"standard pocket knife"

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zatoichi37

Joined
May 30, 2009
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I'm trying to define this term as there's a rule against all knives longer than 2inches except for a "standard pocket knife" :confused:. To me, a spyderco endura is a standard knife. I know it may be more "tactical" than other knives, but it's not much different from a more traditional buck lockback--it just has a hole in the blade to make it able to open with one hand.

So if you could please chime in and voice your opinion to help me out, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! :)

pocket knife
noun
-a knife with a blade that folds into the handle; suitable for carrying in the pocket

standard
adjective
-usual, common, or customary: Chairs are standard furniture in American households.
 
I'm guessing that a "standard" pocket knife is a slip blade style knife. One where the blades do not lock open. Knives with locking blades or that are designed to be opened with one hand may be the ones requiring a 2" or shorter blade. This may also preclude all fixed blade knives including kitchen knives from being carried in the pocket.
 
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what about something like a Mercator k55k?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_K55K
It's a lockback, but it's two handed opening...

If you ask someone who opens boxes for a job, or who has a job that requires a knife, I'd be shocked if they carried a slip-joint knife. Most construction workers, police, people in shipping/receiving either have fixed or one-hand opening folders. Also, alot of climbers, campers, or hikers carry a good folding one-hand opening locking blade. This for me defines standard as folding, locking, and one-hand opening about 2-4.5 inch blade length.

If they wanted to define a a standard knife as a slip joint knife, then they should have said slip joint in the first place.
 
I think you need to look very carefully at the context of the rule, and the perspective from which it was written.

Most people in the general population do not carry knives at all, so the concept of carrying a knife in the first place would not be "standard" in that sense.

One has to ask why the rule is needed. What is it trying to control? Without knowing anything more about the situation, my guess would be size, deployability and relative threat. So we're probably talking more along the lines of a non-locking SAK, and less along the lines of robust one-hand openers (standard as the latter might be among those who carry knives).

If one really accepts the idea of carry knives as legitimate tools and does not fear them, what's the point in restricting them at all?
 
I would say that most people that carry knives, do not open boxes for a job. Most people I would think carry them for the sake of having them. Also, when these laws were made, most people may have only carried slip joints. And no, if they wanted it to be just slip joints they would not define them as slip joints. WE know what that means, but the people making the laws may not be as educated as we are. I do understand the points you are making though, and perhaps a look at the actual penal codes for your state would clear up the definitions. Other then that, there would be case law, to see how the law has been interpreted. Also be prepared to be shocked, because when I worked at a job that required me to open boxes, I used a buck stockman, 3 bladed slip joint. Never had a problem.
 
saw45 said:
I'm guessing that a "standard" pocket knife is a slip blade style knife. One where the blades do not lock open. Knives with locking blades or that are designed to be opened with one hand may be the ones requiring a 2" or shorter blade. This may also preclude all fixed blade knives including kitchen knives from being carried in the pocket.
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This is probably as good a guess as any, however the requirements can vary greatly region to region.

You really need to find out for certain what the details are regarding what is restricted and what isn't for your specific area.

Kevin
 
Dag-nabit said:
This is probably as good a guess as any, however the requirements can vary greatly region to region.

You really need to find out for certain what the details are regarding what is restricted and what isn't for your specific area.

Kevin
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I'm in Texas, so our only restrictions are less than 5.5 inches and no bowie knives.

The place in question is an agricultural school. I'm takin ag classes, and I'll probably have use for a knife. I remember reading a member's post saying that when he was at ag school, they (all the students) were expected to carry a pocket knife in their pocket, and would be in trouble if they forgot theirs.
The school's restriction on knives is that it has to be legal according to the city's laws. The restriction that I'm concerned about is the dept of housing's restriction. It's listed under their weapons policy.

I'm not wanting to wave my knife in everyone's face or show off. I just want to be able to carry my spyderco endura instead of my SAK because it has a clip, has a lock-back, and a pocket clip. I carry mine on me everyday so that I have one when I need one, but it's usually concealed under by my shirt cuz I like to clip it on my hip.

It's funny that when someone needs a knife, and I lend them mine, they are all like "oh this is a cool knife, but why do you carry this?". I mean am I supposed to hand them a pair of safety scissors?
 
