Knives and the law: which cutting tools won't give you problems. Knives and the law: what cutting tools will not create problems for you

The specifics of production in our country (and not only in ours) is that great amount successful design and technological solutions relate to the field of armaments. Do not escape this trend and knives, or rather - combat knives. Unfortunately, the legislation of the Russian Federation does not allow ordinary citizens to own and use the most best models knives produced by CJSC "Melita-K", as they are combat edged weapons. But there is a way out of every situation. There are GOSTs that define the difference between civilian knives and combat ones. The technical service of the company has brought the most popular models of combat knives into a form that allows them to be certified as civilian ones.

The most common option is the absence of a protective cross (also called "guard"), which serves to prevent the hand from slipping onto the cutting edge during a stabbing blow. In this way, we have made available to anyone who wants to purchase such popular knife models like Vityaz, Gyurza, Cobra, HP-09, Caiman, Shaitan.

Almost every knife has its own history of creation. The author of the Shaitan knife is Dmitry Krasnov, head of the Special Response Department, who tragically died in October 2004. Similar kind of dagger-type knives with a sereytor sharpening area on the cutting edge exist in other countries (for example, the famous MARK-2).

Gerber Mark II

In its combat form, the Shaitan knife has two modifications - all-metal and with a handle made of type-setting leather or thermoplastic elastomer. The civilian modification of this knife with a leather type-setting handle was chosen by the society of veterans of the Vympel group as their award knife. Now on sale there are many copies of this knife-dagger under the same name "Shaitan", with slightly modified forms, which have nothing to do with Melita-K CJSC.

Another way to turn a combat melee weapon into a civilian knife is to cut off the tip of the blade from it, turning it into a kind of chisel.

Thus, Katran-2 and Katran-3 were turned into civilian knives. "Katran-3" was developed by special order of the 45th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Regiment of the Airborne Forces and its first name was "Katran-45".

All modifications of the Katran knife in the root part of the main blade have a sereytor sharpening (for cutting slings, rope ropes, etc.) and a hook for cutting nets. The handle of all modifications of the knife has a double-sided, anatomically comfortable guard and a metal pommel with a hole for a lanyard. All metal parts are anti-reflective or black chrome camouflaged. "Kartan-3" is distinguished by a saw for metal on the butt of the blade. "Katran-2" on the butt has a chopping sharpening.

One of the most popular knives created by ZAO Melita-K is Smersh-5. Both modifications, both civil and combat, have a protective cross, but the thickness of the blade of a civilian knife in the butt is less than 2.5 mm, which allows it to be certified as a civilian. The knife is essentially modern solution reconnaissance knife model 1940 "NR-40". Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the knife, many copies or simply replicas are sold, made in China, often with the same name and the inscription "Made in Russia". It is almost impossible to fight counterfeits from the "celestial kingdom", so the buyer is advised to be careful.

The same thickness of the blade (2.4 mm in the butt) in the presence of an emphasis for the fingers has a new development of CJSC "Melita-K" - the knife "Vulture". The combat prototype of this knife - the knife "Permyak" was made by order of the FSB of the city of Perm, according to their own sketches.

Combat knife "Permyak"	Tourist knife "Vulture"

The first versions of the Smersh series knife - from Smersh-1 to Smersh-4 - are essentially classic Finns. Different lengths and different thicknesses (everyone chooses depending on their preferences and the tasks that the knife must solve), but with all the variety, this type of knife has remained popular for many years. This model has much in common with the legendary Finnish knife "M-95" or "Sissipuukko" from Peltonen, which is used by the Swedish and Finnish special forces. The civilian version of the Irbis knife is an attempt to add penetrating properties to the merits of the Finn during a stabbing blow due to one and a half sharpening, and the sereytor sharpening section on the blade makes it possible to cut thick ropes without any problems.

Tourist knife "Smersh-2"	Tourist knife "Smersh-3"	Tourist knife "Smersh-4"

For the manufacture of its knives, Melita-K CJSC uses the 70X16MFS steel grade, developed and produced by special order (patent RU236957C1). The metal parts are usually anti-reflective, but a black chrome camouflage finish or an all black blade is also possible. The scabbard is made of high quality genuine leather, with plastic inserts inside. Inserts protect the sheath from accidental cutting by the cutting edge, and the blade from exposure to the skin, especially when the sheath gets wet, when the blade, adjacent to the moisture-soaked skin, is corroded. With proper care, a knife manufactured by CJSC Melita-K will serve you faithfully for many years.

Many novice knife lovers, in the process of forming their own collection of knives, repeatedly think about the issue of the legality of storing and carrying their cutting tools. After all, no one wants at some point to face serious trouble in the form of representatives law enforcement and their claims against you regarding the possession (carrying) of prohibited items.

