Carrying a knife to the gym? (Texas)

B

Bryan Lasalle

Joined
Dec 27, 2020
Messages
12
Hey there,

First of all, I wanted to start off with a quick question for anybody else residing in Texas.
Is it legal under Texas H.B. 1935 to carry a location restricted knife to a gym as it is not a location restricted area by law? Any experience with gym locations allowing or not?

Adding on,
Do you carry a knife, fixed or folding, open or concealed, to the gym with you even when working out? (leg strap, belt strap, clipped, sheath)

I want to reference specifically about fixed blade knives.
I have seen a few threads started by people asking about a good concealed carry neck, boot, or folding knife.. but I am turning 18 soon (early January) and am planning on signing up for a gym membership at a location pretty far from my house. I plan on going very early in the morning (around the time they open) and staying for up to a few hours. This will mean I will be going when it is dark out, and having to ride a ways away from my house (on bike) and I am wanting to carry a fixed blade knife, openly, on my belt for protection. I am currently awaiting a response from the location as to their policy on the carry of knives specifically, but in the meantime I wanted to see if this would be a good idea in the first place, or if there were any locations in the North Texas area that people have not had trouble carrying a knife into the establishment to share their experience about the process.

I am wanting to carry a large fixed blade knife solely for the purpose of self protection, even though it's not seemingly ideal, as I will have to pass through a lot of different neighborhoods and main roads to get to the location and back to my house when I am finished with my workout.

Any advice, tips, or recommendations will be immensely appreciated.

Thanks,
- Bryan
 
Cant help you with specifics.

Just wanted to wish a happy 18th birthday! Good for you for getting a gym membership! Happy New Year too!

Best weapon advice I can give is to always look for things that could be a weapon that are not weapons. That pen in your pocket can be a crappy disposable one, or it could be a heavy brass pointy one. Ditto for your bike lock or tire pump. Get solid ones that could be used for a striking weapon if needed.

Again happy 18th, I wish I were 18 again.
 
eveled said:
Cant help you with specifics.

Just wanted to wish a happy 18th birthday! Good for you for getting a gym membership! Happy New Year too!

Best weapon advice I can give is to always look for things that could be a weapon that are not weapons. That pen in your pocket can be a crappy disposable one, or it could be a heavy brass pointy one. Ditto for your bike lock or tire pump. Get solid ones that could be used for a striking weapon if needed.

Again happy 18th, I wish I were 18 again.
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Thank you very much and Happy new year to you as well!!

I greatly appreciate the kind words and am just as eager in taking my first step into adulthood. I am always looking for new learning experiences and will forever be grateful for any form of knowledge and growth that anybody is willing to share with me, I will definitely always keep it in mind and have a backup in place apart from my main tool.

Thanks again!
- Bryan
 
Most gyms have locker rooms where you can change/shower, etc. I’d recommend leaving your blade in the locker with your clothes. I would absolutely recommend NOT having it on you while you’re actually exercising.

ETA I know nothing of Texas knife laws. That’s the first place you should start.
 
Can’t speak about Texas law. But I will say if you see me, I have a knife one me (except when flying). In the gym I carry a delica clipped in my mesh shorts. If I were to carry a fixed blade I would carry a small light neck knife. You don’t need a huge blade for self defense. Just training and something with a good grip.
 
I too can't answer the legal questions, but you may want to rethink the large fixed blade for the bike ride. They can be unwieldy. I dont want to try and talk you out of a large fixed blade if you want one. I carry one myself often just going to my office, because....well because I want to:D

However, as a guy that sometimes rides my bike to my gym at 3:40am, I have never found the need for a fixed blade of a large size in the 5 years I've been going. What I have wished I had was a handy can of pepper spray. Im an animal person. Love them, but the only issue I have ever had was a neighbor dog rushing out to bite at my bike. Not really attack ME but enough that I got the wobbles and nearly ate it a time or two. A larger can would ride in my water bottle holder pretty easily.

