My son gave me a belated xmas prezzie last night:

it has a 55mm locking blade – can I really prosecuted for carrying it ?

No idea, go directly to casualty seems more likely trying to play with that 🙂

I did hurt my thumb trying to work the catch … is this a human rights violation ?

Realistically, if you're using it to legitimately fix something (and not robbing someone!) it'd have to be a real w****r of an officer to arrest you, and I can't imagine the CPS would really want to waste time trying to prosecute you.

Ive got a Gerber Suspension the same as that and its ace. It lives in the car ready for whenever it may be needed.

Not too sure but read this the other day:

"Full time carer Rodney Knowles kept the knife in his glove compartment of his vehicle.
The 61-year-old, who walks with the aid of a stick, was stopped by police on suspicion of drink driving – he was below the legal limit – but officers found the knife in a pouch in the car's glove box.
Knowles, from Buckland, Newton Abbot, Devon, said:"It's a stupid law. Now I have a criminal record."
Prosecutor Philip Sewell said:"He told officers that he had the knife for caravanning. He is not working and had no malicious reason for carrying the blade."
Mr Jolyon Tuck, defending, said he uses the knife to cut up fruit on picnics with his wife.
He said:"He accepts it is in his car and the law is very clear. He admits possession of it and he had no good reason for having it."
Knowles was ordered to pay £40 costs and the knife was forfeited.
The retired maintenance engineer, who has no previous convictions, said:"It was in my glove box in a pouch, along with a torch, first aid kit and waterproofs."

but the adverts on telly keep going on about just "carrying a knife", implying that there has to be no intent to use it for criminal purposes…

If it has a locking blade then it is illegal. There is an exemption for small penknives or other knives that you have good reason to be carrying.

So if it is in your bike toolkit there should be no real issue unless a cop takes a real dislike to you and wants to do you for the technicality of having a locking blade.

However if its in your pocket down the pub on a friday night it could be a whole different scenario

Interesting – I'd not realised the locking blade thing made one illegal. Have at least one knife with a locking blade I sometimes carry in the car, which is nominally illegal.

this has been a topic on another forum[cars not bikes]and the following was posted
This may be the Law re knives –

Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c. 33)
Main body
Part XI Miscellaneous
Articles with blades or points and offensive weapons

139. Offence of having article with blade or point in public place. ? (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, any person who has an article to which this section applies with him in a public place shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except a folding pocketknife.
(3) This section applies to a folding pocketknife if the cutting edge of its blade exceeds 3 inches.
(4) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had good reason or lawful authority for having the article with him in a public place.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4) above, it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had the article with him?
(a)
for use at work;
(b)
for religious reasons; or
(c)
as part of any national costume.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) above shall be liable-
[ F1(a)
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;
(b)
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both.]
(7) In this section ?public place" includes any place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted access, whether on payment or otherwise.
(8) This section shall not have effect in relation to anything done before it comes into force.

Cool present. Simon of B has a great son for buying him that.

what tj said but I reckon amn annoyed copper – I know you rarely rub people up the wrong way but it just could happen- could do you anyway. IIRC no accpetable defenc eunless required for work and then there is still a storage/location issue

There's an opportunity for locking you up Al Capone style here though isn't there? Lots of people would gladly see you locked up for a while…and if a spurious pocket knife conviction is what's needed, that'll do.

Only a few weeks though 🙂

And what would they pull you over for in the first place… bimbling along with a vacant look? 🙂

Are you

A teenager who has difficulty doing up his trousers properly?
Black?
Brown?
Of indeterminate 'undesirable' appearance?
'Known' to police in your local area?
Someone with an existing criminal record?

If the answer is 'no' to all the above, then you're probably ok.

If the answer is 'yes', however, you're going daahhyn, my son!

whatever they want

Just don't use it to threaten a national Park Ranger and I reckon you'll be OK 😉

if the cutting edge of its blade exceeds 3 inches.

phew! that lets me off then 🙂

Cool present. Simon of B has a great son for buying him that.

he's great whether he remembers to get me owt or not :o) However, I am very pleased with it, as I saw someone using one on Saturday's ride and thought it looked very useful. I hope it doesn't rust as all the other pliers and cutters I've carried while riding have!

Just don't use it to threaten a national Park Ranger

is it possible to threaten a fictional being? I once had a letter from someone claiming to be a ranger, but it might have been a hoax. I've never seen one in 14 years' riding.

Doesn't matter on the size of the blade, as you can always get done for having a 'sharply pointed object' under a different bit of legislation. I've been threatened with a potato peeler before now! I always carry a leatherman when I'm going out on the bike, but I keep it in my camelback at all times – helps the 'good reason' side of things.

pointed stick anyone ?

