Let’s not be fooled by the law here. If a copper believes you are carry a non lock knife under 3″ and also believes your intent to be ill, you will end up explaining yourself to a court. Play nice. Try not to look like a stabber-ist and you’ll probably not get a second look.

So then, lock knives – banned, but are those Opinels ok?

Opinels are lock knives.

I suspect the cops would laugh at it.

I suspect they will detain you.

I have this on my keyring. 1″ of locking illegality

Locking and a hidden blade, illegal on two counts.

How does that apply to multi-tools?

Same thing, a locking blade is illegal whether it’s on a knife, a multi-tool, a key ring or a cheese sandwich. There’s plenty of multi-tools with non-locking blades though (the SAK for a start).

I suspect the cops would laugh at it.

I suspect they will detain you.

You’re probably right but I’ve carried a penknife of one kind or another since I was 11. Never stabbed anyone apart from my own clumsy self and am willing to take the risk for the practicality.

Opinels are lock knives.

The classic Opis are, but I’ve just noticed they do a range of UK legal non-locking knives…

For outdoorsy stuff, I think the is brilliant:

Lovely grind, strong (I used it to split large logs, whacking it with a second large log on the back of the blade), and v sharp (we all remember my ‘i cat my finger open thread..’)

Cheap too – about £23

DrP

The classic Opis are, but I’ve just noticed they do a range of UK legal non-locking knives…

Oh? I was not aware of that, cool.

I’d love to put a few pics up of some of my recent builds… but I’m not allowed anymore, I’ll get told off…

(we all remember my ‘i cat my finger open thread..’)

Ah! I immediately thought of that when I read the title of this thread. Was that you? The bikepacking trip and forgetting to cut way from yourself?

but I’m not allowed anymore

We’ve all seen them, so you can stop hijacking threads. 😉

Oh? I was not aware of that, cool.

Heinie Haynes have them – only seem to be smaller models though.

I’ve never got on with them, they hone up razor sharp very easily but don’t hold the edge very well… And I find them far too light in the hand. Cheap as chips though!

Not all opinel knives lock. I think the 5 or smaller are ok for the uk.

Ah! I immediately thought of that when I read the title of this thread. Was that you? The bikepacking trip and forgetting to cut way from yourself?

It was me, yes!
I underestimated how sharp the knife was – i was being a numpty and cutting towards myself as I was trying to split some thin wood. The knife went straight though. Thankfully, my finger was there, or else I may have blunted the knife on a stone or something.

DrP

Just spotted Ammonite have a sale on:

Sale link

I underestimated how sharp the knife was

Around the same time as that awful occurrence, my mate turned up at work with his new Leatherman. He also volunteers for the coastal rescue or somesuch and told us the story of how his colleague had been a bit ‘free’ when dealing with the main blade and cut his thumb open.

As he told us this story, he got said Lethearman out to demonstrate the keenness of the blade and immediately sliced two of his fingertips off. How we (really did) laugh 😆

councilof10 – Member
Just spotted Ammonite have a sale on:
They look ridiculously overpriced and a bit “home made”…

They are hand made by a bloke up there ^^^ price comes down to his time, materials, equipment and I presume a small amount of profit.

It’s far easier to justify a legitimate use for a multi-tool though – I doubt there have been many prosecutions for cyclists with Leathermen (is Leathermen the correct plural of Leatherman?)

😆 No idea

It’s far easier to justify a legitimate use for a multi-tool though – I doubt there have been many prosecutions for cyclists with Leathermen (is Leathermen the correct plural of Leatherman?)

I suspect a lot of this would come down to attitude. They could nick you if they wanted to – there are plenty of multi-tools on the market and you don’t need a lock knife to field-maintain a bike (do you even really need a knife at all?) – so I guess it’d depend on whether you gave them sufficient cause to be inclined to give you a hard time or not.

I can’t comprehend needing a knife other than either at meal times or in the garage.

Then there’s obviously never a point in your day when you need to cut something or open something sealed in thick plastic, or even do something as mundane as trim the sharp edge on a torn fingernail.
I carry a tiny Spyderco Ladybird with the half-serrated edge on my regular keyring, and it’s a very useful little knife.
I often also carry a Spyderco Squeak, which is an excellent little knife, just the right size for a keyring or tuck into the ticket pocket on a pair of jeans, it’s UK legal too, but is designed so that the blade can’t close up on your fingers, by having a choil at the base of the blade that your finger fits into, effectively locking the blade open without using a locking mechanism.
I’ve just got a limited edition version from Massdrop, with a special steel blade and Titanium scales, which is rather lovely.
To effectively sharpen SpyderEdge or other serrated blades, the Spyderco TriAngle Sharpmaker is the best option, it uses triangular ceramic sticks that sit into a plastic base so you just stroke the vertical blade down each stick in turn a number of times.

