European travel

[aicolainen]

I'm not Italian, so I can't give definitive answers, but I'm European and I've been to Italy a number of times. I basically agree with @wrdwrght. If you plan to hike and or explore the countryside, a knife should be no issue at all.
If you opt for the cities and historical sites, I would drop the knife, the risk of getting in trouble (however small) would only distract from your experience. Just embrace the culture and buy your food at restaurants and cafés when your out and about.
If you buy a knife to use in the backcountry, your hotel room / apartment or wherever your staying, be aware that mailing it back home could turn out to be an expensive endeavor. Again I'm not Italian and don't know the specifics for Italy, but sending a knife from my part of Europe to the US is quite expensive these days.

[Naperville]

Sounds like things are pretty grim over there.

So, you’re not going, then?

Seriously, if you are going to pity Italians because they have no 2A to provide legal cover for self-defense, consider the following facts (provided by the Perplexity.ai tool):

“The murder rates in Italy and the United States differ significantly. In 2022, Italy had a homicide rate of 0.55 per 100,000 people, which is relatively low compared to other countries[4]. In contrast, the United States had a much higher rate of 7.8 homicides per 100,000 people in the same year[4]. This disparity highlights a significant difference in the level of violent crime between the two countries.

Additionally, Italy's murder rate is among the lowest globally, whereas the United States has the highest homicide rate among G7 countries[5]. This suggests that Italy is generally safer in terms of homicide rates compared to the United States, where the rate is substantially higher.

Sources
[1] Crime rate comparison United States vs Italy - Cost of Living https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_co ... try2=Italy
[2] Murders in US states compared to Italy - Italy, that many fear to visit ...
[3] List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... icide_rate
[4] Murder Rate by Country 2024 - World Population Review https://worldpopulationreview.com/count ... by-country
[5] G7: murder rate by country | Statista https://www.statista.com/statistics/137 ... cide-rate/
[6] Italy vs United States Crime Stats Compared - NationMaster https://www.nationmaster.com/country-in ... ates/Crime
[7] Italy vs United States Crime > Violent crime Stats Compared https://www.nationmaster.com/country-in ... lent-crime
[8] Country comparison Italy vs United States Intentional homicides 2024 https://countryeconomy.com/countries/co ... sa?sc=XE28”

If you’re concern is not SD, but culinary instead (as it was mine when my wife [EDIT TO ADD: “and I”] spent a week in Tuscany, then a week in Venice some years ago), I’ll say I had many opportunities to buy a knife for picnics, but never did for all the wonderful eateries to eat wonderful food

And, without a knife in my pocket, I worried not a second about being scanned.

You've traveled and brought the facts! So I'm not trying to negate most of your facts, but I'd guess that 85% of the firearms homicides, carjackings, robberies, stickups, and beat downs happen in large cities(250k and larger) in the USA.

If you are traveling to the USA use the Internet to research where you are traveling and stay out of the crime hotspots!

I live 40 miles West of Chicago and have been there to get a few things twice over the last 7 years. I've met people that live here that have never been to Chicago and they are in their mid-life!

[Jim Malone]

You could always buy an Opinel in Europe. Pretty cheap. So cheap you could ditch one. Harmless looking.
As a European i have carried a Spyderco since 1986. Like always and almost everywhere. I have been stopped and searched 0 time. No where in Europe.
Now i do put the knife in my pocket going into places where there is surveillance and i do wear clothes that hide the pocket clip.
I don´t wear my knives in places with metal detectors but in Belgium these are only used in airports and certain governement buildings and at large festivals.
My guess is Italy is the same.

[sal]

Hi Meadowlark,

The "Roadie" and Roadie 2" should be OK anywhere in Europe.

sal

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I would imagine that the biggest concern in Italy (and in other European tourist destinations) would be organized groups of Romani pickpockets.

Jim

Soneone told me those muggers will grab cell phones right out of hands and mobs of them will raid stores, shovelling stuff into bags like the criminals in big American cities.

Italians make some of the best blades in the world. Most people focus on their so called switch blades but they have great practical folders and fixed blades. There is no accident that Spyderco the greatest knife maker in history has had some knives made there.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Would most Italian knife stores help you pack and ship the knife back home?

[Naperville]

Take Sal's advice! He knows what he is talking about.

[Cadenno]

Italian law is quite ambiguous.
It is forbidden to carry any knife with you, because it is considered a weapon, unless there is a good reason. And this good reason is at the discretion of the person who stops you for the check.
In any case, in crowded tourist places, it is impossible to find a good reason that the law enforcement agencies will accept a knife.

I live 30 kilometers from Italy, and I go there quite often. Once, while I was making a sandwich at a picnic area, an officer confiscated my sak, because to the officer there was no reason to carry it, even though I was cutting bread. And he also told me that I was lucky that he didn't report me criminally.

So, if you carry the knife with you in your luggage, perhaps still packaged in the original box and with the receipt, you shouldn't have too many problems, but be careful about carrying it in your pocket...

[Bolster]

i know you're asking about spyderco specifically, but spydercos are way too expensive for me to chance losing to tsa or some power-hungry rent-a-cop. when i travel now, i put a gerber prybrid in my carry-on. i just take the blade out before going into security and buy a new blade soon after landing. if you ever aren't allowed to carry a blade somewhere, simply throw the blade away and replace it when you are able. utility blades are everywhere and super cheap. and, even if you had to sacrifice the whole thing, it's only around $20, which hurts a lot less than even a ladybug these days.

