Knife Identification!!!! 101 Needed.

[WORKER#9]

I Recently Sold One Of My Paramils To A Friend At Work, And He Loves It. But Last Night He Was Driving Home And Was Pulled Over And Asked If He Had Any Warrants Out For His Arrest, He Said No, But The Officer Asked Him To Step Out Of The Car. He Was Not Wearing His Seat Belt And This Is What He Got Pulled Over For. No Big Deal Till The Officer Sees The Knife Clipped In His Front Pocket And Trys To Pin Him With Carring A Gravity Knife. A What, A Gravity Knife! A Para Military A Gravity Knife! So The 1st Officers Superior Shows Up And Sees Whats Going On Looks At The Knife And Lets Him Go, No Ticket, No Charges. And Gives Him His Knife Back. But He Was Detained For 20 Minutes For Nothing Except For One Officers Lack Of Experience With Knives Sort Of Scary!

Heres A Picture Of The Exact Knife Before I Sold It With My Lil Temp Of Course. #9

[Fisher of Men]

What a joke man.

Well, I'm sure that cop felt like a tool afterwards. Especially after his superior came out :)

[Troll]

Here in NY any spyderco is a Gravity knife.

if you can open the knife without touching the blade, Its a gravity knife.

if you can use inertia to open it. Its Illegal

[WORKER#9]

I Would Not Consider A Spyderco Para Mil A Gravity Knife Under Any Circumstance. But Vinny Obviously Ny Is Pretty Tough.

One More Thing I Did Not Post This Thread To Bash Law Enforcement As I Am A Law And Order Type Of Guy And It Was A Previous Career Choice For Me, I Guess I Just Felt Bad I Sell My Friend His First Knife Let Alone His First Spydie And Less Than A Week Later Hes Got Trouble! So I Guess I Felt Responsible. #9

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha Worker#9,

Don't worry about it. It wasn't the :spyder: the cop saw...it was your buddy not wearing his seatbelt that he DID see, hence the stop.

ANY :spyder: is a gravity Knife in NY? :confused:

God bless :cool:

[Slvgx]

I think in Illinois pretty much any knife can be considered a gravity knife. As long as you can inertia open it (which I can do with all my Spydies including my FRN Jester). If you aren't doing anything stupid you most likely will be fine, but they could take you in if they wanted to. I've been stopped with a Paramilitary before and it was over the blade law in the city but I had nothing happen to me. :cool:

[The Deacon]

Last Night He Was Driving Home And Was Pulled Over And Asked If He Had Any Warrants Out For His Arrest, He Said No, But The Officer Asked Him To Step Out Of The Car.

Question number one, is it normal in your neck of the woods for a driver to be asked to step out of their vehicle on a routine traffic stop? I ask, because where I live, this would only happen if the driver appeared intoxicated, was acting very nervous, was being rude or beligerant, or had raised some other "red flag". In that case, the officer would obviously be looking for anything to add to the "laundry list".

Out of the over 200 Spydies I own, there are only two I'd be hesitant to carry here in New York State. My Forum Military and SpyKer both come too close to meeting MY definition of a gravity knife for comfort. On the other hand, all but a handful of "tiny" ones might very well be considered gravity knives if found in the pocket of someone who was already guilty of "behaving like a chocolate starfish in a public place".

[Senate]

after a year of hard use and some light filing down the tang where the lock engages when it's closed, the detent is so light that I can open it with inertia and without touching the blade at all. I prefer it like that, since it's tip down carry, I don't need the security provided by a strong detent.

[Troll]

I really dont care about the law on knife.

We are allowed knives like Saks and such. Knife that cant be opened without touching the blade.


actually if you get cought with a knife like the majority of spyderco and benchmades. they put the knife in a machine. The mahcine put to many "G" on the knife which causes it to open. Forces that arent even applyable by the strongest human being. It is all centered and they can get pretty much any knife to open.

[Michael Cook]

"waved" knives are also illegal in many states as "assisted opening". up here in wisconsin it's all up to the officers discretion.

[WORKER#9]

[quote="The Deacon"]Question number one, is it normal in your neck of the woods for a driver to be asked to step out of their vehicle on a routine traffic stop?

