Every Day Carry - What is Legal in the UK? 

How are knife crime, machete knife crime, still happening? Don’t the criminals know these are illegal?

Self defense is illegal. You might hurt your attacker.

It is important to remember that any item you claim to have for defensive reasons can then be interpreted as an offensive weapon in UK law.

Buying a £150 knife to open parcels...I'm in the wrong job.

UK self defence laws need updating asap.

A screwdriver is more dangerous than a 3 inch lock knife.

Every schoolboy in the 1950s had a penknife in his pocket along with a bit of string, a broken pencil and various "stuff". The stuff varied with the season and could include marbles and conkers. Penknives with additional functions such as a point to get stones out of horses hooves were prized possessions despite the extra functions never being required.

I've worked in the security industry for many years. In those years, I've dealt with two knife incidents, the first was a stanley knife, the guy was threatening me and my colleague with it as he was trying to steal and we caught him, thankfully we managed to take it from him and hold him until police came, fast forward to court and despite the charges against him, he did no jail time and was released, his fine was peanuts.. the 2nd was 2 guys who were removed from premises because they were harrasing women who were on a birthday night out, they left without incident but came back "tooled up" again we handled the situation quite well, once we detained the one and got his kitchen knife the other chap ran away, police caught him later, fadt forward again and the case is dropped by police, all they got was drunk and disorderly to which they paid a small fine and were free to go. So if you wonder why knife crime is so high please not its because the law is lying to us, same as flytipping they say 10k fine, but in reality, it never is! The Uk justice system is nothing to fear. For whatever reason the justice system is easily beaten every time by solicitors who seem to be able to get around things.

I know this is about Knives, but I do recall when hand guns were banned as a result of the terrible tragedy in Dunblane Scotland Many former legal hand gun owners said” when hand guns are outlawed , only the outlaws will have hand guns”

They are going to ban crossbows now due to the triple murder in Enfield. Nanny State BS.

Don't bring a pocket knife to an umbrella fight

Basically, self-defence is illegal.

WTF am I supposed to sharpen my quill with?

Maybe I'm suspicious minded...but if someone breaks into the BBB's home he's going to claim he was "opening parcels" at the time

Living in Poland is a lot more relaxed. I carry around a 4 inch locking blade with gravity assisted opening, without a care in the world. The length, lock, and opening mechanism would all be illegal back in the UK 😂

If I'm in my work clothes I'll more than likely have a knife in a pocket. Never crossed my mind to use it on another person.

Isn't it lovely that one city being a crime-ridden hole means the rest of the UK gets pummelled with these stupid laws.

I have had a police officer hum and arr about arresting me for having a fish filleting knife in my tackle box when sea fishing a couple of years ago. I used it for cutting up my bait and also cleaning and prepping fresh caught fish to put in the cooler to take home. I can tell you my back end tightened when having that conversation.

Can confirm, I've been injured by non locking knives more than locking knives

Laws take away your freedom but if you break the law you go to jail, and loose your freedom, you loose freedom either way. Most of us don't need laws to control our behaviour and those that do don't care about laws.

Not allowing locking knives is a public safety risk. An absolute joke

£146 for a knife to open parcels? Wow you're better paid than me! I got a Stanley knife for £3.

The Spyderco knife you show on a website is a 'Para3' which is a locking knife. The one you hold is the Spyderco 'Urban' which is a slip joint -non locking.

I know that you have touched on this subject before but I thank you for refreshing it for us.

in other words: don't you even think about defending yourself, as anything brought for defense will be quallified as 'offensive weapon'

Government: ✋😤 “No locking blades” Kid drawing his final breath after getting slashed 15 times with a machete: 👁️👄👁️

Only a lawyer would have a £150 knife for opening parcels. The rest of us using our keys or an open pair of scissors 😂

Remember, even if a cop asks you ‘do you agree this knife could be used as an offensive weapon’ say ‘no.’ If he asks you what reason you are carrying it, say ‘because I’m legally entitled to.’

I keep a multi-use Swiss Army knife in its leather case, in the toolkit section of my car. It is adapted by the manufacturer for one-handed use. (My left hand/arm is compromised due to injury). I also have an automatic knife with a glass-breaker at one end of the handle; this lives in the driver's door pocket and is in a leather case. The latter has a 5" blade and I had to prove necessity in order to have it in my car. The knife is of historic interest yet, I encounter no problem having, on occasion, a bootful of historic weapons, including firearms! (I am a collector in a small way) I think you'd have loved the reaction from a lone copper when he saw a 4·5 foot long, ancient Executioner's sword on the rear seat...... Priceless!

