Carrying a fixed blade openly in public

[ShitsInaBush]

I prefer a fixed blade but carry folders too. I carry fixed on my property a lot but not so much when I go to town unless I’m dressed in work clothes. I live in a ranching/agricultural area and small fixed blade carry is fairly common here. Few restrictions on blades. Open firearm carry and concealed are both legal here but I don’t want the attention a large knife or open carry of a firearm brings. I also think it depends on where you are, how you are dressed and how big of a statement you are making which may be dictated by the size of the knife and how it is being carried among other things. A reasonable 4”ish or less fixed blade (Which I consider a working blade, though no less lethal) doesn’t draw too much attention for the most part but I occasionally see someone open carrying a fairly large blade and the same goes for open carry of a handgun.
“Open” Carrying a long gun is legal as well although I suspect it would immediately draw attention from law enforcement if you were walking down the street with one.
It’s their right and I don’t question that but I always wonder about their state of mind when making bold moves similar to what I described. It seems aggressive to me and I am a gun and knife enthusiast.
Seeing the print of a poorly concealed handgun gives me no angst at all. I go about my daily business expecting a great percentage of people to be armed. Just my thoughts.

It's cringe worthy to see people openly carrying rifles in public. Those same people have gun manufacturer stickers all over their vehicles so the crooks know whose car to break into lol.

 

[ShitsInaBush]

Look up Charlie Mike for a great big blade carry system. He had a reverse grip kydex sheath that would hand upside down where just a bit of the handle showed when wearing under your shirt or jacket. It made for a quick and smooth draw. I miss that guy may he Rip.

Nobody could destroy tallboys like Charlie Mike lol
RIP Charlie Mike

 

[strategy9]

The way he was swaggering, with that knife at his side made me finally see what non-knife people see when they see a large knife in town. Not good.
...
If a knife nut like me did a double take, I can only image how most people in the street might react.

To each their own, but personally it has never bothered me in the slightest seeing an open carried fixed blade knife, any more than seeing an open carried firearm? Meth vibes or not, maybe the guy was just coming from or getting ready to go on a noodling trip? IDK?

 

[shinyedges]

Matt had a ball peen hammer kydex sheath/rig for under his arm that was a bad mama jama.

I semi regularly see people carry fixed blades openly, frankly some of them look rough in their appearance. I don't give a flying hoot. Good, more power to them. If someone clutches their pearls over it, that's their problem, get thicker skin and realize for every person they see with a knife that scares them, there is 100 people hiding guns/knives.

Stop worrying about what you see someone carrying. There's likely many around you that you don't see. Yea, life is dangerous. Stay strapped or get clapped. Keep your head on a swivel and enjoy your life and time with your loved ones. Let freedom ring.

 

[Fonedork]

Here in wonderful NY Shitty must be fully concealed even pocket clips are cause for a "STOP & FRISK "....
One of my fixed blades get mounted.on my seat belt right above where it comes.out of the wall of the vehicle. Peterbilt 379 XD
Second goes small of back or cross draw and folder.goes in side leg pocket with a flap.....
Have had a few bed wetters when I pull out a blade to use

Once.I'm up North in the Adirondacks, most don't give me a second look and those that do ask about the knives and maker!!!

How you look does play a part but so does behavior......

“Stop and frisk” was found unconstitutional like 10 years ago... haven’t you noticed how much worse the city has gotten in the past 10 years lol

 

[Hammer67]

Not a big deal where I live. At least not among locals. Newcomers and tourists might freak out, but who cares.

 

[Blues]

A fixed blade would normally only get my attention if the person wearing it was acting inappropriately somehow, or was clearly making a show of it for no discernible reason.

(The same for open carry of a firearm. It's legal here and I generally reserve judgment and try to base it upon the totality of the information available to me at the time. Though I personally do not open carry and sometimes wonder about some of my fellow citizens who choose to.)

 

[jfk1110]

Initially stop n frisk was whimsical however a pocket clip is due cause.for it then and now!!

 

[FLINT77]

I am surprised to see so many negative comments about fixed blades in public on Bladeforums of all places. I've never had a second thought about seeing a fixed blade in public except "cool". My reaction is the same as when I see people in public with any tool. No harm than who cares?

my thoughts exactly. well said.

 

[jbmonkey]

We're in Calif too. But no bikinis and palm trees in this part. Small fixed blades are very common around here:

Heck even at weddings:

Just part of being dressed. All these pics are within city limits by the way.

Dang ya might have to come help us brand some day!

Ok so I'm carrying a folder here but still have my fixed blade in front:

More fixed blades:

Even dress up round here besides weddings. Last year for the wife's 50th Bday we had her favorite singer, (Dave Stamey) come and do a private concert as a surprise:

Me with my crossdraw horizontal sheath:

The wife with her behind the left hip pancake sheath, Dave stayed for tacos:

Dave had a folder in a belt sheath on his right hip ya just can't see it in any of the pics:

What ya don't see around here is very many fixed blades in vertical sheaths or danglers etc:

y'all are what I like to think of as folks out west.......not the big city nonsense stuff.....

 

[Blues]

I've been the "victim" of stop and frisk...as a young man...and a perpetrator of stop and frisk as an LEO. It's not wholly one thing or another...sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bath water. Abuses of policy often lead to necessary change. Sometimes it's not because of abuses, however.

