I don't like bursting bubbles, but I don't like to see people unknowingly work their way into the bighouse either.
The state of the law in California re knives is best approached as a swamp, and a murky swamp with many areas of quicksand and bottomless holes.
A common offense under California law is the concealed carrying of a dirk or dagger. It may be treated as a felony. A dirk or dagger is any knife or other instrument capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death. Thus a great variety of knives & other items could be considered dirks or daggers.
Several kinds of knives are considered as dirks or daggers only when the blade is exposed & in its open position: 1. Pocketknives; 2. Folding knives which do not lock open; 3. Folding knives which are not switchblades. A knife carried in a sheath worn openly suspended from the waist is not considered concealed for purposes of the dirk/dagger law.
Thus as one moves away from knives which are folders or open belt knives, one moves into unclear territory. Moreover, counties & cities may have laws applying to knives.
I am a civil lawyer. I do not pretend to know the intricacies of criminal, let alone knife, law in California. A criminal lawyer friend with good reason for his CCW restricts himself to SAKs & locking serrated spey bladed knives. To that list I add Leatherman & its brethren. It's a lot harder to make the case that the bluntly bladed spey knife is a stabbing instrument. The image of SAKs & Leatherman would also make it more difficult to present a persuasive criminal case involving them. Obviously, these features are over & above the aforementioned safe harbor from which one might inadvertently stray. Except on hunting trips, where I'm presenting an open & obvious legal use & probably dealing with game wardens, I tend to restrict myself such knives as these. It is perhaps the reasonableness of law enforcement officers more than the clarity of the laws that has saved many people from arrest. I personally don't like trusting to good luck to avoid trouble.
The foregoing statements are not legal advice to any individual or group. They are merely my comment on the state of law in California re knives. Anyone with an individual question regarding his legal situation should seek advice personally from a criminal lawyer as to the exact circumstance of his particular problem.
John
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