UK Knife Law - also affects Multi-Tools
The followings is on the UK Government website and relates to Multi-Tools, Pocket Knives and Bladed items in general:
Basic laws on knives and weapons
It’s illegal to use any knife or weapon in a threatening way.
It’s also illegal to:
Like most things in the UK, there can be some real confusing, nanny state laws, so we just wanted to clear a few things up here. As can be seen from the UK knife law above, from our point of view and with reference to camping, backpacking and hiking multi-tools that feature a blade, it is the exceptions that are important.
Incidentally 3 inches is equal to 76.2mm. Very unprofessional for the UK government to not have also given the metric length in this metric day and age considering that blade length appears to be an issue of such great importance!
So, anyway, our MT-98 Mini Multi-Tool with pliers, with its non-locking 65mm blade is, according to our government, totally legal and just fine to carry with you at any time or any place. This also applies to our MT-132 camping Multi-Tool with its 73mm non-locking blade. Again, totally legal under UK law to carry in public.
Such legal to carry multi-tools are often referred to as EDC (Every Day Carry) items. EDC legality various from country to country – the US, for example, allows locking blade knives to be carried in public. All this said, no one should have any reason, or want to be waving anything with a blade around in public.
Now, things are a little different when it comes to our MT-136 Backpacking Multi-Tool. Though our MT-136 has a 75mm legal length blade, the blade does actually feature a locking mechanism, which makes it illegal to carry in public.
However, the Government website also states the following:
Good reasons for carrying a knife or weapon in public
If the knife or weapon is not banned, some examples of ‘good reasons’ include using it:
A court will decide if you’ve got a good reason to carry a knife or a weapon if you’re charged with carrying it illegally.
If you want advice on what counts as a ‘good reason’, contact your local police or get legal advice.
Now, personally we would consider camping and backpacking a very ’good reason’ for carrying any multi-tool with or without a locking blade, and maybe even a multi-tool with a blade exceeding 3 inches. But feel free to interpret the law as you see fit.
So you might be asking, why are we even selling a multi-tool that features a locking blade?
Well our MT-136 is more suited to backpacking and wild camping than our other two offerings and there are times when a locking blade is not only better, but also very much safer for the user. When used in a certain way, or without due care, a non-locking blade can fold back onto your fingers, which is dangerous to say the least, and if the blade is extremely sharp it can obviously cut deeply and cause considerable damage to the users hand.
A locking blade will allow you to exert a lot more pressure and allow you greater freedom of movement when, for example, cutting wood strips from a dead tree branch for fire starting. Such chores can cause a non-locking blade to bind and potentially snap back onto the user’s fingers as the blade is pulled backwards. This potential for harm never poses a problem for tools with a blade that locks in the open position.
As far as the legality issue goes, we would never be openly carrying such a item in public anyway. We would only be carrying it in our coat or pack when camping and backpacking, when we are highly unlikely to be disturbed by a bobby harassing us about our multi-tool. Seriously, it currently takes the police a few days to respond to burglaries, etc; I don’t think we need worry too much about being man-handled, cuffed and hauled off to the local nick for having a locking-blade multi-tool when out camping out in the woods!
But if this does seriously concern you, simply go for a non-locking blade multi-tool and use with greater care.
Incidentally, we are not allowed to sell multi-tools of any kind that feature a blade in our eBay shop, so these items are only available from here on our website. Bizarre that anyone can appear to buy a set of steak knives or a kitchen knives on eBay, but a multi-tool featuring a tiny 65mm, non-locking blade is a real no, no! Just absurd ‘nanny state’ nonsense. Besides, no self-respecting low-life criminal is going to buy a small multi-tool in order to threaten or assault someone when they can buy a kitchen knife with an 8 inch blade for less… or take one from mommy’s cutlery draw for free... are they!
Basic laws on knives and weapons
It’s illegal to use any knife or weapon in a threatening way.
