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I’ve been thinking about this. The other day a fellow NTCer mentioned that he always carried at least three knives on his body and said that he knew another guy who carried at least ten. Now, to the humble rest of us that seemed a bit excessive, but I suppose the idea is that if you can’t get to one knife (maybe because of the way your body is bent during the altercation), then you will be able to get to the other one. And the next. And the next.
Well, I suppose that makes sense, but I was wondering if it is legal to carry that many knives? Even if it is, could having that many knives on your body carry legal ramnifications during a self-defense situation? For example, what if you are in a fight, pull one of the knives and cut the guy (maybe even kill him)? Once the cops arrive, wouldn’t they wonder why you are having that many knives on you, in all kinds of different areas of your body? If you tell them that you carry them “just in case” you’ll be in a fight, won’t they take that as an indication that maybe you were looking for trouble and maybe that you started it (especially if no weapon is found on the other guy and there are no witnesses to back up your story)?
Could having too many knives on you lead to legal trouble in a self-defense situation? What do our police officers think? If you questioned a guy with ten knives on him, wouldn’t that make you very suspicious unless he had a perfectly good explanation for why he needed to carry that many of them (and how many such perfectly good explanations are there)? Could the fact that he had so many knives be used as evidence against him in court? Or is this perfectly legal and would not make much of a difference?
Just wondering…
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GiantkillerRe: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
With that many knives,you up the risk of one falling out,ex.when standing up in a restaurant,or reaching in your pocket for change.Someone could call the cops.
Also,if you’re pulled over in a traffic stop,you better look REAL innocent & hope that the law officer isn’t nervous.
Finally,a number of people carry a folding knife for uses other than self defense,such as opening cartons at work.A law officer I’m sure would undestand that.However,that explanation goes out the window after the second knife is found.
I’ve read that the definition of the ‘legal length in inches of the blade’ has not always been interpreted the same with police,ex. the whole blade or just the sharpened part.
He might take the longest interpretation in whether to charge you.Some states don’t consider a folding knife a concealed weapon if at least a tiny part sticks out of the pocket,ex.Maryland.I don’t think you could carry a bunch of knives without some being considered a concealed weapon.I suppose then you’d get multiple charges,one for each knife.
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
Using a knife in self defence is going to get you in trouble. Unless you can prove that you had no other option….including running away.
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
1 is explainable, 2 if there is an obvious reason for it ( such as work, and you better either be on way to or from ) anything more than that is pre-meditation
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
i carry 3 at work if you count the 2 blades on my gerber multiplier(the other is a spyderco endura straight edge)and on the weekend i carry a kershaw chive, if you need 10 knives, carry a gun,stop sleeping with other men’s wives, hang out in a different bar,move, or stop looking for trouble! no one need’s to carry 10 knives!
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
I thought the legality of a concealed knife (folding or fixed blade) depended on the length of the blade and not the number you’re carrying?
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
quote vwr32:I thought the legality of a concealed knife (folding or fixed blade) depended on the length of the blade and not the number you’re carrying?Pretty sure it does, but when it gets to court premeditation would probably be the arguement. Also with that said any knife concealed in most states is illegal. You maybe able to argue for a pocket knife of legal length, but 9 concealed is a problem. Like most everything else its preception.
In LA your buddy is going to jail if pulled over for sure. With that said I know a few of the FMA guys who carry more than 2 knives regularly
Some recommend 2 knives. One strictly for SD, other a work knife
One of the things Force on Force type training has demonstrated is the difficulty of accessing a folder while being attacked. Good videos on this are out by Shivworks and the Dog Brothgers havea dvd called Die Less Often 1 which gets into this
The question becomes how paranoid or where are you running that its necessary to carry excess knives or weapons. Where will the behavior take me? There are places in the world where you need to arm up heavy to walk out the door, but in the US you have the choice to get out of those kind of enviorments for the most part
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
In NE the legality is lenghth not number. You can have 20 on or about your person as long as the “cutting edge” is single in nature (not double edged like a boot knife) and is not longer than 3.5 inches. Us cops might look further into the reason you have that many, but no crime is committed.
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
quote resqr1:In NE the legality is lenghth not number. You can have 20 on or about your person as long as the “cutting edge” is single in nature (not double edged like a boot knife) and is not longer than 3.5 inches. Us cops might look further into the reason you have that many, but no crime is committed.Concealed? In LA where gK’s friend lives, its a big NoNo. Though I think CJ’S DAD does it for those days he just ain’t feeling that Flying Spinning Axe Kick. You know those rare Geritol moments
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
Weapon laws are made to be vague as to give law enforcement a lot of room to interpret them, so it can come down to context a lot. Just because you can legally carry ten knives doesn’t mean you won’t be a suspicious character if searched. I think good training is more important than carrying a bunch of knives anyway. I make it a point to only carry knives that are fairly innocuous (except for maybe my Cold Steel voyager with 5 inch blade, but its not “special forces throat cutter tactical folder). If you conduct yourself like most people, you’re more likely to encounter problems with law enforcement than getting into knife battles, so plan accordingly for the real world, not the Mad Max one.
I also second everything unstpbl1 has said.
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
Imagine the problem you’d have if you carry 10 knives and you’re attacked! “Um, hang on there Mr Attacker sir, I just have to decide which knife to pull out on you!”
And yeah it looks SOOO suspicious to the police that they’ll never let you off on “self defence”. Like, why are you SO certain you’ll be attacked, and in so many different “poses” (therefore different knives).
Re concealment laws, not a prob, just hang your 10 knives out on belts all over your body outside of your clothing 😀 Nobody will start a fight with you, promise!!
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
You guys talking about carrying knives and guns, I’ve never held a gun in my life and only knives I own are next to the forkes and spoons. Am I the norm or am I missing something?
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
I’ll stick with my Pepper Gel and my Krav Maga skills. :):
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
I’ll throw some of my bad jokes at them and then finish them off with the Krav .
Re: The wisdom of carrying too many knives
I agree that multiple knives will give you nothing but trouble. I was just stating what NE’s law is. And yes, they can be concealed if they are not over 3.5 in. long.
I am an LEO and I have two knives and two guns on me while on duty. Off duty it’s just one and one.
Another thing to think about is retention. The more you have, the more you have to protect.
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