Pocketknife
[3] Pocketknives are versatile tools, and may be used for anything from whittling and woodcarving, to butchering small game, gutting and filleting small fish, aiding in the preparation of tinder and kindling for fires, boring holes in soft material, to opening an envelope, cutting twine, slicing fruits and vegetables or as a means of self-defense.
A pocketknife with a bone handle was found at the Hallstatt Culture type site in Austria, dating to around 600–500 BCE.
[8] Iberian folding-blade knives made by indigenous artisans and craftsmen and dating to the pre-Roman era have been found in Spain.
[9] The first peasant knives date to the pre-Roman era, but were not widely distributed nor affordable by most people until the advent of limited production of such knives in cutlery centers such as Sheffield, England commencing around 1650,[10] with large-scale production starting around the year 1700 with models such as Fuller's Penny Knife and the Wharncliffe Knife.
[9] The knife's low cost made it a favorite of small farmers, herdsmen, and gardeners in Europe and the Americas during the late 19th and early 20th century.
These new varieties often incorporate a pair of pliers and other tools in conjunction with one or more knife blade styles, either locking or nonlocking.
Companies such as Buck Knives, Camillus, Case, and Gerber, created a wide range of products with locks of various types.
The lockback's blade locking mechanism is a refinement of the slipjoint design; both use a strong backspring located along the back of the knife handle.
In both designs the liner inside the knife is spring-loaded to engage the rear of the blade when open and thus hold it in place.
The Swiss Army knife product range has adopted dual linerlocks on their 111 mm models.
Some models feature additional "positive" locks, which essentially ensure that the blade cannot close accidentally.
[22] In the early 1990s, tactical folding knives became popular in the U.S.A.[23] The trend began with custom knifemakers such as Bob Terzuola, Michael Walker, Allen Elishewitz, Mel Pardue, Ernest Emerson, Ken Onion, Chris Reeve, Rick Hinderer, Warren Thomas, and Warren Osbourne.
Lynn Thompson, martial artist and CEO of Cold Steel, noted in an article in Black Belt magazine that most tactical folding knives are too short to be of much use in a knife fight.
A 10-inch fixed-blade Bowie knife, for example, may be far better for combat, but it is far less practical — and often illegal — to carry around in day-to-day life.
And should there be a need to take defensive action, there's rarely enough forewarning to plan ahead which knife to carry that day.
Traditional folding knives are opened using nail-nicks, or slots where the user's fingernail would enter to pull the blade out of the handle.
Clips allow the knife to be easily accessible, while keeping it lint-free and unscathed by pocket items such as coins.
An innovation to pocketknives made possible by the thumb-stud is the replaceable blade insert developed in 1999 by Steven Overholt (U.S. Patent no.
[29][30][31] Others prohibit certain blade styles perceived by law enforcement and legal authorities as optimal for offensive fighting, transforming the pocketknife from a utility tool into a deadly weapon.
Knives of any size or configuration may be prohibited by federal or state laws in certain designated areas or places, such as schools, courthouses, jails, power plants, or airports.
[32] In the United Kingdom it is illegal to carry a folding knife having a blade with a cutting edge of more than 3 inches[33] (just over 7.6 cm) in length in public without "good reason".
The terms "in public" and "good reason" are not defined, but examples of "religious duty", "national dress" and "requirement of employment or hobby" are given.
It is left up to a police officer's individual subjective discretion, and ultimately a magistrate to decide if a knife is being carried "in public", and for a "good reason".
