Hultafors Too Afraid to Sell Axes to Americans

How can you blame them when an idiot, wearing a short skirt, can go a drive through, order a hot coffee, put it between her legs, while driving a stick shift, squeeze/spill the hot coffee all over her private area, while attempting to drive, even though there were cup holders & still get awarded $$millions of dollars ? They may have chose to do that to save some MAJOR headaches down the road, because, common sense is not so common anymore. Just look at the wonderfull state of NY. Many US companies refuse to sell here because of the same reason. A warning lable or disclaimer means nothing here. A criminal can get hurt on your property while committing a crime & still sue you. Common sense is not so common anymore.
 
Dealers aren't selling in New York State because of injury liability laws, they are afraid of one particular New York City DA who is trying as much as possible to classify practically all knives as gravity knives and therefore illegal.
 
Maybe they should try and spin it the other way, and say someone does on go a axe rampage and kills 12 people. They could say, "see, now thats getting your moneys worth".

Sorry, uncalled for.
 
Husqvarna

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michaelm466 said:
6 Famous Frivolous Law suits that are actually B.S., so of the famous ones we hear about in emails and word of mouth. comically written too...
http://www.cracked.com/article_19150_6-famous-frivolous-lawsuit-stories-that-are-total-b.s..html
Click to expand...

Regardless, she still got money for her stupidity. Did she ask for hot coffee, or did she ask for cold coffee ? When you order coffee, you do so with the expectation that it will be HOT. Just as when you buy a knife, you do so with the expectation that it WILL be SHARP. Therefore, if you cut yourself with it, no one else is responsible but you. NOW, if someone else cuts you with it, you don't hold the maker/seller of that product responsible, you hold the idiot/criminal that did it to you responsible. Common sense is not so common anymore. If we are to go down the road of holding the manufacturers & sellers responsible, then it won't be long before no one sells anything. JMHO.
 
Again, most of the stupid suits that people talk about are "I heard from a guy who heard from another guy who read somewhere that..." In reality, all those cases are much more compicated and/or didn't go any where. I am sure the same level of stupidity exists in every country. We can certainly pull out a few jems from the Swedish legal system as well, if we started looking through their cases. As far as NYC laws, it is an issue of the law, not liability. It may be illegal to sell certain kinds of knives here, and that is why they are not being sold. Until now, that law was largely ignored, so no one cared. Has nothing to do with product liability when it comes to axes. It is similar to how fixed blades are illegal to carry in Sweden, but every construction worker has a Mora on his belt. If some DA (equivalent) started enforcing the law, it would create problems. Again, not an issue unique to the US.

We complain a lot about laws in the US, but from what I've seen, we have the most relaxed laws when it comes to knives of any western country.

It just seems like such a lame excuse. You can give it for any country in the world, including Sweden. As mentioned, the reason is more likely that they are just trying to expand into a different market that has nothing to do with axes, and don't want to bother. It's a shame because they have good axes.
 
There is a lot of legal BS in the USA....

like some members mentioned before....look at whats going on in NY
 
rg598 said:
... in Sweden, where it is illegal (from what I understand) to carry any fixed blade knife.
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Not true.

swedish_viking said:
It´s true rg598 any fixed blade or folder for that mather is illegal to carry in sweden, but for some reason a person wouldn´t look twice if you walked down the
street with an axe in your hand.
Click to expand...

I can see you're located in Sweden, so im surprised to hear that youre not familiar with Swedish knife laws.


Ive just come back from a month-long exchange program with the Swedish police, so ive got first-hand experience with the Swedish knife laws. I was stationed in Stockholm and rode along with the Nacka police dept.

Sorry for high-jacking the thread, but better people are enlightened, than stating something untrue they heard here and there. Statements like that only contribute at spreading ignorance.

This is what the law says.

1§ Knives, other stabbing and cutting weapons and other items intended to be used as a weapon causing harm and/or death is prohibited to posses in a public place, and/or school and collage, and/or in a vehicle in a public place.


