Legality with carrying around a karambit trainer in IL?

[Azaex]

I've contemplated switching to a blunt karambit trainer as a defensive implement. I like the idea of a karambit as a control tool, but dislike having the lacerating abilities of the knife coupled with it. Anyone know if this would be legal around IL, or in general across the 50 states? As far as I know, the worst case scenarios are that if you do end up in court, they may try to rule the ring as some sort of knuckle, and when deployed in defense, it does initially appear as a full on sharpened "exotic blade", which may cause others to act against you in good faith.

Besides that I can't think of much reason why they would be illegal; I would imagine your average LEO wouldn't be too happy seeing it initially, but may give you a pass when he/she realizes it's totally blunt and you have some idea of what you're actually carrying around.

 

[glistam]

Based on the phrasing of 720 ILCS 5/24-1, it would seem to me that this might constitute an "other knuckle weapon regardless of its composition," so even if you had something that obviously was not a knife like a Safe-T Wrench or so-called "Impact Kerambit" it would still run a risk of being considered an illegal weapon. As of this writing, no legal case in any state has yet weighed in on whether a karambit's finger ring is or is not a knuckle weapon, so this is uncharted legal territory. IL's state laws would seem to be rather vague in that regard and run a greater risk of being interpreted this way than those of other states.

Worth mentioning is that you seem to not fully be thinking through what a police contact would be like. As a general rule, there's joking expression among my friends "What Johnny Law don't know, won't hurt 'im." Meaning, when you are going about your day minding your own business, acting lawfully and courteously to those around you, and not breaking any other laws, the police will never have any reason to even look your direction, much less discover you are concealing a weapon. When a cop is searching you, odds are 10,000:1 you did something to illegal or at least suspicious to make him do that. At that point, he is going to be hostile and just looking for an excuse. No skin off his nose if your karambit is actually blunt. "Save it for the judge" he'll say. There's way better impact weapons out there than a blunt karambit that would be perfectly legal, like a kubotan.