OK, freaked out now!

[bilko]

Hi everyone
I did introduce myself, just but there is something seriously worrying me.
I have sent off for the mora training knife from Woodlore to learn with and was seriously considering a Rosseli long axe as an accompanying bush tool.
However, i have just been directed to this article about the carrying of knives in the uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/...2.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/11/28/ixportal.html and to be frank it has realy freaked me out.!
I understand one cannot carry a fixed or locking blade IN PUBLIC without a very good reason. What hope have i got with an axe and a 4" fixed blade in some woods?
it is possible of course that if i were spotted and reported that i could demonstrate what i have been doing with my tools and show the policeman even but somehow i just think i would get pounced on

Is it worth the risk? ok, silly question but i dispair.
I wish there was such a thing as a definitive answer or written conduct code that wasn't so grey.
Anyway i am realy interested in your views, experience and suggestions. As previously stated i am like a dog with a bone when it comes to buscraft. I want to make this a very real and large part of my life but with such restrictions i feel like i am getting beaten over the head.

Thanks in advance
hope to post more possitively in the future

 

[Snufkin]

It's just a question of being sensible. Don't dress like Rambo and wear them openly. Try setting up your knife for neck carry so you can wear it under your clothes. Keep your axe in your pack when not using it. Don't use your tools in very popular areas, you'll most likely want to head off away from the crowds anyway.

 

[Tantalus]

camping gardening and general woodland recreation would almost certainly be considered good reasons

wandering back from the highstreet off-license would probably not be such a good idea at 10.30pm

there is a lot of this discussed here

http://72.36.134.230/community/showthread.php?t=3761

also a visit to the british blades law library will keep you updated, complete with the very helpful views of several bobbies on the street

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39

Tant

 

[bilko]

Excellent, just what i wanted to hear.
I'm off to check out those links.
Thanks

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

I'm walking home tonight and this rainbow coloured melee' of wannabe Lance Armstrong's @ 50 strong bullied through the stop light and had the audacity to yell at me for stepping into the crosswalk. They stopped yelling when I wielded my hiking staff like one of Harold's axe wielding house carls at Hastings. O.K. what has this to do with UK knife carry? The public and the authorities react to positive, courteous behavior, negatively to boorish ' soccer hooliganism' You will be an ambasadore for Bushcraft. Eventually enough people will be familiar with Ray Mears programmes and not give you a second look.

 

[Tony]

There's this as well http://www.bushcraftuk.co.uk/articles/knife_law.html

 

[Andy]

I'm 19, I was in some woods testing out a kukri on a dead tree. I didn't want people to see e but a few did, I never got any trouble. Kukri always look scary (this one has 14inches of blade), axes seem to be regarded as tools. I wouldn't worry about it

 

[Danzo]

Hi bilko

I'm the author of the article Tony refers to and a moderator over at Britishblades. I teach law for a living. If you don't find the answers you want here or over on BB (or can't access BB) then please ask any questions here or by PM (personal message) and I'll do my best to answer.

The simple fact is that if you have a good reason, such as being out in the woods for a lawful activity, then you are OK in the eyes of the law.

Nobody would expect people going camping to go without some knives, so just because you are engaged in 'extreme camping' (ie bushcraft ) with maybe a sharper and pointier knife, there is no reason to be treated differently, or to worry about it.

Hope that helps

Danzo

 

[bilko]

Hi bilko

I'm the author of the article Tony refers to and a moderator over at Britishblades. I teach law for a living. If you don't find the answers you want here or over on BB (or can't access BB) then please ask any questions here or by PM (personal message) and I'll do my best to answer.

The simple fact is that if you have a good reason, such as being out in the woods for a lawful activity, then you are OK in the eyes of the law.

Nobody would expect people going camping to go without some knives, so just because you are engaged in 'extreme camping' (ie bushcraft ) with maybe a sharper and pointier knife, there is no reason to be treated differently, or to worry about it.

Hope that helps

Danzo

Thanks for your concern and the links guys.
Danzo, An excellent article.
I am suitably reasured and the words that reasured me are here: 'a public place includes any highway and any other premises to which the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise'......The word "payment" stuck out like a sore thumb here ( in a good way ) because this suggests to me that even on organised courses and events you still need a good reason to carry an edged tool. And follows on to the general and more importantly lawful acceptance of bushcraft ( being a course or not ) being a suitable reason.
Ok i'm happy now
Now all i need to do is buy a pack big enough to carry an axe in the 50cm lenght range.

Oh, whilst i'm here...
I have read comparisons of axes and i very much like the Roselli long axe. However it appears the only place i can get it is from France. Would anyone invisage a problem with importing such an item?

Once again, excellent resposes. It realy excites me to know there is such readily available support and information in the world of bushcraft.

 

[familne]

Oh, whilst i'm here...
I have read comparisons of axes and i very much like the Roselli long axe. However it appears the only place i can get it is from France. Would anyone invisage a problem with importing such an item?.

Give Moonraker Accessories a call, they deal in Roselli stuff (don't e-mail, you'll never get a reply, great to deal with on the phone)!

 

[Danzo]

In terms of availability in the UK of Roselli axes then best perhaps to post a thread in the this forum with that title. It should bring the axe fans running!



In terms of importing one you should have no problem, and if is bought from within the European Union you won't pay import duty.

Danzo

 

[boaty]

Give Moonraker Accessories a call, they deal in Roselli stuff (don't e-mail, you'll never get a reply, great to deal with on the phone)!

Just to confirm that Moornaker are great on the phone - great service, and a real character on the phone

The axe itself seems to polarise opinion - some love it, some hate it and dismiss it as just a splitting tool. I've found it to be useful and versatile - not particularly optimised for any one task, but can turn its hand to many things (particularly hewing)

 

[Wayland]

The knee-jerk political reactions to “weapons” has a considerable history. Think back a few years and you may remember a duck that had been shot with a pistol crossbow becoming the star of it’s own media circus. This led fairly quickly to the banning of ancient bow-hunting rights with no recourse to the ballot box.

Hungerford and then Dunblaine removed firearms from legitimate lawful owners and placed them firmly in the hands of criminals and still there was nothing to be done about it.

Now we are talking about knives...…

I make my living demonstrating and talking about the lives of our ancestors to schools and in museums all over Britain and on the continent too. At any time I may have one or two fixed blade knives, a scramseax (about the size of a goluk), two axes, two or three swords and a couple of spears in the van.

Add to this a SAK in my pocket and if I am stopped I look like a mobile armoury.

In transit to work I don’t worry too much, entering school premises I always carry paperwork showing the purpose of my visit, so no problem you might think.

Now we get to real life. Most days I leave before six in the morning. As a good neighbour I do not start packing my van at five because it is noisy lumping boxes of equipment and armour about at that time in the morning.

After a days work with 50 or 60 kids I do not particularly feel like emptying the van in the evening either. The end result is that the gear remains in the van between talks on occasion.

Being my only means of transport, that means it travels with me to places where I may not be working, Tesco for example.

Keeping a low profile is not exactly much help for me either. Perhaps it is because I often have to set out early or perhaps it is because I look like some kind of long haired, dope smoking hippy (A Viking perhaps?..) I get stopped regularly by the police seemingly just for driving along, minding my own business.

I remain courteous and so far the searches to my van have been cursory, but sooner or later I’m likely to meet up with the sort of policeman described in that article.

Not only has this situation become troublesome and absurd but it may also put me out of business eventually.

The thing I object to most,is that at no point have we the people been given any opportunity to put such measures to the vote. Most of these issues have been cross party and driven by the media.

It seems to me that the media is the only chance we have to draw a line in the dirt.