Boot knife

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A boot knife is a small fixed-blade knife that is typically carried in one's boot. They are also commonly carried on one's belt, or under ones' pants leg. They are even worn around the neck by means of a beaded chain or paracord. A knife worn around the neck is referred to as a neck knife. They usually come with sheaths, which can have clips on them. Boot knives are typically double-edged, with small blades generally ranging from 3-5 inches in length.

A Boot-knife is also known as a gamblers dagger.

[edit] Boot knives and espionage

Boot Knives may refer to spy gadgets, spring loaded blades in a shoe toe, as seen in 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, or Jethro Bodine's double naught spy shoe in T.V.'s 1964 The Beverly Hillbillies, and also T.V.'s 1965 Wild Wild West.

Real life spy gadget boot knives were less dramatic. In 1944, the OSS had issued what looked like a horseshoe heel cleat that opened manually and looked like a semi-circular blade half-coin, to facilitate cutting rope tied wrists when captured.

[edit] Legal issues

A boot-knife carries with it a multitude of legal issues, as each defining factor is likely to cause legal trouble in many jurisdictions. Many regions prohibit carry of fixed-blade knives, of double-edge knives, or of concealed knives. Being that most boot knives fit all three of those categories, carrying a boot-knife is not legal in most areas.