Exactly. It really bugs me that UK law doesn't make such allowances. In theory, 'reasonable force' is allowed, but the carrying of 'offensive weapons', is not. Now, if someone was going to be going through a really rough and nasty part of town where people habitually carry knives and other weapons, logic is that someone needs to carry an equalizer, and said equalizer should come under 'reasonable force', but instead, it all just comes under 'offensive weapons' offences. Personally, I think there's a big difference (which the law should recognise) between someone carrying a weapon because they're passing through a rough area and wanting to be able to settle the score in the likelihood of getting jumped, and some Beta Specimen carrying a weapon to add inches to his wang...