WELL DEACON I DONT THINK IT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME BUT I AM WHITE AND MY FRIEND IS NOT, WETHER PEOPLE WANT TO THINK THERE ARE DIFFERENT STANDARDS OR NOT IS UP TO THEM. I DONT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, I DO KNOW HE WAS DETAINED, FOR A WHILE BECAUSE OF THE KNIFE. I WAS NOT THERE. I KNOW I HAVE BEEN PULLED OVER AND NEVER HAD ANYTHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN. HE WAS NOT WEARING A SEATBELT AS DAYWALKER SAID SO IT IS HIS OWN FAULT, AND I CANT SAY WHY THE OFFICER DID WHAT HE DID, I DO KNOW CALIFORNIA IS A BIG STATE, THERE HAVE BEEN RANDOM FREEWAY SHOOTINGS IN THE STATE LATELY, THE OFFICER MUST CONSIDER HIS OWN SAFETY. IT IS A TOUGH CALL ALONE AT NIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I SEE BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN I FEEL THE CITIZEN HAS A RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE, I ALSO UNDERSTAND THE OFFICERS MOTIVATION TO FINISH THE SHIFT SAFELY. BUT WHEN YOU PULL SOMEONE OVER IN CA IT IS STANDARD POLICY TO RUN THE PLATES AND CHECK FOR OWNERSHIP AND WARRANTS. I HAVE KNOWN MY FRIEND FOR YEARS AND I KNOW HE HAS NO WARRANTS. SO WHAT HAPPENED? I FEEL THE OFFICER HAD NOT SEEN SUCH A NICE KNIFE BEFORE AND ALL THOSE SERATIONS ARE UNNERVING AND JUST WENT FROM THERE. AND I GUESS IT IS THE OFFICERS CALL, IF HE COULD MAKE THE GRAVITY KNIFE CHARGE STICK AND IN A CA COURT HE MIGHT. IT SOUNDS LIKE OTHER STATES ARE ALREADY THERE, PRETTY SOON WE WILL ALL BE CARRYING UK PEN KNIVES. #9

[psimonl]

And I though Canada was the only place weird enough to have a law that could be interpreted in too many ways like the "gravity concept".
Here, you can walk around with a 8 inches chef knife, but not a 1.25 inch folder that you can open one hand, holding the blade (Spyder drop :confused: )

If a law can be interprated, then the legislator didn't do his job right...

Simon

[argyll]

Unlike NYC, thanks to dilligent lobbying by knife enthusiasts California has a specific law that prevents most commercial folders from being defined as a switchblade or gravity knife.

California Penal Code section 653k provides:

For the purposes of this section, "switchblade knife" means a knife having the appearance of a pocketknife and includes a spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by any type of mechanism whatsoever. "Switchblade knife" does not include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position.

Thus a normal Spyderco folder is not illegal in California.

Best regards,

Argyll

[WORKER#9]

Thank You So Much For The Actaul Law. #9

[WORKER#9]

Argyll What About A Kershaw Spring Assisted Folder, Would This Be Illegal, The Speed Safe Series. As You Seem To Know More About Cal Law, Thanks #9

[The General]

So we all are suffernig from tightening knife laws? Puts into perspective all the comments about our laws (British)...

[Simon G]

.......... PRETTY SOON WE WILL ALL BE CARRYING UK PEN KNIVES. #9

Hey #9!

The UKPK is a worthy tool to clip in your pocket......! :p

.....but I understand the sentiment.

One question though, has this unfortunate incident changed your friends attitude towards LEO's. That is probably a bigger danger with greater consequences than a SE Para! I often wonder how many honest, law abiding people have a complete reversal of opinion after an over zealous meeting.

God bless,

Simon.

[WORKER#9]

No He Actaully Finds It Quite Funny, Now That Its Over. #9

[argyll]

Argyll What About A Kershaw Spring Assisted Folder, Would This Be Illegal, The Speed Safe Series. As You Seem To Know More About Cal Law, Thanks #9

I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer on that question. Certainly the manufacturers don't think assisted openers are switchblades, but there have been individual officers and prosecutors in various states who think they otherwise. :confused:

Further, as your friend discovered many LEO's are uncertain as to what the knife laws in their own jurisidiction are even for less exotic opening systems. If you want to play it safe in California with assisted openers carry something like the Kershaw Chive, with its less than 2 inch blade even if were found to be a switchblade it would be legal.

"waved" knives are also illegal in many states as "assisted opening". up here in wisconsin it's all up to the officers discretion.

Michael Cook,

I have never heard of anyone being arrested for having a "waved" knife, or it being declared in violation of a specific state law. Can you provide more details?

Best regards,

Argyll