Cool present. Simon of B has a great son for buying him that.

quite true. he is about 4 months late though!

i'm not worried about carrying my leatherman when riding or walking in the hills. think of how many thousand leatherman/gerbers have been sold in the country.

Locking puts it into the verboten category, no matter how short the blade. The law is that if it's not immediately closeable, then it's not a folding penknife.

Could you file off the locking tang?

is it possible to threaten a fictional being? I once had a letter from someone claiming to be a ranger, but it might have been a hoax. I've never seen one in 14 years' riding.

They look like this apparently…….

Locking puts it into the verboten category, no matter how short the blade.

so the same would apply to a non-folding knife?

Could you file off the locking tang?

wouldn't that be dangerous? it might fold over and chop off my finger 🙁

Non-folding knives are forbidden too. Anything with a point is – you could be done for having a screwdriver or a chisel in some circumstances.

The key thing is a) the circumstances you have the item in and b) the attidude of the police when they find it. Someone in a good mood might tell you to get on your way, someone in a bad mood / needing to fill a quota might do you for it.

eeh, and when I was a 12-year old I used to carry a 6" sheath-knife when out walking. How times change

Goodbye Crocodile Dundee 🙁
Also Ray Mears

Junkyard; have you been drinking? I was putting up tents for the open as a student.We were in a takeaway straight after work one night and two coppers walked past,stopped, came in and lectured every member of the crew who had a leatherman,gerber etc.The basic thrust of their argument,apart from to show what a pair of arses they were, was that we were all carrying weapons,and could be lifted.Made no difference that we were in company fleeces etc.

I don't like the idea of people being stabbed, but I don't think criminalising innocent activities will improve the situation.

All this fuss over knives and stuff, but you could easily batter someone to death with a football boot, I certainly have.

It's just anti-violence gone psychotic, I tell you…

The key thing is a) the circumstances you have the item in and b) the attidude of the police when they find it.

Nail on the head!

I remember observing in court a man charged with burglary (a local smack head who could hardly keep his eyes open in court)! He was found in possession of a screwdriver (the offensive weapon). His defense argued that he legitimately had the item because he was on his way to his mothers to fix her front door.

The prosecution blew that argument out of the water with one sentence… He was arrested at 3:30 am! 😆

The feeling in court of "nice try sonny jim" was almost tangible and the wry smile on the judges face was a picture!

I was under the impression that a locking blade forfeited the <3" exception?

I often carry a 7" hunting knife when camping, that worries me a lot, but I'd never even question carrying the leatherman – I'd have to be seriously unlucky and get a seriously nasty copper, and the probability of that is quite small, too small to care.

I remember observing in court a man charged with burglary (a local smack head who could hardly keep his eyes open in court)! He was found in possession of a screwdriver (the offensive weapon). His defense argued that he legitimately had the item because he was on his way to his mothers to fix her front door.

Maybe his defence should have argued that he legitimately had the item because it was one of the tools of his trade (burglary). Or was he pleading not guilty to the burglary?

Either way, getting caught with a lock knife in a public place may mean you will have to explain yourself in court and knowing how much a lottery courts can be, is it worth the risk?

I no longer use my locking bladed Charge Leatherman at my allotment, which is a pain as it was a usefull multi-tool to have, sure I could argue I have a genuine reason for haveing one, but don't want the hassel tbh.

Surely Mountain bikers should be exempt if riding the moors…….what if one of them mythical Puma's/Leopards etc decide to make a meal of you? A leatherman might be your only defence 😯

There are some useful sticky threads over at britishblades or bushcraftuk, both of which I've just found are barred at work-damn!

In a nutshell, you need a good reason to carry anything other a sub 3" non-locking penknife (folding knife). However, that same sub 3" knife becomes illegal if you are thought to be carrying it for protection or just somewhere you shouldn't (like a school)

Being out in the wilds on your bike should be a good enough reason to carry a multitool that happens to have a locking blade or one over 3" long.

what about my pruning saw which lives in my camelbak for occasional emergency trail maintenance?

what about my extending wheel brace for my van? much better than your knife in a fight i woulda thought, got a nice big 17/19mm socket on one end and is about 50cm long, steel and has a nice baseball style handle.

yet prefectly legit.

stays with me if im sleeping in van/nervous.

what about my pruning saw

yes, I have one of those too, 8" locking razor sharp saw blade, just right for chopping up corpses – I imagine…

Barnes, it won't rust if you bring it in the house where it can dry out between rides.