Until 2003 gun law in Russian Federation was quite strict, and for carrying an unregistered hunting knife one could get a very real term (up to two years in prison). And if meticulous investigators found blanks of knives, shurikens or throwing knives, then they could also impute the manufacture of weapons (Article 222, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Russia). It's scary to think: for a pocket knife with a switchblade 50-70 mm long or for possession of throwing knives they could be imprisoned. At the same time, huge kitchen knives, axes, pitchforks, crowbars (according to criminal statistics, it is these tools that most often become the instruments of crime) are sold and used completely freely. Everyone suffered: connoisseurs of antique bladed items, athletes, collectors modern knives, circus workers and so on.

Fortunately, in 2003 was adopted new law about weapons, which discharged the "knife tension" in the country and made it possible for ordinary citizens to purchase many blade products that were previously banned. The same hunting knives are sold absolutely freely today; a hunting license and a special permit are not needed to purchase them.

Citizens of the Russian Federation are allowed to freely acquire, store, carry and use knives for a number of "peaceful" purposes. The only exceptions are combat and military knives, daggers, sabers, and so on, the possession of which requires a special permit. Remember: illegal wearing of such products is subject to administrative liability (fine from 500 to 2000 rubles and seizure).

The knives allowed for free circulation are regulated by GOSTs:

• "Special sports and tourist knives";
• "Cutting and skinning knives";
• “Decorative and souvenir blade items, outwardly similar to weapons (cold and throwing)”;
• “Hunting knives and daggers. General technical conditions”;
• "Knives for Survival".
• "Hunting cleavers, tourist machetes, cutting, tools for restoration and rescue work."
• According to GOSTs, the signs of blade products are determined, which relate to household knives, tourist, sports, cutting and skinning models. Also, when determining the category of a knife, they are guided by “Cold weapons. Terms and Definitions".

Having carefully studied the indicated GOSTs, a number of signs and design features blade products, the presence of at least one of which allows you to determine the legality of the knife.

1. Knives whose blades are not designed for thrusting (there is no point) are not prohibited. The tip of the knife can be rounded off or replaced with any tool: a screwdriver, a chisel, or something else. The plane of the tool must be at least 3 mm. Such products include, for example, a diving knife from.

2. Permitted knives include products with a point raised above the butt line by more than 5 mm (with a blade length of up to 180 mm) or by more than 10 mm (with a blade length of more than 180 mm). A striking example such a knife - model from.

3. Allowed for free circulation are knives with a concave butt (more than 5 mm with a blade length of up to 180 mm and more than 10 mm with a blade length of more than 180 mm). These knives include the model from.

4. Knives are allowed for free sale, on the butt of which there is a hook for ripping the skins (the hook should be located no further than 1/3 of the blade from the point). An example of such a product is a knife from the company.

5. It is allowed to carry, store and use yoke-shaped knives, in which the height of the arc from the line drawn from the tip to the upper point of the tip of the handle exceeds 15 mm. An example of such a model is from .

6. You can freely purchase and use knives with blades up to 90 mm. There are a lot of such products, for example - from.

7. Knives that have cutting edge and butt converge at an angle of more than 70 degrees. These knives include a machete from the company.

8. Allowed for free sale are knives in which the cutting edge is not sharpened. An example of such a model would be from . Despite the formidable name and developed guard, such a product is not classified as a weapon and is distributed freely.

9. Legislatively allowed to carry, store and use knives in which the handle does not provide a secure hold during a stabbing blow. These products primarily include knives with handles shorter than 70 mm (for example, a knife from).

10. Allowed for sale without restrictions are knives in which the difference between the maximum width of the handle in the middle part and the minimum width in the pommel area does not exceed 8 mm. Such products include a knife from the company.

11. Knives equipped with a limiter (limiters) or a sub-finger recess, the size of which (if the limiter is double-sided, then the size is considered in total) do not fall under any prohibitions, do not exceed 5 mm. An example of such a knife is the Outdoorsman Lite model from.

12. Knives that have more than one sub-finger recess or limiter, the size (depth) of which does not exceed 4 mm, are not included in the category of prohibited knives. These knives include a product from.

13. Also, the category of knives prohibited for free circulation does not include models, the design or materials of which do not provide sufficient strength of the blade or the entire design of the knife. Such products include knives with blades, the hardness of the cutting edge of which is less than .

14. “Deactivated” combat and military knives, bayonets, daggers (products with sawn blades) are not prohibited for distribution.

15. Allowed to freely carry, use, store knives with blades made of silumin, plastic, aluminum and other materials that do not qualify the product as a weapon.

16. Knives with a weak seal of the blade shank into the handle are not subject to restrictions (the shank is inserted into the handle and filled with sealing wax). Such products are not allowed combat use knife (do not provide proper strength).

Knives allowed for free sale can have one and a half sharpening (on the one hand, the cutting edge is sharpened along the entire length of the blade, on the other, up to 2/3 of the length of the butt). On the butt of knives allowed for free sale, additional tools can be placed: a saw, a sling cutter, an opener, and so on.

Each knife sold in specialized stores or on specialized Internet sites must have an appropriate document - a certificate (aka information leaflet) confirming its legality and classification (household, sports, survival knife, and so on). These information sheets are issued by accredited testing laboratories after the appropriate tests have been carried out.

