Folding knives

[Mortblanc]

1. It folds, that makes it shorter and hides the sharp edge.

2. You can put it in your pocket. That is so you do not look like Rambo as you go about.

3. When it is folded and in your pocket it does not scare people, make them throw up their hands and run around in circles squealing like little girls.

4. With your folding knife securely in your pocket and out of sight people do not take out their cell phones and call the police to report a terrorist in their midst.

5. Folding knives will often have more than one blade, which makes them more versatile.

In truth, folding knives have enough advantages that the adaptation to fold was one of the first changes in knife technology after the stone age ended. There are many folding knives from Roman sites and every era since that time.

Here in the US they are ubiquitous as relics, especially in Native American sites. It is difficult to imagine Indians using massive numbers of folding knives, but the relics tell that they did, starting with the first traders that brought European goods to them.

I actually expect for archaeologists to someday unearth a flint blade with a hole in one end and spend the next ten years debating the use for the hole before some ten year old explains that it was a folding knife!

I carry a folding knife daily. It is a small Case brand "Stockman" design with three blades. It would easily pass your legal requirements in GB. I find that size perfect for my daily needs, which is usually cutting string, rope, strapping or opening parcels.

I also still have the folding knife I bought at age 12 and carried daily for years. It is a "barlow" pattern and is as useful today as it was when I bought it.

I have gone through hundreds of knives since then, and own hundreds to this day, both straight blade and folding. 99.999% of the time the knife I have with me will be a folding blade no matter what the activity, from big game hunting to bushcrafting to garden work.