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I recently 'lost' my EDC knife.
I was travelling from Bristol Airport and I left it in my handluggage and it was confiscated :o(
Understandable and I didn't protest.
However I now need/want another knife and I know a lot of forumites like knives so I decided to ask for reccomendations.
What I want is a UK legal "every-day-carry" folding knife.
I want a good quality Steel blade and I'd like it to hold an edge for a long time.
Budget: less than £50 please.
Is there anyone who would like to suggest something?
Leatherman do a UK legal multitool called the "Bond" which can be got for about £50
I decided i prefered the look of the Curl, but am aware its not legal to carry around, purely due to the lock on the blade. (i dont tend to carry it around without reason, and certainly not if im "popping in to town")
Tempted by a Bond, but i think its a technicallity. Ive never been asked to empty my pockets by an officer in the past 40 years, i doubt ill get asked in the future.
Both "tools" rather than knives, but thats more useful in my mind.
I got a swiss army huntsman for Xmas which seems fine for a EDC and just under £30 I think. I like it as it has some scissors and tweezers too and has been pretty useful.
My other knives are more Bush crafty and definitely not legal along with a leather man wave and some other pens knives I've had for years which aren't due to locking.
Years ago my car got stolen and the police asked if there was anything they might need to know about in it. Er.... A couple of billhooks and axes that are there due to work... Luckily they've never turned up linked to anything nasty.
Leatherman do some very nice small knives and multitools but unfortunately most of them are illegal to carry due to having locking blades.
Depending on whether you want just a knife or a multitool, Victorinox Swiss Army knives cover most bases. Huntsman, FieldMaster and Mountaineer are all under £50 rrp.
Are you just looking for a single bladed knife, or something more? Personally I've carried a Victorinox Spartan for the last 32 years, use it more to unscrew computer cases than for cutting stuff
Go here:
Choose something that you like!
For a simple legal knife for EDC with a decent-quality steel, I'd suggest one of the Boker+ options. They are made with 12C27 steel, similar style to a Victorinox but with better blade in my opinion.
Byrd Tern gets my vote, Byrd is Spyderco's cheaper range
https://heinnie.com/byrd-tern-folding-knife/
My general rule is that, if it does not look stabby and you have a good reason to have it, a Leatherman or similar is probably fine. Same with a Swiss Army knife. My SAK travels in the camera pack in my hold baggage because of the screwdrivers, the can opener and, more importantly, the corkscrew.
This one ticks all your boxes:
https://heinnie.com/crkt-pilar-heinnie-haynes-uk-edition/
Mine -
It’s an extremely good little knife, I’ve got two of them, just in case I lost my original and Heinnie stop stocking them. It’s made specifically for them, the original Pilar, (it’s named after Ernest Hemingway’s boat), is all stainless steel with a framelock, so not legal any more.
The blade is very thick, and has a nice solid pivot, the steel is high quality and it’ll hold a very good edge. As you can see, it has a well designed choil so it’s virtually impossible to close the blade up on your finger, it has steel liners with nicely textured G10 scales. There’s just enough of a point to dig splinters out of fingers - I know whereof I speak on that particular subject. I have mine with me pretty much all the time, if I haven’t, I’m carrying a pocket knife passed down from a relative via my dad, which is probably close to 120 years old.
My current 'lives in the wallet' is a small Lütters&Cie Solingen penknife.
Very good quality German steel.
Just to add, I measured the blade on my Pilar and it’s 4mm thick, so while using it as a prybar isn’t recommended, it’s never going to bend under normal conditions, and because it doesn’t have a locking spring it’s pretty easy to dismantle to clean the bearing.
It does have a sort of a liner-lock, a spring with a ball bearing that clicks into place when fully opened, just to hold the blade open; most knives like my old one, have a back spring that holds the blade open, but the disadvantage with those is that closing the blade past the halfway detent it can suddenly spring closed, resulting in pain and quite a lot of blood! I’m very, very careful with the old knife, because it’s extremely sharp!
The Pilar has a fair amount of friction, so it just pushes closed very easily.
I love my Kershaw "Pub". I don't routinely take it to the pub, but it clips onto my belt loop and goes most places with me. 
I picked up a little Opinel mainly for orange peeling duties. Fab little knife, I’ve got a couple tbh but wanted one to live in the work bag. Cheap and functional like it’s owner.
The Opinel probably isn't legal carry. Mine isn't, it lives in my office.
My EDC is a SAK. The tool that gets the most use is probably the scissors.
+1 for the Swiss Army Huntsman, I've had a few over the years including the walnut wood handled one which is lovely.
I used to have a little thing the size of a credit card which included a knife, similar to this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185864210978 except the blade was smaller, more like a stanley knife and it included a few other tools. Kept it in my wallet and it was surprisingly useful, until the time I visited Amsterdam and forgot it was there... Manchester airport missed it, but on the way back they found it at Schipol and I got an extremely stern talking to by a couple of unimpressed policemen who took it away with them.
I have a Leatherman Style on my keyring which gets most use. It about the same size as a Victorinox Classic. I have also recently bought a Victorinox Bantam Alox which lives in a small EDC pouch that I carry in my work bag and manbag at weekends.
