gerber suspension multitool – legal to carry?

As a counterpoint I’ve never carried a knife while riding and honestly never needed one in 20 odd years of riding.

I’d have one if I had a need for it though.

Hold on… Does the world’s sharpest/bluntest little blade that comes with the weldtite tubeless kit count?!!!!

That SOG “Seal” knife is a proper Walt weapon 😂 Still, if pretending you’re stalking Bin Laden when you’re bored at work makes you happy, who am I to judge 😃

Nah, it’s just a knife

I suppose if its in its little pouch, then inside a bag it can’t be readily got at. Then that leaves the matter of having a reasonable excuse for having it, and I think offroad cycling, possibly even cycling in general, you would have a case that it is part of the tool compliment, just as an axe or saw is to a camper.

Has anybody succeeded in keeping the blade but removing the locking function from eg the Topeak Alien or Mini PT30? I reckon that a small amount of judicious filing of the latch on the Alien would suffice. On the PT30 a bit of careful bending back of the spring mechanism should do it or possibly even reversing the spring plate altogether.

Would a locking anchovy insertion tool contravene the legislation?

@Scienceofficer: I think a better choice would have been the Boker Plus Wasabi – a friction folder that’s UK legal carry. But then I am a friction folder fan… they have most of the safety of a locking blade while not infringing the legal definition. About the same price as the CEO, and prettier too, in my eyes.

Has anybody succeeded in keeping the blade but removing the locking function from eg the Topeak Alien or Mini PT30

That would be some crazy punishment to get lifted for having a locking blade on a dedicated cycle multitool

About the same price as the CEO, and prettier too, in my eyes.

I thinki prefer the CEO tbh, but get the legality side of it

FWIW, I have now adapted my PT30. I bent the spring tabs so that they can’t engage with the blade and lock it. Dead easy to do.

I was in New York as a teacher on a school trip with 70 school kids. I always take some kind of multitool as they are GUARANTEED to forget the code for unlocking their case, and sometimes it is just quicker to cut it off.

Anyway, we were queueing to go out to the Statue of Liberty, and I realised I had my Gerber in my bag, and I had to navigate airport style scanners etc. I didn’t want to get caught, or to lose it to confiscated even if I handed it in.

I decided to do a dead-drop in Battery Park, so I stepped out of the line and squatted down to tie my shoelace. I deftly pushed it into a pile of dry leaves under a low hedge, sorted my lace, and rejoined the line.

When I returned, post SOL visit, I went to retrieve it. This was the most anxious part, but my plan had worked and I picked it back up with the same method.

In 2010 I was stopped at airport security in Edinburgh with a Leatherman. They said it would be confiscated or I could go out and give it to someone. The problem was I had no-one there to give it to. In that instance I went into WHSmith, and did a dead-drop down the back of a particular book. I returned later and collected that no problem too. This incident actually predated NY.

@Scienceofficer: I think a better choice would have been the Boker Plus Wasabi – a friction folder that’s UK legal carry.

Thats a nice blade, but I already have a similar Boker as a more utility type edc with a uk legal blade.

Hennie Haynes have had a CEO made thats UK legal, which is actually the one I bought, but I was too lazy to lift the picture and post it when it looks the same.

I specifically wanted something finer to contrast my other blade.

TBH I struggle as it is keeping hold of my irrational attraction to pretty blades I have no/little use for…

IMO in practice highly unlikely anything would happen. At worst you get it taken off you.

And lots of other “it will be fine” comments

So I don’t want to piss on anyones bonfire but a few copper mates of mine who work in Crawley, Reading and Brighton etc have knicked loads of people for carrying. They have been told, charge everyone carrying, let the cps and/or courts decide.
Cops are under huge pressure to be squeaky clean – eg my mates wife, called my wife, to get her to tell me, because he did not want to admit in text, on fone or in public that he knew I was breaking the law on our last ride with my lock knife. They cannot allow any illegality to pass. EG imagine i did lose the plot and stab a biking mate, when we all get interviewed everyone will say, “but our riding mate Bob the Bobby said last week, ignore it, you will be fine”
I was a habitual carrier and have now got lots on loads of UK legal knives scattered about my cars, bike bags, toolkits etc, as they were all previously locking.
I would not risk it now.

