Best Leatherman?

[solomon88]

….The relevant wording is: “It is an offence for any person, without lawful authority or good reason, to have with him in a public place, any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except for a folding pocket-knife which has a cutting edge to its blade not exceeding 3 inches.” [CJA 1988 section 139(1)]

….Lock knives
Lock knives are not classed as folding knives and are illegal to carry in public without good reason. Lock knives:

• have blades that can be locked and refolded only by pressing a button
• can include multi-tool knives - tools that also contain other devices such as a screwdriver or can opener

….As far as I am aware, this is not based on statute law, and is solely based on case law. I can find no definition of lock knives or their status in statute law.

Indeed, all the guidance I've seen says "non-locking". As you say, it isn't explicitly clear but my understanding is any knife with a locking mechanism is a "lock knife" and not street-legal.

 

[Lardbeast]

Are you in the colonies? We have shops with proper food in the UK.

Boiling things doesn't make them proper food.

 

[Lardbeast]

Indeed, all the guidance I've seen says "non-locking". As you say, it isn't explicitly clear but my understanding is any knife with a locking mechanism is a "lock knife" and not street-legal.

Non locking knives are dangerous to the user. Which do you think is less dangerous to both the user and anyone who might possibly be stabbed with it?

@HE117 has it on the money. A bureaucracy over reaching and making it up as they go along outside of the parliamentary remit.

 

[solomon88]

Non locking knives are dangerous to the user.....

Only if you're a ham-fisted numpty.

 

[DavidBOC]

....

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IMHO this is again an example of the bureaucracy going way ahead of what was actually argued and agreed in Parliament.

And bureaucrats here in the US are equally capable of screwing up in the opposite direction.

The US Justice Department headed by Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch during the Obama administration was very much anti-gun

Nevertheless, Obama's Justice people did screw up. The National Firearms act of 1934 put very stringent restrictions on full automatic weapons and the same rules applied to any part capable of making an otherwise semi-auto fire full auto.
The company that invented the bump stock went to the Justice Department seeking permission to sell them. Attorneys from Obama's Justice Department ruled that a bump stock was a "firearm accessory" and not a "gun part" and allowed the sale of bump stocks.
Within two years of the ruling a mentally ill individual bought a bump stock and proceeded to kill 61 people (and himself) in Las Vegas. The lawyers in the Justice Dept bureaucracy were the real cause of these deaths. The Trump administration (with support from the NRA) quickly changed the regulation ruling and such devices are now illegal as the National Firearms Act.
As a lawyer I hate to criticize other lawyers but the Justice Department had lawyers dealing with firearms issues who had zero knowledge of firearms.

Maybe the UK needs bureaucrats with actual knowledge of the building trades and other occupations whose workers use knives

 

[Lardbeast]

Only if you're a ham-fisted numpty.

Watched one of your boys in Burundi almost cut off his thumb trying to slice biltong with a Swiss army knife. It happens. Anything hard that requires a lot of force has the potential to turn the blade and close it on you if it isn't locked.

It's why the US HSE types require a locking blade for workplace safety.

 

[Unremarkable]

If it's not going to be a surprise it might be worth asking him which one he'd like the best.
ETA Mine's a Gerber too, does anyone actually have a Leatherman Leatherman?

I do. Lovely steel blade; I bought a lock knife (before the ban) after I tried cutting with the thing and narrowly avoided slicing across my fingers when - to my delight and surprise - it folded.
I must add that I carry no bladed objects outside any more, even scissors.

 

[pinback2001]

This is my "walking in the woods" carry.
Non locking blade, approximately 2 and three quarter inches long
Kept VERY sharp

 

[HE117]

Obama's Justice people did screw up. The National Firearms act of 1934 put very stringent restrictions on full automatic weapons and the same rules applied to any part capable of making an otherwise semi-auto fire full auto.

Within two years of the ruling a mentally ill individual bought a bump stock and proceeded to kill 61 people (and himself) in Las Vegas. The lawyers in the Justice Dept bureaucracy were the real cause of these deaths.

No! The cause of those deaths was the act of the individual that carried out the murders...

We will never know what route he would have taken if he had not managed to acquire the firearms he did. There are many other routes to annihilation as we have seen from the suicide bombing at the NEC.. please stop tagging causes to desired effect! We have seen far too much of this from the anti lobby..

