis' MK-4 model interesting (here), but I'm a bit confused on laws regarding carry, if anyone could lend a hand?
I'm liking the MK-4 because it's a karambit-song. I've been tossing a balisong trainer from PinoySteel around for about a year now, and I've gotten used bali's enough that I like them better than regular folders. It just seems that every single time I handle one of my friends liner-locked knives, I've manage to accidentally cut myself messing with it; lock-backs have a better rep with me but I feel are a bit awkward to close.
I figure because it's a karambit-song, both sides of the blade can be sharpened (similar to a traditional karambit) and carried safely, so it's more useful utility-wise than a single-edged folding karambit (if I've read right, the curved edge has a innate tendency to rip or lodge itself in things, which isn't always useful). I like the ring as well as the blunt tip at the bottom of the (folded) blade because they look sturdy enough to be used for blunt-force if needed. This has me thinking of a lot of questions though :
Are balisongs even legal to carry around Urbana-Champaign, or Illinois in general? I've gotten mixed answers from the Google, and am tempted to just head over to the Champaign and Urbana police precincts to ask, though I don't know if I would get a happy response from there either. The MK-4 has a blade less than 2 inches long supposedly, so the length should be fine.
Also, would the ring of a karambit count as brass knuckles around Illinois...? If I ever need to defend myself, I like the idea of having something that hurt but is blunt on me, as I'm not really that strong or trained to fight in any way (definitive catch-22 of carrying right here :nonchalance
. I have at least read that to defend yourself with something like a knife, you must be in a situation where your life is on the line, so the I feel the ring and blunt point actually make a whole lot of sense.
Is there a law against carrying a karambit in Illinois? I have a friend that chooses to walk with a wave-opening one, just never knew how legal that was.
Finally is a double-edged blade even legal around here?
Again, total knife noob speaking, please feel free to correct me if I'm horrendously wrong in my thinking here. Thanks!
I'm liking the MK-4 because it's a karambit-song. I've been tossing a balisong trainer from PinoySteel around for about a year now, and I've gotten used bali's enough that I like them better than regular folders. It just seems that every single time I handle one of my friends liner-locked knives, I've manage to accidentally cut myself messing with it; lock-backs have a better rep with me but I feel are a bit awkward to close.
I figure because it's a karambit-song, both sides of the blade can be sharpened (similar to a traditional karambit) and carried safely, so it's more useful utility-wise than a single-edged folding karambit (if I've read right, the curved edge has a innate tendency to rip or lodge itself in things, which isn't always useful). I like the ring as well as the blunt tip at the bottom of the (folded) blade because they look sturdy enough to be used for blunt-force if needed. This has me thinking of a lot of questions though :
Are balisongs even legal to carry around Urbana-Champaign, or Illinois in general? I've gotten mixed answers from the Google, and am tempted to just head over to the Champaign and Urbana police precincts to ask, though I don't know if I would get a happy response from there either. The MK-4 has a blade less than 2 inches long supposedly, so the length should be fine.
Also, would the ring of a karambit count as brass knuckles around Illinois...? If I ever need to defend myself, I like the idea of having something that hurt but is blunt on me, as I'm not really that strong or trained to fight in any way (definitive catch-22 of carrying right here :nonchalance
. I have at least read that to defend yourself with something like a knife, you must be in a situation where your life is on the line, so the I feel the ring and blunt point actually make a whole lot of sense.Is there a law against carrying a karambit in Illinois? I have a friend that chooses to walk with a wave-opening one, just never knew how legal that was.
Finally is a double-edged blade even legal around here?
Again, total knife noob speaking, please feel free to correct me if I'm horrendously wrong in my thinking here. Thanks!
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