How low (or high) profile must your EDC be?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
1,139
If you live in a rural/farming community I can imagine a sheathed belt knife would be common and wouldn't exite the locals. But for those who are outside the countryside, how low profile must you keep it? How do you compensate? Are you deep cover? Or can those around you see you are carrying?

When I worked in EMS we could not carry a knife, but mult-tools were okay. My job (warehouse monkey) I cannot carry a "weapon" but my box cutter is okay. (I actually use one of those Super Knives that take regular utility knife blades, but it folds and has a belt-clip).
 
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Open carry of knives is legal in Florida. So I could if I wanted to(I don't yet, unless you consider pocket clip showing OC.) As long as you're following the laws and not doing anything stupid with your knives then be as high profile as you feel comfortable.
 
Where I live we can carry anything as long as it is not concealed (ie: pocket clip must show) and you intend to use it as a tool. At work its a persistance and after work its a 710, but I'm changing my rotation a bit to work = mbc, home = mbc :)
 
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for my Benchmade or
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for my leatherman. As long as you don't look like trouble or causing trouble you should be fine.
 
My country doesn't have clear laws on blade length and such, so we're pretty much at the mercy of our polimen's common sense. You might imagine that policemen in a corrupt third world country aren't the nicest folks (with a few exceptions), so I try not to attract any unwanted attention.

Luckily my workplace is very knife and gun friendly... because I'm the boss! And so are most of the places I spend time at.
 
Well it depends if I'm with my self I carry around sog level knives mainly but with friend no knife unless nessary and a cheapo since I'm scared they will bring unwanted police attettion and they hangout in the strangest of places like the park parking lot or school and they make tons of noise or they drift in parking lots and all late at night
 
i carry different knives for different situations.

at work, i carry whatever i want. outside of work, if i know i will be around people that aren't knife friendly, i'll carry a smallish slipjoint or an opinel.

most of the time i EDC knives like my para2, manix2, benchmade 550, opinel 8, buck vantage pro, etc.
 
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:D well some days its a 3" to 4" fixed blade, under my shirt, or in waistband, some days its a BM 710, or a zt350, or a BM 581, somne days its several of them...and always a leatherman Juice cs4,

No laws against length or concealed carry here, despite "common knowledge" to the contrary, all that matters is "intent"... and that they aren't "prohibited devices" of which there are many.

I work in an office and wear business casual clothing.
 
zcd said:
Where I live we can carry anything as long as it is not concealed (ie: pocket clip must show)
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I'm not sure how this rumor has been so widely spread, but it is not true. Canadian knife laws are rather vague and subjective though.

There is no length limit, and the only things that aren't allowed are "gravity knives" (aka butterfly/balisong), and "switchblades" (aka automatics) and a host of other things that are obviously designed to be weapons and not carried for EDC purposes (Push daggers, brass knuckles, shurikens, etc etc. See the criminal code for a complete list).

Now obviously this leaves a huge grey area. It's all about intent.

If you can convince a cop that you use a Katana to clean under your fingernails, then it's legal. If you tell him that you carry your SAK for self defense, then it is an illegal weapon, and you will be in deep trouble.

All of this ties in to concealment. If you are carrying a legal knife for legal purposes, then it is considered a tool (and therefore doesn't matter if it's concealed or not). If you are carrying a legal knife and are caught commiting a crime, the knife could then be considered a weapon (and therefore a concealed weapon). Technically a bag of 4-sided dice would be considered an illegal weapon if your intent was to use them as caltrops.

Note that on the municipal level, some cities do have restrictions on blade length.

Just never EVER call it a weapon or say that it is for self defense.

Sorry that this is off-topic and went a bit long, but I wanted to be thorough.
 
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I just carry my knives clipped to my pockets. As long as it's not concealed, I'm not breaking any laws. I found out recently we don't have a lot of laws when it comes to knives as long as we don't act ignorant with them. I don't plan to go up to a cop and wave them in front of his face.
As long as I'm carrying and you can see the clip and when I use them I don't act like I'm going to use it to hurt someone I'm good to go. Then again I'll strike up conversations with the local police officers about their knives and mine. It's my legal right to carry a knife. It's only illegal when I act without common sense.
 
Im currently carrying my ZT350 IWB, just cause it takes up to much space in my pocket...
 
Going back in time a bit to see what I missed while I was on "vacation" (4 months total in hosp/rehab).

