On your person

[NorthernRaider]

Most multi tools have three ich locking blades but they dont get the bad press, I've been carrying 3, 4 and 6 inch blade lock knives for 40 years, without trouble, buit naturally I dont go nightclubbing with one.

I dont know anyone personally prepper or otherwise who has EVER had their home searched either, but then again I saw the writing on the wall long ago and moved well away from the larger towns and cities, and the cops out here are either absent, non existant or dont care what a smartly dressed polite adult man is carrying. Around here you see the teens almost weekly bimbling along with sleeved air rifle over the shoulder, skinning knife on the belt and lurcher or JR on the lead and again they dont interest the police.

I think environment places a massive role on how your cops react and what you should carry. EG when I go on the rare and unwelcome visits inside the m25 I play the grey man, I'll wear a suit and carry a cordura attache case with my EDC gear, If I'm passing through London etc I'll make it as blatently and plainly obvious as possible that I'm heading for the countryside by dressing with Goretex jacket, Rucksack, Hiking pole, hiking shoes etc that states openly that I'm probably carrying camping gear including knives, hatchets, saws, prybars etc. During the time in the city I transfer my pocketknife into my BOB or Rucksack and carry a telescopic hiking pole instead which is every bit as handy as a knife for defence.

At the end of the day the choice and responsibility is down to ourselves, and push come to shove I would rather end up being tried by 12 of my peers than be carried by 6 of them.

As a slight aside I know that many of my former colleagues now srving in the CP and security industries have stpped carrying larger lock knives. but what they do tend to carry is
A A Multi Tool
B A smaller handy 2 inch blade
C A Tactical Alloy flashlight with vicious serrated bezel which doubles up as a blade, kubotan and torch all in one.

Its rather odd sitting in the Legion watching someone sharpening the edge of a flashlight !!!!!

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Lets be honest and give the woodentops a bit of credit as well, if you live in a borough where nearly every member of certain ethnic groups by default join gangs and carry knives, who manage to stab over 250 of their fellow citizens each year the plods are going to be far more proactive in stopping and searching them. Same with footy fans. BUT go to the Game fair or County Show, or Wilderness Gathering and if you are not wearing a big bloody blade you are a minority. But if you go into town that night wearing a beast of a blade you deserve to be arrested.

Up here last november I came across a plodette dealing with an injured Labrador that had been hit by a car, the dog got knocked sideways into a hedge and its long extender leash was totally tangled up in the hedge, in the dark and in the poring rain. The plodette asked the growing bunch of people gathering if anyone had a knife and torch and I reckon at least 5 people including me produced blades or lights and the plodette did not bat an eyelid.

Environment , your appearance and behaviour in general govern if you get stopped and searched, but I'll admit the govt paranoia over knives has stopped me from using public transport systems.