Legal stuff, however, should probably go into "Knife Law" so that's all I'll opine on that topic.

 

[Quiet]

Florida resident here. I carry a fixed blade virtually 100% of the time I'm not at the office unless I'm not wearing a belt, then it's a folder in my sweatpants/shorts pocket.

In Florida, it's legal to open carry a fixed blade, but of course, I am completely understanding how out of place that looks in a suburban/urban setting, so my carry fixed blades of choice tend to be 3 to 3 and a half inches, and I carry them horizontally in a crossdraw sheath on my left front side on my belt. I've got one or two four inch blades I carry as well. As a result of all this, I tend to consider any fixed blade purchases based primarily on the sheath system they come with, as I've mentioned it before, but I hate, I HATE having to buy an aftermarket sheath for a knife, so I tend to not buy that knife in the first place and save myself the trouble. I like Kydex, with the ability to use a Tek-Lok or the Spyderclip. I don't like vertical blade carry, and so if a knife only has that as an option (such as in most of the fixed blades made by production guys, as well as most of our custom makers on the Knifemakers Exchange), it's a pass for me. Sorry, not sorry.

A couple of things about carrying horizontally. One, most people generally will not look along a man's beltline unless an obvious gun/bag/bulky object is clearly visible. All my knives tend to have kydex sheaths, and as such are slim in form factor (no bulky leather sheathes for me, thanks). So, I've never once had anyone make any comments about my knives. Secondly, my shirts tend to cover the knife completely, as I generally don't tuck my shirts in unless I'm at work or a formal function, at which point I'm usually carrying knives* in other ways. Now, I DO have my conceal carry license here, which covers any possible situation where an LEO might see my knife, and deem me a person of interest, so that's never bothered me.

However, it also helps that I have completely normalized carrying a fixed blade with me so my body language no longer says "I'm carrying something that I know I shouldn't be". Ever seen someone conceal carrying a firearm for the first time? Their body language is a dead giveaway. They tend to keep their hand close to the holster, and I've even seen people unconsciously grab it, or touch it to be sure it's still there. Other times, I've seen people pat their firearm, and then adjust the clothes covering it, because they're clearly nervous about printing. There are other factors, but those are a couple of the most obvious. Nowadays, my knife goes on when my belt goes on, and all is good to go. It's not in anyone's face, yet I'm still carrying a serious tool that can be used for anything from cutting a steak at a restaurant if the provided cutlery's not up to the task, to...well, you know.




* Of course I meant knives, plural, come on now. Carry just one knife? What?

 

[navman]

I see plenty of people carrying a fixed blade on their belts here in NC. In fact the reason I make the knives I do is to facilitate fixed blade EDC. 2.5-3" blades with a small, still full grip handle that is comfortable to hold and use.

 

[Pirate63]

I carry fixed blades often but typically in the woods or in rural area settings.

 

[Blues]

I see plenty of people carrying a fixed blade on their belts here in NC. In fact the reason I make the knives I do is to facilitate fixed blade EDC. 2.5-3" blades with a small, still full grip handle that is comfortable to hold and use.

Where you at, navman ?

I'm out in western NC...near Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest.

 

[1911bphil]

Where you at, navman ?

I'm out in western NC...near Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest.

I'm in the Upstate of SC. We are neighbors.

 

[Blues]

I'm in the Upstate of SC. We are neighbors.

You come up 276 a bit and I go south...and we can meet at Caesar's Head.

 

[Alberta Ed]

No problems carrying a fixed blade here in Alaska.

Same in the Yukon. I was in the Legislature one day talking to the premier a few years ago, wearing my Russell Canadian Belt Knife on my belt, and no one raised an eyebrow. OTOH, a plastic straw or (worse!) a deadly plastic fork would cause a major melt-down among the snowflakes in Ottawa.

 

[Chronovore]

I carry fixed blades sometimes but not openly. Of course, I don't live in California. It might be worth exploring exactly what the law says and how it generally gets interpreted. For instance, does it have to be "visible" or just "not concealed"? For instance, can you carry OWB on your belt and have a shirt casually draped over it?

I ask because I come at this from both the knife and gun communities. The latter is under constant assault from misinformed--often purposefully misinformed--would-be do-gooders who are trying to outlaw this or that, infringe upon the rights of others, or even punish people for daring to carry. There is a lot on the table, from the individual risk of getting "swatted" to the collective risk of how fellow citizens vote, etc.. While it shouldn't ever be up for question, and the Constitution exists, gun and knife rights are still routinely infringed in many states. So there is an extent to which we need to consider ourselves EDC ambassadors. As such, this is the best standing advice from the gun community:

For all the people who aren't bothered, some will be. Sure, it can be tempting to dismiss those people or their fragile worldview, complain that such a worldview is "part of the problem", etc.. However, the right approach to people with a wrong worldview generally isn't to bother, agitate, or scare them unnecessarily at the grocery store. If anything, that can act to entrench their position and push them towards anti-gun anti-knife activism. So if you carry openly, do what you can to not make it obvious or draw attention to it.

 

[mrknife]

I'd love to but wouldnt push my luck in NYC. Also a bit impractical but still.