My son asked me for a knife...I'm clueless

I have recieved 12 brand names with 25 models in this thread. I wrote them down and tallied the votes for each, and the Spyderco Delica has been suggested the most. After I review the local ordinances in this state, I will decide which knife to buy, but my boys (after seeing me reading all this stuff), are hell bent on the CRKT M16-13Z. It does look nice to me too, so the Spyderco may just have to be mine if I get it. Thanks all. I'll post what I find about the law soon. The knives will be for Christmas so I have time to research more.
 
I Coach High School Athletics And All This Talk About Califorinia Law And How Long Is A Legal Blade Length For High School Is A Little Silly!!!!no School In Cal Or The Great Jefferson State Of Oregon Allow Any Blades Period....period On Campus!!!! No Knives At All!!!!!!!!!!! An Itty Bitty Equinox Nail Clipper With A Baby Blade Is Instant Expulsion!!!!!! Come On Guys, Wake Up Out There!!!!!
 
All this confusion about Kalifornia state law. It is:

General public - No limit on blade length whatsoever, deep pocket carry or clipped it doesn't matter (as others have noted, some municipalities do have limits; Los Angeles has a 3" limit).

K-12 - Under 2.5" blade, non-locking. But students fall under the zero common sense (er, zero tolerance) rules, and shouldn't carry anything.

Universities - No limit on folders, 2" limit on fixed blades. Check with the school rules, they still might be able to discipline you or expel you, even if you aren't violating state law.

Note also that state law prohibits concealed carry of any fixed blade, no matter what size. But open carry is permitted. I can carry my swords openly, but a 2" fixed blade concealed is an offense. Open carry means open carry; if it is covered by your jacket, it is concealed.

If you doubt this, look it up yourself:

http://leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html

Click penal code, and enter the search term (like knife, blade or length).

Oh, and I need to put in my two bits - my vote for a quality, reasonably priced folder would be a Spyderco Delica or Native, or a Benchmade mini-Griptilian.
 
Hi scalesandtails,

We pretty much came to the conclusion that having any knife at any school would be a no-no for my boys. Nonetheless, I don't consider discussing law and the legality of carrying at a school as being "silly", since it actually is lawful according to current statutes. I like the fact that schools' policies dictate having no weapons of any sort. However, you post is truly appreciated for the content of this thread.
 
I can't remember if anyone mentioned the CRKT M16-13Z in this thread (besides yourself.) I think they look pretty cool too, but I don't know if it's a good knife or not. --which brings up the point of my post: Since you're new, take advantage of the search function. SOMEONE will certainly have an opinion on the knife. Better yet, get your boys on here and have them look around. If they're interested in knives, then bring on in. There are certainly other 16 year old boys on here.

Oh yeah...you're a good dad!
 
I don't like the school policies on knives and legal drugs. I think their attitude leads toward the idea that it's fine for the government to direct every little part of your life.

We need to change kids and parents attitudes. In the '50s and '60s knives were comon at all levels of school. I don't remember of anyone getting slashed or stabbed in our rather large school district in the central valley of California.

You can say this is not practical but it needs to be done. To put more and more clamps on what citizens can do is not the answer.

Back to knives, the M16 is an interesting knife but some people feel it is hard on cloth pockets.
 
Yeah the M16-13Z CRZT looked and felt really good. It is very high in the running at this point (no pun). Thanks for the compliment...I try to teach my boys as much as possible about the real world so that they go out there with their eyes wide open.

For $40. the CRZT is also very affordable. I probably shouldn't have taken my 12 y/o along because now he gets one too. Easy Christmas shopping!
 
Astro, one of the good points about the Delica is that it doesn't violate the 3" rule that (for example) Los Angeles has. The other thing is that the VG-10 is generally considered a "better" steel than the CRKT's AUS-8.