It seems to be an elementary question, but let's turn to the letter of the law and visualize it.

Signs of edged weapons. Parameters and characteristics of knives that are not edged weapons (in accordance with GOSTs).
The following requirements should apply to knives made both industrially and homemade way, both Russian and foreign. However, much depends on the expert conducting the examination, as you know, the law can be interpreted in very different ways, and the expert is also a person, he has superiors to whom he must obey, a wife who needs to be fed, and personal hostility (or vice versa, affection ) cannot be ruled out.

In accordance with GOSTs, knives that meet the following requirements (at least one) are not weapons:

Are not weapons, knives, the blades of which are not adapted for injection:

1. Knives without a point. The tip can be replaced by any tool (screwdriver, chisel with a width of more than 3 mm.), or rounded.

The tip of the knife blade is deliberately blunt and has a plane more than 3 mm wide.

This is the only sign that refers these products to the household category. (it must be remembered that when resharpening the edge of the blade, the parameters of the product change and these knives can easily turn into melee weapons with all the ensuing consequences).

2. Knives with a point located above the butt line by more than 5 mm.

Scheme of a knife corresponding to feature No. 2

An approximate diagram of a knife corresponding to feature No. 2. It should be noted that knives corresponding to this attribute have no restrictions on the length of the blade and the presence of limiters for the fingers.

This Tanto-style knife has a blade length of 188 mm and a point located more than 5 mm above the butt line.

The knife has a blade length of 210 mm and a point located above the butt line by more than 5 mm.

3. Knives with a maximum deflection of the butt of the blade of more than 5 mm with a blade length of up to 180 mm and more than 10 mm with a blade length of more than 180 mm.

Scheme of a knife corresponding to feature No. 3

4. Knives with a concave spine of more than 5mm, with a length of up to 180mm.

5. Blades with concave more than 10mm. butt, with a blade length of more than 180mm.

Scheme of a knife corresponding to feature No. 6

The knife, at a distance of 1/3 of the length of the blade from the point, has a sharpened hook, designed for ripping up skins, cutting nets, cutting slings, and whatever fantasy tells.

7. Knives, in which the amount of deflection of the butt and the upper part of the handle of the knife, having the shape of an arc in the form of a "rocker arm", upwards from the conditional straight line connecting the tip of the blade and the upper end of the handle, exceeds 15 mm.

Scheme of a knife corresponding to feature No. 7

8. Knives with a blade shorter than 90mm.

A set of two daggers with a blade length of 80 mm each.

9. Knives in which the blade and the butt, or the main and made on the butt, converge at an angle of more than 70 degrees.

10. Knives thicker than 5-6mm.

11. Knives without a sharpened blade(descents are displayed, but there is no RK).

Knives with a handle that does not provide a secure hold when pricked:

The absence of stops (finger stops) for this dagger makes its handle traumatic if it is stabbed, this is the only sign that this product belongs to the household category, etc. If you add stops to its design, the dagger becomes a 100% melee weapon, you can even "do not go to a fortuneteller .." (lovers of improvements need to remember this point).

12. Knives with a handle shorter than 70mm.

This poke knife has a handle length of 40 mm. It also corresponds to sign No. 8, as it has a 70 mm long blade.

13. Knives with a barrel-shaped handle, in which the difference between the maximum diameter in the middle part of the barrel-shaped handle and the minimum diameter in the pommel area does not exceed 8 mm.

Scheme of a knife corresponding to feature No. 13

The dagger has a margin between the maximum diameter in the middle part of the barrel-shaped handle and the minimum diameter in the pommel area of ​​no more than 8 mm.

14. Knives with a single (one-sided, or double-sided in total) limiter or a single finger notch less than 5mm.

15. Knives with more than one notch or limiter must be less than 4mm.

In a knife for diving and extreme tourism, the heel of the blade, which acts as a limiter, is deliberately narrowed and has a thickness of 3.5 mm, while thickening of the blade towards the tip is allowed (thickness of the butt of the knife is 4.0+ mm).

Knives that do not provide the necessary strength of the blade or the entire structure:

16. Knives with blades whose hardness is less than 25HRC.

Blade hardness exact copy bayonet does not exceed 25HRC.

17. Knives with a developed limiter or sub-finger notch, with a blade length of up to 150 mm and a thickness of less than 2.5 mm.

A huge number of knives, including those of excellent quality, fall under this sign. All knives with a straight blade (up to 150 mm), a pronounced point (the angle of convergence of the blade and the butt is less than 70 degrees), developed finger stops or sub-finger recesses and are freely available on the territory of the Russian Federation, have a butt thickness of less than 2.5 mm (usually 2.2 -2.4), otherwise it is no longer possible to sell freely, while the hardness of the blade has no restrictions. Such knives are considered as allegedly "not providing the necessary strength of the blade or the entire structure", all this is very relative, a knife with a butt thickness of 2.2 mm is able to help out its owner in almost any situation.

And in conclusion, I would like to say the following: a man armed with a dagger is less dangerous than a man armed with an idea. Remember this)) Peace and goodness to all!