Now you have a case my friend. Your campsite is considered a temporary residence. In California you can carry any type of legal knife (not double edged or knuckled) and any registered and loaded firearm openly or concealed while occupying your perminant or temporary residence.
You need to contact the ranger station and request your knife back. Did you get the ranger’s name?
California doesn't discriminate against double edged knives, but they do with knuckled blades. A lot of people believe double edged knives are illegal but when the knife laws were rewritten in the late 90's they changed the definition of dirk/dagger to not be specific to double edged blades. Neck knives are a gray area as the penal code specifically says open carry at the waist. There have been cases where people were arrested for carrying a knife openly in other locations.
Penal code Part 6/Title 3/Division 5 - Defines what is a legal pocket knife and what is illegal, by types, e.g. a switchblade and gravity or ballisong knife(PC 17235). Pocket knives, most likely those would be the folding knives are legal, while switchblades, gravity and ballisong knives are illegal.
PC 16470 - Deals with the street carry laws. Basically, you can not carry a dirk or a dagger, definitions below, and more importantly, can't carry folding knife in open/locked position - ...only if the blade of the knife is exposed and locked into position. Therefore folders, carried closed and concealed are legal. No length limitation.
PC 21510 - deals strictly with switchblades, making it a misdemeanor to carry upon a person, or possess in a car, or in a public place, sell, loan, transfer, give, expose for sale, a switchblade knife.
There are other penal codes dealing with knife carry in specific places. Those are: penal code 626.10 which deals with the knife school carry rules. There is also penal code 171.b which deals with the knives in public buildings.
State California allows for concealed carry of the folding knives and there is no limit to the blade length. As long as the knife is not banned by PC 16100-17360 or in Part 6/Title 3/Division 5, it is legal. Division 6 of the same title bans knuckles, division 7 bans nunchakus and so on. 17235 does not make Assisted Openers(AO) illegal. However, depending on the particular AO mechanism and other details some AOs may fall under switchblade category. Kershaw Speed Safe is not one of them, it is perfectly legal, details further down. As far as the state law goes, fixed blades must be carried openly, in the sheath, on the waist. I can't find where does the law ban either double edged blades or dirks and daggers. As the wording is, those are ok for open carry. No knives longer than 2.5"in the school, but folders are ok in the Universities and Colleges. Unless, they were banned by local authorities. No knives longer than 4" in public buildings or buildings open to public meetings, e.g. courts, city halls, police stations, city council meetings, etc.