Now, the knife I do carry to the gym is indeed a fixed blade, buts its a super small Spyderco knife called the ARK neck knife. Short little 2" blade, rustproof H1 steel, easy draw sheath on a breakaway safety chain. It was designed as weapon to help protect american soldiers who were getting sexually assaulted in the showers while deployed overseas. Spyderco calls it the Always Ready Knife because you always have it on you for any chore. The designers called it the Anti Rape Knife, but ARK works either way;)

I like mine because I dont locker up at the gym. I drive/ride straight from my house with no bag. Actually, I keep mine on nearly 24/7. Its so light I forget i have it on. It gives me a handy size blade that will take care of most cutting needs, yet it was designed specifically to be a defensive knife that anyone could use regardless of training.

I think they run about $75.

Anyway, just my long 2 cents worth.
Welcome to the forum, and I absolutely applaud your detailed writing style and forum decorum and manners. I like the cut of your jib and hope to see you participate around here:)
 
Here we go again. Every few days somebody starts a discussion about using a knife as a weapon and receives a chorus of recommendations for training. That might work for John Wick or some other fictional character, but in the real world, it's nothing like you might think. I can tell you without reservation that a Texas court is no place you want to be and if you think you understand the law, you're wrong. Cutting another person with a knife is serious sh** that will get you in serious trouble.
 
a fixed blade is too cumbersome in my opinion, especially if you are wearing gym pants. just buy a small folder that is easy to carry clipped to your pocket. i used to go to the gym all the time late at night, and would usually carry something small and light with frn or plastic type handles because they are easy to get in and out of gym clothes like sweat pants or running pants. something like a cold steel tuff lite, spyderco delica/endura or matriarch, benchmade griptilian would do just fine. my favorite gym knife ever was the now discontinued spyderco native 1, but i retired it since they no longer make it. the newer spyderco native should actually make a pretty good gym knife, i havent tried one yet though.
 
Go to a gym that offers practical martial training .

Learn to fight unarmed . Then with sticks , ropes , etc . Everyday common non lethal objects .

If all you can use is a lethal weapon , you may be tempted to do so when not legally or morally justified .

Easy to ruin your young life .

Please see our Practical Tactical forum here for lots of good SD info with varying opinions .https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/practical-tactical.680/

This Syderhawk is lightweight and sweat proof . Not really a fighting knife , but could work .

 
I'm going to second the pepper spray idea and also recommend blinky lights for your bike. As a general rule bad guys are lazy, they aren't getting up at o dark thirty to hassle guys on their way to the gym. Dogs have no such compunction and are better deterred by pepper spray. Cars are your biggest enemy, you need to be visible or you may become a statistic.
 
DocJD said:
Go to a gym that offers practical martial training .

Learn to fight unarmed . Then with sticks , ropes , etc . Everyday common non lethal objects .

If all you can use is a lethal weapon , you may be tempted to do so when not legally or morally justified .

Easy to ruin your young life .

Please see our Practical Tactical forum here for lots of good SD info with varying opinions .https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/practical-tactical.680/

This Syderhawk is lightweight and sweat proof . Not really a fighting knife , but could work .

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if that blade isn’t for fighting than what is it for??? Lol. Karambit blade, serrations, Emerson opener mod, looks like a nasty fighter to me and I like it.
 
I never expected to get this many replies! Thank you all so much for the advice and recommendations!

I want to say first, that I truly do understand that over the course of time that I will be carrying a knife, fixed or folding, that I might never be in the situation of needing to use or rely on using it against another person or animal. I would never want to.

My mindset for safety and precautions has always been just that, to be very cautious of everything.
In the less than 1% instance that I happen to be in a situation where I would ever truly feel the threat of my life being in danger by another person or animal, I would want to have all of my faith and trust in the tool that I am carrying as a last resort if escape is not an option.

