Want to use for pretty much hunting, can anyone help me out? I really don't want to get in trouble for this, but for being literally in the wild, it's pretty much a necessity, especially if you want to survive... Thanks y'all (:
Necessity in the UK? You're never more than 20 miles from a pub ffs! 😆 no idea on the legality of knife carrying in the wild, but it's unlikely you'll meet a polis in say the scottish highlands anyhow, so I wouldn't worry about it, we'd an axe at the weekend. Though I'd be wary near any population centres, if your are stoating about with a Rambo knife that may well prove a little difficult to explain.
I'd be more worried about the hunting laws if I were you. What and where are you planning on hunting?
Yep, what are you planning on hunting/poaching anyway?
Thans for your reply! It was quite helpful. Well this is gonna sound kinda stupid, but I guess I might as well say it. Basically, I really want to just go into the wild on my newly built for Surly ECR, literally, just set off on a great adventure across the land, but my worry is in food and water. I mean to survive, I obviously need some source of food and just carrying money isn't sustainable, so again, this must sound really stupid, but I was going to see how I get on with a hunting knife... :S dont shout at me too loud! I am 16 which I didn't want to mention - could contribute to my obvious ignorance, but I am very, very determined to make this work.
So where will the great adventure take you?
Have you ever caught and killed anything before?
Where do you plan on cooking it?
What are you going to eat aside from meat that will sustain you?
Do you know how much food you will need to eat each day to continue on your adventure?
What happens who you don't get the rabbit one day?
You can go wild for a weekend and carry enough food to survive, you can get in and out of some stunning places in that time. I'd suggest doing that first and seeing how you go before heading out for a self sustaining adventure.
Get to bed youth.
Seriously, you're not going to be butchering stags so I'd keep it small. You don't need much of knife to skin a bunny.
[s]Couple of[/s] Three things OP.
1). The most you will catch will likely be a cold...
2). If you do manage to hunt or trap something wild in the UK you could pretty much sort it out with a pair of blunt nail clippers
3). You are not unless I am very much mistaken Ray Mears. As said above do a couple of overnighters and see if you like it and for chrissakes take some normal food...
After watching "Into the Wild" I set off on a quest to find myself in the unforgiving wastelands of Hampshire. I found that deer and rabbits were too quick to catch with my knife so I tried sheep. Unfortunately they too outwitted me so I turned to cows.
These are the beasts that will sustain you, they are far too trusting they only problem being the furiosity of the attack needed to take them down.
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Lol @ rureadyboots 😀
Knife carrying - for virtually any knife on your person (or in your vehicle), you must have a reason for carrying it.
In addition, any knife with a blade over 3" is an offensive weapon, so you can be arrested if found with one without a valid reason.That doesnt mean they are illegal - you can still buy them and use them, but you cannot carry one around 'just in case'.
Work is a good reason, got to skin a deer is another.
Needing it for protection down the pub is a criminal offence - carrying a weapon. Even a Stanley knife can be a weapon.
So if you have a knife with you, make sure you can justify its use.
"Why are you laughing in the bathroom?"
"Because I just read something funny about killing a cow"
Back to the OP: I think a stack of fairly basic high carb and protein food in your bag and a few quid in your pocket will serve you much better than a knife. If you do take a knife you might want to also consider a catapult and or bow and arrows? Not overly sure of the legality their either though.
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needs a knife to...
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alanl - Member
That doesnt mean they are illegal - you can still buy them and use them, but you cannot carry one around 'just in case'.
Can't buy one if you're 16
On my similar principle, I no longer take gels or bars on races or rides - I'm becoming a dab hand at catching, killing, gutting, and eating the stragglers and 'lap fodder' at the back of the pack....
DrP
Rich pickings at SSUK this weekend for you then DrP... some come already pickled too!
Snaring rabbits isn’t that difficult, but if it’s your only source of food then it’s a massive risk.