I was giving expert evidence in the RCJ so offered my swiss army knife, with locking blade because I have the scar on one finger when a folding blade shut on me in a dark roof-space. Security took my knife - as I expected but told them, they'd better keep it accessible in case the Judge asked for it, to which the duty policeman scoffed. Well, the Judge did want it so a very disgruntled policeman had to come into the Court to produce it. At the end of the hearing, they refused to let me have my knife back so I wrote to the Superintendant at Saville Row demanding its return as a tool of my trade (a building surveyor). They sent it back by post.

As a kid I worked in a service station, under the counter was a hollow metal bar, i was told that the police had told them that having a handgrip on it would fall into an offensive weapon, a simple tool etc picked up to deter a criminal would be less problematic. Hence they had taken some grip tape off it.

The law-abiding citizen is persecuted for carrying something as a means to defend themselves while the police and the criminals go around carrying whatever they like. Make it make sense.

I carry and use my Leatherman multi tool every day.. even used it at my mates wedding to fix one of the speakers, he didn't want me wearing it because it didn't go with the kilt🤷‍♂️

its so bizarre that you aren't allowed to defend yourself and if you do you have to justify your own defence

The national UK costume might as well be tracksuit bottoms, a hoodie, a puffer jacket/body warmer and carry a knife at this point

The govt want you defenceless and reliant on the police. Criminals will not wait for the police to turn up to protect/defend you. The govt have made you an easy target and easy victim.

I carried a locking folder for the 10 years i lived in London. Never had an issue. I cut more cake and sausage rolls with it than anything else.

They really do like to keep increasing the reasons for you needing weapons of self defense UP, while also ramping up the laws against them.

got a 4 month community order for a 3 inch lock knife from go outdoors, i had fishing gear with me but the police threw it away and dident log it with my personal items in order to get me prosecuted

A bottle could be an offensive weapon, or your fist if you know karate

Frustrating when cops lack the common sense for the "work" exemption or just looking to get their arrest numbers up? I know a chef who was arrested for carrying his knives from his car to work while dressed in his chef whites 🤦‍♂️ One of the questions in the interview was "Why don't you leave them at work?" A "Because these cost me over £1000" NFA but what a huge waste of time.

Sikh here - the religious reason is for us. We're the only faith in the world religiously and legally allowed(in majority of countries) to carry swords/blades in public

“Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary” -karl marx

I was recently pulled over in my motorhome. This was because of an issue with stolen motorhome in the area. But whilst he did his checks ( enjoyed a coffee along with the officer)he went inside the rear and we sat around the table in comfort. He had noticed there were kitchen knives in the sink And a knife rack on the side attached to the wall however he pointed out these should be in a drawer and not within reach whilst driving which I could at that time. Although it was within the area of what it was safe he pointed out it could be considered unsafe and should be in drawers not within easy reach whilst driving. He didn’t do anything to take further but was making me aware.

There are also venue-specific, like football stadiums or knives in hand luggage on an plane, where security will confiscate the item, knife, scissors, metal nail file, often with no route to getting the item back.

I live in Scotland. I went to college years ago with a friend of mine. I did sport, but he was learning woodworking. The police stopped us one day, he had a screwdriver in his pocket, and he was charged for carrying a dangerous weapon. I never kept in contact with him after the college but I have always wondered if that charged negatively affected the rest of his life. Every time you have a job interview that would come up would it not?

My every day carry knife is Swiss Army Knife which meets the exemptions you mentioned. I have declared it going into the Scottish Parliament building it was taken off my and returned when I left. No problem with Eurostar check in although once it was removed and checked the blade was not locking and replaced. I've carried it for so long the scales are worn smooth and the logo worn away.

Great video and very informative Daniel. I'd only add that many believe that it's only the sharpened blade that counts towards the length (erroneously) whereas it's the full length exposed from the grip. The Spyderco you have is a good example; the thumb choil would be included in overall blade length.

When choosing an edc folding knife, it is best to choose a design such as the spyderco shown, which incorporates a finger choil that helps prevent the knife closing on your fingers. Another good design for use in the UK is the twisted assisted Junzi.

Short answer: Nothing is legal in the UK. Your right to be prepared for an emergency has been taken from you in the name of public safety; yet the public is far less safe than before.

I carry a 3inch folding knife, hadnt gkt locking on it. You can carry said knife and DO NOT have to give a reason for carrying it. I carry it on my keys every day.

