Blade length and the "man"..

2

2ac

Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
337
I'm fully aware that most states, countries, city's, etc have blade length restrictions. That being said, how many of you really pay attention to or follow them?

I understand in some instances it is completely necessary. But for most of us, in average places, is it really that common to be "busted" for this? Now I'm not talking about walking around with your machete strapped to your leg, just your basic folder, pick a length. I know when I carry my BM710, where I live, is over lenght. And I never think twice about carrying it. At the most, it'll be a gross misdemeanor, but I'm not waving it around..
So what gives? Why the concern over something that stays hidden?
 
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In colorado its anything above 3.5" I still carry larger knives and have no problems doing so. I don't get when people freak out about the size on here, its not like cops do random pocket searches. I've been stopped by the cops with a spyderco military and they saw it, opened it then when all was good gave it back. I've asked them if they care, and I always seem to get the same answer of only if your not stabbing someone...
 
Here in NY they care more about whether the knife is a gravity knife or an auto. Any knife they can easily flick open with little or no wrist movement would be considered a gravity blade. I have shown my CRKT M16 to a cop buddy of mine and even though it is over 3.5", he needed to use the flipper to open it, so it was good.
 
Not counting county and city ordinances....floriduh legal to openly carry any blade except for a ballistic. those are illegal. with ccw legal to carry the same concealed. I follow the laws to the tee, myself. Not worth the risk to have the govt take away any of my rights. That said I've never been stopped or asked by the law about any blade I have on me. Course I live in the county....not in a big old city where there is allot more law and a lot more attitude and pressure to enforce blade laws.

I like a bigger folder myself and often carry a 3.5 to 4 inch folder. Course I'm still within the law on a common pocket knife and not a weapon concealed with or without a ccw in my state.
 
It seems crazy but the Peoples Republic of Maryland doesn't have a blade length restriction so I am good to go. I just need to not conceal it.
 
5-1/2" limit here in Texas for non-hunting/camping purposes. I don't worry about it but then I never EDC anything over the limit simply because I don't need that much knife for day-to-day tasks.

And no one is going to check unless you get busted for something worse than carrying a knife anyway. In that case they could tack it on as an extra offense on the list. I don't plan to ever be in that situation.
 
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Personally I don't want to buy trouble. I live in Oklahoma, which has FAIRLY loose knife laws. In fact, they just made a specific modification to the state law this year to clarify that assisted openers are fully legal. Full autos can be owned and used on your property, but not carried when you are away from your property. The state doesn't have a restriction on folder blade length, but Oklahoma City has a 4" restriction. I work all over the city, and other than my autos, I EDC ALL of my knives. So... I just don't buy folders with a blade length longer than 4". That really gives me a LOT of choices, and rules out very few. With that kind of freedom of choice I just don't see the need to exceed the restrictions.

Now if I lived in a city like Chicago, that would probably be different.
 
In Texas you can carry any knife up to 5½" (except a dagger) either openly or concealed. There are a few exceptions: government buildings, prisons, schools, and the like, but for the most part the Lone Star State is pretty easy on knife users. Some cities such as San Antonio and Austin may well have more restrictive regulations but in El Paso the rules are the same as the state's.

I've never once been stopped or questioned for carrying a knife and I've open carried here since 1977.
 
First, don't use 'the man' to refer to LEOs. It shows your disdain for them, which might explain why you are so worried about dealing with them.
In answer to your question, what size to carry is
A: what the laws of your state, county, and city allow. And you hadd better care, because it will matter if you ever run across a situation where you tick off a cop while doing something stupid or careless, and suddenly your too big knife becomes a way to ensure you go to jail.
B: Within those confines, whatever you are comfortable with. If you like a bigger blade, that's perfect for you. Smaller is better, great. My tastes switch from day to day depending on what I plan on doing, or where I'm going.

BTW, most folks are right: your average, normal LEO will not care if you have a knife in your pocket if you are just an average, responsible guy with that knife. I was pulled over at 11:00pm for speeding. I keep a Mora in my glove box, a multitool in my console, and a BK3 under my seat. When the officer, who was very cool to me, asked if I had I had any weapons in my car or on me, I told him what was in the car, along with what was in my pocket. Even offered to get out and let him check the car and me. His response, with a grin, "you kill anyone with them?" nope. "No worries then, just keep your hands away from the glovebox unless I ask". He never did. THAT is your average LEO. It's the cop having a bad day, or the one that sees you as suspicious who will ask you about the knife, so don't give them a reason to, and ALWAYS be polite and cooperate.
 