I can understand why there are tons of people that would rather choose a concealed carry option of either a pocket knife, neck knife, or around 2" fixed blade in the case of emergency.
It makes the most sense.
Very lightweight, compact, easy to forget about and it's always there when you need it.

Why I would rather carry a large fixed blade, is simply in the essence of having equality.
While training is the very dependent variable that can control your chances of winning a fight by a large margin, I also believe that sometimes it would just be best to try and deter the whole encounter from the start. If you are in the unlucky percentage of people that have experienced an attack or encounter, it's probably safe to agree that you have been out armed, and outmanned.

Statistically more times than not, people have been accosted by somebody using a very large metal object (pipe, tire iron, rod of some sort, etc..) or large kitchen knife, with blade lengths easily eclipsing most concealed carry knives folding or fixed, meaning they are given the advantage of weapon and length of reach, that you cannot achieve, especially under a Fight or Flight response for most people even with training, it's hard to control a natural instinct.

If I were to have by my side, a 5-7 inch fixed blade, good steel, I know won't fail on me in the case of absolute necessity, to use as a deterrent and weapon for self defense,
I would feel a whole lot more confident in my ability of deterring the attack/defending myself if I were in the situation.

Small blade against big weapon, or big blade against big weapon. Now, a gun is a whole other story, and I would much rather comply with somebody and wait for an opportunity if possible to escape than to pull a knife on them, big or small. But carrying a knife is all I have to make do with, until I am able to receive a license to carry, and I want to have my utmost, full confidence in my decision to carry, that I won't regret if the time ever comes, which I pray never happens.

As for changing gyms, this one is the closest one to me unfortunately, meaning the least amount of inherent danger, threat, or bike ride away. As for my bike itself, it is brightly colored (orange), has a fairly large frame, and I will add reflective stickers and additional flashing bike lights to the front and back as recommended, and get a very heavy duty bike lock.

Now for grounds of legality, I have looked into the majority of the state statutes, penal codes and laws. Texas does have stand your ground/castle doctrine laws enacted in place as of today.
And I greatly understand how difficult it really is and has been, to prove self defense in a court of law. Minimum force necessary, not primary aggressor, and a reasonable belief that your life was under threat (of duress) and that the immediate course of action to protect yourself is to use an immediate reasonable force necessary under threat of violence.

Sorry for the extremely lengthy reply, I just wanted to make sure that I covered everyone's individual advice, concerns, precautions and recommendations, to ensure that I have not left anything out.

And, as in response to Steely_Gunz and DocJD, I definitely am interested in both the ARK knife and Spyderhawk, and am now planning on getting both of them when able,
I really like the use of the H1 steel. Can't ever have too many knives. Awesome recommendations! Thanks a ton!

Thanks again for the responses and leniency in putting up with my probably thousandth time repeated question.
This is the most courteous discussion forum I have ever been apart of.
Please let me know if there's anything else that I should be wary of or any further recommendations/advice for my ideas and what ifs or how abouts.

- Bryan
 
Well thought out reply, Bryan.

While I wouldn't put as much stock in an arms race of packing more deadly than the other guy, it's your call, and to be honest, a great number of people who ask similar questions tend to get combative regarding our collective responses. Your reply was both polite and you gave a logical reason as to what you want to carry and why.

I would look into something that is easy to carry, affordable, and weather resistant.

Do you have a budget and/or features you are looking for in a knife? Any particular models thst speak to you?
 
As for legality, talk to a lawyer. If you want to know for sure what’s what then you need to pony up the cash and talk to a pro. Do not rely on anyone here to give good legal advice. A member here from Oregon where I live tried to tell me it was okay to conceal fixed blades because it wasn’t mentioned in any statute as being illegal specifically. The problem with that is that Oregon law is largely decided by case law and is not strictly bound by what is written. He didn’t know that he didn’t know. He read the statute on the internet and is now walking around committing a misdemeanor. Also, a bike chain is a much better weapon than a knife IMO.