Given what I typically use a knife - opening boxes, packaging etc. - I think a Stanley type knife with replaceable blades would actually be more useful but these are problematical as they lock the blade. I have just bought a Milwakkee Fastback 6 in 1 utility knife which uses replaceable blades and also has a really good 1/4" bit driver and the obligatory bottle opener. It would be a great practical knife for EDC if the law did not prohibit locking mechanisms. One useful thing is that you can pick up blades at any hardware store so you can remove the blade prior to flights then get a new one at your destination.
Not really answered the OP's query but was (sadly) excited to see an EDC thread on here.
Svord Peasant. A handy (and UK legal) knife.
I have far too many penknives. My current EDC is a Twisted Assisted Bahai, but it is a bit over your £50 limit. I held off buying one for a while, as I thought the hawksbill blade looked a bit aggressive, but turns out no-one seems to mind (it's pretty small anyway) and it's a really good shape for EDC work tasks especially for opening stuff.
I picked up a little Opinel mainly for orange peeling duties. Fab little knife, I’ve got a couple tbh but wanted one to live in the work bag. Cheap and functional like it’s owner.
As Cougar sez, technically an Opinel isn’t legal, but they’re still sold in a local camping/outdoor shop, I occasionally carry one or other of mine, being such a slim knife they tuck into small pockets, and I’ve never been stopped and searched for a knife, but I generally prefer the Pilar, it fits my hand better, plus while cutting some kindling for a small camping stove I slipped and sliced right down the edge of my thumbnail!
I have customised both of mine, a #6 and a #7, by adding a brass-lined lanyard hole, and changing the blade shape into a sort of tanto shape - I never got on with the upswept tip, it kept catching on things.
I don't routinely carry a EDC but if camping or whatever then it's a SAK. Also keep an old SAK in the bike toolbox. I do have a good locking knife that I used on scout camps when I helped out but wouldn't carry it at all as I have had a few stop and searches, so work on the premise that I could be stop and searched at any point. So definitely no Opinels or that sort of thing either.
Really though, a standard SAK is just fine.
I ended up with a SAK compact as it was pretty hard to look past. It's only a 2 layer but has useful tools, like a pen!
https://www.victorinox.com/en-GB/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Medium-Pocket-Knives/Compact/p/1.3405
As Cougar sez, technically an Opinel isn’t legal, but they’re still sold in a local camping/outdoor shop,
To be fair, in theory the plod should exercise discretion and realise the difference between a teenager going tooled up in the city centre and a 60-year old bloke peeling oranges whilst going camping.
Would I like to rely on that? I'm less certain. My interactions with the police have mostly been positive but you do get the odd **** and ultimately it only takes one to make you have a bad day.
New Victorinox Swiss Lite arrived today. It's a great little keyring knife and is replacing my original one that is falling apart after nearly 20 years of use.
Tldr- man jailed for 4 months for carrying brandishing a 6 inch Zelda sword.
ultimately it only takes one to make you have a bad day.
I don't carry my opinel locking knife or leather man anymore.
I've never been stopped and searched. I've never really needed a knife on me with the exception of in a tool box or a non locking blade as part multi tool on a bike tool bag.
Tldr- man jailed for 4 months for carrying brandishing a 6 inch Zelda sword.
Let’s face it, doing something like that is really going to attract unwanted attention and publicity! Walking around with an Opinel with a 3” blade tucked away in your pocket really isn’t.
However, my Pilar is such a compact little knife, it’s designed to comply with U.K. knife law, so it makes sense to carry that around rather than the Opinels.
I’m always finding a use for it, if only trimming a broken fingernail that keeps snagging on clothing, or risks tearing off and bleeding.
Opening thick plastic wrapping on various products is my most common use; I’ve had shop staff refuse to remove packing ‘for health and safety reasons…’
IIRC most/all SAK's are legal
This is my favourite knife, Civivi (can't remember model name) Damascus Carbon. But will be over budget at a guess
I think that the op has managed to find his EDC knife but I have to say I really like the spyderco squeak. You can get a non-locking version just for the UK market and it's a perfect combination of small blade and overall lightweight construction without being too lightweight. If I'm honest, it's a little expensive or what it is but I think it's going to last a lifetime
It's funny, in the early 2000s I was working in data centres a lot and like many techies we all had a leatherman on our belts. The combination of the pliers and a fairly decent screwdriver meant that you could actually take rack nuts on and off easily. I used to travel on the tube everyday with that on my belt. Never got stopped but I really wonder what would have happened if I had. Back then it was kind of like part of the uniform. I am surprised that leatherman never made a version with the pliers, screwdriver and just dropped all the blades. If I'm honest, I don't think I really used any of the blades.... The pliers and screwdrivers got used a lot, and I suspect even the tin opener - but not the blades
I am surprised that leatherman never made a version with the pliers, screwdriver and just dropped all the blades. If I'm honest, I don't think I really used any of the blades
I think they do a bladeless Rebar.
I carry a LM ARC most days tbh