Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Europe Hunting or pocket knife in Europe

Heading to Spain next week to hunt ibex. I understand I'll be with an outfitter, but I still prefer to have my own hunting knife handy. I'm also a daily pocket knife carrier. Any issues bringing a Puma Skinner for the hunt? Or any issues carrying a Benchmade mini-barrage? Or, I'll just bring the mini-barrage as my do-both knife, but it's an assisted opening, although the blade is shorter than 3".

Any issues? How about a Puma Stockman knife? Still a no-no?

Good, luck! Have fun11
I've been to Europe many times, and have had zero issues with knives.

Might I suggest buying one there? I have a few european (German) knives that are very functional

I did a google search and it seems like assisted knives are a big no-no. I'm more familiar with the UK, and a lockblade over 3in is illegal to carry. They have some weird laws (to me) over there. I bought a Spyderco slip joint knife for carry there.

don't know, but am interested in what others say. England has some restrictive laws when it comes to self protection. Restrictive gun laws, hell, they out lawed bag pipes once and that Black Thorn tree root that was used as a walking stick, made a right handy club with the big knob on the end.

Buy an Opinel or a Puuka

Just remember you ain't in Kansas(or Texas or the US) anymore.
There are a lot of folks that don't like Americans.
I really would not go to a foreign country and flout "weapon" laws.
Having Texas on your ID may only enhance the image they have of you. In a bad way.

What you and I DGAF about, some get real tight over.

Have a cousin that almost got in big trouble in London carrying an everyday pocket knife. He had a demascus William Henry folding knife, I’m guessing with a 3” blade. Very expensive but a nice pocket knife is “his thing”, if you get my point. Anyway, he was in line going into a restaurant and a policeman stopped him asking what that thing was clipped to his pants pocket. He innocently pulled it and to showed off his prized knife. The policeman quickly took it, called another officer over, and interrogated him for a hour. He was completely honest (had not read the laws) and was told he should be taken to jail immediately as it was as serious as having a gun on him. Long story short, they confiscated his knife and would not give it back. Point is, be aware of the laws and act accordingly. Outside of the USA, it’s a different set of rules, even if we take basics for granted like a simple pocket knife.

The "officer" stole it and kept it for himself.

You make my earlier point.
I'd bet you are wrong.

Different strokes, different folks. Strange man/strange world.

Those cops look at a knife like a Manhattan cop looks at a guy with an UZI.

I have carried a Victorinox Spartan since 1986 to 25 different European countries and have never had a problem.

This.

I used to work with an Aussie who had lived in London for many years. Our company transferred him to Seattle to work with us, and he was horrified when I pulled out a Benchmade 940 to open a box one day. I told him that knives were common in the US. Our youngest employee, a young woman right out of college, pulled out her Swiss Army Knife to show him. A few days later, I gave him a single-blade locking folder with jigged bone scales as a welcome gift.

He acted like I had just given him a freshly severed human head. Knife possession is a BIG deal in the UK.


Okie John

In the EU don't carry a lockblade or a knife with a pocket clip on your person if you are going to or thru an airport or public transport. Many European cops take a look at a pocket clip or a "flipper" opening lever or button and become suspicious that you are carrying an "automatic knife"--what we used to call a switchblade. You can miss your train or ride trying to explain what it really is, and if the cop decides he needs to consult a superior, you may well never see that knife again. I had Belgian cops confiscate a regular old Spyderco pocketknife because the hole in the blade made it a "one-hand opener"....

I don't want to do Ph.D-level research on European knife taboos. So I go by what my cop friends tell me about guns in the US: if you suspect that something will make a cop think he has probable cause to question/detain/search you or your vehicle, don't do it. And assume you are under camera surveillance in any public place--don't haul out your perfectly legal firearm from the trunk of your car just to show it off to somebody in a public place that isn't a range or adjacent to a legal hunting area. You may get to talk to the nice patrolman (and he may find other "questionable items" in the process of checking you out). All this goes double in Europe.

My strategy for years, since I lost my Spyderco in Brussels, is to buy a small pocket knife well before going over to Europe say, a Chinese Buck (or Bear and Sons if you are allergic to Chinese), get a little padded envelope at the PO or Staples, and mail it care "of yourself" to your first place of lodging. Take an identical envelope with you and mail the knife home before you go to the airport to return home. I've used this same strategy with a hunting knife--actually I've SENT one several times but each time decided to give the knife as a tip or gift to my host or somebody I hunted with. Europeans who are outdoorsmen like knives just as much as we do.

Or you can buy a great European blade when you get there and bring it home as a "working souvenir"! I am especially fond of Finnish knives and other Scandinavian hunting blades, just either ship them home ahead of your departure or put them in your checked luggage and declare them at US customs when you get home. I couldn't resist getting an Italian-made "Fox" folder in the especially nasty Sardinian style when I went there before COVID (not a knife to carry in the urban US, by the way.).

Have a great time--I especially love Croatia and Slovenia, but you will find hunters and shooters all over Europe if you look for them--it's a hard addiction to kill!

Put your Puma Skinner in the checked luggage, most likely your Ibex will be dragged off the mountain whole and weighed and processed . You can buy high quality pocket knives there and bring them home in your checked luggage.

England is a whole different story where anything except a butter knife is frowned upon.

Be careful with any serrated blades also.
Some places don't like tgem.

I would take the Puma skinner. Having lived in Europe, traveled and hunted lots of it, I have never had issues with a conservative fixed blade knife in my checked luggage with the rest of my hunting gear. My main knife is an Ingrams H325. 3.25” fixed blade. Never been stopped or questioned. Maybe I was lucky but when I lived in Sweden my local friends informed me that a small fixed blade would draw less attention than a folder as the thought was it was a tool and was not a defensive weapon. Take it with a grain of salt but that was my experience.

I would just buy one once you get there. It avoids any possible problems that may arise during travel. You could always ship it home after the hunt. You would have a memento of your hunt. Or you could give it to your guide along with his tip.

Don't bring one

Posted in a small sporting good store in Ireland. Hard to believe but that's the way it is there.

EDIT, just noticed the date on your hunt. Hope you were successful. ----In Spain, with a folding, non-assist, blade under 3 inches, you will be fine. Put it in your check bag, carry it when you are hunting and leave it in your room when you go to town. I traveled and hunted a lot in Europe when I was stationed there. The more urban you get, the less "knife friendly" the area is, particularly in England. Hunters regularly carry knives where I hunted in Germany and carried them on their belts in town in Slovenia and Czech. Much of Spain is still "in the country". Remember, the EU is a federation of independent countries each with their own laws and traditions. Things that go in Spain won't go in England and things that go in rural Spain may not fly in Madrid.

This. I have an Opinel from France, complete with a corkscrew. Nice blade that sharpens fine enough to shave the hair off your arm real effecent like.

DON'T try to transport it in your carry on. Bury it deep in your suitcase and hope they don't want to search. DON'T go into the UK with it or ride on the Eurostar train with it. In France, nobody will bat an eye at a pocket knife. Nor will they in Spain, but don't have the Rambo blade strapped to your side. Officials in Europe have God complex and your rights are zero if they want to make an issue out of it. I've had an encouter when they considered I had something they didn't approve of!

I wouldn't take anything you'd miss if confiscated.