As for the knife while working out...I don’t get it. These threads pop up all the time and every time I scratch my head. Why?:confused: I run through a sketchy part of Portland and the only thing I carry is a house key.
 
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Shotgun said:
Also, a bike chain is a much better weapon than a knife IMO.
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Boy howdy. Anyone who rides a bike and is looking for some sort of melee weapon is totally forgetting the chain with a lock on it.

But this ain't Bike-Chain-Forums dot com, man... it's Bladeforums!

You want a knife with you, I'm not gonna dissuade you from getting one. I got lots of big knives, and I love owning them all.

But I'll answer your add-on question with a definite no..... I do not have a knife on me while in the gym.
 
tueller said:
Can’t speak about Texas law. But I will say if you see me, I have a knife one me
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I thought the law was specific enough to be reasonably self-explanatory. But I'm not a lawyer and so this is not legal advice...
In general the previous law did not have very many restrictions but it placed a 5.5" limit on blade length. That law was changed to remove the blade length limit but there was some opposition so they had to include concessions that kept the 5.5" limit for some locations. And I won't begin to list what those are. I can't imagine that a health club would have had the lobby to be included in the exceptions.

And frustrating to me- I had a number of knives a few years before this that were longer than 5.5" (such as a Cold Steel SRK), knives that I wanted to carry and use, so when I became aware of the law at the time I sold those knives. Then the law changed and I would have been OK. I also had the idea that I would buy a Spycerco Tatanka and carry it occasionally just because I could. Now that would be meaningless. Nevertheless the new law is a step forward.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
Well thought out reply, Bryan.

While I wouldn't put as much stock in an arms race of packing more deadly than the other guy, it's your call, and to be honest, a great number of people who ask similar questions tend to get combative regarding our collective responses. Your reply was both polite and you gave a logical reason as to what you want to carry and why.

I would look into something that is easy to carry, affordable, and weather resistant.

Do you have a budget and/or features you are looking for in a knife? Any particular models thst speak to you?
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I appreciate the politeness of the members here as well.

Budget wise I'm hoping for under $170. As for features, preferably a plain edge fixed blade (with added serrations if possible) that doesn't top 7 3/4 inches in blade length.
I'm definitely still interested in a lot of KA-BAR short versions of their flagship models as well as a few Buck or Spyderco models I've seen and would still be willing to go for a folding knife if the blade was long enough, but some of the models I've been interested in are sporting carbon steel (420hc, 1095 Cro Van) rather than corrosion resistant steels. I went to a few local places that sell knives and most of their inventory has been bought up, so there's not many choices for me to really get a hands on feel for.
I've resorted to looking around online in search of a reputable choice with personal user experience if possible. I am still willing to go with another choice in place of carrying a large fixed blade as I have a good amount of time to make a final decision in what suits me the most.

Thanks!
- Bryan
 
Have you checked with the gym to see what their policy is regarding their members carrying knives in their establishment?

I don't know what Texas law might say on the matter, but I would assume that the owner of a private business might have the right to prohibit people from carrying knives within their establishment.

Frankly, I'd be surprised if they allowed people to openly carry fixed-blades in their gym. The sight of a person wearing a knife in such an unusual setting might affect business. From what I've been hearing, the population of Texas is changing dramatically. Lots of young people are moving to Texas from my home state of California. From what I hear Texas is no longer the "cowboy" state that many people imagine where a person working out in a gym with a big fixed-blade wouldn't raise a single eyebrow.

From a practical point of view, wearing a fixed-blade during a workout seems like a hindrance at best, and a hazard at worst. I imagine a person jogging on a treadmill and the fixed-blade flopping around. And if it managed to come loose from it's sheath, that wouldn't be good. Then there's the risk of it snagging on weight machines, etc.

If I were going to a gym and wanted to have a self-defense weapon close by, I would keep it near me in a backpack or duffle bag, along with hydration, towels, my phone, my wallet, etc, but not on my person. Many times in my life I've heard of people having stuff stolen from lockers in gyms.
 
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