It is up t0 the individual officers discretion to asses the situation. You are in general allowed to carry whatever knife you need that serves it purpose, as long as you can justify its need.

One night we stopped a car full of teenagers. One was carrying a expandable baton another had a Mora on him. Only the kid with the baton was cited. The officers didnt even frown at the Mora.

I carried a Spyderco during my entire stay after getting a green light from several officers. The knife law in Sweden is very lenient compared with other european countries such as the UK, Germany, Denmark, etc..

Of course, walking down the high street in broad daylight with a BK9 strapped to your hip is asking for trouble. If you keep it realistic and use your head, then youll be fine.

TwinStick said:
How can you blame them when an idiot, wearing a short skirt, can go a drive through, order a hot coffee, put it between her legs, while driving a stick shift, squeeze/spill the hot coffee all over her private area, while attempting to drive, even though there were cup holders & still get awarded $$millions of dollars ? They may have chose to do that to save some MAJOR headaches down the road, because, common sense is not so common anymore. Just look at the wonderfull state of NY. Many US companies refuse to sell here because of the same reason. A warning lable or disclaimer means nothing here. A criminal can get hurt on your property while committing a crime & still sue you. Common sense is not so common anymore.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You have to understand that when somebody sues a toy-manufacturer because a boomerang flew back and hit them in the head, we hear about it over here. That stuff is so ridicilous it makes the news on this side of the atlantic.

Same about the woman who spilled hot cofee over her, and sued because she wasnt warned about it.

I dont know if they are awarded damages, but i wonder how cases like that even make it to court? :confused:


But IMO if Gransfors can sell axes, then Hultafors can too.
 
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"We complain a lot about laws in the US, but from what I've seen, we have the most relaxed laws when it comes to knives of any western country. "

Wellll, I think I disagree. In the US there are different laws in most States. Some allow switchblades some don't some allow box cutters, NY calls them gravity knives and arrests owners and charges store owners who sell them. Canadian law is based on Intent and concealment. I carry a number of knives all the time and have been stopped with a truck full of pocket and hunting knives. NEVER had an issue about fixed blade carry or pocket knife carry even when concealed in my pocket. BTW, Hultafors axes are available in Canada I believe.

Best regards

Robin
 
Pipeman said:
"We complain a lot about laws in the US, but from what I've seen, we have the most relaxed laws when it comes to knives of any western country. "

Wellll, I think I disagree. In the US there are different laws in most States. Some allow switchblades some don't some allow box cutters, NY calls them gravity knives and arrests owners and charges store owners who sell them. Canadian law is based on Intent and concealment. I carry a number of knives all the time and have been stopped with a truck full of pocket and hunting knives. NEVER had an issue about fixed blade carry or pocket knife carry even when concealed in my pocket. BTW, Hultafors axes are available in Canada I believe.

Best regards

Robin
Click to expand...

You make some valid points, however, AS A GENERAL RULE the US probably does have some of the most relaxed laws. New York would definitely be the exception. The vast majority of the states are pretty wide open with knife laws.
 
You know what?

At the end of the day, there's better axes than Hultafors, and those ones are available in the US, so it's no big deal.
 
PropThePolecat said:
Not true.



I can see you're located in Sweden, so im surprised to hear that youre not familiar with Swedish knife laws.


Ive just come back from a month-long exchange program with the Swedish police, so ive got first-hand experience with the Swedish knife laws. I was stationed in Stockholm and rode along with the Nacka police dept.

Sorry for high-jacking the thread, but better people are enlightened, than stating something untrue they heard here and there. Statements like that only contribute at spreading ignorance.

This is what the law says.

1§ Knives, other stabbing and cutting weapons and other items intended to be used as a weapon causing harm and/or death is prohibited to posses in a public place, and/or school and collage, and/or in a vehicle in a public place.


It is up t0 the individual officers discretion to asses the situation. You are in general allowed to carry whatever knife you need that serves it purpose, as long as you can justify its need.

