list to learn

[British Red]

Leon,

An SFA is a good all round choice, tell me when your mum says yes though as I "know a bloke"

Red

 

[leon-b]

ok will do
what do you mean by "you know a bloke"
leon

 

[British Red]

Just tell me before you buy one okay

 

[stovie]

btw red if i do get an axe i will probs get the gransfors sfa, do you think this is a good choice
well stovie you wanted a picture of my bow so here it is pulled to full draw
yes i know about the bit over bending at the bottom and i will not make that mistake on the next bow i make

Don't worry about that little kink, leon, it'll shoot just fine. Now get some arras made so you can shoot it for real at the weekend.....

This is stovie jr getting last years christmas dinner with his boobow

 

[leon-b]

how big is your sons bow and how powerfull
mine is about 5 ft and is made using 3 bamboo's roughly how powerfull will mine be ?
ok red i will tell you when i am getting one
leon

 

[stovie]

3 canes. About 4ft long. and pulls around 25# @ 22", if I remember right. But its not important. Point is, it shoots...

 

[leon-b]

yes i just need to make some arrows,i think i will use dowling and duct tape fletchings, what diameter dowling do you reccomend
leon

 

[stovie]

9mm.

cut them to the length of your arm from arm pit to finger tips.

 

[leon-b]

ok thanks for the info i will probs get some this weekend
leon

 

[leon-b]

red i have pm'd martyn and i will post the response
leon

 

[leon-b]

spamel my mum said that she will put yours in the post tommorow
i am also sending scottishwolf one and in return he is sending me a handmade teather lanyard for my sak and a rabbits foot keyring
leon

 

[Martyn]

red ok i will pm martyn
i havent asked my mum about an axe yet but i think she will after a bit of nagging, we also have a load of firewood for our chimnea which is about 5 foot long, i will tell her that it will also help me cut it into smaller pieces so that it will fit in lol
leon

Leon, I cant be 100% sure of the following, because I cant be certain I've read all the legislation, but I am 99.9%.

The relevant legislation comes from section 6 of The 1996 Offensive Weapons Act, which is an ammendment to section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (offensive weapons) and states that:

141A. - (1) Any person who sells to a person under the age of sixteen years an article to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to-

(a) any knife, knife blade or razor blade,
(b) any axe, and
(c) any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person.

Note, the offence is commited by the seller, not the buyer. Aside from this, which legally prevents anyone selling the mentioned articles to a person under 16, the law is otherwise the same as for adults.

In other words, ownership and carriage by minors is not further restricted under law, only the selling of such items to minors.

However, and this is a really, really big however, British knife law is deliberately ambiguous and wooly. Much of the law places the onus on the individual to legally defend their carriage of knives and assumes an element of guilt, rather than innocence. This gives the police huge lattitude in deciding who to arrest and who not to arrest.

As a general rule of thumb, we all, regardless of age, must be prepared to justify to the satisfaction of a police officer, almost anything we carry. If we fail to do that, there is a whole load of laws he could use to lock us up.

The reality of that, is that the more plausible you are, the more chance you have of being sent on your way. The less plausible, the more chance you have of being locked up.

In practice, you and I could both carry the same, legal, swiss army knife, but you would stand a much higher chance of being arrested for posession of it than I would, based almost entirely on the difference between your and my age.

In a nutshell, technically if someone like your father gifts you a knife, then there are no laws which apply to you for carriage and ownership.

But your young age significantly increases your chances of getting arrested and convicted for an offensive weapons charge.

My advice, dont carry any knife at all as a matter of incidental daily use. At your age, it isnt worth the risk. Any one of us takes an element of risk, even carrying a SAK, but the way British law works, means that it's an awful lot harder for a 14 year old to convince a police officer of his motives, than a 40 year old - although technically, there is no difference in the law.

Not really the answer you were looking for, but dont be disheartened, continue being responsible, practice your craft and enjoy it. Age will be on your side soon enough.

It's a sad state of affairs really, as kids 30 years ago, me and almost all of my friends carried a pocket knife every day, never even gave it a second thought. It was our dads that made the law, it was him that said yes or no. We live in a different world now though.

