measuring blade length

I agree with this. "Blade Length" is front of bolster/scale to tip. "Edge Length" is the length from tip to the end of the edge at the choil.

It can get a bit hazy sometimes, however. On the Buck Vantage, if you measure from the front most part of the scale it's right at 3", but if you measure edge length it's 3.25". Legally it would be a 3.25" blade.

It's always better to err on the side of caution when legal is involved, if they want to prosecute they try as hard as they possibly can to get a measurement that will help their case.
 
MarkN86 said:
I agree with this. "Blade Length" is front of bolster/scale to tip. "Edge Length" is the length from tip to the end of the edge at the choil.

It can get a bit hazy sometimes, however. On the Buck Vantage, if you measure from the front most part of the scale it's right at 3", but if you measure edge length it's 3.25". Legally it would be a 3.25" blade.

It's always better to err on the side of caution when legal is involved, if they want to prosecute they try as hard as they possibly can to get a measurement that will help their case.
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I used to be a prosecutor, I'm married to a prosecutor, and have never seen or heard of a knife blade being measured based on anything other than a straight-line measurement from tip to handle.
Trying to play the "edge length" game would get thrown out of court pretty quickly with even a dumb argument like "Judge, by the State's reasoning, my pizza wheel is a 12-inch blade..."
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
I used to be a prosecutor, I'm married to a prosecutor, and have never seen or heard of a knife blade being measured based on anything other than a straight-line measurement from tip to handle.
Trying to play the "edge length" game would get thrown out of court pretty quickly with even a dumb argument like "Judge, by the State's reasoning, my pizza wheel is a 12-inch blade..."
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You would know better than I would, for sure, I'm just overly cautious because of all of the anti-knife sentiment in the world today.

Are you referring to measuring tip to belly to heel in an arc? I'm referring to edge that goes back behind the front most part of the handle.
 
I am the naive sort who hopes that demeanor and use would trump a quarter inch in an officer's eyes.

I would like to think blade length measurements would take a backseat to how a knife is being presented. I'm a lot less worried about a guy using a buck 110 to whittle a pipe than a guy making stabbing motions with his SAK classic at people on a bus.
 
MarkN86 said:
You would know better than I would, for sure, I'm just overly cautious because of all of the anti-knife sentiment in the world today.

Are you referring to measuring tip to belly to heel in an arc? I'm referring to edge that goes back behind the front most part of the handle.
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I was talking about edge length vs blade length. The fact that the handle on the Vantage angles slightly back isn't really going to affect how a knife would be measured in court (hold the ruler at the tip of the blade and push it toward the handle until it makes contact). The other significant issue is that knives are marketed and sold based on that method of measurement, so that’s really the only defensible way to measure.

Now, if some manufacturer tried to take that to the extreme and run a thin part of the handle up the blade to try to game the measurement, I could see that being different. Realistically, blade length is going to be determined using the most reasonable way of measuring. If the design of the knife merits measuring in a non-standard way so as to reflect the “actual” length, that would be the method to use.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I am the naive sort who hopes that demeanor and use would trump a quarter inch in an officer's eyes.

I would like to think blade length measurements would take a backseat to how a knife is being presented. I'm a lot less worried about a guy using a buck 110 to whittle a pipe than a guy making stabbing motions with his SAK classic at people on a bus.
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Florida law includes an exception for “common pocket knives.” This has been determined to mean a folding knife with a blade under 4 inches. You’re presumed to be protected by the exception unless there’s evidence that the knife is being used as a weapon (like making stabbing motions at people with it).
 
Most sites include the two dimensions. Blade length = tip to bolster and cutting edge = tip to choil or where the blade is sharpened. In MI, a big part of the knife carry law is "intent". That can be hard to prove.
 
The AKTI standard is forwardmost part of handle to tip of blade, but if I'm considering whether a blade will be legal where I live I'm more conservative about it than that.
 
Re: Florida law...

That's interesting, because I commonly have an XL Cold Steel Voyager in my pocket, and it's more than 4 inches in length...
 
gazz98 said:
Most sites include the two dimensions. Blade length = tip to bolster and cutting edge = tip to choil or where the blade is sharpened. In MI, a big part of the knife carry law is "intent". That can be hard to prove.
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Yep. Intent is everything (very interpretative) when it comes to knife enforcement in the more relaxed states. The legal blade length is usually from tip to bolster/scales.
 
Been bit in sales a couple of times cause I would use from the bolster to the tip and the customer was using from the beginning of the edge to the tip linearly. Bit is not the right word because both times that I can recall the customer really like the smaller knife and kept it and ordered a larger one too.
 
Weiss said:
Re: Florida law...

That's interesting, because I commonly have an XL Cold Steel Voyager in my pocket, and it's more than 4 inches in length...
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If you have a CCW permit, it wouldn't be an issue, since you're allowed to carry a concealed weapon.

It's also worth mentioning that the AG opinion the "4-inch rule" comes from is almost 70 years old. The actual quote is "It is therefore my opinion that a pocketknife, clasp knife or jack knife with blade approximately four inches long is a "common pocket knife'' within the meaning of the exception set out in §790.01, F. S., in the absence of evidence that it was used or was carried for use as a weapon." Not sure if a 5.5-inch folder is more common now than it was in 1951, but I'd imagine it is. You could still argue it's a common pocket knife as long as you could say it wasn't "used or carried for use as a weapon."
 
Well. That's interesting. I guess as long as I use it to baton through my apples I'm a-okay. But if ever in Florida I were to last-ditch-defensively use a blade, maybe ... eh ... use a dinky one.
 
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