Here’s my EDC keyring with the little Ladybug, (not Ladybird, as I said above), and the pocket knife I regularly carry around, which is a CRKT Pilar; it’s a framelock, so technically illegal, but so’s the Ladybug, but it’s got a very thick, sturdy blade, about 4mm thick, and the finger choil at the base keeps your finger out of the way of the cutting edge, which is sharp!

This is the Squeak:

and this is how the choil keeps the blade from closing up on vulnerable digits

Handy little knife, I’ve had mine for some years, like the Ladybug.
I’ve got a Ladybug Salt as well, which has a special nitrogen quenched steel that’s highly corrosion resistant in salt water, it’s got a hawksbill blade for use on wet rope and string. Especially good on paracord, too!

This one is a nice little pocket knife, the Spyderco Pingo Slipit, it doesn’t have a locking mechanism, and the ‘SpyderHole’ which allows one-handed opening has been reduced, to comply with Danish knife law.
The blade is a bit less than 3″, so it makes for a compact, slim pocket knife.
I love the shape, it’s a modified sheepsfoot blade, and the handle is nicely recessed for holding.
Not stupidly expensive, it’s £74.95 at Heinnie Hayes, but my CRKT was £35, and it’s a really solid knife with smooth opening and closing.

I have a pinto and a squeak. Both great but I use the squeak more – dunno why. it’s a great fit and it’s also super addictive to open and close and open and close and open and close.

Oh. I put a zip tie though the hole in the pingo so it can be opened one handed.

Let’s not be fooled by the law here. If a copper believes you are carry a non lock knife under 3″ and also believes your intent to be ill, you will end up explaining yourself to a court. Play nice. Try not to look like a stabber-ist and you’ll probably not get a second look.

I think a lot will depend on the situation.

On a river bank with 3 rods and a tent, probably not a second look.

Battersea high street wearing sports wear with your tracksuit bottoms tucked into your socks? Probably get nicked.

Oh, I like the Pingo hack with the ziptie! That’s neat. 😀
Quite a lot of knives use a thumb stud, like the Cold Steel Tanto folder I’ve got, I’d did occur to me that it might be possible to fabricate something like that with a bolt that just fitted through the hole, head cut off and filed smooth, and a nut either side to lock it in place, maybe thinned down a bit.
As you say, though, the Squeak is ergonomic and very nice to use.

I think you can buy thumbstuds with a torx head… they’re illegal in some countries that ban one-hand-openers so some manufacturers supply knives with a detachable stud.

I like the blade shape on those pingos, but it didn’t feel a secure fit in my hand when I tried one… that Pilar looks like a good design, might have to try one of those…

Three of my modest collection of Spyderco knives, the top one’s my latest, one of a hundred made for Massdrop, it’s a Squeak with an Elmax steel blade, and titanium scales, the middle one is a Plainedge Dragonfly, probably getting on for twenty five years old now, and the bottom one is the first one I ever bought, about the same time as the Dragonfly, it’s called the CoPilot, and Spyderco stopped making it after 9/11.
It was one of the few knives you could take on board an aircraft, hence the name.
Mine’s well used, but I don’t carry it any more, in case I lost it, I couldn’t find another one.
Great little knife to use, very comfortable to hold and use, with a blade that’s just the right length.
Maybe I could get a Massdrop run set up, a CoPilot in Elmax steel with Titanium scales would be lovely.

Just thought I’d clear a couple of things up. You are allowed to carry a folding pocket knife with cutting edge of which does not exceed 3″ or 7.62cm – not 3.5″ as been stated above. This is your standard Swiss Army knife. For any blade that locks or has a fixed blade you need to have a “good reason” to have it. That is the wording in the legislation. Good reason is objective not subjective i.e. A court decides whether it is a good reason or not. Not the person carrying it. Forgetting you had it is not a good reason.

The police have a very low tolerance and you are less likely to just get a talking to and the penalties at court are very tough.

I have 2 knives that I carry regularly around the farm. Both locking as it is the only safe option really. For day to day stuff and removing plastic from silage bales, cutting string etc you cant beat the good old foling stanley blade knives a bit like this one

It helps to modify them so that you can’t accidentally drop the blade out while using it.

At lambing time I tend to use my simple swiss army Alpineer knife as it is very good for skinning dead lambs in order to use their skins for adoption. This is the one I prefer since it has a locking blade and no superfluous stuff to get in the way (other than the ever useful corkscrew of course 🙂 )

i have a few knives of various types by various manufacturers some commercial and some home spun like Daftvader . his custom blades are excellent and are good value for money . His prices are not at all unreasonable if you consider his time and effort i’ll bet very few on here would work for his hourly rate .a friend of mine has just paid £500 for a Jacklore knife at the weekend and i didn’t think it was any better than the knives produced by DV . Sandy at jacklore is the first to admit that his knife is essentially a copy of the woodlore knife designed by Ray Mears . so what makes a jacklore worth up to a thousand dollars? when Tim charges a mere £150 for a full custom design .