I pretty much try to fit a deep carry clip to all of my larger edc's. But since I have had to start over collecting, and because I am now confined to a wheelchair, I have not worried about it too much. In fact, being in a wheelchair, I sorta prefer my knife to stick out a little as it makes it easier to get it out of my pocket ( rfp carry). But I will not turn down a deep carry clipped knife, ie ZT0561. Of the knives I have picked up so far, many have a clip that is fairly deep from the box, ie ZT0200, BM large Bone Collector refitted with an Adamas foldover clip, Boker Plus Epicenter, while the knife that stuck out the most was my Boker Plus Field Marshall until I refit it with a foldover clip that allows entire knife to go into my pocket.
 
The most anyone will ever see of my edc is a pocket clip. In the city, I carry a friction folder in a pocket sheath so it doesn't print. Most non knife people don't even know I have a knife on me.
 
jkwithawave said:
Open carry of knives is legal in Florida. So I could if I wanted to(I don't yet, unless you consider pocket clip showing OC.) As long as you're following the laws and not doing anything stupid with your knives then be as high profile as you feel comfortable.
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This ^.

Knife users should focus more on public education, and demonstrate just how useful they are as an everyday tool without freaking people out. Every responsible person should carry a knife everywhere they go, in case of emergency.

Slice through that annoyingly tough plastic packaging like butter, prepare some kindling and wood for a fire, make a bow drill to start fire in a disaster (lots of those lately), scrape the spine on a firesteel or smack a hard rock to create fire, help someone get a coin out of a stuck vending machine, cut them out of a seat belt or strap in an accident, etc.

The oldest known stone tool was just recently found, and it's kind of a cross between a hatchet and a knife (basically a primitive Ulu).

The right to carry a cutting tool for survival is an inalienable Human right.

Somehow FEMA has left "knife" out of their recommended disaster kit... that really needs to be addressed or it could be responsible for loss of life.

Those foreign-made "scissors" recommended aren't going to "cut it" when you have to chop and process the tree in the lot next door in a disaster trying to stave off Hypothermia during the 4th blizzard that winter. Seriously.
 
At the university, I carry a clipped gentleman's folder, a slipjoint in the pocket, or my trapper in a leather sheath. Can't carry fixed blades, and I wouldn't if I could. They would attract too much attention, and a little bit overkill. Being a knife knut though, I keep my Survive! GSO 5 inside my backpack :D
 
my workplace(s) are both extremly knife friendly.
im "the knife guy" at cabelas as a part time job and my full time job is a climber specialist for a tree company.
both as you can imagine are Very knife friendly.
Living in winnipeg generally no one gives me any trouble unless my fixed blades are strapped to the front of my coveralls or strapped to the front of my jacket in plain sight.
overall a pretty knife friendly place.
 
theHobbyist said:
I've got a host of kydex sheaths that I use for every day carry, they're normally horizontal cross draw.



That's a mighty fine sheath! I've been looking for something like that, but for my fixies
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Thanks, hobbyust! I prefer horizontal sheaths than vertical sheaths except for long blades I prefer drop leg.




Whammy said:
This ^.

Knife users should focus more on public education, and demonstrate just how useful they are as an everyday tool without freaking people out. Every responsible person should carry a knife everywhere they go, in case of emergency.

Slice through that annoyingly tough plastic packaging like butter, prepare some kindling and wood for a fire, make a bow drill to start fire in a disaster (lots of those lately), scrape the spine on a firesteel or smack a hard rock to create fire, help someone get a coin out of a stuck vending machine, cut them out of a seat belt or strap in an accident, etc.

The oldest known stone tool was just recently found, and it's kind of a cross between a hatchet and a knife (basically a primitive Ulu).

The right to carry a cutting tool for survival is an inalienable Human right.

Somehow FEMA has left "knife" out of their recommended disaster kit... that really needs to be addressed or it could be responsible for loss of life.

Those foreign-made "scissors" recommended aren't going to "cut it" when you have to chop and process the tree in the lot next door in a disaster trying to stave off Hypothermia during the 4th blizzard that winter. Seriously.
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Whammy, i completely agree with this post, I always carry a knife & my leatherman on me everyday can't leave the house without it (it's like my wallet) everyone who knows me knows i carry a knife and i use it everyday for everyday task. People constantly are asking me to cut, open or just anything having to use my knife/multitool.
 
here you can legally carry any size folder you want, open it concealed. My town is a weird mix of rural workers, yuppy tourists, and everything in between. So it's not uncommon to see laborers with sheathed bucks or leathermans.

I usually have my spyderco military clipped inside my waistband. even with a tucked in shirt it's easy to overlook since the belt covers most of the clip, so it flies under the radar.
 
I recently started carrying a fixed blade, horizontal carry in kydex right next to my belt buckle. So far, no problem. I'm curious if I'll get any "looks" in the summer?
 
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