Specific advice on carrying some knives.

[Daneel]

I'm going to the US next weekend and intend to buy some knives while out there. The ones I have my eye on are:

Benchmade 707 (http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=707)
Spyderco Cricket (http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=17)
CRKT Montana (http://www.crkt.com/montana.html)

I would appreciate it if someone could advise me on which would be illegal to carry in the UK. All have under a 3" blade however the Benchmade locks so I guess that would have to stay in the house.

The other two I am not sure about as the description of the locking mechanisms are less clear.

Thanks for your help.

[ANDYLASER]

Welcome, I hope you have a good holiday. All 3 of those are locking knives. They are all legal to own, however, you will need a "good reason" for carrying them in public.

[ZDP-189]

Good answer.

And a "good reason" is more than "I want to be able to cut things." You really need a specific task/ job and it wouldn't hurt to be able to explain why it's safer with a lock than a slipjoint.

[Daneel]

Thanks for the replies guys. Can you please explain to me how you can tell the 2nd two are locking knives?

The CRKT I was going to pick up purely to use in the house, probably just as a package opener because I love the way it looks. I had hoped that I could take the cricket with me as a EDC. I hope I've got that term right, I knew nothing at all about knives until yesterday evening when I began googling the subject and asking some friends. Now I have manufacturers names and steel types buzzing around my head! As you can see I still don't have a grasp of the different opening/locking mechanisms and about a hundred other things!

What knife can I use as an EDC carry in the UK that I can pick up for a reasonable price in the US or even here I supposed but I assume the US is cheaper? The BM 707 was going to cost around $100, the cricket about $40 and the Montana about $60.

[BTW, have I picked the right forum? This one seems to revolve around custom knives and I could do with some advice on my choice of production knives, preferably in the UK though.]

[Tantalus]

both of them lock open with a liner lock

the law sees locking knives as effectively fixed blades and prohibits them in public places without good reason

a linerlock is part of the handle liner that springs into place when the knife is opened, jamming the blade open untill the lock is pushed back out of the way

try your local outdoors or fishing shop there are plenty of linerlocks legally for sale and a quick look at one will show you how it works

the only illegal bit is carrying them in public "without good reason"

hope that explains some

legal knives for edc are folding knives with no lock and a blade length under 3 inches, like a Swiss army knife or the Spyderco UK penknife, there are a lot of us knives too, try Case among others

Tant

[spamel]

Tant, is a liner lock like the lock mechanism for the knife blade on a leatherman wave?

Cheers

:spam1:el

[Stew]

Tant, is a liner lock like the lock mechanism for the knife blade on a leatherman wave?

Cheers

:spam1:el

Yep! :)

[Daneel]

I've had a read of some of the other threads here and I think I have a decent understanding of the situation now.

Many thanks.