Ok its in the 'off topic' cause its about a knife, it maybe could  be in the legal section too; we'll see. Are karambits legal in Hawaii? That would be it any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Depends on what type of Karambit you get.

If you get one that is 'traditional', in that it is meant for utility purposes, then yes; it is legal.

If you buy one of these karambit based designs with the words 'combat', 'fighting' or 'tactical' attached to it, then no; it is illegal, because it was designed as a combat/fighting/offensive weapon.

 

"Traditional" Filipino Karambits are double edged and double edged blades are illegal in Hawaii.


If a knife says "tactical" or anything else on it that does not make it illegal. It is the intent of the user. A dive knife is legal all the time. 

Just imagine some blade  that had the word "tactical" or "fighting" or "combat " etched onto it.  According to "Q" the word on the blade makes it illegal. So sand off the bad word and now it it is legal?
That is so idiotic even Bloomberg would not try to pass that kind of law.

It's legal as long as it is not double edged.

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May I pose this question with even greater intent?

My karambit will be solely used as a utility type knife that will be EDC. That in and of itself sounds as though the karambit would be legal, yes?

 If, in a situation I should need to deploy and use said karambit for self defense would this turn the knife into a "deadly instrument" thus making it illegal. The use in this scenario would be contingent on all factors justifying the use of deadly force for protection and self preservation.

Thanks for the shares fellas.

Parking tickets are validated, not penal codes.
Q should not practice law without a license! THAT is against the law!
Q knows how to copy and paste, but clearly he does not know how to apply the code.  Q 's prior post is bad advice.

With regard to "Please do research before you give out advice that is going to get someone arrested or into legal trouble." Please go to law school & practice law for a few years before you give out advice!

" If he buys a knife which is intended for utility work, it is not illegal for him to carry. "  The STATE has the burden to prove the INTENT in court. NO INTENT NO CRIME! Hence carrying a Karambit is not against the law unless State can prove intent to use it as a weapon.

A curved blade Karambit is not a "dirk, dagger, blackjack, slug shot, billy, metal knuckles, pistol"... It also is not a gravity or automatic spring loaded weapon.

Copy and pasting a code is meaningless without legal training and practical courtroom experience to apply it.

"Other deadly or dangerous weapon" is limited to instruments whose sole design and purpose is to inflict bodily injury or death. You cite this part of the code after stating in your opening sentence that  Karambit  "are used as everyday work tools" So Karambits are legal! How can the state prove intent just by carrying a knife. Impossible! You leave out the part of the code stating dive knives are legal. Can the state prove a karambit can not be used as a dive knife? It would in fact be a great dive knife!

With regard to how Karambits evolved over time before they were integrated into Wali Kali, thanks! You just proved  Karambits are traditional farming implements and therefore has proven traditional uses other than self defense.

There is nothing illegal about carrying a Karambit at all.
There is nothing illegal about learning how to use Karambit for self defense.
There is nothing illegal about learning how to use a Karambit for farming, cutting carpet, or in construction!
There is nothing illegal about leaning how to properly use a pistol!

If there is no En Banc review of Peruta before March 7th, then states covered by the 9th circuit court will be required to allow some form of carry method for firearms outside the home.
Do you really think that carrying a gun will be made legal, but carrying a Karambit will not be? Ridiculous!

This conclusion is nonsense: "Therefore, if he knowingly buys a weapon that is deemed a fighting/combat/tactical knife by a manufacturer"....  A knife manufacturer's intent has no bearing. Do you really think you can prove the intent of a 3rd party business or corporation in court as legal evidence to convict someone just walking down the street carrying a knife? You can't even introduce it as evidence! READ THE RULES OF EVIDENCE!

I carry one everyday.  I have never got any flack about it.  My cop friends never mentioned anything about.  About the only thing they said was they like one of the particular ones I had.  Both ended up purchasing the same knife.

Like with anything the only time it matters is in court.

So I'm trying to understand the law as written.

It seems that possession is a misdemeanor not a felony.
Possession or use while committing a crime is a felony.

It order to classify as a deadly weapon it sole design and purpose must be to inflict bodily injury or death.

I'm not seeing how a word descriptor such as combat, tactical or fighting automatically classifies it as a deadly weapon.

Also a things labeled tactical are multi-purpose. Like my tactical pocket knife which has a window breaker (for car emergencies) and bottle opener at the end. While it does have tactical as a descriptor it has more than one purpose.

The biggest thing I see is how poorly written our laws are.

is there a legal limit to the length of the blade for any knife to be carried?
iirc, its 4.5 inches?

Hawaii Volcano Squad, I saw your video on youtube about the cost effective karambit while I was looking into the legalese of EDC for one; pretty nice little knife for the price. I was going to PM you about your legal insight but did not want to be a bother; glad you posted on this thread.

I ended up with the Fox 479 as my number one choice at this point from Michigan Knives.

Hawaii Volcano Squad, I saw your video on youtube about the cost effective karambit while I was looking into the legalese of EDC for one; pretty nice little knife for the price. I was going to PM you about your legal insight but did not want to be a bother; glad you posted on this thread.

I ended up with the Fox 479 as my number one choice at this point from Michigan Knives.

Cool!

