Is a Monkey Fist Legal? A State-by-State Guide (2026)

November 01, 2026

Quick answer: It depends on the state. A monkey fist keychain is unregulated in much of the United States, but a number of states have laws covering "slungshots" — the category a weighted monkey fist can fall under — and in some places those laws have been on the books for more than a century. What the laws restrict varies from state to state: some address possession, some carrying, some only use or intent. So the practical answer is to check the rules where you live — and, in some places, your city or county — before you buy or carry one.

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and vary by city and county — check your local regulations before purchasing or carrying.

First, What Exactly Is a Monkey Fist?

The monkey's fist is a knot sailors tied around a heavy core — originally a stone, a ball of lead, or a steel ball — to add weight to the end of a heaving line, so the line could be thrown from a ship to shore. The knot itself is centuries old, decorative, and genuinely useful at sea.

The legal distinction starts with the same object used differently. Shorten the cord, keep the heavy ball inside the knot, and swing it, and you no longer have a sailor's tool — you have what 19th-century law called a slungshot: a weight attached to a flexible handle, carried in a pocket and used as a striking weapon. Slungshots were widely associated with street crime in the 1800s, and state legislatures responded the way they later would to switchblades: they banned them by name.

That is why the same $15 paracord keychain can be a restricted item in one state and a novelty item in the next. Modern self-defense monkey fists — typically a roughly one-inch steel ball wrapped in paracord — sit close to the old slungshot definition: a concentrated weight on the end of a flexible cord. When a state's weapons code still lists "slungshot," that is the category a weighted monkey fist can fall under.

One distinction matters before we go further: a monkey fist knot tied without any weighted core is just a knot. The rules described below center on versions built around a heavy ball or weight.

Modern versions are sold in that classic form, and some take a more tool-oriented direction. Our own Stinger Whip to Fist Mini (Monkey Fist) ($29.99, regularly $39.99), for example, keeps the compact monkey-fist format and pairs it with a hardened steel glass breaker, positioned as a multifunctional emergency and personal-safety tool. Whichever version you are looking at, it sits in the same general category this guide covers — so the state-by-state details and the checklist below apply to it the same way they apply to any other monkey fist.

The Word That Decides Everything: "Slungshot"

Almost no state statute mentions "monkey fist" by name. Instead, legislatures banned the category — "slungshot" (also spelled "slung shot") — usually in a list alongside blackjacks, sandclubs, sandbags, saps, and metal knuckles. If your state's code has that list, a weighted monkey fist may be read into it.

Not Every Flexible Carry Tool Is Built the Same

It is worth pausing on what the slungshot definition actually describes, because not every flexible carry tool shares that profile. The statutes were written around a specific layout: a concentrated weight — a ball, a slug, a heavy knot — at the end of a short, flexible handle. How a tool distributes its mass is a design question, and designs differ.

Our own Stinger whip line is built on a different layout. Instead of a weighted head, the body of the whip is a heavy-duty steel cable, so the mass runs along the length of the whip rather than being concentrated at one end. The handle is a solid CNC-machined aluminum grip, and the tools are positioned as multi-purpose carry gear, with a built-in seatbelt cutter and a tungsten window breaker for vehicle emergencies. Two examples:

• The Stinger Concealed Carry Whip System ($49.99) rides flat and discreet on a belt with the included loops and clips, with the seatbelt cutter and window breaker built in.
• The Stinger Whip to Fist Pro ($54.99) uses a two-mode design that switches between whip and fist configurations, again with a seatbelt cutter and a hardened steel glass breaker.

We describe this as a design difference, not a legal conclusion. No statute or court decision "approves" a specific product, and how any item is classified can depend on how it is built, marketed, carried, and described. That is exactly why the state-by-state details below are worth reading before buying anything in this category — including our own products.

Below are the states where we verified the current statute text. Offense levels noted are the classifications written in the statutes themselves.

States That Ban or Restrict Slungshots by Name

State	What the law says	Statute
California	Manufacturing, importing, selling, lending, or possessing a slungshot is prohibited. California courts define a slungshot as a heavy weight attached to a flexible handle — and for ordinary objects, the prosecution must show the item was possessed as a weapon, which makes context and stated purpose matter.	Penal Code § 22210 (indexed in § 16590)
Oklahoma	Carrying a slung shot on your person — concealed or not — or using or attempting to use one against another person is a felony under a statute written specifically for slung shots. Oklahoma's general unlawful-carry law also bans "any other offensive weapon."	21 O.S. § 1282 (see also § 1272)
Michigan	Manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, or possessing a slungshot is prohibited outright — possession at home counts, too. The statute classifies a violation as a felony.	MCL § 750.224(1)(d)
Massachusetts	Carrying a slung shot on your person, or in a vehicle under your control, is a criminal offense.	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 269, § 10(b)
New York	Possessing a slungshot is criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree — the items on this list are treated as weapons per se, with no intent element required.	Penal Law § 265.01(1)
Nevada	Manufacturing, importing, keeping, selling, giving, lending, or possessing a slungshot is prohibited; the statute grades a first offense as a gross misdemeanor.	NRS § 202.350(1)(a)
Washington	Manufacturing, selling, disposing of, or possessing a slung shot is a gross misdemeanor.	RCW § 9.41.250(1)(a)
New Hampshire	Selling, possessing with intent to sell, or carrying a slung shot on your person is a misdemeanor, and the item is confiscated. (A 2026 bill to repeal the ban for adults stalled in the legislature, so the prohibition stands.)	RSA § 159:16