KrisOK said:
Personally I don't want to buy trouble. I live in Oklahoma, which has FAIRLY loose knife laws. In fact, they just made a specific modification to the state law this year to clarify that assisted openers are fully legal. Full autos can be owned and used on your property, but not carried when you are away from your property. The state doesn't have a restriction on folder blade length, but Oklahoma City has a 4" restriction. I work all over the city, and other than my autos, I EDC ALL of my knives. So... I just don't buy folders with a blade length longer than 4". That really gives me a LOT of choices, and rules out very few. With that kind of freedom of choice I just don't see the need to exceed the restrictions.

Now if I lived in a city like Chicago, that would probably be different.
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I'm moving to OK! +1 on not pushing the laws because you can.
 
Thanks to Knife Rights and Doug Ritter, I can carry a 4" knife legally anywhere in the State of Tennessee.

The city Clarksville, TN for example had a 3" restriction dating from 1962.

Knife Rights helped get a State preemption law passed in July of 2013.


To the OP's question. I don't think you'd get busted for just having an illegal knife, but that charge would get added when you got busted for something else.
 
I don't follow any knife carry rules. Knife laws are written by politicians that may or may not know anything about knives in general. These laws
are in place to protect citizens from violent acts. If I carry a folder it doesn't mean I will use it on someone else. In fact, I carry a folder strictly for utility purposes even though many knife enthusiasts would consider some of my EDC's as "Tactical". Many knife laws are just plain ridiculous. One state that we all know of allows for large folding knives to be carried yet a 2" automatic folder violates their law. Again, and lack of common sense on the part of law makers.
 
Wunderbar said:
I don't follow any knife carry rules. Knife laws are written by politicians that may or may not know anything about knives in general. These laws
are in place to protect citizens from violent acts. If I carry a folder it doesn't mean I will use it on someone else. In fact, I carry a folder strictly for utility purposes even though many knife enthusiasts would consider some of my EDC's as "Tactical". Many knife laws are just plain ridiculous. One state that we all know of allows for large folding knives to be carried yet a 2" automatic folder violates their law. Again, and lack of common sense on the part of law makers.
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To me that just seems to be asking for trouble. I may at times violate knife laws, but I certainly would not do so openly simply to defy the authorities. If knives are prohibited where I'm going (unless it has metal detectors) then the Dragonfly SS gets dropped into the bottom of the pocket and my neck knife remains safely out of sight...
 
Wunderbar said:
I don't follow any knife carry rules. Knife laws are written by politicians that may or may not know anything about knives in general. These laws
are in place to protect citizens from violent acts. If I carry a folder it doesn't mean I will use it on someone else. In fact, I carry a folder strictly for utility purposes even though many knife enthusiasts would consider some of my EDC's as "Tactical". Many knife laws are just plain ridiculous. One state that we all know of allows for large folding knives to be carried yet a 2" automatic folder violates their law. Again, and lack of common sense on the part of law makers.
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I'm sure you'll make some speial new friends in jail some day. Break the laws because lawmakers make them? Sure, you know better. When you appear in court, let us know. We'll all be watching that one on court tv.
OP, this is a prime example of what NOT to do.
 
More than likely you'll never have to deal with such an issue, some cities are very proactive about their knife laws, my guess is some less than upstanding officers in those cities have very nice knife collections at home. I've yet to hear of anyone being prosecuted for it, when they were not doing anything else wrong, but it's probably happened, and I've heard lots of stories of knives being confiscated.