I just got the 599 Fox Blade folder and Fox trainer folder knife yesterday. Took two months after ordering from Ultimate Knife website for the blade to arrive. I will be doing a video soon. Here is a preview:  The grip is extremely aggressive which is why there is a video on that website how to sand down the grip under the pocket clip. The Fox 599 has very tight tolerances. Just getting clip on your jeans pocket and taking it off is impossible so i will be sanding it smooth for a fast draw. Also I oiled the hinge and exercised opening and closing it for a while and it is nothing at all like a speed safe fast action. You NEED the Emerson wave feature to open it. A flick of the wrist and the opening assist feature does not deploy the blade unless it is an extremely aggressive flick. So it must be the Emerson wave on it if you want the rapid deploy feature. The reason it does not come with a grip sanded down is that this way the clip can be placed on either side for a lefty or righty, so you sand down the side you want smooth. It has a nice firm lock into place feature on the liner lock. Looks like it sits in a designed groove. Much more firm than the $14 Cutlery corner knockoff which has extremely LOOSE tolerances.

Funny thing is since my Fixed blade Fox 636T model is with my leather worker while he makes me a sheath and until i sand down the grip surface under the clip of the 599 Fox, the $14 Chinese knockoff is still my EDC!

Make sure you check out the 12 strike question answer by Dennis on his new Filipino kali educator Youtube channel. He talks about how to use a knife to do the minimum damage required to evade and escape an attacker.

It is ironic that "going for the throat" requires no training at all, but for actual legal self defense where your intent is to escape an attacker without killing anyone & doing the least possible damage, much more thought, practice, training, and insight is essential.

I like the FOX fixed blade the best so far. Can't wait to get it back with a reverse grip sheath. It has occurred to me that strikes with the dull side of the blade can be very effective as well.

With regard to the question on knife length, again it is INTENT that counts.

Example: I have a Rambo style knife but the only thing i have ever used it for is to cut bagels! It is just an extremely scary bagel cutter. Sound silly but that is the truth. Also look at the fillet knife in the 180 pound Tuna fillet video i shot. If your intent is to fillet a Tuna of that size, clearly you need a long blade to do that. Need a machete to clear out some jungle growth or cut a path on a hike? Nothing wrong with that.

Final example: If you are walking down the street with a shovel and a police officer sees that and asks you what you are carrying a shovel for,
if you answer: "I am going to plant tomatoes" that is a non violent intent.
If you answer: "I am going to bash that guy over there on the head until he is dead!"  than that is violent intent. A shovel is a classic murder weapon by the way.

is there a legal limit to the length of the blade for any knife to be carried?
iirc, its 4.5 inches?

No! There is no blade length limit. You can carry a samurai sword if you wanted to.

" If he buys a knife which is intended for utility work, it is not illegal for him to carry. "  The STATE has the burden to prove the INTENT in court. NO INTENT NO CRIME! Hence carrying a Karambit is not against the law unless State can prove intent to use it as a weapon.

A curved blade Karambit is not a "dirk, dagger, blackjack, slug shot, billy, metal knuckles, pistol"... It also is not a gravity or automatic spring loaded weapon.

"Other deadly or dangerous weapon" is limited to instruments whose sole design and purpose is to inflict bodily injury or death. You cite this part of the code after stating in your opening sentence that  Karambit  "are used as everyday work tools" So Karambits are legal! How can the state prove intent just by carrying a knife. Impossible! You leave out the part of the code stating dive knives are legal. Can the state prove a karambit can not be used as a dive knife? It would in fact be a great dive knife!

There is nothing illegal about carrying a Karambit at all.
There is nothing illegal about learning how to use Karambit for self defense.
There is nothing illegal about learning how to use a Karambit for farming, cutting carpet, or in construction!
There is nothing illegal about leaning how to properly use a pistol!

This conclusion is nonsense: "Therefore, if he knowingly buys a weapon that is deemed a fighting/combat/tactical knife by a manufacturer"....  A knife manufacturer's intent has no bearing. Do you really think you can prove the intent of a 3rd party business or corporation in court as legal evidence to convict someone just walking down the street carrying a knife? You can't even introduce it as evidence! READ THE RULES OF EVIDENCE!

Well said....

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At the start of your post, you wrote:

Are you an attorney, licensed to practice in the State of Hawaii?

Open a case, file a subpoena and find out.

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I'm done; aloha and best of luck, bruddah kekoa, in whatever course of action you eventually decide upon!   

Thanks! To the best of all I read they are considered legal. What this really comes down to, I think,  is what intent we have when using an object whether it be an edge weapon, gun or toilet paper roll for that matter; being that either one of those is legal to own of course.

For me, I would carry it as a utility knife but would not hesitate to use it if I had to in defense of my loved ones or myself. I carry my car keys, my cell phone, my surfboard etc, etc, etc, in the same fashion. That dangerous weapon jargon is what is confusing to me, a coat hanger could be a dangerous weapon in the right hands; so now we can't carry coat hangers?

The law makes my brain hurt

Just be careful on when and where you pull it out, and for what reason.  You may get in trouble for brandishing.  This is why I like having a small blade or multi-tool on my person, rather than just a single large blade.  For instance, at one point in time I carried a 5 inch Cold Steel Voyager.  If I had pulled it out of my pocket to trim a thread, or clean my nails, people would freak.  If I do the same thing with my Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife, no one would look twice.

IMO the Karambit is not the best carry knife for anyone who is not extremely well versed in its use.  There are far better options that would garner much less attention.