Legality on My Mind

In some places, the length of the blade isn't the only factor >
equally important is whether the blade locks open.

And that's not only in the UK.

It's one of the reasons Sal is making those smallish slippies,
including really nice ones like the new Ti/Elmax Squeak.

___________


Meantime, I agree with those who've said the SAK is the way to go
if you're not sure what to carry. IMO the Alox Cadet is a nice knife
for about $30.00 or so.
 
Unless I expected to go through a metal detector, or be subject to random frisking, I'd carry whatever blade I felt like carrying, regardless of legal length limits.
No different than CCW in a place that has the "no guns" sign.

If no one sees it, it doesn't exist.
 
Megawatt308 said:
I research the knife length law and don't carry one longer than the limit. I could care less about "socially acceptable" or scaring the sheeple if they would happen to see it deployed. Face it, there will always be SOMEONE that finds a knife blade scary even if it is only 2" long.
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My thoughts exactly. Might as well let the general public know that people who carry large knives are not bad folks... by being a good example of a responsible knife owner.
 
For Chicago I had a hand forged 2 1/2 inch fixed blade. Was my Xams present to myself a few years ago. For NYC , I have a non locking small Crawford key chain knife.
 
From what I have read, (small) fixed blades and folding knives requiring two-hand opening are fine in NYC. So, when I visit I carry my Izula, SAK, or Opinel. Small and utilitarian.

And, unlike the state I live in, carrying in NY for self-defense is considered a justifiable reason. I guess someone was more concerned about a robber getting cut than someone getting killed because they were not allowed to defend themselves...
 
Yup. Wear a belt. Tuck your shirt in. Wear your pants at your hips, not your thighs.
 
The say California is the place I ought to be! So I strapped on the Khukri and moved to Beverly! Hills that is, swimming pools, a Busse SARs...
 
I'll be in Georgia/South Carolina next week. I always check local and state laws before packing an inexpensive knife, in this case my S&W M&P, in case it gets lost, I'm not out $300 like some of my knives.

I'm in California so if anyone plans on coming here, any size folder concealed, is totally legal as long as they are not autos with a blade over 2" in length..I know, ludicrous.
 
anthony cheeseboro said:
From what I know about NYC, if I visit again, I will not carry a knife with a clip. I think one handlers are trouble there too. Last I read, there have been 60,000 pocket knife prosecutions there in the last ten years, largely because of stop and frisk.
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NYC's knife laws and the way they enforce them is one reason I will never even visit there. Its bad enough having to deal with Chicago as much as I do.

Charlie Mike said:
Yup. Wear a belt. Tuck your shirt in. Wear your pants at your hips, not your thighs.
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LOL, its hard to even find jeans these days the will come up to your waist. I swear one day jeans are just gonna stop at your damn ankles.
 
About the only place I change my routine carry of a fixed blades less than 5" pm2, and multi tool is nyc...as they don't play around...was just in Boston 3 weeks ago near the prudential center waking the streets gso 4.1 on my belt, pm2, and multi tool pocket clipped...passed several cops even talked with one smoking before going into the grocery store...not a word was said... Ive carried similar in Detroit (today), Baltimore, D.C., Philly, even out in L.A.and other commiefornia cites... I've only been harassed once in 8 years of weekly traveling the country.
 
Spyderco Harpy is a good self-defense blade for cities with restrictions. It is not a straight blade, so no dirk/dagger restrictions apply. It is designed and marketed as a utility blade, thus it is not a weapon. It is less than 3" long. This makes legal just about everywhere unless there is a restriction on locking blades. I carry it with a slipjoint for those times one needs a straight edge.
 
When I went to NJ , I carried a kershaw liner locking 2 blade, with thumb studs, stockman knife, about 3 inch blades, No clip, and light in my pocket. And of course my leatherman. that was in my back pocket. nothing was visible to see
 
Its a factor since where I live has a "lawful excuse" type law, so I do have to consider what's going on. In general I can get away with more than the average person due to my job, but it never pays to push too far. I've been sticking mostly to SAKs and slip-its like the roadie and spydk, just to stay on the safe side, but a small fixed like a bk13 or izula is not a problem if I'm fishing.

