What is a good Chicago legal knife

knifertheworks said:
I really want to carry a good knife i was thinking the spyderco urban but it is a tad to big but if any of you have it is the size detectable above the 2.5 in mark
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Also, if you can wait, Spyderco is coming out with 2 knives based on smaller versions of the original Sage, the Cat with 2.5 inch blade and Chicago with 2 inch blade. Not sure when they are being released, but good options for the future.

Check out at: www.spydercollector.nl/index1.php?pagina=news&id=227&ex=none#article
 
njr said:
See below. The law in Chicago says no CONCEALED carry of a knife greater than 2.5" for someone 18 yrs+. Generally, among the blue collar workers here, if you can clip it to your pocket, noone except the most arbitrary of cops or some bureaucrat/machine hack who sends a cop after you is going to say you are in violation. In which case, sue.
[link to www.chicityclerk.com]
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I've lived in Chicago my entire life (28 years) I've never had a problem with my EDC's. From my time spent lurking, everyone here seems like stand-up, courteous, and knowledgeable people with a love for knives and the art/craft of knife making, that being said your everyday runofthemill patrolman in Chicago is not likely to hassle you. Being an electrical lineman for a few years now, a knife is a tool I use every day and carry with me at all times. I usually carry a Benchmade griptillian for general use, and a Tarani Karambit Master/spyderco harpy/various Hawkbills for the Linework I do, and they are usually very visible in my pocket and you'd probably be hard-pressed to find a cop in Chicago who would fault you for that.
 
No, what I stated above is that a knife has to be 2.5 inches or less to be CONCEALED and legal. If you clip it on your pocket, technically you should be able to carry as long a knife as you want. However, see the other posts and discussions on this forum, I'm not a lawyer, etc.

I've never been stopped and been asked about my knife by the police. Not to say it won't ever happen, and if it does, I carry a copy of the city and state weapons codes with me. Plus, I'm getting an opinion from Mr. Levine.




Bumppo said:
njr, I understand then, that to be leagal in chicago, a knife has to have a blade length less than two inches?
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Ah, so if it's clipped in, it's not considered concealed? Did not know that. I wasn't trying to dispute what you had said, but merely agreeing with you about the likely indifference of the average cop.
 
Adamar said:
You should get the Urban. I got one to carry when I pick my daughter up at school. In California, the blade has to be 2.5 inches or less and non-locking at schools. I am not too concerned about the 1/16th inch. Also, when I measure mine with a ruler, it sure looks like 2.5 inches. You would probably need some high tech measure device to truly determine if it is over 2.5 inches or not.

If I ever thought I would get in trouble for the extra length, I would just jab the knife into the ground and blunt the tip a bit.

I also read on one of the forums that Spyderco would grind the tip down a fraction, for free, if it is a concern.
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I was a custodian at Mojave High School most of 2002, before moving to Oklahoma. I used to carry a left and right hand Benchmade AFCK every day. The policeman on patrol there even asked about them. I pulled them out and handed them to him. He opened them, they locked, he closed them and handed them back to me with "NICE!"

But Mojave is way out in BFE in the Mojave desert, or Antelope Valley. Most of the cops there were quite cool. for the 26 years I lived there.
 
I used to enforce this and other city laws in Chicago municipal court for many years . . . while consistently carrying a knife with a 2.75" blade. Because basically no Chicago cop is going to drag out a ruler to check a pocketknife with under a 3.25" blade or so, UNLESS (a) you have already attracted his/her attention for something else, AND (b) you insist on pissing him/her off so they decide to sweat you and/or consider you a safety threat.

If you can avoid A and B, anything under 3" should be just fine. And if you can't, you have bigger problems. Which you will be paying a nice lawyer lots of money to resolve, and he/she can take care of the knife issue while they're at it.
 
cbxer55 said:
I was a custodian at Mojave High School most of 2002, before moving to Oklahoma. I used to carry a left and right hand Benchmade AFCK every day. The policeman on patrol there even asked about them. I pulled them out and handed them to him. He opened them, they locked, he closed them and handed them back to me with "NICE!"

But Mojave is way out in BFE in the Mojave desert, or Antelope Valley. Most of the cops there were quite cool. for the 26 years I lived there.
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Everyone needs to make their own decisions whether they follow the laws exactly or not, but here in California, I do not trust the police for a second to let something like this pass if they saw an "illegal" knife. They are so desperate for money, they will do anything to get it.

My wife just go a $700 ticket for supposedly going past a bus with a stop sign. She claims the sign was not out and the lights were not on. After getting all the information, it looked like a setup. There was one cop on the bus controlling the stop sign and another pulling over the people. I believe the cop on the bus was waiting to the last minute to put the sign out so drivers could not notice it or have enough time to react to it. Her 25 year driving record of no tickets and no accidents meant nothing to the cops or judge.