In 2000/2001 a German friend of mine got taken to court for no tax and mot on his car . He stayed at mine the night before court as he lived 45 miles away in York and I was in Hull where the "offences" took place. He is a biker with "support your local outlaws " t-shirt on as we went into the magistrates court and he spotted the metal detector . He said " here matey you look after these , and in the middle of the reception area pulled out a large knife in a leather sheath and a knuckleduster ...Im stood there with a t-shirt and jeans on , no bag no coat ...nothing to hide this stuff . I could just about stuff the knuckle duster in my pocket but NO CHANCE with the knife. Police were in and out of the court and all I could do was put the knife down the back of my jeans and push myself against the wall . I was there for over an hour . I saw him coming down the stairs and he was heading for the door , I had to shout to him and jesture him back to me . We stood nattering until we saw an opportunity and he took it back off me and put it back under his coat. Never been so shitted up by anything !. Complete plank taking those into a court and for carrying them in the first place

You bought a 140 quid knife for opening parcels? Blimey!

I don’t carry a knife but I do carry a wicked spoon and a pair of chopsticks …

This is useful. So if I am in the great outdoors mountaineering where weather, fatigue, failing light etc. could significantly increase the risk of a folding blade closing on my fingers then a locking blade would be a good reason. However if I am in a city centre somewhere it would not as the risk is much lower. It has always annoyed me that a sensible safety feature is potentially illegal. In my mind effectively banning locking knives would be like banning seat belts in cars. However maybe I had not fully understood the concept of "good reason". Although I do wonder how this could be applied in practice. Thank you for the explanation.

Good simple (or as simple as anything to do with the law can be) explanation - thank you

A friction folding knife doesn't have a locking mechanism, yet the blade can locked in place by your hand holding it. These are far safer than spring folding knives which have the potential to close over your fingers.

Thank you for all the common sense. I live in London, have done for much of my life. Knife crime is a huge political issue in London. Teenagers getting into fights, often gang related, which then escalate into someone getting killed because one or both of the participants is carrying a knife. The law being so restrictive on what you can legally carry is really helpful to the police in trying to reduce the likelihood of knife crime. I go fishing and bought the Spyderco UK Penknife in the video so I could take a decent knife with me for cutting up bait etc and not have to worry about carrying something that is arguably illegal. Great knife.

I carry a SAK manager. It’s got a small blade, bottle opener, flat and Philips screwdriver and pen, along with some tweezers. The most useful thing I have ever purchased, it’s a shame they discontinued the model though. They do still sell the midnight manager, which is the same SAK but instead of the pen it’s replaced with a little LED light.

A £150 knife for opening parcels!! Really?

You've got the Spyderco UK Penknife which is a non-locking knife with

Having the cops on speed dial is the only way your allowed to protect yourself in the UK and even then they probably wont show up

I remember being arrested for carrying a keyhole saw that I was using for gathering kindling in the woods that are adjoined to the back of my house 😅 the UK is messed up

I have had the Dewalt knife in my pocket for as long as I can remember. I’m a tradesman, I cut cables, I run it around the edge of cable sheaths such as wf100, cat5e, cat6 etc… it’s such a handy tool, it’s never crossed my mind to do anything other than trim back cables! Sometimes I finish work and go to Tesco and it’s in my pocket. I never even thought about it! I only commented as I saw it in the thumbnail! Great video.

My EDC is a G19 with a red dot, extra mag, HFB knife, flashlight, and TQ

I used to carry a small knife on my keyring. Only a 40mm blade but because it locks, I decided to retire it from my everyday carry. Non-locking knives seem dangerous to me as it is possible they can fold onto your fingers. It was used for opening boxes at home and work so I have replaced it with a dedicated box-cutter with an embedded blade. I see this as a sad reflection on the way society has gone: I am 66 years old and have carried pocket knives since I was in the cub scouts.

I don't carry knives, however I DO have a metal spike on my keyring. It's a Fidget Gadget/ Kubotan. It can also penetrate car doors ( tried on scrap).

Why are the police allowed to carry multitools ie leatherman its a locking blade and had mine confiscated i was going camping

How are multi-tools like the Leatherman classified? It has a blade that folds out and locks in place, as do all the other tools it contains except the pair of pliers. It's a two handed exercise to open or close them. By the time you've removed it from it's snap lock leather case, unfolded just the blade you want and refolded the body to make a handle, your prospective antagonist has either already killed you or is in the next county.

What is the reasoning behind knives that can be locked open being deemed to be illegal to carry in a public place, as opposed to those that don't lock?

