I understand some enthusiasts get very emphatic about this issue, but I can only speak to my own very limited experience. The tool immediately to my hand now is a Leatherman PST, easily about ten years old or more and still not showing many signs of age. As I understand it, it’s the very basic original Leatherman model. It’s paid for itself many times over in simple ready convenience and utility. I see there are some very fancy and complicated multitools around. I have no comment about those, as I’ve never used them. I would say that my comment was based only on my experience of often needing quick access to a variety of screwdrivers, or pliers, or a bottlecap opener, or wire cutters, or the knife. (I personally haven’t used the file very much if at all.)
I don’t have any knowledge of UK knife laws, but the thought of them saddens me, because a knife as a basic tool is useful in so many, many ways. The number of times in which I’ve been imminently inclined to use my knife as a stabbing weapon in real life has been exactly nil (it wouldn’t have been practical in any case—the Leatherman is hardly a switchblade. For legal defensive purposes, you might be just as well off carrying a sharpened wooden pencil) but I’ve been happy to have the power to cut inanimate objects uncountable times.
I personally don’t think UK knife laws are all that bad. You can carry a ⇐ 3″ blade, provided it folds. If it’s non-folding, or if it’s lockable, you count the full length. Most full-sized Leatherman blades are longer than this limit when unfolded and locked.
(You can carry bigger blades than this, provided they’re legitimate to your work/activities and/or they’re stored sensibly. If you’re a tradesman with a multitool on his belt you’re exceedingly unlikely to have any trouble. If you’re at a football match, possession of a knife would be treated a lot more seriously)
I understand some enthusiasts get very emphatic about this issue, but I can only speak to my own very limited experience. The tool immediately to my hand now is a Leatherman PST, easily about ten years old or more and still not showing many signs of age. As I understand it, it’s the very basic original Leatherman model. It’s paid for itself many times over in simple ready convenience and utility. I see there are some very fancy and complicated multitools around. I have no comment about those, as I’ve never used them. I would say that my comment was based only on my experience of often needing quick access to a variety of screwdrivers, or pliers, or a bottlecap opener, or wire cutters, or the knife. (I personally haven’t used the file very much if at all.)
I don’t have any knowledge of UK knife laws, but the thought of them saddens me, because a knife as a basic tool is useful in so many, many ways. The number of times in which I’ve been imminently inclined to use my knife as a stabbing weapon in real life has been exactly nil (it wouldn’t have been practical in any case—the Leatherman is hardly a switchblade. For legal defensive purposes, you might be just as well off carrying a sharpened wooden pencil) but I’ve been happy to have the power to cut inanimate objects uncountable times.
I personally don’t think UK knife laws are all that bad. You can carry a ⇐ 3″ blade, provided it folds. If it’s non-folding, or if it’s lockable, you count the full length. Most full-sized Leatherman blades are longer than this limit when unfolded and locked.
(You can carry bigger blades than this, provided they’re legitimate to your work/activities and/or they’re stored sensibly. If you’re a tradesman with a multitool on his belt you’re exceedingly unlikely to have any trouble. If you’re at a football match, possession of a knife would be treated a lot more seriously)