Picture Review: World Legal Slip Joint Knife

World Legal packaging--front

Last month, I came across a review of Lansky's World Legal slip joint knife at More Than Just Surviving. My interest piqued by the review, I decided to order one myself.

The idea, as I understand it, was to make a knife that would be legal to carry in locales that are not knife friendly, such as the UK, California and New York City. Lansky claims that the knife is legal in 156 countries, although you still would want to consult your local laws before putting that to the test. The four main points that apparently make the knife legal are (1) it is a slip joint knife, and therefore the blade does not lock open, (2) on the other hand, the slip joint is so stiff that the knife cannot be flicked open (and thus not a "gravity knife"), (3) the blade is relatively short, and (4) the blade is for cutting only. Notwithstanding these features, the knife does not qualify under TSA guidelines for carry on baggage or on-person carry, so you would still have to pack it in your checked bags.

World Legal packaging--back

The photographs below show the knife on a measuring grid, where each square is one (1) inch. Although the blade is under the 3 inches, the knife is still pretty beefy. The handle is long enough for a good grip. The tension on the blade is very strong--although it has a cut for using a fingernail to open the blade, I think that you would risk tearing or cracking a nail trying to do so. Fortunately, the blade projects above the scales far enough that gripping the blade to open the knife does not pose a problem. But this is not a knife to open one-handed--the tension or weight of the slip joint is probably the strongest that I have ever come across. That also makes it difficult to close.

Closed

Half Open

Open

Although the scales are some sort of plastic--certainly not G-10!--the body of the knife uses a steel liner. As you can see, the knife comes with a pocket clip held in place by cutouts in the scales and single large screw. There are four cutouts so you can move the clip around if you prefer.

Lansky indicates on the packaging that the knife weighs in at 5.4 ounces. As you can see below, my scale put it at 5.6 ounces.

Weight

The knife seems to be of good overall quality. The plastic scales could have used a denser plastic, but it is probably of no real account considering the metal liner. The knife was sharp out of the packaging, but not as sharp as it should be, and probably will need to be touched up. But in the few cutting tasks I put it to, it did just fine. And at just under $17 (U.S.) on Amazon, the knife is a bargain.

I carried the knife for several days. The pocket clip is strong and kept it in place. Because it take two hands to open, if you normally carry a one-hand opening knife, such as a Spyderco, this knife will not replace your everyday carry. But that is not the intention of the knife, which was instead to give you a tool you could have on you in those benighted regions of the world where the peasants are not to be trusted with weapons.