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

I lived in the UK for a while 10 years ago. It was OK to own a locking folder knife, but they are considered "fixed blade" knives and you may not carry one. I bought a Swiss Army non-locking folder to carry. I once took a tour of the Houses of Parliament and forgot it was in my pocket. At the security station they were very nice about holding it and returning it after I was done, but the guard examined every single blade to make sure none of them locked. I could have been arrested if any of them had.

Used to be here in the city and county buildings
you put all your stuff in the tray, and if you had a
knife you let them put it behind the counter and they
gave you a little claim check, like a paper carnival
ticket and you'd reclaim your pocket knife on
your way out. One trip I had a Mini Buck folder
and laid it in the tray, and the blk woman rent a cop
came unglued and several came out and were patting
me down as if I'd done something wrong. She already
had her spray out ready to douse me.
What are they, maybe a little over an inch of blade ?

I guess it all depends on who and where as far as
the reception you'll get regarding " weapons "
( yeah I know- knives are tools- I can use most anything
as a "weapon " )

I have been told that as a general rule, law enforcement officers in England don't carry firearms. Maybe not their SWAT equivalent kind of officers, but their normal street cops, rural or city.

Any truth to that?

Don't get cute and try to carry any kind of weapon into Europe. I get that everybody likes to have "their knife", but in today's environment it's not worth it. Pretty much everybody over there is full retard on the political correctness scale. It's not worth it.

I'm over there all the time for work. You could drop a 12 gauge shotgun shell out of your pocket and they'd probably gun you down on the spot. They've lost all touch with reality.

Television has become reality for millions.

I have given up explaining to my workmates at my volunteer job that a locking blade knife locks for the safety of the user, not to make it a more effective weapon. And I have taken the useless "pocket clips" off the two knives that have them. Tired of explaining that they aren't "push buttons"....

And yet somebody always needs a knife. Mine.

Yes, it's true. A normal beat cop does not carry a firearm. They have "Armed Response Units" AKA SWAT that do.

Nothing like having lived in the UK (which in most ways was delightful) to make one appreciate our constitution.

same cautions, plus, apply in asia. anything weaponish, including most fixed blades, are forbidden even in checked bags that only transit hongkong and japan. i had a nice filipino country-side made, fixed 3-4” blade pulled from my checked bag upon entering manila airport before checkin. i was going via hongkong to usa. the security guys demanded that i abandon it, and clearly were jonesing over who would pocket it. i pulled my bags back, went outside and gave it to a friendly porter. those security guys were sure sad my second time through.

living or traveling throughout asia, the mideast, carribbean, africa and europe for 3 decades+ i deep pocket carry a swiss army knife that includes a few tools, especially a cork screw. never have a problem, probably because the euros and japanese appreciate wine, and it’s a neutral country knife.

FOR THE NON POMGOLIANS: an expandable baton is quite effective...!!!

When I travel overseas, I have a Swiss Army knife (Camper) in my checked bag. Carried in UK, Germany, Austria without issue.

A SAK seems to be the most innocent looking pocket knife and is universally recognized as more of a tool than a knife IME.

YMMV.

this was a while ago....Traveling and camping in a VW bus with Dutch plates crossing from Germany into France with several weeks of "American" provisions a friend in the army had purchased at the PX for us. French customs guys were pretty impressed with the food items but were more concerned with the price of hashish in Amsterdam and the Buck 118 fixed blade in the camp kitchen box with the Bluet stove and some pans. Beaucoup discussion while measuring the blade length with finger widths. After figuring out we weren't Dutch and weren't intending to sell PX food or hashish to French kids they gave the knife back.

I know my response is pointless since the OP has already done his trip, but the little Opinel's are ubiquitous in Europe. Everyone there knows they're picnic knives for cutting bread, cheese, fruit,etc. However, they will take apart any animal that Europe has to offer in fine style, and unlike most Swiss Army knives, they have a blade lock which I find much safer for field dressing. The no.6 or no.8 would be ideal.

When I went backpacking in Europe the first time for several months I took my locking serrated Spyderco knife. This was in 1993 and the only issue I had back then was flying into Ireland. They kept looking at it like they expected it was going to suddenly change or take a different form. Obviously this was pre 9-11-2001 and the world wasn’t as scared of its shadow like it is today. I got impatient and told them what I thought a couple of different times. I was NOT polite and I was not patient. I finally snatched my knife back as soon as they chopped my passport entry and left them with a parting thought….. I would NOT react that same way today but it was a totally different world back then.

I almost had to use that Spyderco in Athens to save my life but my guardian angel appeared out of nowhere and saved my ass….

Aces;
Good afternoon, nearing evening truly, I trust you and your fine family are well.

Someday if you're so inclined, I'd love to hear the story of the guardian angel - either by PM, text or even better in person on the back deck sometime, but please put it on the list of "to do" items.

The one and only time we went through Europe was late 1975 and when you mentioned how different the world was in '93 I thought about our trip.

While I don't remember switchblades being for sale in Germany or not - but I want to say yes - I almost convinced my parents to let my buy one in Italy. They had this display which started with about a 1½" tiny little stiletto then going up in increments to one with about a 6" blade. These were the black handled side opening ones like they had in the Godfather movie.

It was a bit weird though in that it was only three years after the mess at the Munich Olympics so the airport guards in Frankfurt had MP5s which was something for a country kid from Saskatchewan to see. A different world for sure.

Anyways I mostly wanted to say hello and wish you all a good 2023.

Dwayne

Dwayne, As always a reply from you makes my day. 😀 I’d love nothing more than to share a beverage and some conversation with you….it’s high on my list of things to do but that list seems to keeps growing if you know what I mean.

I’ll make it a point to be in touch with you about that story. It’s as clear to me almost 30 years later as it was on that cold November night in Athens. I’ve never questioned whether God exists but after that night I knew he had a plan for me.

My 3 month backpacking trip with my girlfriend (at the time) was supposed to be a chance to explore foreign cultures and while I did certainly explore foreign cultures it morphed into more of a personal pilgrimage and a transition into manhood than I ever expected it to be.

Knives being weird to folks show where this world is headed. Likely some of the folks like your Aussie would fall over knowing what the wife and I can pull out of our pockets on a normal day as long as we are clothed...Its rare to not have more than one handgun.....

Yep. I've carried one in and out of maybe 25 countries over the years and never a 2nd glance.

Bottle opener, small and large screwdrivers, serrated blade takes care of a lot of stuff.

Benchmade makes a pocket knife with travel in mind. Short squared blade. My son bought it for when he was going to Europe to compete.

Wouldn't be super useful for hunting purposes though.

Kind of. Things are changing.

Bobbys used to carry a wooden truncheon and that was it. I can't swear to that as being the current standard.

I worked with British transplants who were policemen. Some were "armed response officers". They were cruising the city and if a violent incident was called in, they would get to the scene as fast possible. Not only did they have sidearms, but they may also have been carrying shotguns, submachineguns, carbines.

They have SWAT type teams. Some special units are armed with sidearms.

The time of unarmed police across the board, is past.

When I was stationed in Germany and had a dumbass Soldier that went to Bamberg and for some reason he was carrying a straight razor. He got into some sort if issue with the Polizei, pulled the straight razor and the Polizei squared him away. After the unit got him out of jail he was crying to me and the battalion commander that "his rights were violated", he had a few lumps and bruises on his head from the Polizei, LOL