That said, no one wants to be the person that an officer or judge decides to make an example of. It's always better to follow the laws and avoid the hassle. If an officer wants to "confiscate" my knife and send me on my way, so be it, not worth the hassle to end up in court. Part of the problem is laws about weapons are typically very ambiguous and open to interpretation. For example in one state I lived in there was no listed limit on blade length as long as the knife was not concealed, if it was concealed it had to be under 3". So if I have a knife in my pocket with just a bit of the knife and the clip showing is that concealed? How about if it's a deep carry clip so it's just the clip? What about if the deep carry clip is the same color as my pants etc. etc. Is that shirt or jacket I wore just a little too long covering the view of the knife/clip. It's a slippery slope, just like the "gravity" or "inertia" knife regulations, most folders these days can be flipped open with a wrist snap pretty easy, many too easy, yet I haven't heard of any issues of people getting charged with them as gravity or inertia knives, and if that was common companies would adjust their designs to eliminate it. The same is true for assisted knives. However if you walk around town "wristing" your knife open or showing off your assisted knife to scare the sheeple trouble will probably find you if you go looking for it.
 
jimh0220 said:
I'm sure you'll make some speial new friends in jail some day. Break the laws because lawmakers make them? Sure, you know better.
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Tell that to Rosa parks or Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not sure how old you are but this might be a case of 2 separate schools of thought from different generations. In 1966 Charles Whitman climbed a bell tower at the Univ. of Texas, Austin. He began shooting people and many ran home and retrieved their hunting rifles and came back to return
fire. The Police later arrived and also returned fire along side the civilians. This story is also told in the book "Tactical Rifle" by Patrick Sweeney. The thought of civilians arming themselves and firing back at an assailant would not bode well with the authorities in todays day and age..
 
jimh0220 said:
hem? Sure, you know better. When you appear in court, let us know. We'll all be watching that one on court tv.
OP, this is a prime example of what NOT to do.
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That's right. I don't recommend anyone do this either. I've been doing it since I was in the Military and even after I left My law enforcement career. I used a bit of discretion in those days. If what appeared to be a harmless person, was stopped and in possession of a knife which may or may not have been prohibited they were sent on their way. If they were suspect , then the knife was confiscated and they needed to pick it up an a given date after they were arrested, cited, etc..
I believe that someday our society will become like great Britain's with regards to knife carry. So when the time comes it will be up to the individual if they decide to, "Drink the Cool-aid" or not.
 
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I generally don't worry too much about it, since most cops would rather avoid the paperwork if you aren't acting like an idiot. Aside from that, if you find a cop on a bad day or something, just having a knife on you might go bad for you, regardless of how long or short it is. JMO, YMMV...
 
Here in NZ, the law is in part vague, meaning open to interpretation. And of course its not me that gets to make the interpretation.
I can't carry an auto or double edged blade, clear and simple.
I can only carry a 'knife' if I have a 'legitimate reason' for doing so. Blade length is not mentioned or specifically restricted.

An EDC folding knife is a practical and useful tool to have. I honestly see that as a 'legitimate reason' to always have one in my pocket.
However, a member of the local constabulary can determine that I am carrying a 'concealed weapon' without 'legitimate reason' if he wants to do so, regardless of whether it's a SAK or and XL Espada. If I'm stupid enough to give him a reason to do so.

I often carry a Para 2, as a really useful and practical and easy to EDC cutting tool. Yet just the name 'Paramilitary' could be used to connote 'weapon', regardless of any honest explanation of it's intended use and purpose on my part.

Assisted opening folders are for sale over the counter here in NZ, like the Kershaw Leek and ZT 0350 etc etc, yet the average member of the local constabulary will immediately see them as an 'illegal flick knife'. Good luck informing them otherwise.

Even NZ Customs don't get it. I have bought AO flippers from overseas and Customs confiscated them because, as they told me, they are subject to the Customs Import Prohibition Order that stipulates any knife that 'opens with a spring and has a button or switch in or on the handle' needs a special permit to import.
A flipper is not a button or switch and the very same knives are imported in bulk, without any special permit, for over the counter sale here. Despite my best efforts to politely inform Customs of this, including links to where in NZ these very knives are for sale, they just dont want to get it.
I think they genuinely don't understand, aren't bothered to change that, and within the context of their job will, if in any doubt, err on the side of caution.

Of course, as a very average middle aged and fairly innocuous working man who doesn't give any cause for a Uniform to asking me whats in my pocket, carrying an EDC blade has never been a problem for me.

But I do think the collective 'Man' should be all informed and on the same page about such things, and not be able to utilize the carrying of any form of normal pocket knife as an excuse for persecutory treatment of the carrier.

Just an NZ specific reply
 
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