Then there’s obviously never a point in your day when you need to cut something or open something sealed in thick plastic, or even do something as mundane as trim the sharp edge on a torn fingernail.

In almost all cases that you mention there there is a better tool for the job that isn’t a knife. There’s a reason why a lot of industrial sites don’t allow knives.

There’s a reason why a lot of industrial sites don’t allow knives.

?

Perhaps due to inept handling by feckless numptys which if you have been brought up with knives from a young age then you have a respect and knowledge of how and when to use one safely. I’ve still got the Bowie knife my grandpa bought me for my 8th birthday – Being brought up in the wilds of Argyll and Galloway (where i still live) a knife whether that be a pocket or a decent sheath knife was an essential addition to a boys own adventure tool kit, along with a fishing rod, air rifle and black widow catapult.

a knife whether that be a pocket or a decent sheath knife was an essential addition to a boys own adventure tool kit, along with a fishing rod, air rifle and black widow catapult.

Tick, tick, tick, tick… I guess I’m just a 43 year old boy!!

Perhaps due to inept handling by feckless numptys which if you have been brought up with knives from a young age then you have a respect and knowledge of how and when to use one safely.

No it’s because the use of knives is generally unnecessary as there are almost always better tools for the job that are far less likely to end in an injury. Food preparation one of the few exceptions where a knife is pretty much the best and only tool for the job.

No it’s because the use of knives is generally unnecessary as there are almost always better tools for the job that are far less likely to end in an injury.

I don’t think anyone is saying a knife can replace a tool kit, but a simple blade is by far the most efficient and versatile tool ever made. If you could only carry one tool, a folding knife with a strong blade (preferably locking IMO) would perform more tasks than anything else.

If you’re the sort of person that uses a knife on a daily basis, you really struggle to manage without one. Sure, if you work in IT and live in a flat, there aren’t many occasions when you’d need one, so carrying one would be a bit pointless, but if live/work in the countryside, do any amount of gardening, or work in some sort of trade, a knife will help out far more than any other single tool – especially if it’s a Swiss Army or multitool.

I suspect a lot of this would come down to attitude. They could nick you if they wanted to – there are plenty of multi-tools on the market and you don’t need a lock knife to field-maintain a bike (do you even really need a knife at all?) – so I guess it’d depend on whether you gave them sufficient cause to be inclined to give you a hard time or not.

That would be logical. I used to carry one all the time while guiding, especially as I also used to do a bit of time driving safety boats / rescuing capsized dinghies, where a blade that cuts rope can save a life. Admittedly now I fly a desk it’s not such a requirement. 😕

It’s arguable a blade on a multi-tool for cycling isn’t needed, but I’ve not found a better tool for removing stubborn thorns from tyres… 🙂

In almost all cases that you mention there there is a better tool for the job that isn’t a knife.

Possibly, but as I’ve limited space in my pocket, and the knife does all of them, I’ll carry a knife. Rather than all the other “perfect” tools for each individual task.

There’s a reason why a lot of industrial sites don’t allow knives.

Yup. Clumsy numpties.

I like having them – have a small one on my keyring, a bigger Mora knife for other duties and a couple of multi tools.

However, it’s interesting that in this thread the person who uses knifes alot (Welshfarmer) for skinning lambs etc uses cheaper ones and the part-time knife users have expensive knifes. Some even admitting they’re too expensive to lose so don’t carry them every where.

Guess that’s like most fashions.

Guess that’s like most fashions.

I suppose there is an element of fashion in choosing an everyday knife – the one I’m thinking of buying (the Böker Gordito) is what might be referred to as a “gentleman’s knife”, ie, one that is designed to look lovely and be a joy to handle, as well as serving a function.

But you’re right, I wouldn’t be using it for skinning anything… My Ontario RAT has been used for that sort of thing, I’ve even killed and actual rat with it!

I often have to use a knife in front of customers, and a neat, stylish knife projects a far nicer image than a big, dirty blood-stained tactical knife!

I suppose they’re a bit like watches – G-Shock for weekends and something prettier for work!

Edenvalleyboy, a lot of the farmers I know don’t keep expensive blades as they are forever loosing them in the fields!
Just catching up with this thread…
thanks councilof10, you don’t like my knives evidently. I guess you could say my knives are expensive, but then I have bills to pay and a family to feed and you haven’t a clue the hours that go into making my blades. They’re hand made, not CNC machined….

Sure, if you work in IT

Actually surprising amount of uses in infrastructure, and not all of them scaring developers. Though I work in IT and live in the countryside (have done all my life) so maybe I need half a blade?

I like the normal Opinel I have – reliable, the wood handle wears into to something nice to own, big enough for den building at the weekends with the boys… and not too gutting if I lose it. It only goes out of my bag or pocket if I’m flying.