Dive knives and the law

[friscuba]

Dive #13 or thereabouts. 80 feet deep off Newport, Oregon. Dive buddy (experienced diver with a speargun) waves bye and 3 minutes later I'm stuck. Removed my BCD, took out the knife, and cut a lot of tangled fishing line off a hook caught on my back. Removed the hook topside. Haven't used the knife for personal safety since, but I dive in a lot better viz these days.

 

[spoolin01]

This is mildly troubling news - are dirk and dagger defined in Hawaiian law? I don't think the common definition denotes double-edged only, not for dagger at least. I see that case law has apparently exempted dive knives, but I travel there with dive knives and occasionally fixed blade filet or kitchen knives, concealed in my bags and vehicle.

Just for clarity, in California it's only concealed carry upon the person that's illegal.

 

[Thalassamania]

If it is in you luggage in the trunk I think it is a non-issue. Also, given the case I posted about earlier, the knives that you are talking about are tools, so I suspect they are a non-issue unless you use them to stick up a 7-11.

 

[spoolin01]

I'd hope that intent and common usage would factor in to any decision to cite, prosecute, or adjudicate, but coming from California, we're used to the simple letter of the law being adequate to criminalize innocuous behavior when weapons are involved. It's often heard here that Hawaii is worse...