Believe it or not there was a time; not so very long ago, when a gentleman would never not have a pocket knife. Men always had a Case or a Schrade of some sort in their pockets.
This is probably the reason for the wording of that statute.
IIRC-This started to change about 25-30 years ago.
 
joe-bob said:
Believe it or not there was a time; not so very long ago, when a gentleman would never not have a pocket knife. Men always had a Case or a Schrade of some sort in their pockets.
This is probably the reason for the wording of that statute.
IIRC-This started to change about 25-30 years ago.
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It only counts if I get caught in the campus housing, not if I get caught on the rest of the school...I'm moving off campus as soon as I can.
 
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joe-bob said:
Believe it or not there was a time; not so very long ago, when a gentleman would never not have a pocket knife. Men always had a Case or a Schrade of some sort in their pockets.
This is probably the reason for the wording of that statute.
IIRC-This started to change about 25-30 years ago.
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How true, even for "young gentlemen". When I was in grade school back in the mid to late 1960s, every boy in my class carried a boy scout knife. I had a two-bladed classic "Barlow". If a kid ever tried that now, he would be arrested, arraigned in juvenile court and expelled in the same day. Upon conviction (a virtual certainty), the kid would now end up adjudicated delinquent (JD) and have a permanent criminal record that can eventually be sealed but will never go away. Getting busted at age 8 or 9 could ruin his chances of getting into college or the military. If his parents gave him any kind of knife (Dad gave me my Barlow as a birthday gift), the parent would probably be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and jailed.
 
TOM1960 said:
How true, even for "young gentlemen". When I was in grade school back in the mid to late 1960s, every boy in my class carried a boy scout knife. I had a two-bladed classic "Barlow". If a kid ever tried that now, he would be arrested, arraigned in juvenile court and expelled in the same day. Upon conviction (a virtual certainty), the kid would now end up adjudicated delinquent (JD) and have a permanent criminal record that can eventually be sealed but will never go away. Getting busted at age 8 or 9 could ruin his chances of getting into college or the military. If his parents gave him any kind of knife (Dad gave me my Barlow as a birthday gift), the parent would probably be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and jailed.
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Isn't it just a lovely safe world we live in?
 
Isn't that just for the public schools?

At my high school, I carried my sak and used it to slice apples and such at lunch. No one had a problem, not even teachers.
 
Since 80% of knives sold can be opened with one hand, I would say that an Endura type knife, not a slipjoint, is now Standard.
 
TOM1960 said:
How true, even for "young gentlemen". When I was in grade school back in the mid to late 1960s, every boy in my class carried a boy scout knife. I had a two-bladed classic "Barlow". If a kid ever tried that now, he would be arrested, arraigned in juvenile court and expelled in the same day. Upon conviction (a virtual certainty), the kid would now end up adjudicated delinquent (JD) and have a permanent criminal record that can eventually be sealed but will never go away. Getting busted at age 8 or 9 could ruin his chances of getting into college or the military. If his parents gave him any kind of knife (Dad gave me my Barlow as a birthday gift), the parent would probably be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and jailed.
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Yes, I know. However, Texas law does not prohibit knives in schools. The statute says that only "illegal" knives are prohibited in schools. There is a separate subsection that spells these out. I carried a Buck 110 during high school in a belt sheath. The college where I'm a grad student has no restrictions on knives outside of the state law.
 
zatoichi37 said:
Isn't that just for the public schools?

At my high school, I carried my sak and used it to slice apples and such at lunch. No one had a problem, not even teachers.
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Some states say no knives at all in any public or private college. And some cities ban all knives. Rather shocking. Surprised that Colorado and Montana are very restrictive.

I really like my Cold Steel 4" ti-lite. I know some say that all it is good for is stabbing, but it is one of my more functional knives. The thin blade is really handy for getting under straps, etc.
 
Lewie1775 said:
Some states say no knives at all in any public or private college. And some cities ban all knives. Rather shocking. Surprised that Colorado and Montana are very restrictive.

I really like my Cold Steel 4" ti-lite. I know some say that all it is good for is stabbing, but it is one of my more functional knives. The thin blade is really handy for getting under straps, etc.
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Talked to the police on campus. They said to keep it under 5.5 inches :D
 
zatoichi37 said:
Talked to the police on campus. They said to keep it under 5.5 inches :D
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Zatoichi37:

Good to hear - I assume 5.5 blade, not 5.5 overall. Thanks for the info. I asked campus security about knives, and he said that he wanted people to be allowed to carry knives to open boxes and the like, so long as the knife did not look like a weapon. I showed him my SOG Pentagon Elite 1, and he said that it did look like a weapon. He said something under 3 inches would be more advisable. When students are present I will carry my Spyderco Native or Spyderco cricket. Both are VG-10 and very sharp.
 
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