My understanding is that it's very much the same in England Fishy. There's legislation and there's common sense. I've not had many dealings with the police, but I reckon they'd understand the purpose of the knife I carry if I was doing an activity that required (or benefited from) one. It's also very much about attitude. Give the cops some attitude and you can bet your bottom dollar (or Sterling pound) that they'll take the hard line of the law rather than just tell you off.

I quite often have my SAK on me, but it has so many tools in it that I think I could argue it's use as a tool rather than a knife.

I find it very sad that what we consider a tool, a versatile and sometimes essential tool, is perceived as nothing more than a weapon by some.