Voluntarily handing in a large blade to the UK police

[Toddy]

I live in what is now suburbia, even if we do still call it the village and literally have woodlands on our doorsteps.

I have a machete, a parang, a sickle, and a grass heuk, and oh, maybe three dozen other knives.
Those are really my only 'big' ones though.
I'm hoping I can justify that lot as gardening tools

 

[GreyCat]

I live in what is now suburbia, even if we do still call it the village and literally have woodlands on our doorsteps.

I have a machete, a parang, a sickle, and a grass heuk, and oh, maybe three dozen other knives.
Those are really my only 'big' ones though.
I'm hoping I can justify that lot as gardening tools

All sound like gardening tools to me.....

...... not that i am biased you understand....

GC

 

[Stew]

I’ve suddenly got the urge to make a load of “zombie knives” to sell to my self and then turn them in.

For £10 a time?

 

[Stew]

I live in what is now suburbia, even if we do still call it the village and literally have woodlands on our doorsteps.

I have a machete, a parang, a sickle, and a grass heuk, and oh, maybe three dozen other knives.
Those are really my only 'big' ones though.
I'm hoping I can justify that lot as gardening tools

If you read the legislation you can see what is covered.

 

[SoldierPalmer]

For £10 a time?

I should have read it through before I posted.

 

[Stew]

I should have read it through before I posted.

When I first read it and saw the £30 mentioned I thought the same as you but then read it further. You can gamble asking for more compo but they have no incentive as you’ve already handed it in by that point.

 

[Broch]

When I first read it and saw the £30 mentioned I thought the same as you but then read it further. You can gamble asking for more compo but they have no incentive as you’ve already handed it in by that point.

To be honest, it worked pretty honestly when we handed in our pistols. There's no benefit in them not offering an honest value as it would remove the whole point of the amnesty if word got out. OK, it may take a while for you to get the money but, if you have genuine proof, you should get it eventually.

I know people are sinical about these things but we've been through it before and it's worked.

 

[Broch]

I live in what is now suburbia, even if we do still call it the village and literally have woodlands on our doorsteps.

I have a machete, a parang, a sickle, and a grass heuk, and oh, maybe three dozen other knives.
Those are really my only 'big' ones though.
I'm hoping I can justify that lot as gardening tools

None of those blades you've identified will come under the scheme; they're not banned.

 

[Toddy]

None of those blades you've identified will come under the scheme; they're not banned.

Technically no, but can you see the local Polis being happy to see me swinging a machete to cut back the nettles on the back lane ? or some overly judgmental local seeing such a thing in the light of the opprobium given to any knife these days ?

It sometimes feels like a minefield just using tools

 

[spokenword]

To be honest, it worked pretty honestly when we handed in our pistols. There's no benefit in them not offering an honest value as it would remove the whole point of the amnesty if word got out. OK, it may take a while for you to get the money but, if you have genuine proof, you should get it eventually.

I know people are sinical about these things but we've been through it before and it's worked.

Back then (post Hungerford) what happened to those who had valuable 'items', perhaps by fluke, inheritance or rarity, but no receipt? Many folk used to chuck paper receipts, before the Internet and email receipts became a thing.

 

[Broch]

Technically no, but can you see the local Polis being happy to see me swinging a machete to cut back the nettles on the back lane ? or some overly judgmental local seeing such a thing in the light of the opprobium given to any knife these days ?

It sometimes feels like a minefield just using tools

Just wear a hi-vis jacket; you can get away with anything then

 

[Broch]

Back then, what happened to those who had valuable 'items', perhaps by fluke, inheritance or rarity, but no receipt? Many folk used to chuck paper receipts, before the Internet and email receipts became a thing.

You didn't need a receipt to prove value; recent auction prices or sales records were good enough. To be honest; a century old receipt didn't give any value to the item anyway

 

[spokenword]

You didn't need a receipt to prove value; recent auction prices or sales records were good enough. To be honest; a century old receipt didn't give any value to the item anyway

Good point. Thanks. Edited my previous post to mean 'post Hungerford'. A turning point for the UK.