As an anecdote, when I was in my late teens I went on a week-long survival camp in the lakes, we had a few days been taught trapping/shelter building etc. Then we were bundled in the back of a landrover and chucked out in the wilderness approximately 3days walk from our final destination. All I managed to catch was 2 eels one night, a couple of lads resorted to scavenging carrion/roadkill; everyone broke into their emergency rations before 24hrs was up!
I watched a programme on the telly where some guy goes in to the jungle/desert island etc naked with nothing.
A knife just isn't necessary. He managed to make a grass skirt and kill and eat things just using things he found. That's what you should be aspiring to. Taking a knife (and clothes) is just cheating.
Any animal that you need a hunting knife to kill, if you could get close enough, has a better chance of seriously injuring you first.
Looks over shoulder and sees DrP gaining... 😮 pedals faster...
[url= http://www.scotsman.com/news/adventurer-trying-to-live-like-bear-grylls-in-scottish-wilderness-found-dead-1-2069431 ]some light reading before you go.[/url]
I think if you're backpacking and it's obvious that you're camping,then you'll be fine to carry a knife. In my pack, usually have a small mora clipper knife which is great for prepping camping food.
On a day to day basis I have a swiss army knife too but the blade is folding and less than 3" and the most used bits are probably the tooth pick and tweezers!
I think the problem here is that you obviously have very little experience which could get you into trouble.
Don't get me wrong, I love those types of TV programmes too but in the real world, it's all a bit unnecessary. On the trips i've done, it's almost too much hassle to light a camp fire.
If you really feel that you want to learn survival skills, do it with an organised group so that you keep yourself safe and get some experience under your belt before venturing out on your own.
In the meantime, get a few bits of camping kit, some food and a stove and start getting out on overnight trips close to home. Work up to the bigger journeys. There's a wealth of knowledge in the bikepacking thread on here.
Good luck and remember to post any stories/photos.
Anything carried with the intent to injure or designed or adapted to injure is an offensive weapon . unlawful to possess out of home full stop save for limited defences. So no swords , flick knives or socks full of sand.
It is also unlawful to have any bladed article without a reasonable excuse except for a folding pocket knife with a blade less than three inches. So you have to justify your hunting knife or lock knife but not your Swiss army knife. The case of "Povey" says you will get dealt with at the severe end of the scale for any breach of these laws involving knives.
There is nothing you could successfully hunt with a hunting knife . Hunting requires snares or cross bow or a firearm.
So you risk a possible brush with the law and certain hunger. Take a swiss army knife and a tin of beans.
Take a look at the "Water to Go" bottles. Seem likely to at least minimise the risk of ever running out of water in this country.
On the point of folding knives, if it locks out, then its length doesn't matter in terms of being found with one in your possession in a place where you shouldn't really have one.
There is obviously common sense to apply to carrying a knife. If you're out and about in the open countryside, then I'd agree with most of whats been said above.
If you're going through the towns with your backpack etc as part of your journey, and still want to have the knife, then my advice is to have it well packed away deep down in the bag, so that it is not something that is easily accessible or to hand.
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Lets be kind.
You are not allowed by law to do what you want to do.
Taking animals and fish is poaching and seriously banned. Unless you happen to be based by the sea where you can fish as you please (within a very few and specific rules) Carry your food, that's what we all do. There is no where in the UK that needs you to be self sufficient. Drop in the middle of anywhere and you could walk to a house or road in a day and you would go more than a bit peckish if you didn't eat for twice that. The creature that you will find in remote area, deer, mountain hares, grouse etc won't be hanging around for you to have hand to hand combat with.
Survivalism as practiced by the SAS books or various Rambo types isn't an option in the UK.
As to knives. You don't need a big one. I have skinned and butchered deer with a sharp pocket knife although I must admit that a 6" blade is neater.
