going to Germany, will carry something

A museum director just called and invited me to go with him for a one day tour of the entire wall. They want to film me where I tried to save the life of a German child, another place where I climbed down a rope made from rifle slings to rescue an Anerican G I who had fallen through a skylight, and in the Grunewald where I was with a patrol who assisted a German family in getting through the wire.
I'll probably carry a good folding knife, and probably puchase one at a knife store on the Kudamn that has been there for a long time.

Sounds like a wonderful trip. A very pivotal place and time in history!

Was at the wall as a kid back in 65'. Among other things, a very eerie place.

Enjoy, and have a great trip!

Have a good trip, Dan.
PRD1 - mhb - Mike

I don't suppose you can still get top quality Zeiss binos for a song at stores in the East. That would be my first stop.

Are you from there? I was raised in Bavaria, which is in Southern Germany near the Austrian border.

In Germany carrying a "one handed" locking knife is illegal. I don't think there is a blade length restriction on folding knives but I don't remember. Fixed blades can be up to 14cm I believe. A lot of older men carry knives, not necessarily for protection though.

Some types of pepper spray are legal to carry.

Honestly, Germany feels very safe even after football games or at early times in the morning.

Try the beer and food and have fun in Berlin.

Have a doner kabab and a krautsalat for me. I have been craving one of each for sometime now.

I lived in Germany for a couple years military. I have been there 6 times. I only had one instance where I felt unsafe. At the train station in Nuremberg I had a run in with some skinheads. Other than a little sizing up of each other nothing happened. Other than that I toured the country on mountain bike and train. Never had any problems no matter how late we were out. I had more problems with Americans in Germany than Germans.

Honestly, Germany is very safe. Enjoy the beer. If you must carry something... A tactical pen.

If you read through the threads here in NonFirearmsWeapons you'll find a lot of us carry everyday items that serve very well as unobtrusive weapons.

Canes are very popular as are knives and pens. A large Sharpie marker makes great fist load and protrudes from the fist enough to make a great striking tool if you don't want to spend much on a "pen". A simple stock cane with the crook cut to open it up makes a handy thrusting/striking tool. Any number of good quality knives can be found in Germany. Remember if you take one with you be sure to drop it into your shaving kit and put it in your check luggage.

I'd take the opportunity to purchase a nice Hubertus or Boker auto with stag scales to take home, but that's my preference and may not be yours.

Remember to avoid carrying any butterfly, gravity, out-the-front, push daggers, switchblades, locking one hand openers and fixed blades longer than 12 cm (4.72 in) if you want to comply with German law.

If you want to carry a knife for self-defense, you might as well bring a fixed blade with a length of less than 12 cm. The KaBar TDI's are a good option.

Odds are that you'll never need any of these tools, but it can't hurt to have them at hand.

How about a walking cane? A good heavy one makes a formidable weapon that can be carried anywhere and has much better reach than any knife.

I left Berlin in 1969, wall was up, Hess In Spandau.


Co C, 3rd Btn, 6th Inf
Berlin Brigade
Army of the occupation
Sgt Ranger
Spandau guard

I still have pictures of iron artwork bridges over the canals where our side had carefully tended cemeteries for those killed escaping. In the middle of the bridges you can see concertina, then tank traps, then plowed mine fields, then more concertina, then guard dogs on slipwires and behind it all the watch/rifle towers for the East German guards.

blindhari

Carrying a weapon can contribute to one form of security, physical security in terms of being able to defend from an attack, but personally I am more concerned on your behalf about operations security. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security) has a good article on it, actually. Based on your background you may already be familiar with OPSEC.

At any rate if I were you I'd edit your post to not give away so many details. I'm happy for you and it is something to be proud of, but giving the specific museum name and moreover the name of the director makes you very vulnerable to any number of strategies to exploit that information.


Not trying to be rude to you or give unwarranted advice. I don't mind if you disagree. Just thought I'd offer my perspective.

EDIT: glad you took the advice :)

Hi I took your advice and edited it. Could you do the same with yours? Thank you so much.

Done.

I spent some time in Germany as a kid (army brat) and I swear my brother and I were dragged through every museum we came to... If I were to return all these years later, one of the things I'd keep an eye out for would be a good quality Henckels folding knife (the one I do have has what looks like a cherry wood handle, and is in the Sodbuster configuration). Someone on this board pointed out that Henckels doesn't make folders anymore so I'd be looking for used in as good a condition as possible. The only one I have has a thin carbon steel blade and may just be the sharpest blade I have - bar none. I bought it more than 30 years ago from a leathersmith that used his to cut 3/8 tanned cowhide in a single pass as cleanly as a razor would...

The German folks I will be spending much time with will be able to help me find used knives, now i know which to look for.

Have a safe and fun Trip!

In Germany carrying a "one handed" locking knife is illegal

So does that mean Spydercos are verboten?

Readyrod,

They make Spyderco models without locks for Europe.

They make Spyderco models without locks for Europe

I thought it was only England. Then I read on a safari site that folders are illegal in Holland too. Must make it hard for work. Sorry to hijack.
To the OP have a nice trip, don't drink too much beer.

German guy speaking here:
one-handed opening knifes with lockable blades are ...well....not "verboten"...but not really allowed either!
Yes, this is a clear gap in the laws. The intent of that gap was to give cops more room to act as they think is right. Dont tell ME this is against the sense of laws....I know, but our politicians...well...are politicians.
The question of lockable single-handed-openers is handled different in different federal states. We have "city states" (Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin) and "area states". Generally speaking you could expect cops in city states and in big cities to arrest you a charge you for carrying those knifes at the ready. If you find a "social acceptable reason" for carrying you might get of the hook...but dont bet on it.

Self defense ist of course NOT a social acceptable reason (!!!). Have an lunch box with you or a freshly cut walking stick from hazel might help, but as I stated the law was NOT designed to give anyone any degree of certainty!!!

So in case you are not convinced you can under any circumstance talk a bad mooded, angry cop out of arresting you...dont carry a LOCKABLE one-handed folder.

A fixed blade knife with up to 12 cm blade length is legal to carry.

Carsten

(EDIT) @Readyrod: Huh, could you define what is "too much beer"? Never heard of this, cant imagine this really exists :-)

Carry a cane and a solid metal ink pen.