There are many routes to disasters such as this, and solutions are not simple. I would single out the following as probably more relevant factors to this case:

1. Media fixation with unquestioned and anarchic violence. I cannot comprehend the idiocy of modern society which seeks to control peoples speech and opinion yet allows the representation of the most violent and pointless portrayal of society in the so called "fantasy" media, which is fed to our impressionable youth. The legitimisation of mayhem as an appropriate medium of social change is a real threat to modern social stability.
2. Identification and treatment of mental health issues. I am the first to admit that the identification and handling of individuals with mental health problems that lead to dangerous and violent actions is an immensely difficult issue, however we do not seem to have found a sensible way of dealing with this. There is a line to be drawn between actions that are a product of character traits which should be controlled and those which can be put down to mental conditions, however in many cases the outcome is the same. I do feel that in too many cases we are too quick to hang "mental issues" on an incident as an excuse rather than an admission of failure to deal with a potentially dangerous individual.
3. Legal interference in social society. I am more and more beginning to doubt the motivation of certain sectors of the legal profession who seem more interested in implementing social theories than providing neutral advocacy. Far too much political activity is bypassing the accepted democratic mechanisms and is using the direct manipulation of the legal system to achieve their goals. This damages both the political and legal systems in the long run as, for the democratic process to operate, there needs to be clear separation of the domains.

 

[goodoldboy]

Watched one of your boys in Burundi almost cut off his thumb trying to slice biltong with a Swiss army knife. It happens. Anything hard that requires a lot of force has the potential to turn the blade and close it on you if it isn't locked.

It's why the US HSE types require a locking blade for workplace safety.

My Felco pruning (pull) saw would be useless if it didn't have a locking blade - same with knives if being used for proper work.

 

[TwoSocksJackson]

I think it all comes down to purpose / reason for carrying in public.
I have a Bahco Laplander folding saw that I carry every time I take the dogs into the woods - reasoning is for clearing (legal) footpaths of fallen branches etc.
I have an ex. Mil. machete that I carry when in, or expect to be in dense woodland - reasoning is for clearing a path for progress across legally accessible land.
I have several fixed blade knives and axes that I carry on my person or in my bergen (not all at the same time!) - reasoning is for fire starting / shelter building in a survival training environment.
I have a Gerber multi-tool, it was damn useful on deployments and a 'standard' accessory for most - reasoning is that it was a combination tool for unexpected circumstances and didn't have a specific purpose.

I have been questioned by the rozzers for the first three and my explanation accepted as legitimate and allowed on my way, the last one was required to be handed in to the RAF movers, signed for and passed to the loadie - who would 'secure' on the flight then hand back to me on arrival at the destination.
The flight was either a C17 / C130 and had various amounts of rifles, rounds & other munitions on the flight (in the case of the C130's, there was also an axe fixed to the airframe) within easy reach but 'protected' by being enclosed in a hessian sack and a hazard label.

Just a thought; perhaps the loadie took hold of your Gerber to stop you cutting open the hessian sack and therefore arming yourself with a much more dangerous weapon?

 

[Lardbeast]

You could rip apart a hessian sack with your hands. No blade required to get into it.

As for the rifles and other bangy stuff, apparently the correct procedure is to ignore them and hope they'll go away. Seems to be the MO for dealing with most things causing cognitive dissonance among our intellectual betters.

 

[TwoSocksJackson]

At last a Multi-Tool for the UK...

 

[TamH70]

At last a Multi-Tool for the UK...

View attachment 541179

Yon would be seen as a Ninja Death Star by your average breed of brainless Wooden Top and you'd end up in chokey for possession of an offensive weapon.

Probably not properly heat-treated either.

 

[TwoSocksJackson]

You could rip apart a hessian sack with your hands. No blade required to get into it.

(Sorry Lardbeast I couldn't resist )

 

[TwoSocksJackson]

Yon would be seen as a Ninja Death Star by your average breed of brainless Wooden Top and you'd end up in chokey for possession of an offensive weapon.

Probably not properly heat-treated either.

That's a shame as it comes in such a pretty rainbow of colours

 

[adouglasmhor]

Non locking knives are dangerous to the user. Which do you think is less dangerous to both the user and anyone who might possibly be stabbed with it?

@HE117 has it on the money. A bureaucracy over reaching and making it up as they go along outside of the parliamentary remit.

I've never had any problems with this non locking knife. (NB mine isn't see through) but this is how it works, Based on a South German mechanism going back to the 15th or 16th century.

 

[Lardbeast]

Friction folder. Give it time and a chunk of hard material.

 

[NorthfleetNinja]

Amazon got a Gerber Suspension NXT on offer atm for £35. Any good as seems very cheap?

 

[beemer007]

Amazon got a Gerber Suspension NXT on offer atm for £35. Any good as seems very cheap?

I’ve the original suspension in my collection and that’s really good, the NXT has more tools so hardly expensive and investment.

Having briefly researched elsewhere its a good price.