If laws and public perception were no issue, would you carry a different knife?

[DansGearAddiction]

I'd like to occasionally carry an auto -- our limit here in CT is 1.5" which is effectively a ban on autos; outside of novelties, I'm not actually aware of any manufacturers that make one at that size.

When it comes to manual knives, our limit is 4" and I don't feel restricted by that at all; my largest knife is a Stretch 2, and that's on the bigger end of what I'm willing to carry.

In terms of perception, using ANY knife in public here outside of maybe a SAK Classic or a Leatherman, would get you either strange/frightened looks, or, perhaps even a call to authorities.

[toomanyquestions]

I’d like to see a return to the casual carrying of short swords.

That would indeed be nice.

[StuntZombie]

No. I prefer smaller knives because I find them easier to carry and more useful.

[PaloArt]

I am living in a country, where there is no limit on carry and I still do enjoy small knives as well as bigger knives. Older I get (not that I am that old) more I appreciate smaller pocket knives (Urban, Squeak, Manbug). Ideally I carry some kind of duo though - Endura or Delica and Manbug; Manix 2 G10 accompanied by Squeak or Urban; PPT with Squeak... for some applications smaller blade offers, for me, more agility while longer blade better reach and\or cutting edge. Even if I carry Chaparral I always accompany such mid sized folder with something smaller as I do not like to raise attention or scare anyone and sometimes small knives are what I need to do small just a small job.

Another thing is what is considered large, mid and small folder for each and one of us. If we are talking about Police\Military sized folders - I see the appeal, I might plan to pick one up but for now I think fixed blade would suit better for tasks where such large knife might come into play. Simply due to the fact that big folders as such are not much maneuverable for me compared to something smaller such as Delica, Endela, Chaparral...

[michaelm466]

I've only lived in knife friendly states, so I can carry my OTFs, 4.25" folders, etc, so I was going to answer "No". However, if I'm going out in the woods where I won't see hardly anybody else, I'm carrying a 3.75-4.5" fixed blade. I don't really carry folders as they're not as strong, more difficult to clean the crevices, and have more parts. So I'm not sure if I would even have any folders, and if I did, it would be about 10% of what I have currently. As it is, I have about 5x as many folders as fixed blades though.

[navin johnson]

Would edc an OTF.

Unless I didn’t like it after using

Even in a friendlier knife state I wold likely carry Seki lock backs unless the OTF blew my skirt up

[T-1000]

No restrictive knife laws here, and I couldn’t care less what people think, but nobody down here gives me anything but “woah that's a sweet knife” when they see my police 4 or or even my xl voyager. Good thing about living in the south I guess.

[vivi]

nobody down here gives me anything but “woah that's a sweet knife” when they see my police 4 or or even my xl voyager. Good thing about living in the south I guess.

haha true

[z1r]

Yes, if I weren't restricted to 3.5" I think a LW Cruwear Stretch 2 XL would be my daily. Since the XL is too long, I make due with a PM2.

[Peter1960]

So it got me thinking - would you guys carry a different sized knife if there were no blade length laws and no potential issues with public perception?

No

Or would you carry the same size you normally do?

Yes

[ladybug93]

i don't think i mentioned it, but i would probably edc a small fixed blade concealed if the laws were different. i'd like to be able to carry my mini tracker in my back pocket or in a bag without worrying about legal issues.

[Roefisher]

I don't think I'd change that much, to be honest.

My daily carry is a folder for sharpening pencils and another folder for all other uses, mainly around home.

I suppose there are times I'd like to carry a fixed blade more but I still can in the countryside where I'd use it most anyway.

As mentioned, things are changing around here at a very alarming pace where everyone is being tarred with the same brush and it will soon be impossible to post or receive a knife. Maybe shops will be able to post but for the general public, it's finished.

More annoying than anything is the idea of me being placed in the exact same view as a criminal because I own, carry, and want to purchase knives.

Anyway, I'm happy with what I have, how I carry them, and I hope to be able to purchase more later (even if it is just from shop dealers).

Mark

[derp]

I'd carry a police 4 lw k390 all the time. Since I can't, I carry a stretch 2 lw k390 around town.

[James Y]

I live in SoCal. It may be shocking to some people on knife-related forums, but outside of the cities of L.A., San Francisco, and probably Sacramento, there are no 3" and under for open carry rules, at least AFAIK.

I carry whatever I want, the only exceptions being places like sports arenas/stadiums, zoos/amusement parks, gov't buildings, airports, schools/campuses, possibly museums. etc. None of which I frequent much or at all anymore. And I'm sure that many of these types of locations restrict knife carry in a LOT of cities and states outside of CA.