I feel like smaller knives don't ruffle feathers as much, and I prefer them, so that is a factor in my favor. And swiss army knives are specifically allowed due to "their obvious utility purpose" and I figure most multi-tools would fall under that as well. Gotta love when there is at least a little sense in the world.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Its a factor since where I live has a "lawful excuse" type law, so I do have to consider what's going on. In general I can get away with more than the average person due to my job, but it never pays to push too far. I've been sticking mostly to SAKs and slip-its like the roadie and spydk, just to stay on the safe side, but a small fixed like a bk13 or izula is not a problem if I'm fishing.

I feel like smaller knives don't ruffle feathers as much, and I prefer them, so that is a factor in my favor. And swiss army knives are specifically allowed due to "their obvious utility purpose" and I figure most multi-tools would fall under that as well. Gotta love when there is at least a little sense in the world.
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I'm with you there. Nowadays, I tend to favor my SAK and Opinel since they are two-hand opening knives and thus do not make as big of an impression. Still, even just between the SAKs and Opinel, I may get a weird look because of the Opinel because it is a knife and not a "multi-tool".

I've come to think that I'm more likely to get in trouble with "authorities" because of "interpretation of the law" than with someone ill-intended. As far as I know, NJ law actually does not have limits on knife length, only that "you are carrying it for an appropriate use", whatever that means. I've heard of cops confiscating expensive knives saying that they were "too long" and refused to give a receipt. Inevitably, one can easily think of bad reasons why they would do that... Still, these are examples of situations in which the "interpretation of the law" can leave one in the mud. For these reasons, I'm getting rid of anything that per se is not clearly utilitarian. I'm getting rid of my "tactical" pens because someone may perceive them as being intended to do harm. There are other things that can be used to achieve the same purpose. I'm not changing my goal, only my approach.
 
I'm in Chicago a fair bit and I often carry a knife small enough to be Chicago legal (under 2.5" blade length). Two of my favorites for this purpose are the Cold Steel Tuff Lite (the knife that made me pretty much forget the two dozen small Spyderco knives I own--the Tuff Lite is better than a zdp-189 dragonfly by a mile) and a Spyderco Cat that spketch made me some spiffy whitish scales for (paper micarta, IIRC).

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Enkrig said:
I'm with you there. Nowadays, I tend to favor my SAK and Opinel since they are two-hand opening knives and thus do not make as big of an impression. Still, even just between the SAKs and Opinel, I may get a weird look because of the Opinel because it is a knife and not a "multi-tool".

I've come to think that I'm more likely to get in trouble with "authorities" because of "interpretation of the law" than with someone ill-intended. As far as I know, NJ law actually does not have limits on knife length, only that "you are carrying it for an appropriate use", whatever that means. I've heard of cops confiscating expensive knives saying that they were "too long" and refused to give a receipt. Inevitably, one can easily think of bad reasons why they would do that... Still, these are examples of situations in which the "interpretation of the law" can leave one in the mud. For these reasons, I'm getting rid of anything that per se is not clearly utilitarian. I'm getting rid of my "tactical" pens because someone may perceive them as being intended to do harm. There are other things that can be used to achieve the same purpose. I'm not changing my goal, only my approach.
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I honestly am not too worried about an officer stealing a knife. While I'm sure things are possible, and there have been a few threads regarding that, almost none of those folks stick around, making one wonder what the rest of the story was. And on the other hand, if you loose an opinel, all you are out really is the time spent tuning. So even if it is a concern, its still a good option. The manual lock also plays in its favor as being very old-school.
 
Full size handle, blade length laws, which knife to choose,
should I bring my knife valet on this trip (he hates to fly)
Folder vs fixed
If a folder won't fold is it then considered a fixed blade in the eyes of the law ? Think Opinel with a half a drip of water on the wood at the pivot
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Life is complicated.
Life is even more complicated when you are a knife collector.

NO MORE !

You know how they have those utility knives where the blade is designed to snap off in measured lengths ?

When I go through a zone where the legal length is less than what I have on me . . . I just snap off the extra blade length and walk on cheerful in the knowledge I am a law abiding citizen.



April Fools
 
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