£146 for a blade to open parcels is incredibly expensive

A man near where I live was killed by a single punch to the head just the other day. I'm now expecting laws to be created to ban the carrying of hands in public. Everyone must at all time keep their hands securely encased in boxing gloves whilst out in public, for safety of course. I hate the idea that the object is the problem. It's always the person.

I love Opinels....but i can't leave home with it. You can buy them commonly on the continent but France has also tightened its laws recently.

There is far too much law inconveniencing lawful people and far too little effective policing against unlawful people who do not care about the law.

Working with horses as a farrier, I always have knives on me. I’ll take an abscess knife for a specific job, pocket it and forget, then realise in Asda I’ve got it. Car is full of knives… it is a worry to me that I could get in trouble by accident for doing nothing but work and pay my own way.

UK law is just stupid. I can see why carrying a knife in public is illegal, but things like pepper spray for self defence? Especially nowadays when you can see masked individuals roaming the city during the night. Just look at the amounts of robberies and stabbings, it's ridiculous, we are suppose to be like defenseless sheeps. I'm working during night hours few minutes walk from home, but still I have to walk for 10-15 mins through the city before I arrive at home, the amount of times when I've seen actual thieves and thugs fully masked riding on their motorbikes or simply looking for "trouble" is crazy. It's literally like living in 3rd world country. I've seen idiots walking around with machetes and kitchen knifes, drug dealers driving up to you asking if you want to buy something... What happened to this country. Worst thing about that is police just don't care about it, they will drive by and act like it's normal night.

You have no right to defend yourself from being a victim of crime. Hence why crime is out of control.

Thank you, excellent summary.

So are you telling me I cannot carry my 14th century Quillion dagger from Todds Workshop? because if I am sleeping in my van and you break into it then you will learn a very 14th century lesson..

Thirty odd years ago, my father was coming home and got mixed up with a crowd of football fans (mid-week match) who were herded to one side after some trouble. They were all searched and my father was found to be carrying an 'open (cutthroat) razor'. He told the officer he was a barber, and proved it by partially shaving him in the back of a police van. No charges were bought. He was taking it home to give it its weekly oilstone sharpening.

Richard Vobes who has been featured on BBB has just been banned from YT for 3 whole months due to one of is guests mentioned ‘something about something’ which of cause I had better not say. Apparently there is no appeal for this ban. YT censorship is still marching forwards. So do be careful BBB as to your guests.

Self defence in this country is next to none existent 😂😂😂

I carried a Leatherman Super Tool for almost 20 years on my belt when working (TV&Film Industry). Last year I got paranoid as I knew it locked and the issue with that, so ended up getting a Leatherman Rebar EDC which is bladeless to replace it. My ST300 has been moved into my work bag

For safety when using that Spyderco knife make sure your fingers follow the grip shape of the knife with your forefinger over the hinge portion. Rather than having a locking mechanism this puts your finger as a blocker to it folding back on your fingers. As with all folding knives, don't try to use if too forcefully since the blade is on a pivot.

I'VE CARRIED A PEN KNIFE SINCE I WAS 5 AND I. NEARLY 60 I'VE GOT A SWISS ARMY KNIFE THAT GOES EVERY WHERE WITH ME VERY USEFUL TOOL

I am not sure you need a £146 knife to open parcels ! A not too sharp knife will open parcels !

People talk about the "high knife crime" in the UK. However the majority of "knife crime" in the UK is simply people caught with a blade on them. Last year there were 50,000 knife crimes in the UK whice resulted in ~4,000 people attending hospital and 54 deaths. And the highest recourd of gun deaths in a year in the UK is 40. i think last year it was around 25. Total murders in UK in 2022 were 697. Compared to US where in 2022 over 40,000 people were killed by guns (around 50% suicide and 50% murder) and around 1,900 people killed by knife or sharp instrument. Even given that the US has ~6 times the population of the UK this means heavy knife restriction vs more lax controls make a signifgicant difference in deaths and serious injury, the figures show you are 7.5X more likley to get killed with a knife in the US than the UK (There's 0.08 knife deaths in the UK per 100,000 people, in the US that number is 0.6 per 100,000 people) So even taking all the guns out of the US, the knife crime is still far worse than the UK. But for every one in the US going on about how dangrous the UK must be if you are not allowed to carry guns and knives to protect your self the simple figures in 2023 the UK = 65million population and has 697 murders total. US has 330 million and has 25,000. put simply the had UK 2.8% the number of homocides that US has, or when corrected for populations there are 85% less homicides than UK, meaning in the UK you are 85% or 35 times less likley to be a homicide victim by any type of wepon (knife or gun). So i am not sure were people get the idea they restricting wespons does not work for the UK. does it stop violent crime completly... No, Has it massivly reduced from when the UK allowed unreglated guns and knives and compared to countries that dont have strict regulations. Yes the UK homicided per capita are 85% less than the US so it clearly works quite well.