One night we stopped a car full of teenagers. One was carrying a expandable baton another had a Mora on him. Only the kid with the baton was cited. The officers didnt even frown at the Mora.

I carried a Spyderco during my entire stay after getting a green light from several officers. The knife law in Sweden is very lenient compared with other european countries such as the UK, Germany, Denmark, etc..

Of course, walking down the high street in broad daylight with a BK9 strapped to your hip is asking for trouble. If you keep it realistic and use your head, then youll be fine.



Exactly. You have to understand that when somebody sues a toy-manufacturer because a boomerang flew back and hit them in the head, we hear about it over here. That stuff is so ridicilous it makes the news on this side of the atlantic.

Same about the woman who spilled hot cofee over her, and sued because she wasnt warned about it.

I dont know if they are awarded damages, but i wonder how cases like that even make it to court? :confused:


But IMO if Gransfors can sell axes, then Hultafors can too.
Click to expand...

You may be right on the law, although the NYC laws read the exact same way, and I can tell you, that is not how that text is interpreted. The law you cited above provides that knives, and any tool intended to be used as a weapon are illegal, not that only knives that are intended to be used as weapons are illegal. Certainly the police seems to have taken a relaxed approach to enforcement, but that doesn't change the example. NYC even has express provisions allowing the carry of a knife if it is for a legitimate purpose. Oh, and any fixed blade under 4 inches is legal without questions. Even if you are right on your interpretation of Swedish law, even the NYC laws are still more relaxed.

But that is my point as well. Seems like most of what people are saying about US laws is just based on conjecture and statements that people have heard here and there. I bet you most people have never read the applicable laws, and the examples being given are just super-dumbed down exaggerations of the actual cases in question. Even what is being said about "what is going on in NY" is based on complete lack of knowledge of the laws here. As far as who can sue for what, any idiot can sue anyone over anything in any western country.

For everyone who thinks that US knife or axe laws are bad, just go around and look at the laws in each EU country. I promise you, you will appreciate the US laws much more after that.

And again, every other axe manufacturer, many of them much smaller than Hultafors have no problem with the US laws.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
. . .

Note: I may have taken a course or two on this stuff, but I'm not a lawyer. Seek professional counsel before undertaking any such endeavor. It's not too expensive and can save you a lot of trouble.
Click to expand...

IIf a product is "unreasonably dangerous for its intended use or [Get this!] a reasonably foreseeable misuse" the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer are liable in all most U.S. states states for injuries proximately resulting.

For fifty years the law has changed in one direction only: in favor of the plaintiff and his sharecropping lawyer. One plaintiff's firm in Ohio contributes more to politicians than all the defense firms COMBINED. (Defense fees have gone up less than 20% in thirty years.) It's the best legal system money can buy. The more they make, the more they get the law changed so they can make more.

And they have no or relatively little "skin in the game," because, unlike Europe, the loser does not pay the legal fees of the winner. Might as well sue.

Why do you think the sharpeners warn you that (GASP!) they make knives sharp? Why the warning on the very top of the stepladder that if you stand there you might fall? Why does the iron say to remove the clothes from your body before ironing? Are the manufacturers crazy? No balls? Hardly. These warnings are all markers of lawsuits that were lost by the manufacturers and sellers for big bucks. McDonalds? Hot Coffee is --- hot? $Millions? Remember?

While you weren't looking, the plaintiff's bar stole a good portion of your country. The nanny state is not just just the product of the legislative branch. The courts are doing their level best to "compensate" every injury to "spread loss." (See also "spread wealth.")

Grow a pair? That is BS unless it's your money is on the line. These companies have owners and employees who would kinda' like the company to survive. Many have not. They died of lawsuititis,

I can hire an expert to say that any axe intended for cutting is unreasonably dangerous per se because it is not a saw. He'll be a Phd in industrial design for a prestigious university in the state where the suit is going to happen.

