CS Espada And Concealed Carry?

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  • Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    Yes, I know Maryland has no law on concealed carry for folding knives, but I've got what has to be the largest folder made: the CS Espada Extra-Large. It has a wave-opening feature which means it opens when pulled from one's pocket and it has a 7.5-inch blade. I pulled it out of my pocket once after warning my friends and it still caused havoc.

    My question is, will this knife cause any legal problems? How much discretion is given to cops to determine what is and what isn't a weapon?

    Am I clear to carry such a knife? They do have leather sheaths for it.

    th
     

    Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    Actually, it's quite concealable. I carry nothing else in my right pocket so the blade doesn't get scratched. The blade is 7.5-inches and gripping it at the bottom of the handle gives one even more reach with it. It's a great knife if you live in a piss-pot state like Maryland. I've got the fancy version.
     

    AlBeight

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 30, 2017
    4,371
    Hampstead
    Holy crap. I like that pig sticker & just looked it up to buy one. I've bought AR15's cheaper than that thing. $450-$600 depending on model? Wow. Bit much for my EDC blade, or any day carry for that matter.
     

    whistlersmother

    Peace through strength
    Jan 29, 2013
    8,948
    Fulton, MD
    Holy crap. I like that pig sticker & just looked it up to buy one. I've bought AR15's cheaper than that thing. $450-$600 depending on model? Wow. Bit much for my EDC blade, or any day carry for that matter.
    sometimes it's not about "need" as it is about "can"

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
     

    Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    Holy crap. I like that pig sticker & just looked it up to buy one. I've bought AR15's cheaper than that thing. $450-$600 depending on model? Wow. Bit much for my EDC blade, or any day carry for that matter.
    Cold Steel (no relation) has a number of large knives that are very popular. When they first began with folding knives that had 6-inch blades, other knife companies berated them because they saw no use for such large folders. They called them sensationalistic. The knives also used to be made with AUS8 blades, which kept the cost down. Now, though they still have AUS8 offerings, they're using an exceptionally high grade CTS-XHP stainless that holds an incredible edge, but costs more. The Rajah, Espada, Ti-Lite and others come in very large blade lengths (and smaller models). CS's heart treat also is exceptional.

    The Espada's wave feature opens the blade as you pull it out of your pocket. I always warn people beforehand so they don't suffer a heart attack when I do it.:D The son of a friend of mine took a video of me doing it, then put it on his Facebook page. "Espada" is Spanish for "sword" and the thing is a sword.
     

    Roneut

    Active Member
    Oct 10, 2010
    279
    My question is, will this knife cause any legal problems? How much discretion is given to cops to determine what is and what isn't a weapon?

    This is where we get into some case law. Hooray for binding legal precedence!

    The case that established the lack of length restriction was decided in 1978, called Mackall vs State. It outright states:

    Penknives today are commonly considered to encompass any knife with the blade folding into the handle, some very large.

    This case has been quoted numerous times by judges since then, and has held firm even in the state's highest courts, and in federal court.

    Two further cases, In re Daryl L., 1985 and Bacon v State, 1991, established that the presence of a locking mechanism and whether the knife is carried already open, don't change the fact that it's still an exempt penknife. Yet another case, Anderson, 1992, established that the burden is on the state, not the defendant, to prove a found knife is not a penknife. Finally, Sorrell v. McGuigan, 4th Cir. 2002 established that police officers do not have have blanket discretion to determine what is and is not a penknife. They are expected by the courts to know the difference (per Mackall), and cannot simply make an arrest with the expectation that the courts sort it out, and can be tried for false arrest if they do so.

    Armed with this knowledge, I've carried a Cold Steel Rajah I for many years without a problem.
     
    Holy crap. I like that pig sticker & just looked it up to buy one. I've bought AR15's cheaper than that thing. $450-$600 depending on model? Wow. Bit much for my EDC blade, or any day carry for that matter.

    If you still want to buy one, i think I know where mine is. I haven't used or carried it in ages. Pretty certain I didn't spend that kind of money either, that would have been really reckless.
     

    Crawls

    Active Member
    Apr 2, 2011
    452
    Frederick, MD
    Holy crap. I like that pig sticker & just looked it up to buy one. I've bought AR15's cheaper than that thing. $450-$600 depending on model? Wow. Bit much for my EDC blade, or any day carry for that matter.

    It's fairly easy to find on the interned for way less than the price range you listed. There is also an all black DLC coated G-10 handled version that can be had for even less.

    I'm usually a Spyderco only guy, but I find this knife extremely tempting.
     

    Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    I was with a friend a few months ago and had my Espada in my right pants pocket. My friend said that for a serious knife confrontation, you really needed a fixed blade knife, and that required you carry it openly."Really?" I said and pulled the knife out, the blade making a sharp cheeeeg-chu sound as it opened (it's got that wave opener). My friend almost dropped his Dr. Pepper and his son's mouth dropped. As my buddy looked the knife over, his son ran off and returned a few minutes later with his cell phone. "Do that again," he asked, so I did. He put it on Facebook and the last I'd heard, several of his pals had headed out on the Internet to see if they could find them. Now the price I got mine were $125, including shipping. I should have bought ten of them. The new models are expensive with that CTS-XHP stainless steel, but AUS8A was fine by me as what am I going to do with mine, cut 6,630 strips of rope? (Cold Steel compared the same model with both steels. The AUS8A made 1,408 cuts before becoming too dull to cut. The CTS-XHP cut 6,630 and was still going strong when they concluded their tests.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkZQpBqLF4Q

    AUS8A is a good steel and easy to sharpen to a keen edge. If I were going to buy a knife for working on the docks, I'd get the better steel, but on a pocket sword, what are you going to do, cut an attacker 6,630 times? I could have an AUS8A hair-popping sharp again in just a few minutes with a couple of ceramic rods! My EDC now is one of two knives, depending on my mood. The first is an X-Lrg CS Talwar (with serrated AUS8A); the new one I just got is a CS Frenzy (plain CTS-XHP). It has a 5.5-inch blade unless, of course, you compare it to the 6-inch Ti-Lite, in which case it sports a 6-inch blade. Actually, the Frenzy won't do anything my Ti-Lite won't do, and if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't buy the Frenzy because it looks and feels so much like the Ti-Lite. But it's got a beautiful electric blue frame that feels super in the hand.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2PUmeGHV58&t=259s
     

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