I keep a Swiss Army Tool on my car/house keyring because it has everything I need should my car break down or should I need a cutting implement or screwdriver for my daily needs or in my lab. However, due to the recent elevation in high profile stabbings and this new "knife amnesty" thing brought in by the police in Britain, should I be worried say, if I travel on the tube and my keys are in my bag and Im randomly searched? Is it is tool or will the warped sense of the law just bend me over and throw me in the clink? I mean, I carry a pencil case as well: full of sharp, pointy pens which I could easily gouge into someone's neck if I was that was inclined!?
My boss carry's a Swiss army credi card thingy that has a small (10mm) blade in it, he flew to leeds from Southampton for a meeting, and got stopped going through the metal detector and had the blade removed and distroyed as it was classed as an offensive/illegal weapon
You can cary without a good reason a sub 3 inch non locking folder. The length of the cutting edge is the part being measured. With a good reason (in the correct context) you can carry pretty much any knife. For example, if you're off camping, a hunting knife is perfectly allowed. SAKs (Swiss army knives) are fine to carry, except the larger locking ones Edit: Of course, it's illegal to carry anything if you intend to use it to cause harm, no matter what it is.
My dad, who is a pilot, has heared of people having everything from metal rulers to nitting needles destroyed... The stupidest one was when a small child was detained because he had a pocket knife... he was something like 5 or 6 years old and his family missed the flight because he had a swiss army knife in his carry on luggage and like all little kids didn't want to give the knife up. my dad does fly the middle east, so that probally has something to do with it
I think most police with any sense will be fine with you having a swiss army knife. I know plenty of guys(mostly IT dudes) who carry them just because they're very usefull tools(that include the knife, cable ties tied to tight? Cut them!). I also have known guys that take massive hunting knives and machetes camping. So long as you have a valid reason to have the thing, and can convince the coppers of that, you're pretty safe. As for carrying the swiss army knife around with you on a daily basis, just do it. It's frankly retarded if we can't carry a multi-tool around just because some plonkers use sharp pointy things to stab other plonkers.
I had a little keyring swiss army knife thing with a 1" blade confiscated by airport security. It was about as blunt as my keys, but shorter. Nice one guys. i guess I looked like the type who might try to hijack a plane by threatening the pilots with a furious eyebrow plucking.
In 1997 I had a water pistol confiscated from me when boarding a flight to Spain. Which would have been perfectly understandable if it could be mistaken for a gun except it was in the shape of a dinosaur. (Free from McDonalds) Apparently it was because "We can't have you splashing water around all over the place on a plane because of all the electrics." OK.... but the in-flight refreshments and duty free is fine?
I know, it's crazy considering a ball point or fountain pen can probably do more harm. I wouldnt take it on a flight, no reason to there, but just for general goings-out and stuff.
I carry a Swiss Army Knife everywhere with me, it has sentimental value and I'll be damned if I'll surrender it to some prat policeman on a powertrip who's performing searches, looking for any reason to confiscate a pointy object.
There's a few penis jokes in there. "I have another dangerous weapon, officer" "Long a pointy? Im sure if you dive into my pockets deep enough..." "Well it has been known to hurt a few people, depends what you do with it" "Want to try confiscating this weapon? Perhaps if you pull it hard enough?" Im sure there's more, and it depends on your sexuality of course.
In belgium you can have a swiss army knife with you if the knife doesn't lock and is shorter then about 2,5/3". But even if it does lock, I'm sure it will be seen as a handy-tool and not as a deadly weapen. That is, if you are a decent bloke and not a bum My dad always carry's a leatherman wave.. wich has 2 long locking blades. L
got a leatherman and a swiss in my kitebag and attached to my harness is a kite nife basicly a very small blade on the back of your harness if you get tangled in the lines or swept out to see you can kite your self free of the kite. I often walk to the beach/field so if i got searched would they remove my kitekife even though its a safty thing?? morgan. edit - what are the bounderies and how far will the police go, will it be taken with a no tolerance look at it so anything from your salad knife to your paper knife will be destroyed.
As long as you're not Brazilian, Black, of Middle Eastern origin, or any other race apart from White (unless you're a chav), then you should be fine. The police of nowadays like to target certain people. MDK, I very much doubt they would confiscate it off you, as you would have a very good reason to have it.
My grandad brought me a Swiss army knife years ago, if the police tired to take it off me there would be hell to pay. The knife is locking as its about 15yrs old (yes he gave me a knife when I was 6, but also my older brother who was 9) I think knifes are a bad idea to carry around, I never carry it around anyway. They were talking about banning certian kitchens knives as they were weapson of opetunity. Regards GiGo
Doctors were indeed, yes. Some doctors actually believe that anything over a 4" blade should be banned in this country, they claim its perfectly possible to cut anything with a 4" blade. But Doctors who try to get involved in politics need to remember what their job is. It pisses me off no-end this countries attitude to any sort of weaponry. We seem to want to ban anything potentially harmfull just because people get hurt by them. We just need to train police to a higher standard, then give them the right to beat the crap outta people. That'd sort the wee s****s out who keep getting things banned.
To pull a George Carlin, if I was big and strong, couldn't I pick someone up and bludgeon someone else to death? If so, then shouldn't people be banned? Or working out? If I beat the ever-loving crap out of a man with my fists, are my fists illegal? Or the tae-kwon-do I learned in self-defense? Where do we stop? Will we all have to live in rubber rooms, wearing essentially moon-padding suits (go to a large bouncy-jump, they put you in these suits with about three inches of padding, hard to move, hard to hurt yourself, fun as hell)? People need to shut up, step back, and look at the world with an open eye.
I have a SAK with a 2.25" locking blade on it. I don't carry it around with me usually, but if I'm going to do some electrical work somewhere then I will. Am I likely to have it confiscated? The fact that I'm 16 and unfortunately look a bit like a ned make any difference? _C
Can someone explain to me the difference between a locking and non-locking blade please? Does it simply mean that with one if you push it the wrong way it'll fold back into the unit, and with the locking blade it can have force applied from any direction and won't fold back into the handle or unit?
Thanks Ramble - I was afraid to ask what the difference was I often carry around a swiss army knife - never know when it's gonna come in handy. It's only a blade/cork screw one - doesn't have all of the gadgets. Weighs next to nothing as a result.
