Thread: Leatherman tragedy

Hi All,
From when the law came in I have continued to carry my Swiss Army knife. If I am charged, I will defend it in court.

Best Wishes,

I am a self confessed "geardo" and quite proud of all my knives, multitools, torches and other "gadgets". I frequent many knife, torch and back pack forums and always willing to trade tales on knives, multitools etc
I import most of my gear and seldom have any issues getting past customs even after making full declarations therefore these items are legal to possess and if you are using them for intended purpose and without criminal intent. THEN NO GENERAL STATE LAWS can prevent you from using them. Local bylaws, rules and regulation etc may prevent carriage into certain places but can not be a blanket rule. Heck I am only a barrack room lawyer but I am willing put my knife where my mouth is!

I have and always will have a leatherman, SAK, Gerber, CRKT or similar in my possession. (Except when flying but there are some bits of survival kit which are now allowed to be carried, there is even some multitools that are designed to meet carry on requirements). I had to "check" my wave the other day when going into a court house but got it back from security on exit no problems or questions asked.

I have regularly interacted with Police etc in all States and at various levels and NEVER been questioned or challenged other than for someone to borrow my multitool. Its all about common sense (sometimes lacking in our legal system).

Most of the places that one can not carry a knife (late night pubs and clubs in the city) I would not want to go anyway The day I am challenged or prevented from carrying a multitool or SAK as an EDC then I am afraid I will be leaving this fair country of ours

Had a few beers the other night at both the Prairie and Blinman pubs and I recon 1/2 the patrons had a multitool or knife visible hanging of their belts.
Heaven forbid if the Knife Nazis had searched my pockets or vehicle and found the mother lode of my survival gear!

Perhaps I am a criminal but I just don't know it yet

Originally Posted by cartm58

what is sad that due to hoons who have endangered our society by carrying weapons have made the nany state pass laws making it illegal to carry on your person pocket knives and bladed tools like leathermen.

On some construction resource project sites its illegal to carry them in car or tool box on site under site OSH rulings due to fear of cut injuries ruining the site injury safety record and hence the OSh manager bonus pool.

It is not illegal to carry one, it is illegal to carry one without lawful excuse. I have discussed this with the constabulary in a few states. What also differs is mine is carried in a holster in clear view, I also carry a rope rescue knife. Quite legal as they are a requirement for my work.

The Gerber is a much better tool. I have the luxury of being bought both.
The Gerber has much better action.

AND NO I DID NOT SAY GERBIL

Take it from me as a owner of numerous knives and multitools, there is NO better than one another amongst the top end of multitools.

With the various different models made by the top end multitool manufacturers L/man, Gerber, SOG, Vic'x etc it is imperative that the user selects the tool that best suits their needs & budget.

As a general rule most Gerber's have more robust pliers that are better for general heavy engineering tasks whilst many L/mans have pliers better suited for electrical and more detailed work. Of course there are a host of various models with a zillion other features that one must consider.

Bottom line, spend the money on quality (which all the genuine "name" manufactures are producing now days, with some good deals to be had).

My personal favourites are:
Multitool: The Leatherman Wave. (I have 3 x L/mans, 2 x Gerber's, 1 x SOG and 1 x Vic'x).
Folding knife: The CRKT- M21 (closely followed by my "Bench mades" which have some nice blades, I would not wish to count all my folding knives).
Survival knife: The Tool logic SL Pro Fire Steel (The new model that I have not seen available in Oz yet).
Fixed Blade: A good old fashion "Buck" M9, just a rugged large blade that will split logs, dig holes, cut wire but not real flash for skinning and gutting.

Once again I must stress no one can say one is better than another.
The Hunter will disagree with the trapper, who will disagree with the fisherman who will disagree with the soldier who will disagree with the 4 x 4 guy who will disagree with the electrical geek and so on.............

Any one want to talk Knives, Torches & Backpacks please PM me

Thommo
Youth is waisted on the young

He he he I gotta ask, do you attend any meetings, get up and say 'I'm Thommo and I have knives'?
That's quite a collection.

A very good point you have raised their 100I.

One has to pick their audience when talking Knives (guns etc).
I would hope that we have many outdoors type enthusiasts on this forum who are not likely to jump to the conclusion (as per the wider and uninformed community) that all knife owners are evil dooers.

But I do take your point, being a "geardo" is a bit like some of the LR owners here who for some, one LR is not enough or the must have every accessory members amongst us, I am sure most of you are a "little bit guilty" of some indulgence. You would be surprised at the number of knife enthusiasts out there (I am just a general "geardo" into survival equipment and backpacking).

Yes I am guilty, I like bright torches, sharp knives and thirsty V8's any one else like to join! (the few vices my wife allows)

Didn't used to think I was a knife nut, then I started counting.

3 Leathermen, half a dozen Swiss Army, one Spyderco, Grandad's knife, big stupid knife I made myself and never used.

Then there are the kitchen knives, I gave away a dozen last year because the drawer was getting full.

I've got a mate flying up from Hobart tonight.

I asked him if he could bring up his sharpener, the knives are getting blunt.

Nah thanks, I'm fine, just looking for a Wusthof 20cm deep blade chopping knife.

Cheers
Simon