States Where Intent or Purpose Is the Deciding Factor

• Vermont — 13 V.S.A. § 4001 does not ban possession by itself. It prohibits using a slung shot against another person, attempting to, or possessing one with intent to use it that way. What you plan to do with it is the whole question.
• Minnesota — Minn. Stat. § 609.66 targets a narrower slice: manufacturing or selling a slungshot for an unlawful purpose is a crime, and a separate provision covers possessing any dangerous article for the purpose of using it unlawfully as a weapon. Again, purpose drives the analysis.

States That Have Rolled the Rules Back

• Florida — Florida removed the slungshot from its weapons law in 2016 (HB 4009, effective March 24, 2016), deleting the old bans on manufacturing and selling slungshots and removing it from the definition of "concealed weapon."
• Texas — Texas law does not single out the slungshot by name. Its "club" category once swept similar impact weapons into the unlawful-carrying statute, but HB 446 (effective September 1, 2019) removed clubs from that list. Location-based restrictions still exist — clubs remain barred in places like schools under § 46.03 — but Texas is broadly permissive compared with the ban states above.

Everywhere Else: The Picture Is Less Clear

For the remaining states, our research did not turn up a statewide statute that names the slungshot. That is best read as "no clear statewide answer" rather than a settled yes, for three reasons:

1. Catch-all language. Many states ban carrying "any other offensive/dangerous weapon" or similar phrases, which can be argued to cover a weighted striking tool.
2. City and county ordinances. Some municipalities regulate impact weapons locally even where the state does not — and local rules are exactly what a quick web search tends to miss.
3. Intent-based provisions. Even in permissive states, possessing an item for use as a weapon against another person can fall under general dangerous-weapon provisions, and how an object is actually used can matter under general assault laws, whatever the object is.

Can You Fly With a Monkey Fist?

Not in the cabin. The TSA does not list "monkey fist" by name, but its rules for martial arts and self-defense items bar impact weapons — billy clubs, black jacks, kubatons, night sticks, and similar gear — from carry-on baggage, while allowing them in checked baggage. A weighted monkey fist is the kind of item a TSA officer may treat as a self-defense impact weapon, and the final call at the checkpoint belongs to the officer.

Two practical points: first, checked baggage addresses the TSA rules, not the destination's — some states (New York is the common example) restrict possession itself, so it is worth checking the law where you are landing before you pack. Second, in states where intent is part of the law, how an item is described can matter, which is another reason to know how your destination treats it before you travel.

Design Differences Are Not Legal Conclusions

As noted earlier, the Stinger whip line is built on a different layout from the classic monkey fist — a steel cable body, mass distributed along the whip, no weighted head. It is worth repeating what that does and does not mean: it is a design difference, not a legal conclusion. No statute or court decision "approves" any specific product, and classifications can turn on how an item is built, marketed, carried, and described. Whatever you carry — ours included — the checklist below is the practical way to approach it.

Before You Buy or Carry: A 6-Point Checklist

1. Search your state code for "slungshot" and "slung shot." Both spellings appear in real statutes. Also check the blackjack/sandclub list it usually sits in.
2. Check your city and county ordinances — especially if you live in a large metro area.
3. Note the trigger words in your state: does the law ban possession, just carrying, or only possession with intent? The difference decides whether a keychain in a drawer is a problem.
4. Think about how you carry it. Concealed vs. open, in a vehicle, and in sensitive places (schools, government buildings, bars) can each change the analysis.
5. Be careful what you call it. In intent-based states, describing an item as a weapon you carry for fighting can supply the very intent the law requires. "It's a knot" is not a magic defense either — be honest and be informed.
6. Traveling? Checked baggage only, and check the law at your destination before you pack. When genuinely in doubt, a local attorney can give you a definitive answer.

The Bottom Line

So, is a monkey fist legal? In much of the country, yes. California, Oklahoma, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Nevada, Washington, and New Hampshire have statutes that name the slungshot, and a weighted monkey fist carried as a weapon can fall under those provisions — the specific restrictions and classifications are in the table above. In Vermont and Minnesota, intent and purpose are the deciding factors. Florida and Texas, meanwhile, have moved in the other direction in recent years and no longer restrict the slungshot by name.

The short version: the rules genuinely differ from state to state, and the deciding word in most of them is a 150-year-old one — slungshot. A few minutes spent checking your state and local rules before you buy or carry is time well spent.

Looking for a carry tool designed without the weighted-head profile?

• 👉 Stinger Concealed Carry Whip System — $49.99 — slim steel-cable design, CNC aluminum handle, built-in seatbelt cutter and tungsten window breaker, belt loops and clips included. Free US shipping on orders over $34.99.

New to whip-style carry tools? Start with our hands-on Tactical Whip Review for how these tools perform in real use.

Creators: join the Stinger affiliate program → affiliate.thestingertools.com

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