 

[leon-b]

thanks martyn that was exactly what i was looking for, so it is legal for me to carry a sak around but you dont reccomend it, i live in a village and theres not normally police down here so i should be ok but i wont risk taking it to town
thanks leon

 

[leon-b]

i am getting £15 this weekend and i think i am going to pay to become a full member
leon

 

[leon-b]

i have recieved a pm about trading one of my match case cartridges for a leather sak lanyard and a rabbits foot keyring which i have accepted. this got me wondering after i become a full member could i make about 10 match cases and offer them up for trade for little things like sinew, tiny bit of antler to put on a firesteel and things like that
do you think people would trade with me ?
leon

 

[British Red]

Can't see why not Leon. You could even get a small can of spray paint and give them a nice finish (mask the brass off with tape and spray the plastic case). A little can of Plastikote would work well

 

[Martyn]

thanks martyn that was exactly what i was looking for, so it is legal for me to carry a sak around but you dont reccomend it...

Well, yes and no. There are several laws which apply to carrying knives. The upshot is there isnt really any such thing as a legal to carry knife for any one.

Any police officer can use the offensive weapons laws to arrest us for posession of anything he doesnt like the look of (including a SAK). Whether or not an officer chooses to use those laws depends on whether he belives the knife is being carried as an innocent tool or carried as a weapon. It's at the discretion of the police officer.

In the current political and social climate, I would think it would be very difficult for any teenager to convince a police officer of their innocent motives. Police officers are under pressure to view the carrying of knives by any teenager as carrying a weapon (in most cases that is exactly why they are carried). Any teenager stands a much higher chance of being arrested for carrying any knife as a result.

A police caution for carrying an offensive weapon will follow you for a long time and significantly limit your options later in life.

Leon, when a police officer looks at me he sees a respectable looking 41 year old with a decent job and no police record. He is not going to give a hoot about the penknife in my pocket. Even though he could arrest me if he wanted to, he knows my motives are very likely to be innocent and he knows it's unlikely anyone else would think the arrest is reasonable. By contrast, he looks at any 14 year old carring a knife and he sees something else entirely. The same laws govern both you and me, but they are not black and white. The police can decide who they want to arrest and who they dont want to arrest.

With that in mind, it's my strong advice that you dont carry a knife as a matter of habbit. But I'm not a lawyer and I cant be certain I've read all the law on this point, so you must take it as a laymans opinion.

 

[leon-b]

ok red as soon as i have become a full member i will put some up for trade, i am shooting again tommorow and my uncle said that he can give me loads then so i will make a load up and put them up for trade
what sort of things do you reckon i should ask for as these matchcases arent really worth much
i was thinking sinew, small bit of antler what else could i ask for

and martyn thanks again mate you seem to be very knowledgable at this sort of thing
leon

 

[leon-b]

oh yer and spamel my mum posted the match case today along with scttish wolfs
leon

 

[British Red]

Leon,

If you want to trade for smething specific, I would ask for that. As you say its a low value item for a low value item. Often these deals are seen more as "gestures of friendship" than really trying to establish a direct value in price. Do you know what I would do? I'd make a few to a high standard and start a thread called "paying it forward". Offer the nicely made cases free, no obligation, to whoever wants them. Also say the sort of things you are interested in, but, and heres the kicker, there is no obligation on the people to give you anything in return. Tell you what, if you want to do it, I'll send you the money to cover the post and package. Call it an experiment. Maybe the people you send stuff to will send something to you or maybe they won't have anything. Thats okay. Maybe someone will send you something that you haven't sent anything to. Thats also okay. Heres the thing, I have sent loads of stuff to different people on BCUK. I have also received loads of stuff from different people. Not much of it cost much. I have sent out..hmmm empty bottles, firesteels, couple of Moras, a billycan, some pretty feathers (honest), some coffee beans, a bergan yoke, all sorts. In return? A fantastic coffee pot, some great soap ingredients, the right sort of yoke (doh), a really nice stove etc etc. I haven't kept count of what I sent, or what I received. What I do know is if I have a surplus of something or a bit of talent in making stuff, I'm happy just to give it away, there are so many kind people on BCUK that, whilst I don't know whether what I have received is a higher or lower value, its worth more to me. Its one of those "what goes around comes around" things. You won't always get stuff back from the people you send stuff to, but you may get stuff from people who you have sent nothing to. Try it. If it doesn't work out, I'll see you right. I bet though, that the good people on BCUK will see you right. What have you done for Martyn? Nothing, but he spends his time to help you...trading is fine, trust is better!

Feel the force..pay it forward

Red