Where not to wear a sgian dubh

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The laws in the Southeastern United States (AKA "The South") seem much different.

That may be true in general, but the trouble is that knife laws have a nasty tendency to show up at the local level, which can complicate things greatly.

For example, around here, state laws are fairly loose as long as the item is not concealed, and doesn't fall into certain categories. However, if I cross county lines (as I often do) some of my pocket knives, and if I chose to wear it, my cheap sgian would no longer be legal. And then there are additional city ordinances covering knives which make it even harder to keep up.

On the bright side, even when they are technically illegal, no one really cares about a tiny little pocket knife. As long as its in a pocket, no one even has to know its there. A sgian dubh on the other hand is meant to be visible, and is not generally understood and accepted as a harmless, mundane tool by much of the population.

The key to all of this is common sense. Hopefully the laws are based on common sense. When they are not, typically they will still allow discretion, so the common sense may be used in their application. But either way, we must use common sense and try to avoid getting into trouble in the first place.