 

[GreyCat]

Technically no, but can you see the local Polis being happy to see me swinging a machete to cut back the nettles on the back lane ? or some overly judgmental local seeing such a thing in the light of the opprobium given to any knife these days ?

It sometimes feels like a minefield just using tools

I think it depends on where you are.

Using a machete or parang (i.e. hand tools rather than petrol-powered tools) to manage underbrush in private woodland/scrub in an ecologically sensitive part of remote mid-Wales or Scotland, I doubt you'd provoke any adverse interest, especially if you are away from tourists and townie-incomers/weekenders/AirBNB users.

If the back lane where you are cutting nettles is in a "deprived" inner city, then yes, you almost certainly will attract the wrong sort of attention.

That's two extremes, most situations will be somewhere between the two. Only you can decide where your situation is on that spectrum.

GC

 

[tarpy]

I think it depends on where you are.

Using a machete or parang (i.e. hand tools rather than petrol-powered tools) to manage underbrush in private woodland/scrub in an ecologically sensitive part of remote mid-Wales or Scotland, I doubt you'd provoke any adverse interest, especially if you are away from tourists and townie-incomers/weekenders/AirBNB users.

If the back lane where you are cutting nettles is in a "deprived" inner city, then yes, you almost certainly will attract the wrong sort of attention.

That's two extremes, most situations will be somewhere between the two. Only you can decide where your situation is on that spectrum.

GC

Interesting to see this as last week we went for a walk/hike in the Cotswolds following a path on AllTrails. Some commenters had mentioned that some parts of the paths were difficult to pass at this time of the year due to overgrown brambles, nettles etc. It seemed sensible for me to take a machete for this reason and so I did, and was glad to have it a few times too.
I can't deny though I was a bit uneasy, I mean I had a good reason to have it as it was the perfect tool for the job, and yet I did wonder what would happen if some clown dialled 999 on me.
Has anyone ever been questioned by plod in such a situation?

 

[Pattree]

Has anyone ever been questioned by plod in such a situation?

Good question!
I’ve never been questioned in any situation.

I can’t imagine any walker calling the emergency services and I can’t imagine those services responding if someone did.

However, should all that have happened; as you don’t work for any agency responsible for upkeep of the pathways I doubt the “good reason” argument would prevail.

In fact I think I’m more concerned about your unscheduled activities than the tools that you were using.

 

[ijohnson]

In fact I think I’m more concerned about your unscheduled activities than the tools that you were using.

I suspect that a lot of paths and byways are only passable because of the 'unscheduled activities' of community minded users.

 

[Stew]

In fact I think I’m more concerned about your unscheduled activities than the tools that you were using.

What’s to be concerned about?

 

[Pattree]

Sorry @spokenword - Maybe we should be discussing this aspect in another thread rather than yours about handing in knives voluntarily.

I’d need to ask the agencies responsible for the pathway how they’d feel about unrequested modification of their pathway, in order to allay my concerns.

I’ve trespassed a lot in my time but I don’t leave traces. I’ve walked very many public paths but again, other than eating the odd blackberry I don’t alter anything.

I have no idea how an agency would react but I can’t help thinking that if a well meaning team offered to do some maintenance then the agency would want oversight.

The specific tools used might be an issue under those circumstances. This is all hypothetical. I’ll see who I can talk to here in Shropshire and maybe find out.

 

[Chris]

Sorry @spokenword - Maybe we should be discussing this aspect in another thread rather than yours about handing in knives voluntarily.

I’d need to ask the agencies responsible for the pathway how they’d feel about unrequested modification of their pathway, in order to allay my concerns.

I’ve trespassed a lot in my time but I don’t leave traces. I’ve walked very many public paths but again, other than eating the odd blackberry I don’t alter anything.

I have no idea how an agency would react but I can’t help thinking that if a well meaning team offered to do some maintenance then the agency would want oversight.

The specific tools used might be an issue under those circumstances. This is all hypothetical. I’ll see who I can talk to here in Shropshire and maybe find out.

Public footpaths and rights of way are supposed to be kept clear and if they’re not then it’s council negligence. I wouldn’t even consider asking permission to make them passable, personally.