.02CDN

If you're both getting knives together, I would add that perhaps getting a quality sharpener might not be a bad thing for the both of you. The Spyderco Sharpmaker is really good at keeping edges sharp (assuming the angles are close), not so good if you have to do major work on one. It would be a shame to buy a couple of nice knives and not have a way to sharpen them, right? :D If you're worried that your wife will get annoyed, and if she does most of the cooking, pick her up a couple of Wusthof Classic kitchen knives and sharpen them so that you can shave hair off your arm. My wife thinks my knife obsession is a little... obsessive, but she really appreciates the razor-sharp Kershaw Shun kitchen knives we have. :)

And as for church, I don't do it, others do. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you. ;) I spent the afternoon in my backyard playing with fire... different strokes for different folks, eh?
 
Astrodokk said:
The box was labeled as assisted opening, so I think anything with a hole or peg would be considered that (not just with spring).

Just to clarify- an assisted opener assists you in opening the blade. To qualify you must start to open the blade (usually to about 30 degrees) and then another force (spring, cam...) takes over and finishes opening it for you. The difference between this and an automatic is that with an automatic you depress a button/lever and the blade opens due to the mechanism, instead of you actually moving the blade yourself until the action takes over. No matter what labelled on the box- it is the knife that matters. A common thumbstud/ Spyderhole knife with no such mechanism is a regular knife. Always trust the knife as opposed to the box- one is never sure if the box actually belongs to the knife until the knife is inspected. As for your choices- I would agree to get one for you, one for him- and definately check out the delica and Native(my personal choice for your purposes). And kudos for actually researching and taking all of our suggestions in a polite, and pleasant manner.

Good luck and happy knife hunting- you better not come out empty handed now that you know where the knives are hiding (HERE!):D
Click to expand...
 
I will be getting the Spyderco Sharpener for sure, no matter what knife I get. Sounds like it is an absolute necessity when one is serious about keeping blades sharp, and I prefer to do things myself rather than paying a knife shop to do it. Nice video Foxhole...I use one of those stove cans to start our barbecues here in CA.
Last night I stayed up very late going to individual knife websites and reading up on their products. I hope this is not becoming an addiction. Anyway, I was only able to get through the Spyderco, Buck, Gerber (forget about it!), CRKT, Kabar, Benchmade, Kershaw (not my cup of tea), and Boker so far.
I don't know how you guys decide on what to pick for your personal EDC. There's just too many to choose from. My eye kept going back ty the Boker US Army Ranger knife. WOW! That's all I can say right now. As Cpt. Kirk would say, "must...keep...looking...at...knife...sites".
BTW, I think it's a great idea to keep the blade @3", even if in CA we don't have to mind you, since we travel to Los Angeles alot and they insist on it. My son said he would prefer a longer blade (less than 4"), and just not take it travelling, but I find that hard to believe. Have a good week.
 
Astrodokk said:
Last night I stayed up very late going to individual knife websites and reading up on their products. I hope this is not becoming an addiction.
Click to expand...

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha (evil laugh)

You should have never come here. It's like crack. In the end, this forum will cost you plenty. Whatever you do, stay out of the Gadgets & Gear subforum!
 
I am now limiting my search to 3" max. blades. I went to a knife shop at a mall tonight and two folks in there said that they actually went to the police dept. and asked about the law for knives. Any length folded is OK as long as the pocket clip is being used and shows; 3" or less if deep concealed. The less tactical it looks, the better, whatever the hell that means. Any knife is "tactical" to me if it's in my face, but I get their point (pun).
Also, since this will be my first, I'm going to limit the price to $40. max., so that when I learn more I can make a better decision on what to invest in. I'm sure most (not all) of you started out with a different knife than you have now. Spyderco has some at that price range, so I think that's one I'm gonna start with. BTW, I read somewhere in this site that the CRKT's at Walmart are going for $20....that's right up my alley for my boys, only they will use it mainly for utility. Thanks for all your help. Now off to the Gadgets and Gear Sub Forum. Ciao!
 
In my experience I wouldn't rely on the police to know the law, there's more there than anyone can know offhand. The police only do the first part and all their decisions have to be checked by a magistrate or judge, and you get to have a lawyer argue for you as well.
At the same time, the less 'tactical' the knife looks, the less it's going to upset anybody--and upsetting people (police included) is more likely to land you in court.
Greg
 
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