Why are locking blades illegal in the UK?

I used to take a little tiny Wilkinson Sword two blade pocket knife to school, nobody batted an eye. Nowadays I carry a Rolson folding utility knife that takes Stanley blades, in use all the time for cutting zip ties, packing strapping, cardboard boxes…
Today I was carrying this little beauty in my pocket:

Superb for hacking through brambles and rose briars, although a couple got their revenge by diging thorns deep into my fingers.
My regular EDC knife is a Spiderco Squeak, that doesn’t lock, but is designed so that its impossible for the blade to close up on your fingers; it’s UK legal, unlike the Tasman in the photo…

I’m American, and it just blows my mind that you Brits have such restrictions on knives and guns. I really struggle to wrap my brain around it!

In my youth, I was in Boy Scouts, and we all had knives. Most were lockblades with 3 inch or longer blades; Buck was a very popular brand. In fact, I’d say that the leaders preferred us to have locking blades; less likely to snap shut and cut yourself. And fixed blade sheath knives were common, too. We were taught how to properly use them, sharpen them, etc. We had hatchets and axes, too.

Edit – this is a typical Buck lockblade like we all had:

And we had a .22 rifle and shotgun range at camp as well! I got my rifle and shotgun merit badge, in fact.

Oh, and in high school (grades 10-12), we had a rifle range in the basement of the school. You could take rifle shooting as a gym class. They were all single shot, bolt action .22 target rifles. The school had a rifle team that competed against other schools as an organized sport, just like football, basketball, track, etc. My school was in a suburban area, not in the wilderness.

I’m 43, so this isn’t exactly ancient history.

I’ve wondered for a while about police officers carrying locking bladed knives (Thorpie). It is not an essentail for police work in the way that a cook needs a kitchen knife or a shop assistant may need a packing case knife, and plenty of police officers do without them.

I sometimes carry with me (particularly when hiking/camping) a small folding pocket knife. Not for any one good reason but because it has come in handy in the past and might come in handy again.

I’d question whether carrying a lock-bladed knife at work because it might come in handy is a realistic defence…not that it really matters as a police officer is unlikely to be searched or prosecuted for this by colleagues.

I’m American, and it just blows my mind that you Brits have such restrictions on knives and guns. I really struggle to wrap my brain around it!

You may wish to look at our murder rates and yours whilst wirking out why we do this.

FWUW we feel the same about why you are all seem to love guns and think it is a personal freedom to not have healthcare.

interesting so much culturally in common and yet also so far apart on some issues.

The SOG powerplier would be good but he’s keen on a wood saw tool. The gerber was spot on aside from being locking….

I’m all for strict action when caught ‘going equipped’ but it would have been best if either the case law was tested again, statute rewritten or the manufacturers addressing the issue in the UK market. As for the UK v USA issue, I presume it’s a lot more complex than just the law over what you can and can’t carry though anyone being able to buy a gun is a high risk safety policy as a society…. especially a blended one that’s grown so quickly…..

In my youth, I was in Boy Scouts, and we all had knives. Most were lockblades with 3 inch or longer blades; Buck was a very popular brand. In fact, I’d say that the leaders preferred us to have locking blades; less likely to snap shut and cut yourself. And fixed blade sheath knives were common, too. We were taught how to properly use them, sharpen them, etc. We had hatchets and axes, too.

I’m in the UK, in our troop we all had fixed blade sheath knives, a few went for the rambo style but most had the more old fashioned type. We too all had either a swiss army knife or one of those buck knives, buck knives were better for whittling but the swiss army better for opening the packets of bacon.

I was once stopped by police because I had a 2′ machete in use on the streets of a S.Manchester suburb, I was 15. Was allowed to carry on (inc the 20x 11-15 yo lads I was in charge of, who had axes, saws etc) as we were clearing back trees and vegetation in preparation for a jamboree. Our only ID was our neckerchives (sp), we had all had knife and axe training and badges etc.

It’s more about having the right tools for the job in hand and not just wondering about the streets with a potentially offensive weapon.

I’m American, and it just blows my mind that you Brits have such restrictions on knives and guns. I really struggle to wrap my brain around it!

It’s really not that difficult. Try again.

It’s a different culture, with different laws.

And the American murder rate (per capita) is more than Four Times that of the UK.