Knife law in Portugal

AF Knifeworks · Reviewed 30 September 2026

Bushcraft, hunting and camping knives are legal tools in Portugal. What the law controls is the type of knife and, above all, where and why you carry it. This guide sums up the rules of the Portuguese weapons law (Lei n.º 5/2006, as amended up to Lei n.º 50/2019) in plain language.

This guide is for information only and is not legal advice. If in doubt, contact the PSP, the GNR or a lawyer.

1. Knives banned in every situation

These knives are class A weapons. Selling, buying, owning, using or carrying them is prohibited, whatever the blade length:

• Automatic or switchblade knives: the blade springs out instantly by the action of a spring.
• Butterfly knives (balisongs): the handle splits into two hinged halves that rotate around the blade.
• Throwing knives: made to be thrown by hand.
• Stilettos: a piercing rod with no cutting edges, with a grip.
• Throwing stars, "cardsharps" (folding blades the size of a credit card) and knuckledusters.
• Bladed weapons disguised as another object.

AF Knifeworks does not make or sell any of these.

2. The 10-centimetre rule

In law, a "bladed weapon" (arma branca) is a portable object with a cutting or piercing blade or surface longer than 10 cm.

Owning a knife with a blade over 10 cm is not prohibited in itself. It only counts as a prohibited weapon when:

• it has no link to any legitimate activity, meaning hunting, farming, forestry, household use, sport, trade or industry; or
• it has that link, but is found away from the places where it is normally used, and the person carrying it cannot justify why they have it.

In practice, context matters: the type of knife, where it was, the time, and the explanation given.

3. Carrying your knife: practical examples

Good practice:

• Carry the knife in its sheath, inside your backpack or bag, and out of sight.
• Only take it when you are going to use it, and take it out of your pack when you are back in town.
• Have a clear justification: the activity you are doing, a hunting licence, a course booking or the purchase invoice.
• Stay calm and cooperative if approached by the police, and explain what you use the knife for.

4. Places where you should not take any knife

The law bans taking weapons, including bladed weapons, into places such as:

• sports grounds and places of worship;
• civic or political demonstrations;
• entertainment venues, such as bars and nightclubs;
• fairs and markets;
• exclusion zones set by the authorities.

Even with a good reason, do not take your knife into these places. In airports and on planes, knives are banned from hand luggage; if you fly, the knife must go in checked luggage.

5. What about small knives?

A knife with a blade of up to 10 cm is not a "bladed weapon" under the legal definition. But note:

• the types in section 1 are prohibited whatever their size;
• any object used to threaten or attack is treated as a weapon;
• the places in section 4 still apply.

6. What can happen

Under the text of the law in force at the date of this review:

• owning or carrying a prohibited bladed weapon can be punished with up to 4 years in prison or a fine of up to 480 days (art. 86);
• taking weapons into the banned places in section 4 can be punished with up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to 600 days (art. 89).

The knife may also be confiscated.

7. AF Knifeworks knives

• They are bushcraft, camping and hunting tools, made for outdoor work.
• We only sell to people aged 18 or over
• None of our knives is of a prohibited type.

Sources

• Lei n.º 5/2006, de 23 de fevereiro (Regime Jurídico das Armas e suas Munições), consolidated version: articles 2, 3, 4, 86 and 89.
• Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa (Lisbon Court of Appeal), ruling of 26 May 2015, on the requirements for a bladed weapon to be considered prohibited.

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