As a Californian, I counsel great caution in knife ownership and ten times that caution in knife carrying.

As a general rule, there are zero-tolerance policies for carrying for public transit, school grounds, state and federal government offices, court buildings, many counties and cities, etcetera. This theoretically makes travel with a knife almost impossible.

Couple this with a very widely diverging blade length maximum in the different California jurisdictions that do allow knives, and it almost seems impossible to own more than a 1" bladed knife.

Discreet, packed out of sight carrying - which in practice usually means not easily accessible - can get you by. Limiting use to places way-out-of-town and in the context of traditional camping, fishing, hunting, wood crafting works.

Just don't flaunt it and be prepared to disclose and even forfeit your stuff in any law enforcement encounter. Call ahead and use the internet to check on specific places of concern.

Ain't California grand!