carrying a knife in Russia?

Moving to Blade Discussion Forum.
 
Yes, it is legal to carry, but only some types of knives. In general, if your knife has more than 4" blade, it is illegal. Also, if it can be opened using special button, it is again illegal. If blade thickness in more than 3 mm it is also generally illegal. However, as I said, it is generally illegal. Some Russian knives do not fit into these criterias, but are not weapons. In order to prove that your knife is not a weapon you must get a certificate from "Expertise" to confirm it is not a weapon, but I do not think you will have time for it. Also police does not always follow the law there.
I plan to visit one of former USSR countries soon and in order to avoid problems I intend to take SAKs with myself.
If you have more questions please let me know. It would be useful if you could tell me what knives you would like to take - I can always ask on Russian Knife Forum if police will try to cause you problems with your knives.
Regards,
 
What knife do you want to carry? All knifes suppose to be sertified. So you may just ask on russian forum or check store to see if it is sertified in Russia (supplayers usually take care to sertify knives).

There are three category: Militare, Hunting, Utility. You may carry utility, for hunting knives - they must be registerd in you hunting license, military is not allowed - but it is not fellony to carry knives any more, as it was several monthes ago. Now it is only production and selling left to be a fellony.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I just want to carry a small folder, I'll probaby visit a store when I get to Moscow and buy a cheap folder there. I'll ask the staff to get me one that's certified. I definitely do not want to risk any trouble with the police....
 
Victorinox, Wenger and similar type knives with non-locking blade less than 10 cm are legal. But I would go for a medium Victorinox. Police does not usually look at them at all, and if they look, they do not cause any trouble beause these knives are well known.
I do not know how it is now, but in the past it was prohibited to carry weapons into discos. But it does not mean you cannot. If you by mistake bring knife to a disco, put it inside your wallet, hold the wallet in your hand and spread wide when you are searched by metal detectors. Keep the wallet in the hand with watch. It might be useful to add mobile into the same hand just to have more metal. Even if metal detector rings, security thinks it is because of coins, mobile, watch etc, but not knife, they are usually quite lazy for detailed search. But avoid carrying knives into places where they are not allowed.
Regards,
 
SAK's are nice, but slow and a bit cumbersome to open. I'd like a standard folder for quick deployment.
With "non-locking blade", you mean that the blade does not lock in the open position but can be closed with a simple push on the back of the blade?
I'll go shopping for such a knife.
 
Yes, I mean a locking blade knife is the one you can close only by pressing special button that unlocks the blade. If you do not press it, the blade will not close. Spyderco Delica or Chris Reeve Sebenza are examples of knives with locking blades.
Please understand me right. The problem is usually not because a knife is illegal, but also because police sometimes want to confiscate a knife on any pretext. They may call a knife illegal and confiscate it while it can be totally legal. The reason why I mentioned SAKs is because they do not attract too much attention and look very friendly. Knives with locking blades are permitted in Russia, but the problem is that police likes to search people there and if they like your knife they may try to find any reason to "confiscate" it. It does not happen often now, so you may not have such a problem.
As I read in Russian forums, there is a good choice of knives in Russia, but I am sure that you can find better prices on internet, especially in the USA and Germany. If you like to purchase a knife as a souvenir from Russia, then it is another story.
By the way, Nozh2002 knows quite a lot about knives.
Regards,
 
I forgot to mention: there are a lot of guys on Russian forum who carry Spyderco Endura, Al Mar, Spyderco Police and other quite large knives with locking blades. And they do not have problems with police. So, perhaps if you buy a knife in a shop you would not have problems either.
Regards,
 
Gigante said:
Is it legal? I'm going there for a 1-month vacation...

Yeah, it's legal here .. just no automatic knives, only "usual" folders. Those that can be opened with one hand are OK, just stay within 4" in length.

It will be easier if you tell what knives you want to bring.

Oh, and one more way - just buy a knife in Russia and make sure the knife store gives you a "certificate" for this knife saying it is not a weapon. If you have this paper, you can carry a katana around the city and have nothing to worry about.
 
Thanks for all the good advice! I will buy a knife when I land in Moscow. Perhaps you can recommend a decent store somewhat close to the Sheremetyevo airport? or anywhere in Moscow? (I will have some time to move around in Moscow before I leave the next day)...
 
Gigante said:
Thanks for all the good advice! I will buy a knife when I land in Moscow. Perhaps you can recommend a decent store somewhat close to the Sheremetyevo airport? or anywhere in Moscow? (I will have some time to move around in Moscow before I leave the next day)...

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a knife store in Moscow, because I'm from another city))
 
Gigante said:
Thanks for all the good advice! I will buy a knife when I land in Moscow. Perhaps you can recommend a decent store somewhat close to the Sheremetyevo airport?

The closest shop I know is "Extreme". I believe it will be on you path from airport to Moscow centre. It is located on Smolnaya st., 63B. You can find a lot of knives there. Just note the folders are noticeably more expensive in Moscow. For example, Endure costs about 80$. There are site with typical prices: http://www.knife.ru/catalog.php3?pTp=5&pMk=1
BTW all the models on this site are certified for Russia.

As to automatic knives. The most of knives with blades within 3.54" (90 mm) are legal in Russia. For example, Microtech Mini Socom Elite Auto is certified like it's manual version. I hope you will not have a problems with such knives. For larger blades I recommend you to get a certificate.
 
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