Some where on page two some one suggests that the law isn’t knee jerk and doesn’t go far enough.
Twaddle. For a huge majority of society carrying a knife is absolutely no risk. As in so many cases a few selfish dimwits have created a siutation whereby people are automatically guilty.
What surprises me is that here on lefty, oh so self righteous STW, people are NOT condemning this. It is a complete violation of a personal liberty brought about a by a few, mostly young and urban, thugs.
Of course those same people will naturally flame me for daring to have an opinion which doesn’t match theres despite us supposedly living in some airy fairy utopia where we are all allowe to be ourselves.
Finally note that I have written in such a way that I have made no universal assumptions so please don’t waste time saying that other elements of society commit knife crime etc.

They have been told, charge everyone carrying

5plusn8, who had told them this ?

Finally note that I have written in such a way

As arguments go that isnt the best. The only times I need to say I have written something in a certain way is when I really, really wanted to be more blunt but didnt want a ban.

In terms of the law. I cant think of many times when I really need a locking/fixed blade knife and in those cases I would carry one and be willing to justify it (eg today I had one on me for several hours since by default I carry one in my buoyancy aid and so had it when driving to and fro as well as on the water).
I do think it is something which does need addressing by parliament since the interpretation of the common law interpretation of what folding means does seem at odds with the common usage and so it is likely parliament meant the latter.
Unfortunately parliament is too heavily influenced by by the hard right press who with their mix of native authoritarianism and need to distract people will rant and rave about knives and so forth in order to avoid the hard questions.

@5plusn8

What do you suggest?

I’m hardly going to prison, even if an over zealous copper does find one and deem it a crime

If a single comment could sum up the average demographic of this forum it’s got to be this one.

5plusn8, who had told them this ?

CPS I think.

Ambrose, just carry legal carry unless you are on your way to work as a chef/butcher/autopsy-ist.

Regards the left wing liberty issue, I fully agree I would like the freedom to carry whatever I want, always did, never did anything silly or got involved in anything silly. However, the cops are trying to reduce stabbings which will save lots of lives, it is mildly inconvenient for me at most. Personally I can think of few reasons for me to carry a fixed blade, the one time I leave the house with one is when going deer stalking, but then I am carrying my firearms cert and rifle in the car and going with a purpose.
I think that is why I accepted it so easily, I can’t keep the rifle in the boot of the car just in case, I have to be carrying the rifle for a good reason, Same with knife.
Remember the max number of paracetamol thing, everyone on here was quick to defend as it saves lives, and it does. Same with fixed blade carry.

There must be loads of alternatives that don’t have the locking blade. If a Gerber is important it looks like you can remove individual components on the one you’ve linked. Why not just remove the blade if the pliers are the main function? Seems unlikely he would have to do knifework that requires the extra safety of a locking blade.

Kids do stupid stuff, and are also more likely to have interactions with police through no fault of their own, so unless you’re around to check he doesn’t stick it in the wrong bag, forget it’s in his pocket when he goes out with his mates etc, seems like an unnecessary risk when so many alternatives are available.

I decided to do a dead-drop in Battery Park, so I stepped out of the line and squatted down to tie my shoelace. I deftly pushed it into a pile of dry leaves under a low hedge, sorted my lace, and rejoined the line.

The primroses have flowered early by the Volga this year, comrade.

If a single comment could sum up the average demographic of this forum it’s got to be this one.

Pretty much, I’ve pointed it out on previous knife related STW threads and been shouted down, but then nobody wants an echo chamber apparently 😉 so someone has to be unpopular…

There’s apparently no cognitive dissonance between ignoring the letter of the law and “what applies to me” so I guess people can just crack on. Of course if you find yourself having to think on your feet and find dead drop spots at airports or public parks (on foreign soil) perhaps you should re-evaluate the idea of carrying a knife as a matter of course…

They have been told, charge everyone carrying, let the cps and/or courts decide.

Who told them this ?

CPS I think.