This is my approach also. On a recent trip, I've twice had to quickly throw away a blade to get through an unexpected inspection station. Easy to retrieve or replace the blade afterward.

I use the Coast DX126 but am considering the Oknife Otacle U1 also. These two knives both offer more available edge than standard ute knives.

Beware that in Europe (maybe also in US? Don't know), there are two similar ute blade sizes and they're not interchangeable in my experience. Of course I bought the wrong size (shorter length and taller vertically) and had to hunt a bit to find the size that fit standard 'sold in the US' ute knives.

Off topic: One other thing helps me during foreign travel: I consciously attempt to take offense at nothing. I assume part of travel is occasionally getting the short end of the stick by the locals.

[Evil D]

I wouldn't take anything, and would instead see what I might be able to buy when I get there. But, I'm not much of a traveler so what do I know.

[Meadowlark]

Appreciate the responses, haven't seen any knife shops. Seems like I could get away with something small outside the big tourist attractions.

If anyone's aware of any good knife shops between Florence and Rome feel free to let me know!

Thanks.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I wouldn't take anything, and would instead see what I might be able to buy when I get there. But, I'm not much of a traveler so what do I know.

Well, to me you're a brilliant, industrious, hard working, intelligent, friendly person with great experience and a fellow knife user. I value your insights and advice.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

How would the Italian police respond if you say you love their people and want to carry Italian knives to celebrate their unique culture?

[zhyla]

I wouldn't take anything, and would instead see what I might be able to buy when I get there. But, I'm not much of a traveler so what do I know.

I usually take an Ambitious because it looks innocuous and it’s inexpensive to replace if confiscated. Most places the cops will just confiscate if it’s a tourist.

[ChrisinHove]

How would the Italian police respond if you say you love their people and want to carry Italian knives to celebrate their unique culture?

When they confiscated my SAK in Rome there was absolutely no conversation, no debate, no appeal. I guess they’ve heard it all before …

[SpyderEdgeForever]

How would the Italian police respond if you say you love their people and want to carry Italian knives to celebrate their unique culture?

When they confiscated my SAK in Rome there was absolutely no conversation, no debate, no appeal. I guess they’ve heard it all before …

That is sad, Chris. I fully support our knife rights.

[James Y]

How would the Italian police respond if you say you love their people and want to carry Italian knives to celebrate their unique culture?

I highly doubt that sucking up in that manner to the police in any country with restrictive knife laws will get them to excuse your knife, if they are either required to confiscate it, or if they simply feel like it.

Jim

[aicolainen]

Italian law is quite ambiguous.
It is forbidden to carry any knife with you, because it is considered a weapon, unless there is a good reason. And this good reason is at the discretion of the person who stops you for the check.

This has sadly become the norm in several European countries. Including here in Norway.

I don't have much nice to say about knife laws in UK/GB either, but at least they have determined a minimum safe window to operate in. The limitations are silly, but at least you can bring a cutting implement with you and be reasonably sure you aren't breaking any laws.
For the rest of us, we don't know until we know. That's a pretty sad reality for countries that claim to be free and democratic.
That said, enforcement is still pretty relaxed throughout most of Norway, sans a couple of large(r) cities. For the moment I carry everyday, wherever I go except when specifically going out for drinks or other social arrangements, and I don't feel at particularly high risk of getting into trouble.
Once out of the cities to smaller towns and townships, even blatant open carry would normally not attract any attention.
Without any laws explicitly allowing some type of knife carry in public, I expect enforcement practices to only get stricter with time, until there's basically no "good reasons" left.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

How would the Italian police respond if you say you love their people and want to carry Italian knives to celebrate their unique culture?

I highly doubt that sucking up in that manner to the police in any country with restrictive knife laws will get them to excuse your knife, if they are either required to confiscate it, or if they simply feel like it.

Jim

This is a great point.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Italian law is quite ambiguous.
It is forbidden to carry any knife with you, because it is considered a weapon, unless there is a good reason. And this good reason is at the discretion of the person who stops you for the check.

This has sadly become the norm in several European countries. Including here in Norway.

I don't have much nice to say about knife laws in UK/GB either, but at least they have determined a minimum safe window to operate in. The limitations are silly, but at least you can bring a cutting implement with you and be reasonably sure you aren't breaking any laws.
For the rest of us, we don't know until we know. That's a pretty sad reality for countries that claim to be free and democratic.
That said, enforcement is still pretty relaxed throughout most of Norway, sans a couple of large(r) cities. For the moment I carry everyday, wherever I go except when specifically going out for drinks or other social arrangements, and I don't feel at particularly high risk of getting into trouble.
Once out of the cities to smaller towns and townships, even blatant open carry would normally not attract any attention.
Without any laws explicitly allowing some type of knife carry in public, I expect enforcement practices to only get stricter with time, until there's basically no "good reasons" left.

I had a great conversation with both an Italian and a Greek, both are fellow knife lovers and love Spyderco as well as their national knives.

By the way, sal and everyone, did you know the people of Greece and Crete have their own folders and fixed blades that are traditional? I can show you some pictures. Very beautiful. It would be so great if Spyderco could collaborate with some people from Crete and make a folder with the Spyderco trademarked Opening Hole. They have stainless blades and olive wood handles and are hand sharpened.

The Italian and the Greek both told me they feel very sad that things have swung this way in Western and Southern and North Europe because they agree with American knife users ( I think all of us on this forum agree) that the law should punish those who abuse knives to harm others, not make the knife itself illegal to own and carry.