Other than a couple incidents back in the '90s (which involved me using SAKs for simple tasks), I haven't gotten any other negative reactions about any knife I'm carrying, regardless of size or make. Until 2020, I worked at a wellness center/massage therapy clinic for 13 years, and I used my knives to break down supply boxes, cut the plastic strapping around freshly-laundered sheets, etc., etc. Not once did anybody ever react negatively to seeing my knives, which varied from Delicas, Enduras, Pac Salt, SS Harpy, Tasman Salt, Manix 2, PM2, SS Police, Military, Police 4 LWT, Benchmade 805 TSEK, CRK Large Insingo, etc. They were not the knife-carrying type, yet because I only brought out my knives to quietly use them, then quietly put them away when done without making a big deal out of it, nobody else (including the two owners) thought anything of it, even though they were well aware that I always carried knives, and even admited they thought they were very useful.

You might think, "Who cares?" Well, the more positive impressions you can subtly imprint in the minds of others, the more likely they might remember that when it comes to voting for more restrictive laws. And people who don't carry pocketknives seem to be the majority of people, probably including in knife-friendlier states.

Oftentimes, the best positive impressions are made by leading with quiet actions, instead of trying to lecture others on the usefulness of knives as tools. I'm not saying that anybody HERE does that (or suggests doing that). But I've seen others self-righteously post about that on the other big forum, so I thought I'd bring that up.

Jim

[aicolainen]

No, I wouldn’t, but it’s not so obvious. Let me explain.

Norway is one of those places that have very strict as well as blurry knife laws, and like Jim Malone describes the situation in Belgium, also here the only safe option is to don’t carry anything at all.

Maybe because the law is so restrictive overall, there are no specific limitations on lengths, but then again if I’d ever had to convince someone that I’m carrying responsibly and with good intentions, there’s a limit to how big and scary I want my knife to look.

This thinking has probably affected some of the choices that has led me to my current preferences, but these are still real preferences that wouldn’t change if the knife restrictions suddenly went away.
The DF2 is currently my favorite EDC, but the path to get here is covered with larger pocket friendly options like small Sebenza, full size Bugout, 940 Osbourne etc.

I carrie larger knives as well, but they’re most useful to me outside of urban environments where enforcement of knife laws are much more relaxed. I’ve had time off work a couple of days and my TRL Endura has been clipped to my back pocket ever since we left the city on Thursday morning, including grocery shopping and other errands in a small town not far from our mountain hut.

I wish we had more reasonable knife laws, but we have pretty reasonable enforcement so they don’t really affect what I carry, but to some extent how I carry. I’m very discreet to put it mildly.
Same goes for public perception, it’s something I pay attention to, but it only affects how I carry.

[aicolainen]

8< ——

3) locking knives that require BOTH hands to open.

8< ——

If the limitation No (3) would not exist, I would simply carry a knife in a size of Delica / Chaparral from Spyderco and be a happy camper. Maybe sometimes larger instead of a fixed-blade situation.

Honestly - I have been on a search for a decent quality knife that has a pocket clip, usable design and good steel and fulfills the German knife law for AGES. I would love to see a hole-less Spyderco (say a Delica, Chaparral, etc) that I could legally carry. I guess that is not happening anytime soon ...

Believe it or not, but I have a couple of very weird friends that actually prefer their locking folding knives to be two hand opening. I don’t get it, but they’re free to like whatever they want.

Anyhow, a favorite off the shelf option for at least one of them are the Fällkniven knives, the GP (Gentleman’s Pocketknife) in particular.
Another popular choice is to remove the thumbstud on knives with thumstuds. It won’t get you a Spyderco but there’s quite a number of reasonably good alternatives with thumb studs out there.

[Matus]

Believe it or not, but I have a couple of very weird friends that actually prefer their locking folding knives to be two hand opening. I don’t get it, but they’re free to like whatever they want.

Anyhow, a favorite off the shelf option for at least one of them are the Fällkniven knives, the GP (Gentleman’s Pocketknife) in particular.
Another popular choice is to remove the thumbstud on knives with thumstuds. It won’t get you a Spyderco but there’s quite a number of reasonably good alternatives with thumb studs out there.

I actually do not mind the two hand opening - and do use it even on a slipjoint if I open it at work - I just do not want to surprise people around the wrong way. But there is basically no knife with a decent, thin blade, low-ish weight and decent deep carry clip. Fällkniven does some really nice knives, the GP is indeed one of them. Jut on the thick and heavy side and no pocket clip.

[toomanyquestions]

This is an interesting topic.

I live in a very knife friendly place. However, the law is so friendly as to be vague: my *understanding* is that big folders are fine, but if anything bad a happens motive comes into play. I would prefer a codified right-to-carry unless the circumstances very clearly show illegal intent.

[Bdubs808]

I would carry a sword.

[Naperville]

If there were no regulations I'd carry 2, Spyderco Stuart Ackerman Sustains and they have 6.2 inch blades.