Quote Originally Posted by HamburgO View Post
I'm shocked. I thought Belgium was such a free society? Can they just search you on the street whenever they feel like it? Anyway, although I always try to stick to local law (blade length, folder or fixed), I have not walked around anywhere in the world without a knife for the last 30 years. As we say in the US: I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by six. (Means I'd rather go to court, maybe to jail, than get killed by some asshole).
It's not that bad actually. In my entire life I have been stopped by the police twice that I can remember. Once for riding without a helmet (which was fair ) and once as part of a routine traffic control (DUI checkpoint). Both times they only asked for my drivers license, registration and insurance. No searching was involved.

However, carrying knives for purpose of offense/ defense is not legal. For example, if I go fishing or hunting or hiking, it is perfectly legal to have a big knife on me, because I have a good reason. Carrying the same knife just for going in the city would make it illegal, because at that point it becomes a weapon instead of a tool. With a couple of exceptions, Belgian law defines weapons in terms of use, rather than design. A simple hammer is another such example. Based on the where, when, why and how I am carrying it, it gets a classification.

So if I carry a big knife, I'll never get into trouble until I either get searched (which doesn't happen) or until I need to use it.
If I were mugged, and I pulled out a big knife and defended myself, the first thing the police would ask me is why I was carrying an illegal weapon.

I would be ok as long as I had a non-violent reason for carrying the knife (which is not the case) or as long as I never used it (so the police would not know). And that rather defeats the point of carrying a knife.

For the same reason I don't carry a spyderco civilian. I'd love to, but I'd never be able to explain it.
A standard spyderco pocketknife or a pruning knife otoh would be ok as long as I am not entering protected buildings like a court house.