A 19-year-old girl fainted and drove her Buick into a 24" diameter Oak tree at 50 mph at a time before air bags and without having bothered to put on her safety belt. Her expert engineering Phd testified that Buick should have built the car to protect her from serious injury in such a crash. (Buick looked like a bomb hit it - a big bomb.) That case went all the way to the jury, which first voted 5-3 for the plaintiff but ended up voting 6 -2 that GM was not responsible for the girl's injuries. And it's gotten thirty years worse since that trial.

More horror stories on request, but you should find them yourselves via Goggle, if you care.
 
Even if no money is awarded in these frivilous cases, it still cost the taxpayers money in time paid to employees to litigate this crap. We had an inmate sue the state because his ice cream was melted for crying out loud. It bogs down the system & cost the taxpayers undue thousands of $$$$ or more, when all that is needed is some common sense. IMO, there is NO reason some of these things should even see the light of day, let alone actually be litigated. I'm just sayin.

Use of an automobile can eventually lead to an accident. Common sense right? Well automobiles kill, mame & injure more people than knives & guns combined--yet no one wants to outlaw them. Because lots of people make lots of money off them. Knives---not so much. Use of a knife can eventually lead to an accident as well. I'm just sayin.
 
Thomas Linton said:
IIf a product is "unreasonably dangerous for its intended use or [Get this!] a reasonably foreseeable misuse" the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer are liable in all most U.S. states states for injuries proximately resulting.

For fifty years the law has changed in one direction only: in favor of the plaintiff and his sharecropping lawyer. One plaintiff's firm in Ohio contributes more to politicians than all the defense firms COMBINED. (Defense fees have gone up less than 20% in thirty years.) It's the best legal system money can buy. The more they make, the more they get the law changed so they can make more.

And they have no or relatively little "skin in the game," because, unlike Europe, the loser does not pay the legal fees of the winner. Might as well sue.

Why do you think the sharpeners warn you that (GASP!) they make knives sharp? Why the warning on the very top of the stepladder that if you stand there you might fall? Why does the iron say to remove the clothes from your body before ironing? Are the manufacturers crazy? No balls? Hardly. These warnings are all markers of lawsuits that were lost by the manufacturers and sellers for big bucks. McDonalds? Hot Coffee is --- hot? $Millions? Remember?

While you weren't looking, the plaintiff's bar stole a good portion of your country. The nanny state is not just just the product of the legislative branch. The courts are doing their level best to "compensate" every injury to "spread loss." (See also "spread wealth.")

Grow a pair? That is BS unless it's your money is on the line. These companies have owners and employees who would kinda' like the company to survive. Many have not. They died of lawsuititis,

I can hire an expert to say that any axe intended for cutting is unreasonably dangerous per se because it is not a saw. He'll be a Phd in industrial design for a prestigious university in the state where the suit is going to happen.

A 19-year-old girl fainted and drove her Buick into a 24" diameter Oak tree at 50 mph at a time before air bags and without having bothered to put on her safety belt. Her expert engineering Phd testified that Buick should have built the car to protect her from serious injury in such a crash. (Buick looked like a bomb hit it - a big bomb.) That case went all the way to the jury, which first voted 5-3 for the plaintiff but ended up voting 6 -2 that GM was not responsible for the girl's injuries. And it's gotten thirty years worse since that trial.

More horror stories on request, but you should find them yourselves via Goggle, if you care.
Click to expand...



Oh, I agree with you. I was just saying that a label or leaflet indicating proper usage and warning against the risk of bodily harm would cover the manufacturer nicely, as unless there was catastrophic failure of the product that was the result of a manufacturing defect, the user would be unable to harm themselves as long as they followed the directions. This is what most manufacturers presently do. And it works, for the most part. The risk of facing legal action is something that comes with operating a business. Sad to say it, but it's true.

I think, as others have mentioned, that it's not so much a hostile legal environment that's keeping Hultafors out of the 'States, but rather a financially strategic one.
 
Yeah you can get Hultafors axes in Canada. I think S.I.R (Now Cabelas Canada) used to sell at least one model and i've also seen their small hatchet occasionally for sale here locally.
 
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