Would you trust these people to let an "illegal" knife slide by?
 
Locust said:
The Byrd Robin measures in at 2.5in.
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I picked that one up for that reason, but the blade is actually 2" with 1\2" choil. so I gave it to my wife and picked up the meadowlark 3" with 1\2" choil..= 2 1/2" blade....
 
Adamar said:
Everyone needs to make their own decisions whether they follow the laws exactly or not, but here in California, I do not trust the police for a second to let something like this pass if they saw an "illegal" knife. They are so desperate for money, they will do anything to get it.

My wife just go a $700 ticket for supposedly going past a bus with a stop sign. She claims the sign was not out and the lights were not on. After getting all the information, it looked like a setup. There was one cop on the bus controlling the stop sign and another pulling over the people. I believe the cop on the bus was waiting to the last minute to put the sign out so drivers could not notice it or have enough time to react to it. Her 25 year driving record of no tickets and no accidents meant nothing to the cops or judge.

Would you trust these people to let an "illegal" knife slide by?
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Obviously the times have changed, and Kal-E-Forn-I-A is hungry for every cent they can get. I just got a bill from the CA DMV for a motorcycle that has been registered in Oklahoma since 2002, and sold out of the country in 2006. They are trying to stiff me for $406.00 for a vehicle that has not been there for seven years, that was transferred to OK in 2002, and I no longer own!:grumpy:
Why not the other motorcycle I had at the time? Why not the three cars we owned at the time, and still have?:confused:

Sure glad I do not live there anymore.
 
KNaB said:
I've lived in Chicago my entire life (28 years) I've never had a problem with my EDC's. From my time spent lurking, everyone here seems like stand-up, courteous, and knowledgeable people with a love for knives and the art/craft of knife making, that being said your everyday runofthemill patrolman in Chicago is not likely to hassle you. Being an electrical lineman for a few years now, a knife is a tool I use every day and carry with me at all times. I usually carry a Benchmade griptillian for general use, and a Tarani Karambit Master/spyderco harpy/various Hawkbills for the Linework I do, and they are usually very visible in my pocket and you'd probably be hard-pressed to find a cop in Chicago who would fault you for that.
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^^^ This ^^^
I EDC a Benchmade 580 barrage. If you're clean cut, polite, courteous and not a scumbag, you're gonna be fine in Chicago.
 
nope, blade length in Chicago is measured as any (metal) piece sticking out of the handle, so the Byrd would be considered 3" and technically illegal. That said, other posters have written that in practice, Chicago cops will not bust you for having a knife that is not "too long" (latest I heard from a martial blade trainer who also trains cops, was up to the length of your drivers license, about 3.25" inches, as a rule of thumb). As other posters have said, you most likely will not be bothered, even if you are in technical violation as long as you are not giving the police a reason to look more closely at you, but I have personal/political reasons for not trusting the judicial system in Chicago. So, you have to make your own decision. But, small knives do suck because their handles are too small to be comfortable and their edges are often too small for the job.




sensei78 said:
I go to Chicago once a year on business and carry a Byrd Meadowlark and a SOG Topo Contour. The ad for the Byrd says 3" but thats including the choil
(blade edge is 2.5"). You might be able to find a SOG on ebay as they are discontinued, but are one bad little knife......I also put a pretty good wave job on the Byrd:thumbup:
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There are a number of really good 2 1/2 inch pocket knives and I have a few myself. In Chicago, to stay within the law I've had a couple of two & half-inch fixed blade knives made. Anza has a couple that fit this bill as do other makers. A fixed blade is faster than a switchblade or a balisong. This meets the full letter of the law, if not the spirit.
If you are going to go this route, you might also consider carrying a tiny penknife like the 1 inch SAK with the tooth pick. This can be used if you ever want to clip a coupon or do something mundane without alarming the sheep or giving an LEO an excuse to pick you up. Once your 2.5 inch knife is being used it's by definition no longer concealed.
Just my random thoughts on the matter.:)
 
sleevefullofaces said:
I hope this causes no offense but this thread makes me very sad.
2.5 inches!?!?!:rolleyes:
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Reading this thread made me sad at first too, but the more I read, the more pi$$ed I started getting. Why do WE THE PEOPLE put up with this kind of BS? Whether the LEOs chose to look the other way or not, is beside the point. In fact, why should they be forced into a position to decide what laws to enforce?

To the OP - I think I'd carry whatever I felt like carrying, maintain a polite and respectable attitude, and have an attorney on speed dial. If I ever got charged for carrying a pocket knife smaller than any knife found in any household kitchen, we'd find out what the court of public opinion thought of these laws.

Trying not to get political here but hope everyone will stand up for themselves the only way we legally can, let our legislators know what we think, and VOTE.
 
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