If you wish to carry a knife the law is clear but realistically in the microscopic change that you get your collar felt in the countryside something like a normal pocket knife won't get you any grief on a camping trip. Bear in mind that virtually every Leatherman type multi tool breaks the rules unless circumstance dictate.
Sorry to piss on your bonfire, I suspect you need to do some research.
As above, carrying a knife is perfectly legal if you have a reason, after all 100's/1000's of Chefs walk into busy restaurants full of th epublic every day with 10" knives. You just need a valid reason for carrying it. Huntiing [b]would[/b] be a valid reason. [b]But[/b] you're not proposing hunting, you're proposing poaching, which is also illegal.
If you did get over the hurdle of catching meat, then you've got the problem of finding fruit and vegetables, which tend not to grow wild in this country for most of the year. Otherwise you'll have scurvey (or scrumping apples) to add to your criminal record!
and just carrying money isn't sustainable
I'd suggest getting a job so that it is :-p There isn't anywhere in the UK you couldn't ride to fueled only by supermarket brand noodles and the occasional pub stop.
This has got to be a wind up surely.
Pot noodles . Easy to catch and cook.
The answer to your problems, young 'un, is Super Noodles. The number of expeditions I've been on fueled only by Super Noodles - they're light to carry, easy to cook, can be found in any tiny store, and you boil the water so any dead sheep that gets in isn't a problem.
Plus you won't be able to poo for a week, so won't need worry about wild dumping.
I have skinned and butchered deer with a sharp pocket knife although I must admit that a 6" blade is neater.
How small a pocket knife are we talking? The way that sentence is put together it seems like you've done it more than once?
Also, I assume you had a sharpening stone with you each time? How many times did you need to sharpen the knife?
OP
Just carve some nice things from wood that you find on your travels,then trade them for food and drink.
Good luck ,and get whittling
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All great adventures, are bound to end well.
The Highlands get a mention somewhere near the start of the thread. Can I politely request that you don't undertake this adventure in the Highlands. Anywhere south of Stirling should be fine. Many thanks.
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The recent "what trail tools are in your backpack" thread got me wondering what the official line on those fold up saws (or massive, serrated lock knife, depending on your perspective) is, since so many folk mention carrying them.
Admittedly pudgy, middle-aged, garishly attired gents on expensive bikes probably don't rank highly on the police shakedown list, but you never know.
I regularly walk through Glasgow with a scythe - never had a problem.
(it's because I do volunteer work in the local park)
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[/img]Ben earlier....
I was hoping Ben spends his time dressed as the reaper, pointing at random locals.
ben, I once bought an axe from the wee tool shop at Charing Cross on a Saturday afternoon. After a good chat with the owner, he asked if I'd like a bag. No, I thought, I'll just wander through the city centre on a Saturday afternoon with an axe in my hand 🙂
Probably wouldn't have been the only one mind you!
And the one highland polis you will meet will be armed!
4 1/2" blade and yes it was a pain and yes it needed some sharpening!
It's the tidy butchering that needs a decent knife. After all even elephant skin isn't that thick.
I think the othe problem you're likely to find is, finding time to ride!
2000 years ago when people did live in the woods in the Highlands, they were firstly teeming with four legged food, secondly, still spent all day trying to catch it.
2000 years ago when people did live in the woods in the Highlands, they were firstly teeming with four legged food, secondly, still spent all day trying to catch it.
And this, my friends, is the reason there wasn't an obesity epidemic.
Paleo diet, my chuff.
</tangent>
🙂I regularly walk through Glasgow with a scythe - never had a problem.
That reminds me of the time I was walking through a busy Edinburgh shopping centre carrying a crossbow
( I was trading it in at a shop for some other [s]weapon[/s] toy ).
Stopped by the polis with the words " You can't carry that in here"
Me .."Why not?"
Them .. "It's a dangerous weapon"
Me .. "How's that then, it has no string and I have no bolts with me?" 🙄
Them "Oh right" 😳
🙂
