Interesting things

[juliet]

• A Drug War Carol
• Birth month can affect health

Apparently an anti-knife-crime group want minimum 6 month jail sentences for adults caught with a blade less than 3 in (5 years for >3"). My immediate query was whether this would be intended to outlaw a standard penknife? (for reference, this appears to be a reasonably well-referenced summary of the current UK situation - it is OK to carry any non-locking folding knife under 3" on a daily basis; other knifes (e.g. locking knifes) are illegal unless you have 'good reason' to carry them) This would seem somewhat OTT (I admit that I may be biased - I've been carrying a penknife on a daily basis since I was a teenager).

Comments

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

I think Leathermans (and other similar utilities) specifically make their blades slightly under those limits.

The thing is, though - they're a locking blade, which would seem to make them illegal.

[wechsler.livejournal.com]

Eh? Leathermans (-men)? don't lock, it's just a swiss-army mechanism.
Unless you count the way the handle folds back to cover the blade's housing, but if you tried to push the point into anything it'd still fold.

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? I've used some leatherman's that do - there's a kind of notch on the handle that you push in before the blade will swing back in.

My Gerber has something similar - once the blade is out, it won't go back until you unlock it.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

mine locks.

[uon.livejournal.com]

My Wave locks: I normally have to warn about this if I lend it out, since a couple of people have cut themselves trying to unlock the blade before handing it back — the mechanism can be a bit stiff and fiddly.

I carry it pretty much all the time. I presume "It's useful, and I hate getting caught without it" wouldn't be a sufficiently good defence..