Worried my knife is illegal

R

Rufusalathird

Joined
Sep 1, 2020
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6
I brought a Boker Plus Frazetta "Ghoul Queen" Exskelibur I Frame Lock Knife in the UK and a different UK supplier said they will not stock them, they said that this knife is a flipper? and that they will become illegal to own? I spent quiet a bit on it and it’s a work of art, but According to the Boker website it says that it’s not assisted open and it’s manual locking and I believe they are legal to own but you can’t take them outside the home, but Heinnie says they are flippers and that is why they won’t stock them

Hennie said “Good afternoon,

Many thanks for your enquiry. Sadly that knife has a top flipper on it and although not illegal yet flippers are subject of the 2019 offence weapons bill for which we are awaiting a start date.

Because of the legality of flippers we are not importing any sorry”

I’ve seen videos of the knife and it doesn’t look like a a flipper but I really don’t have a clue what a flipper is. Considering I paid a bit for it I would be gutted if I had to part with the knife

I brought it for my collection as it’s beautiful and I guess I could return it under the 14 cooling off period in the UK if it is illegal.

many advice would be much appreciated as I never even heard of a flipper knife before.
 
Rufusalathird said:
I’ve seen videos of the knife and it doesn’t look like a a flipper but I really don’t have a clue what a flipper is.
Click to expand...
A flipper is an opening mechanism, by which you use the (flipper) tab - which is an extension of the blade - to quickly open the knife. If you aren't planning on carrying it anyway, and it is currently legal, why worry about it? I'm certain that there are already quantities of flippers in the UK, and I doubt they're going to go door to door searching for them. If the provisions of the new law allow you to own/possess, you're good. If ownership will be prohibited, you have 2 choices (maybe 3): get rid of it, or keep it and don't broadcast that you have it. (The 3rd would be if there is some registration process, by which people can keep the ones already in their possession.)
Personally, since it sounds as though you like the knife, I'd keep it since it was legal when purchased.
 
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It's a front (or top) flipper. If you look at the top corner of the knife in this picture, you will see that the spine extends past the end of the handle and has some jimping. Look it up on YouTube, I'm sure there are videos that show it being opened.
 
hhmoore said:
A flipper is an opening mechanism, by which you use the (flipper) tab - which is an extension of the blade - to quickly open the knife. If you aren't planning on carrying it anyway, and it is currently legal, why worry about it? I'm certain that there are already quantities of flippers in the UK, and I doubt they're going to go door to door searching for them. If the provisions of the new law allow you to own/possess, you're good. If ownership will be prohibited, you have 2 choices (maybe 3): get rid of it, or keep it and don't broadcast that you have it. (The 3rd would be if there is some registration process, by which people can keep the ones already in their possession.)
Personally, since it sounds as though you like the knife, I'd keep it since it was legal when purchased.
Click to expand...

if that is what a flipper is then it seems silly that a little grip on the back of the knife, makes it potentially illegal in the future. Given how much I love it I think I am going to keep it.

thank you so much for your reply
 
I agree about it being silly. It is neither assisted, nor automatic. In most cases, the blade cannot be shaken open; so it can't be considered a gravity knife. It's just a fast, one-handed method of opening a knife. What's next - disallowing thumbstuds and opening holes?
 
hhmoore said:
I agree about it being silly. It is neither assisted, nor automatic. In most cases, the blade cannot be shaken open; so it can't be considered a gravity knife. It's just a fast, one-handed method of opening a knife. What's next - disallowing thumbstuds and opening holes?
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I agree, I never understood the mentality of some of these laws, like anything if knives are in the wrong hands they can be dangerous, but I don’t see how the law protects because criminals who use knives will use them even is they are legal or not, the rest of us have to carry tiny knives which are hard to open and can close on you, if you don’t know how to handle one these non locking ones can cause accidental cuts compared to locking ones.


I had a message from Boker today and they said “
This knife has no opening aid. It has no flipper, nail file or other opening mechanism.


Kind regards


Boker“

so maybe it’ll be alright to keep after all
 
I wouldn’t worry about it. Treat it like the rest of your knives. Dont be out and about doing dumb stuff with it, and you’ll be fine.

Don’t worry. :)
 
Rufusalathird said:
I had a message from Boker today and they said “
This knife has no opening aid. It has no flipper, nail file or other opening mechanism.


Kind regards


Boker“
Click to expand...
They lied.
The knife clearly has a front flipper. The nice thing about front flippers is that they can be used to slowly roll the knife open, if one doesn't want to do it fast. (That's actually the only thing I like about them; but I'm on my way to becoming a crotchety old man with deformed, arthritic hands)
This is a different version of the knife; but the opening mechanism is the same. I didn't watch the whole thing; but at about 1:11 he flicks it open. Then he opens it two handed. I'm sure he demonstrated the slow "thumb roll" method, as well
 
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