Doesn’t make a huge mount of sense in as much as you say that CPS tell them to charge and then CPS also decide ??….
Initially it is just down to a Cop or two who ascertain that you’ve got a multitool with a locking blade. (I can’t recall anyone I know, out cycling or mountain-biking mentioning getting stopped and searched) If you’re out on the lash at 3am, you would likely be in bother, at most other times and especially when out cycling, you should be fine. They are not illegal per se, it comes down to the interaction with the Police Officer. It won’t need ‘testing’ in court if that interaction is normal…..in as much as both sides are reasonable (highly likely) and the reason given (a tool in my backpack) is acceptable.
If at all worried, don’t carry one. (I have one in my bumbag every time I cycle and one in my motorbike tankbag every time I venture out…)

I have a folding branch saw in my panniers – just leave it there in-case I get yet another downed tree on my route to work (off road/canal/paths) – I guess I really shouldn’t be carrying it, but it’s a long way round if I can’t hack through a small tree.

I do think it is something which does need addressing by parliament

Parliament aren’t interest in removing the ambiguities. When the law was last changed, the text was being reviewed by the relevant Standing Committee of the HoC, and they asked for public comments. I sent photos of the knifes I carry when paddling white water rivers and explained their live-saving relevance, and asked them to consider clarification of “good reason”, eg, for safety purposes in outdoor sport involving ropes. No changes were made, so the only reason you can have that doesn’t depend on convincing the court are work, religion, national costume, historical importance or carrying on behalf of a museum.

So if I’m ever in court for carry a knife when paddling, I will plead that the intention of Parliament when they made a law is a valid defence (for which there is precedent) and that based on my submission being ignored, Parliament think that either (a) saving the life of a drowning person isn’t a good reason to have a knife [which would be perverse] or (b) Parliament think it’s such a good reason that the courts would accept it without challenge, and that’s what the court should do.

There is of course the possibility that Parliament is full of idiots but hopefully a court wouldn’t say that aloud!

The fact that I can legally carry this….

20230121_095236~2 by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

But not this….

2021-07-27_04-59-33 by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

Or by all accounts a Topeak Alien

Is slightly ridiculous. Does anyone disagree?

You CAN legally carry a multitool.

I’m 50 this year.

I still can’t think of a single time when I’ve been away from home or a campsite where I’ve *needed* a knife. Not once.

I get people like ’em. And they can be useful. But really, why bother?

You CAN legally carry a multitool.

It depends on the multitool.
If it has a locking blade then you may be able to but rather than a explicit right to do so you may end up in court justifying the reason.

 If you’re out on the lash at 3am, you would likely be in bother, at most other times and especially when out cycling, you should be fine. They are not illegal per se, it comes down to the interaction with the Police Officer. It won’t need ‘testing’ in court if that interaction is normal…..in as much as both sides are reasonable (highly likely) and the reason given (a tool in my backpack) is acceptable.

This is frankly bollocks, and really poor advice.
I’ve just followed this up with another copper I know, a desk sarge, and he has backed it up again (unless you  are accusing me, or my mates of lying) , he said, if I come across a non legal carry knife, unless the carrier has a rock solid reason eg – is FAC holder with rifle on the way to shoot, is a chef/butcher etc on the way to work, or some other – I use it for work, and I am on my way there or home. They check, if its Saturday afternoon and the chefs knifes are just left in the boot until monday, he gets pulled and for some reason they look in his boot, he will get knicked.
You cannot say, I am carrying it “just in case I need it” .
The reason you do not hear of cyclists or ramblers etc getting down, is 99% of the time there is zero reason to stop them.
However, if some interaction occurs where you reveal you have one, you will get knicked,
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266170/Disabled-caravanner-prosecuted-keeping-penknife-car-use-picnics.html

So given the fact that he had it in his car, but was not on a picnic or caravanning at the time, means he had no good reason to carry and he was rightly done.
Thinking a nice policeman will think you are Ok because you are middle class white IT engineer is basically deluded.

Yep.

Given the above, and the lack of need (can use loads of things instead) why bother?

Exactly, and if you are a frother like me who must have a knife, just carry a less than 3 inch non locking blade, there a loads of them.
Hennie Hayes, a great knife shop, have loads of UK legal knives here.
https://heinnie.com/knives-and-tools/uk-friendly-everyday-carry-knives-edc-knife-uk/?

I have 4 of these. Holds an edge nicely, and small enough to not even notice it.
https://heinnie.com/ontario-okc-traveller/