Camping Knife, Crossing Uk Border???

Will that work with a machete? {asking for a mate ovs}

 

A couple of Ka-Bars. Got both from Amazon. The USMC knife, fighting, with 7" blade isn't available on co.uk. The knife, utility, with the 8" blade is. It has a black blade so as firewood and lengths of twine won't see you creeping up on them thanks to an inadvertent glint. You can get the fighting knife on Amazon.com.

At some point I'll be buying a Fairbairn-Sykes commando dagger. I forget the name of the manufacturers - the current iteration of the company that made the majority in WWII - but to buy online they wanted me to send my birth certificate. When I said l wouldn't do something so insecure and you can buy them on Amazon without sending your birth certificate, the tart on the other end got shirty. But I found a dealer (both in Sheffield) who'd still want proof of age but was understanding about my reticence. So sometime I'll ride up there and buy one in person.

Back in the '90s, when I was less au fait about knives, I bought a cheap utility/survival knife for my yomps across Dartmoor. I kept it in my rucksack until I was within the national park, then put it on my belt. I suspect I'd have armed police after me if I did that today.
Being a cheap knife, eventually the handle broke. This was some years later and I thought I'd be arrested were I stopped on the way to the tip with it, so I asked a handy police woman what I should do, and she was kind of taken aback to be asked. So it went in the back of the car and was thrown in the skip and ever since I've felt a little foolish for having asked. Though not one iota less paranoid.

A final note: having these Ka-Bars coming through the post, I expected some sort of problem. The USMC knife, sent from New York, surely had some kind of manifest telling Customs what it was? I was out when it was delivered and it was left with my lady schoolteacher neighbour (I never told her what it was).

 

Tell him to start with a pen knife and build up to it.

 

He appeared keen when I told him about it so I told him to look sharp and go for it. I also suggested that if he were to shove an oilstone up his arse, he could get the knife sharpened on its way out...

 

here is my little tool

 

That looks very robust and it has been put to a lot of good use ! I can imagine tucking into some food hungrily with it ! Easy to wash and clean.

That wooden handle lock knife looks very nice - is that the one you are worried about being confiscated ?

All proper tools.

My latest kit acquisitions looks a bit like a manicure set in comparison - and I am not being paid by Victorinox to advertise their stuff, but realistically it is all I need.

The Falkniven S1 is to big for campsite camping, so hardly ever use it.

 

The Gerber Straightlace I mentioned earlier in this thread arrived yesterday:

https://www.gerber-store.co.uk/gerb...MI5qW44JeqjQMVVZ1QBh23ZyIfEAQYASABEgJR2PD_BwE

I have to say for a £30 knife I'm really impressed.
The first thing I noticed was how much heavier it is than the Illegal lock knife I've been carrying.
The blade is quite thick, feels very strong, and is right on the limit of 2.9".
It's not got a mechanical lock, but the blade stays in position really securely.

The only downsides are that it's not possible to open and close it with one hand, which I always found useful with my old knife, and the blade doesn't have a point.
Oh and of course I feel like I've abandoned an old friend in favour of a new upstart.

 

You’re just having an affair really though, which may become a marriage for a newer younger model.

 

Oh my! I had one that looked very similar to that. I was a young lad and spent ages practicing flicking the blade open with a simple snap of my wrist. I thought I was mega cool (flick knives were illegal in the uk but the cool rich kids bought them home from Spanish holidays).
I lost it on a glacier in Iceland a good few decades ago. That has bought good memories flooding back.

 

Love that analogy

This thread got me thinking. My Opinel knives, I have a couple, and my Leatherman are not UK compliant and liable to confiscation. Have been looking at UK EDC pocket knives and @Nasher pointing the way to Gerber I fancied the Wingtip model. With a birthday imminent my girlfriend has agreed to purchase one for me. However, going down a rabbit hole has resulted in me now wanting this indulgence instead... Could be far worse in terms of cost but might have to offer a contribution.

My father, a practical man of a bygone era, always carried a pocket/pen knife. I recall him also using the end of it to tamp down the tobacco in his pipe. The same one for all the time I recall, I do have this somewhere, though it's not the knife for me. He passed away in 1981. Hoping this would serve me equally well and be an investment in that long term permenance of a quality item in this throw away society.

 

I’ve always had a pocket knife with me since I was a kid, never once have I thought to use it for anything else but a tool.

 

When l was in school up to the mid 1980s it was completely normal that boys would carry a pocket knife. Nobody was stabbed.

There was also a trade in shot gun cartridges that l accept was probably illegal but nobody was shot either

 

I have had a few Opinel knives over the years, very sharp they are ! If I remember the blades rust - are they carbon steel instead of stainless steel ?

That Fox knife looks nicer than any Opinel (IMHO). We all seem to take some pleasure in the objects themselves - beyond just how functional they are.

 

Exceptional sharpness, yes. Great functional camping knife if a bit clunky. The larger one is especially useful with its additional feature, a gift from my lifelong friend, we met in pre-school and tour together every year. Slim one came with a posh saucissons gift pack. Neither have an issue with rust having Inox stainless blades. I believe that they do carbon steel too though.

Absolutely, Ducati ownership being a case in point.

 

That is a nice story and a gift from your long time friend - cut some cheese open some wine on your trips !

Those stainless steel blades are likely more useful than the carbon steel. I don't know what the big idea is with carbon steel - beyond being wickedly sharp.

Anyway, learnt something about Opinel. Thanks.

 

Carbon steel blades as you say can be wickedly sharp. They are also very easy to sharpen in the field if necessary. Often a consideration for an adventurer! Some of the modern wonder stainless steels can be near impossible without proper diamond files etc.