A plea to Mr. Glesser.

[gyssedk]

I just returned from a small vacation abroad so i willl be following this thread and case again.

I have contacted the Danish DOJ and and i have some people in Denmark with experience in similar matters looking in to the project, so with time i should be ready to present the information, and god willing, a prototype for the DOJ to make a decision on this matter.

I will keep you posted as soon as this project moves forward.

[phaust]

I saw an interesting knife a few days ago, a traditional with a spyder hole, that might work:



It's by a Florida knifemaker, Larry Arnold.

[ngraudal]

I just returned from a small vacation abroad so i willl be following this thread and case again.

I have contacted the Danish DOJ and and i have some people in Denmark with experience in similar matters looking in to the project, so with time i should be ready to present the information, and god willing, a prototype for the DOJ to make a decision on this matter.

I will keep you posted as soon as this project moves forward.

Good stuff Gysse, I hope you get a swift reply from the DoJ :)

[Grejs76]

And maybe we can make a general plan on how to help knifemakers getting their knives approved for sale in Denmark.

Mikael.

[spyderfan123]

when your still looking for one i know where to get it

[The Porcupine]

Just a heartfelt thanks to Sal for bothering and thanks to my fellow danes for taking this up!
I would love a legal Spyderco. The original DK is an awesome knife and it's such a shame we can't be sure it's legal to carry.

The best
Bo

[Grejs76]

I just recently bought a knife from a weel known knife dealer in Denmark. It's the Kershaw Vapor. It's originaly an OHO knife, but the dealer removed the thumb stud, and this legalized it for "creditable use" in Denmark. Not EDC due to the lock.

There is not enough blade for the thumb to get a grip, unless you are realy agile with your hands, so it is not "constructed for OHO use" as the law demands.

Mikael.

[ChrisR]

There is no way you can affect danish politics by doing lobbywork, no politician will stick their neck out and risk being the one that slacked the weaponlaws.

Danish knifesociety (yes, they exist) have previously written to the departement of justice and asked why OHO was banned, the answer: "It was the oppinion of the police technical unit that any OHO folding knife must be viewed as particularly dangerous"

The current wording of the law is very unfortunate, since it is possible to open almost any knife with one hand. Even swiss army knives can be opened with one hand, with the correct technique. I must hasten to add that I have not yet heard of anyone being brought to trial for carrying an sak.

Just picked up on this thread ... very interesting so far guys :)

My thoughts are that the law is obviously written to be very vague because the prosecutors want a lot of wriggle-room when bringing people to court. Whether a particular design of knife will get you into trouble really depends only on case-law ... the results of real-world cases that have been run through the courts already. This needs to be analysed.

It is perfectly possible to open a SAK with one hand but the police may be under instruction to ignore them - so the make of the knife might be important to whether it gets you into trouble. Something that looks unusual (eg. a Spyderco) might be tested whereas a SAK wouldn't. This would show an unfair bias against non-SAKs.

I still feel that it might still be possible to work to change the law and refine things so that it does the job the police/politicians intended and doesn't catch-out law-abiding citizens who just want to carry a pocket-knife. To me the most important change would be to remove the OHO restriction from non-locking knives. A non-locker is only dangerous to the holder if he chooses to get into a fight with it ... only an idiot would use one for SD unless they were backed completely into a corner and fighting for their life. There are 2 main thrusts:

1. Collect real court cases where people have been prosecuted for having a OHO knife. Analyse the data and show how many ordinary and otherwise law-abiding people have been criminalised unnecessarily. Analyse which knives have been targeted by the police - it might help work out which are being treated as legal. When presented with the raw facts a politician might help you reword the law if he feels that votes can be gained. If the police even target people holding SAKs then that should scare a lot of voters.

2. The law seems to have been constructed to give Victorinox an unfair advantage in the market because without completely redesigning their product lines most other manufacturers will have to stop selling in Denmark. If the Vic importer was the only 'expert' called on when making the law then this is clearly unfair commercial interference.

Perhaps if Danish knife users, collectors and makers could sign a petition to ask for permission to carry non-locking OHOs? It is one thing for a person to write to their MP but if they can show that they have the support of 100s of other people then it might make the politicians sit up.