It’s also illegal to:
- carry most knives or any weapons in public without a ‘good reason’
- sell most knives or any weapons to anyone under the age of 18
- have a cutting edge no longer than 3 inches
- are not lock knives (they do not have a button, spring or catch that you have to use to fold the knife)
Like most things in the UK, there can be some real confusing, nanny state laws, so we just wanted to clear a few things up here. As can be seen from the UK knife law above, from our point of view and with reference to camping, backpacking and hiking multi-tools that feature a blade, it is the exceptions that are important.
Incidentally 3 inches is equal to 76.2mm. Very unprofessional for the UK government to not have also given the metric length in this metric day and age considering that blade length appears to be an issue of such great importance!
So, anyway, our MT-98 Mini Multi-Tool with pliers, with its non-locking 65mm blade is, according to our government, totally legal and just fine to carry with you at any time or any place. This also applies to our MT-132 camping Multi-Tool with its 73mm non-locking blade. Again, totally legal under UK law to carry in public.
Such legal to carry multi-tools are often referred to as EDC (Every Day Carry) items. EDC legality various from country to country – the US, for example, allows locking blade knives to be carried in public. All this said, no one should have any reason, or want to be waving anything with a blade around in public.
Now, things are a little different when it comes to our MT-136 Backpacking Multi-Tool. Though our MT-136 has a 75mm legal length blade, the blade does actually feature a locking mechanism, which makes it illegal to carry in public.
However, the Government website also states the following:
Good reasons for carrying a knife or weapon in public
If the knife or weapon is not banned, some examples of ‘good reasons’ include using it:
- for your work
- for religious reasons, such as the kirpan some Sikhs carry
- as part of any national costume
A court will decide if you’ve got a good reason to carry a knife or a weapon if you’re charged with carrying it illegally.
If you want advice on what counts as a ‘good reason’, contact your local police or get legal advice.
Now, personally we would consider camping and backpacking a very ’good reason’ for carrying any multi-tool with or without a locking blade, and maybe even a multi-tool with a blade exceeding 3 inches. But feel free to interpret the law as you see fit.
So you might be asking, why are we even selling a multi-tool that features a locking blade?
Well our MT-136 is more suited to backpacking and wild camping than our other two offerings and there are times when a locking blade is not only better, but also very much safer for the user. When used in a certain way, or without due care, a non-locking blade can fold back onto your fingers, which is dangerous to say the least, and if the blade is extremely sharp it can obviously cut deeply and cause considerable damage to the users hand.
A locking blade will allow you to exert a lot more pressure and allow you greater freedom of movement when, for example, cutting wood strips from a dead tree branch for fire starting. Such chores can cause a non-locking blade to bind and potentially snap back onto the user’s fingers as the blade is pulled backwards. This potential for harm never poses a problem for tools with a blade that locks in the open position.
As far as the legality issue goes, we would never be openly carrying such a item in public anyway. We would only be carrying it in our coat or pack when camping and backpacking, when we are highly unlikely to be disturbed by a bobby harassing us about our multi-tool. Seriously, it currently takes the police a few days to respond to burglaries, etc; I don’t think we need worry too much about being man-handled, cuffed and hauled off to the local nick for having a locking-blade multi-tool when out camping out in the woods!
But if this does seriously concern you, simply go for a non-locking blade multi-tool and use with greater care.
Incidentally, we are not allowed to sell multi-tools of any kind that feature a blade in our eBay shop, so these items are only available from here on our website. Bizarre that anyone can appear to buy a set of steak knives or a kitchen knives on eBay, but a multi-tool featuring a tiny 65mm, non-locking blade is a real no, no! Just absurd ‘nanny state’ nonsense. Besides, no self-respecting low-life criminal is going to buy a small multi-tool in order to threaten or assault someone when they can buy a kitchen knife with an 8 inch blade for less… or take one from mommy’s cutlery draw for free... are they!
