Using a Penknife instead of a normal knife.

[mrj87]

Hey,

I'm very confused about the legal side of having a knife so as penknifes are perfectly legal to carry, do you think a normal penknife blade is good enough for most bushcraft activities? Are there any it wouldn't be ok for?

Kind regards,
Matt.

[Tony1948]

Hey,

I'm very confused about the legal side of having a knife so as penknifes are perfectly legal to carry, do you think a normal penknife blade is good enough for most bushcraft activities? Are there any it wouldn't be ok for?

Kind regards,
Matt.

A bushcraft knife is legal carry as long as you have just cors,dont go to Tescos with it hanging from your belt or down the pub,but if you are at camp around the fire you have just cors,make your way to camp site with your sharps in your pack not in site of joy public.Apart from an opel or svord with a bit cut from the back of the blade I would not bother with wot you call a penknife useing it for b/c chores it is lyball to fold up on you,if you think you need a folder get a multi-tool,if you are out in the wood or on your way too you have the right to carry,dont go flashing them.Atb...........Tony......Dont get eaten by the bears.

[rik_uk3]

'Just Cause' is needed for blades over 3" blade length IIRC.

[HillBill]

Its cutting edge, not blade length And needs to be a non locking folder... (just to clarify)

'Just Cause' is needed for blades over 3" blade length IIRC.

[Tony1948]

Its cutting edge, not blade length And needs to be a non locking folder... (just to clarify)

Thats wye I cut a bit of the back of a svord,to make it less than 3in,makeing it less than a 3in cutting edge.

[chris_leech]

I carry a leatherman juice (<3" non locking) all the time, except bars and clubs. Perfectly legal.

However, the lack of knowledge from some people is worrying. A very good friend of mine is a PC, and I happened to pull my leatherman out at a house party we were at (bottle opener), and I asked him his opinion on wheather I was legal to carry it. He was quite confused on the matter.

Another scenario I heard was that of a business man who was pulled over (one of these every third car on a stretch of road right infringing acts) and his car was searched. In the boot of his car he had a locked briefcase with a Vic swisstool (locking >3") and it was 'confiscated'/stolen. This was on a very uninformed and bias Jeremy vine show (groan)

If the police think/don't have a clue on what is and isn't legal, they take it and you can only get it back if you go to court and argue the case. Which presumably you would win if you took I tape measure with you......

Anyway.... back to the OP. I use my Vic huntsman for almost all bushcraft tasks with the exception of batoning. But then again where is anyone going to be practicing bushcraft where it wouldn't be seen as ok?

[AJ]

Confused officials. That's why I carry a blade length under 3 inches, not the cutting edge because everytime I have had cause to politely point out the correct law to a member of our constabulary it seems to annoy them and things go downhill from there on in.
Likewise the locking blade on a leatherman, I removed the blade on my Wingman and carry a SAK Spartan (bigger blade anyway but 'legal').

[Peaks]

To go back the OP's question...
- A good quality penknife will be adequate for a lot of bushcraft tasks - if used sensibly and with other tools eg a saw.
- It would be of little use for sustained heavy work and absolutely no use for batoning (for which there are some alternatives anyway)
- good fixed blade is a great tool for bushcraft, but for a lot of routine camp tasks could easily be substituted by a penknife.

I use a Victorinox Alox Farmer 90% of the time for the type of bushcraft/ camping that I do. A lot depends on what you are doing when you are out there.

A UK legal penknife is more acceptable to officaldom than a fixed blade. A young person carrying a fixed blade, (even if they have just cause) is likely to have a very hard time from the Police. I think that society has really lost the plot about knives, but unfortunately thats the real world we live in.

[luresalive]

The Vic farmer is probably the best 'bushy' slipjoint you can get, great wee knife.

[chris_leech]

I think that society has really lost the plot about knives, but unfortunately thats the real world we live in.

Me too, who is going to buy a knife from eBay and leave a e-paper trail with the intension of stabbing someone when you could get one out of the kitchen drawer and throw it away?