was a bone of contention at the time. the older lads who ran with a different mob to the youngsters would hardly ever carry blades but around 81-2 onwards the casuals ( never actually called that on teesside )I would say 6 or 7 of them would regularly carry stanley knives. Not my scene at all though I have to admit there were more than one occasion when we were bailed out by someone using a blade - going under the subway at wolves in the early days was a classice example where we would have been done by far greater numbers if someone had not been prepared to use one. At times like this the whole issue becomes a bit blurred.
