i thought a gravity knife had to have spring action to open it - not just a blade that locks open? none of my utility knives have a spring, but i can open them one handed with my thumb...
There are no springs involved here - I can open it with one hand because there is a knob through the blade. If I unlocked the blade, and swung it around it my hand, it wouldn't open all the way - you have to manually do that for the blade to fully open and lock. Grav knives and switches, as well as butterflies (All of which I own or have owned) have a totally different action.
I was told, essentially, that unless it had an automatic mechanism, or was engineered in such a manner that it is only a weapon and not something of utility, then it was shady, but not going to get me arrested. I was warned that if I was picked up for something else, particularly a violent crime, that there would probably be a weapons charge added to my sheet, which would be used as pressure in negotiations if I did something that the DA thought they could nail me to the wall on.
Either way, legal or not, I'd still love to have this little gizmo. The blade on this is even smaller than the knife I am carrying right now, which, using the palm rule (which is another trick I learned in terms of determining weapon vs utility), puts me back in much safer territory. That, and the fact that the knife is connected to something that is so clearly a tool, everyone would need to be batshit loco to call it only a weapon.
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around =)
dude, it doesn't matter what wikipedia says, it matters what the police say. i have two cops in my office who looked at the knife and said it was a grav knife. the spring mech or not doesn't matter, it matters whether it turns from a tool into a knife with the flick of a wrist.
i don't particularly care whether or not you buy it, cuz you're a big boy, but i just wanted to shoot you a head's up.
Dude, it doesn't matter what the police say, it matters what the statute says.
NYPL § 265.00(5): "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device.
The only question is whether or not the blade will open through the mere application of centrifugal force (the flick of the wrist). If there is a blade lock that you have to trip, or a knob you need to push with your thumb, it is not a gravity knife. If you get pinched with it, I'll represent you, and if we're lucky we'll run into a prosecutor who just shows up in court and says "two cops said it was a gravity knife."
I have a Gerber pocket knife that has teflon bushings in the hinge. It technically has a thumb stud for flicking it open, but I could always just flick my wrist and the blade flicked out. By this statute, that knife would technically be a gravity knife, but it was totally designed as a regular locking blade.
Oh, as a point of information, it should be mentioned that the laws on these types of knife are different in California (of course) than they are elsewhere. In Cali, any knife which can be opened one-handed is prohibited.
I got a Leatherman Wave and a Spyderco Police model for Christmas. The Police model is a lot larger than I thought, and once I get a change to look up the weapon laws here in Florida I may exchange it for a slightly smaller model. I love the hell out of it though.
delascabezas
Comments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_knife
There are no springs involved here - I can open it with one hand because there is a knob through the blade. If I unlocked the blade, and swung it around it my hand, it wouldn't open all the way - you have to manually do that for the blade to fully open and lock. Grav knives and switches, as well as butterflies (All of which I own or have owned) have a totally different action.
I was told, essentially, that unless it had an automatic mechanism, or was engineered in such a manner that it is only a weapon and not something of utility, then it was shady, but not going to get me arrested. I was warned that if I was picked up for something else, particularly a violent crime, that there would probably be a weapons charge added to my sheet, which would be used as pressure in negotiations if I did something that the DA thought they could nail me to the wall on.
Either way, legal or not, I'd still love to have this little gizmo. The blade on this is even smaller than the knife I am carrying right now, which, using the palm rule (which is another trick I learned in terms of determining weapon vs utility), puts me back in much safer territory. That, and the fact that the knife is connected to something that is so clearly a tool, everyone would need to be batshit loco to call it only a weapon.
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around =)
i don't particularly care whether or not you buy it, cuz you're a big boy, but i just wanted to shoot you a head's up.
NYPL § 265.00(5): "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device.
The only question is whether or not the blade will open through the mere application of centrifugal force (the flick of the wrist). If there is a blade lock that you have to trip, or a knob you need to push with your thumb, it is not a gravity knife. If you get pinched with it, I'll represent you, and if we're lucky we'll run into a prosecutor who just shows up in court and says "two cops said it was a gravity knife."
It's a sweet tool. I like it.