I will be traveling to Italy and want to bring a relative a pocketknife.  I do understand that the Policia and Carabinieri don't like "carried knives" unless you need one for work or are hiking.  My question is there a blade length that is not supposed to be exceeded?  I will be packing it in my check luggage (obviously) and want to know if I need to declare it or what.  I want to get him a quality US made knife, but don't want to get into a sticky situation.

Some of my ideas: (looking more for a Gentleman's knife then anything that looks intimidating or tacticool)

Kershaw Leek:






Benchmade Shoki:





Benchmade Opportunist:




RANDOM KNIFE PORN:  Not getting this one... but what a beautiful piece:

They only allow cheap switchblades.

Buy an Extrema Ratio while you are there. It won't cost much, I promise.

I have heard of such.....I think I might!  They look in the 150-300 range for something I would actually carry.  Has a nice balance to it, bring a knife, take a knife.

how do you say "You gonna get raped" in Italian?

There is always FedEx...

Appearantly, you have never been to Italy.

"You come-a my place-a for-a the drinks, pretty lady?"

Bump and additional question:

Any Italian Arfcommers in the Marche region?  Particularly around Jesi or Fabriano?

We were stationed at Aviano AB from 2006 to 2009.  I was told by base legal that a knife had to have less than a 3 inch blade.  I normally carried a Spyderco Dragonfly.  

You are correct that is was very common to see Italians carrying Leatherman type multi-tools with knife blades longer than 3 inches.  For what it is worth, I had a buddy who was involved in a vehicle accident and had a Spyderco Ladybug with a two inch blade on his keychain.  He was told by the Carabinieri that is was illegal and they confiscated it so who knows!  He did not push the issue as the Carabinieri have the power to fine you on the spot!

I wouldn't advise that sort of knife in much of Europe, particularly given several are spring-assisted. Much beyond a SAK or multi-tool may be interpreted as offensive by an individual LEO, which is all that may need to happen for it to become a difficult situation; to give an example, in the U.K, I believe they can deem anything within reason as an offensive weapon.

A Kershaw copy was used in quite a high profile stabbing a few years ago here, with the media picking it up as an automatic knife. I doubt most LEO would know the difference or accept it outside court.

I don't know much about Italy's laws. You should probably try asking over at Talkblade.info or Bladeforum; TB specialised in Italian knives, I think.

A small SAK should be safe enough in most places; claim you required a bottle-opener and/or corkscrew.