Anyway, sorry I am rambling a bit ... but I wish you well :)

[The Porcupine]

Chris R,

Thanks for your thought on this. I agree, it should be possible to make politicians listen and it should be possible to make them change the laws.
Unfortunately, this will never be the case here. As previously stated by another poster, no politician here would risk losing votes over legalizing OHO knives - or anything else that is a political hot potato!
The media has played a big role in making people scared of knives and the politicians are simply jumping on that wagon to secure more votes for themselves.
The thing is; this is not a case that can make any politician look good! If it had to with care for the weak, the elderly, the poor, etc., sure, they would be all over it. But amending a law for a handfull of knifegeeks? No way that's ever gonna happen, no matter how much we want it to or how unresonable it may seem.

Just as an example, it took the Danish Sports Shooters Confederation over twenty years to get IPSC legalized as a sports discipline here. It was only possible becuse they could prove to the Ministry Of Justice, that it's a legal sport just about anywhere else in the EU, it's recognized around the world, there has never been any accidents and the participants are all serious, law abiding citizens with licensed firearms, competing in a serious sport.
I shot IPSC for a short while myself and enjoyed it a lot. I never really fought with the politicians myself, but my hat is off to the people who did. They got served so much cr** from the MOJ in the process, that it would have made me give up and do something else instead.
Mind you.... this is a sport and "sport = good" here.
We are talking knives and "knives = bad".....

The only "proof" we can dig up for OHO knives, is negative, as the first ones the police came across, were carried by criminals, not enthusiasts or collectors. They aren't really necessary for anything and just about anything that you can do with an OHO knife, you can do with a regular knife too. It will never, ever fly!

The best
Bo

[ngraudal]

Is there any news about the knife project, just curious...

[Haffner]

Well, I'm a happy Danish DK penknife user living in Denmark.
Every time I use this knife, I thank Sal & Spyderco for meeting the needs of knife users in a small country. And yes, I use it every day!
Surely, you can get other legal knives here, but none with s30v steel or similar.
So, if a new knife is on the way, I'd like to suggest s35vn as the steel. People like Reeve are moving to this now, so why not Spyderco?

[Creepo]

Well, I'm a happy Danish DK penknife user living in Denmark.
Every time I use this knife, I thank Sal & Spyderco for meeting the needs of knife users in a small country. And yes, I use it every day!
Surely, you can get other legal knives here, but none with s30v steel or similar.
So, if a new knife is on the way, I'd like to suggest s35vn as the steel. People like Reeve are moving to this now, so why not Spyderco?

Spyderco will start using S35VN in the upcoming Native5. Spyderco tends to test new things in smaller batches, see how it is received, if something is infact better they will adapt the technology more widely. :)

[Grejs76]

It's a while since er heard something. Any prototypes, ideas or even finished products?

[monsterdog]

Hello fellow Danes,

Sal showed me a very early DK legal prototype at Blade 2011 and it sounds like its going forward. The prototype had a G10 blade and no back spring or anything, so was a very rough conceptual design, but had very nice lines and what looked like a 2mm hole in the blade instead of the traditional Spyder hole.

I for one can't wait for this to be released, I will carry it myself and probably gift a few to friends and family back home in Denmark.

As for changing the laws, I think it is time for Danes to make an equivalent to Knife Rights. I think with enough pressure on politicians it is feasible to have a more open law drafted.

Especially after all the negative cases of otherwise law abiding Danes for instance getting "caught" with a carpet knife in their car going home from work where they need such an item. There really are not many legitimate cases of true violent criminals using one hand opening or locking knives for crime in Denmark, most criminals tend to use things like kitchen knives or screwdrivers (or any other sharp, rigid tool).

Classifying something that any idiot with intent can make out of a piece of metal and 15 minutes to spare and readily available tools as a weapon is really dumb. Criminals do not follow the law by definition, why would they stop carrying knives with the intent of using them as weapons?

[Gerard Breuker]

a G10 blade

Poor Danes are not even allowed steel blades it seems. So sorry.

[DeathBySnooSnoo]

Isn't there already the DKPK?

[Ry-Gon]

If you are happier now after all that negativity, good for you.

There is no way I can influence the knife law here in Denmark. So I'd rather live a life with legal spydeco knives, than live without, just to show my anger. Nobody would notice.

We have to design new knives, that push the law. Most Danes use their knives for legal purposes.

Mikael.

There is always a way. be pro active like you are doing now. keep it up and eventually you will get results!

[sal]

I have a model designed by Vox / Anso. We're still moving forward.

sal

[Grejs76]

I have a model designed by Vox / Anso. We're still moving forward.

sal

Sounds good. I'm looking forward to seeing The result. Could you show some pictures of your ideas?
Mikael.

[sal]

Hi Grejs,

Not ready for pics yet. Still refining the design.

sal