I know the law and have chosen to ignore it. I have a 5cm folding lock knife on my keys. I use it a dozen times a day and am not prepared to use a non locker. It’s the smallest one I’ve ever carried, but have had a locking pocket knife on me for 40years now.

This law is illogical. A locking blade is a safety feature. I can buy a fixed blade which is much bigger, and I have some REALLY dangerous garden tools with motorised blades. And when I was at school EVERY boy had a pocket knife which they took to school. There we played games with them, made swanee whistles and all sorts. NOBODY got stabbed. NOBODY in my schools, NOBODY on the buses, NOBODY in the Boy Scouts, NOBODY in the towns I lived in. And from the age of 14 I went shooting every other weekend, and most of my friends had air-guns that had been in their families since the days when pubs had rifle ranges (yes, they did). NOBODY died! Now we have these prohibitions, powers and punishments - and massive knife and gun crime problems. If correlation is not causation, it is a sign of policy failure.

2:21 yes, that's exactly why people say that it's dangerous, because it's also "immediately foldable" on your fingers. not everybody use a foldable knife to slice bread, there are activities which applies force from the back side of the blade, like bushcrafting or carving for example. knives aren't just to slice something, they have also stabby points for a reason, you stab and poke while carving wood and that kind of knife will immediately fold on your fingers. or maybe you don't have a screwdriver on you, so you decide to use your everyday carry foldable knife to tighten some screws (which is something most people do, they use other tools they carry for other things, you cannot carry a huge toolbag everywhere you go) and that slipjoint knife will definitely close on your fingers etc. there are other many situations besides these examples. a slipjoint knife is only useful, if you are going to slice something and do nothing else. every other use case which applies force from the back side of the blade is very dangerous with a "not locking knife".

The locking mechanism is a safety feature so the knife does not close on your fingers.

Government: To lower the crime rate, lets ban knives. Sane people: I dont think criminals give a duck about laws in the first place.

I have a knuckle-duster, an automatic-release telescopic baton and a Smith & Wesson locking knife on me at most times, purely for self defence. Yes, I know it's illegal to do so, but I follow Robert Heinlein's philosophy regarding the law: "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." It just mean that if I'm victim to a mugging or attack, I'll need to defend myself, flee and not report it. However I like to think I've done more to discourage the attacker from reoffending than the police would; and that's if they even bother to investigate.

I always carry a bundle of handtools for leatherwork, sewing and whittling with me. Some blades are only about a quarter of an inch long, some are well longer than 3 inches. And they all either lock or are rigid/don't fold at all. The way they are bundled, I couldn't use them for defense unless I happen to have the bundle unrolled and am using the tools already when a situation arrises. I also always have a set of travel cuttlery with me, which includes spoon, fork, steak knife (non-folding and longer than 3 inch) and chopsticks. The only daily carry item that is sufficiently reachable to be used in a sudden unexpected emergency situation are my gymnastic dumbells. Not that I would have to quickly pull them out in an emergency while walking, since I'd already be holding them. When I am not walking, they are in my jacket pockets. That is their purpose, to add weight to your arms to increase muscle and energy exertion while walking, increase the exercise value of walking. Goes well with the weighted ankle and wrist cuffs. They are small enough to fit in my fist without any risk of object touching attacker, but they harden my grip, thereby reducing the risk of hurting myself when punching something. That is why self-defense classes teach you to hold a lighter or your key ring in your fist. At the end of the day, when anybody attacks me, the attacker will be able to sue the government for breach of guaranty that their vicitm will be defenseless.

Thank you for this important information It's appreciated

just carry a bit of 2x4 around. surprising light and easy to swing, good reach and sturdy. If the police ask: On my way to a building site.

As member of The Church of the Holy Singularity that requires you to always be prepared my locking folding knife and fixed blade knife are religious knives and should always be carried.

Good advice but I’ve found that the little Victorinox Classic is good enough for most tasks. You can change a plug, trim your nails, open packages and cut string. It has tweezers too. It’s main advantage over Spydercos etc., that are right on the limit for legal carry, is it’s inconspicuous appearance.

Ironically most people are killed with kitchen knives

Narwhal tusk? 🙄