Traveling without a condom

[DH1]

If self defense at 30,000 feet is what you're looking for, train with a belt or blanket or something like that and forget knives. Too much hassle. I woulden't want to get into a stabbing match with anyone up there anyways.

[Longtrang]

Depends what you want to do with it. I carried a knive for almost 5 years without having it discovered. It was a hard plastic shiv. I also carry a montblanc refill which is a great defense weapon and you can even carry a garrote. But god help you if you carry a tiny nail knife or scissors.

I also like to buy local kitchen knives even in countries that freak out if you carry a hunting knife. Hell you can carry a axe in a place that will take away a switchblade in a heartbeat. For self defense, deep jabbing is more efficient than cutting anyways.

Bottom line you can buy an ice pick, utility blade or camp knife wherever you go and check it for the trip home.

I find that any cool knife instantly becomes "military equipment" subject to confiscation by any greedy customs or border agent

Lucky for me I just flash my red diplomatic passport and my luggage doesn't even get searched. I would be a little hesitant to put out info on a public forum about illegally smuggling weapons onto commercial airlines. Even though my bags don't get searched, all my stuff is still in check luggage.

[Anglewood]

I've never had a problem with checking a bag with a knife or two in it. Usually it is a Leatherman Supertool and a Kershaw Leek. Been all over the US without incident. The interesting thing is one time from LA to Vegas, a friend of mine had the plastic handle broken off of her hair brush. It didn't get broken in transit, they actually took the handle

Lates,

Connor

[Bushman5]

If you need an airplane shiv you just take the stewardess' tongue (razor sharp I hear) and tape it to your seat cushion (hard as rock) and then just stab yourself repeatedly the next time you get locked in the plane for 6 hours stuck on the runway.

[NaturalMystic]

I travel by plane at least once a year, to the US (Florida), the Caribbean, Mexico, and other places and have never had any issues with knives in my checked luggage. I usually travel with a couple SAKs, Spydercos, Leatherman Wave. On one of the trips I made last year to Florida, I forgot my Leatherman Wave in my Carry-On back pack and they never even caught it when it went through the scanner. It was only when I got home and was unpacking that I realized it was in my carry-on.

[Medic1210]

On one of the trips I made last year to Florida, I forgot my Leatherman Wave in my Carry-On back pack and they never even caught it

Wow, nice job TSA. How they miss a chunk of steel like that is something.

[Dantegandalf]

one of the cold steel dvds shows how many of their swords and such that you can fit in a singe checked bag. ive also looked into firearm transport laws for flying and as long as its in your checked bag unloaded and you dont have any ammo your good, so i cant see why youd loose your knife in a checked bag unless its stolen. as for carrying in the airport...well the plastic shiv would work up untill you get to one of those body scanners or have your cavity checked...im sure theyll notice the plastic shank hanging from your neck...

[NaturalMystic]

Wow, nice job TSA. How they miss a chunk of steel like that is something.

Yeah, pretty reassuring isn't it? Times sure have changed though. I remember as a kid in the early 80's back in Trinidad, I had a few highschool friends were into ninja weapons, etc. They used to travel to Miami regularly and would bring back shurikens, nunchucks, ninja swords, and all kinds of crazy stuff in their checked luggage with no problems whatsoever. I don't know if this was legal back then or not they never had issues bringing them in.

[Ultimate]

Yeah, pretty reassuring isn't it? Times sure have changed though. I remember as a kid in the early 80's back in Trinidad, I had a few highschool friends were into ninja weapons, etc. They used to travel to Miami regularly and would bring back shurikens, nunchucks, ninja swords, and all kinds of crazy stuff in their checked luggage with no problems whatsoever. I don't know if this was legal back then or not they never had issues bringing them in.

Why would they have problems? You can take basically anything in your checked luggage...If you meant carry-on, that's a different story.

[kfgk14]

If you're in the CONUS, carry your knives in a locked (not with a TSA lock, mind you) Pelican case with a starting pistol or a wal-mart flare gun inside. They're regarded as firearms, and you just put your valuable stuff in with them. Show the TSA when you check your baggage, and that's that. No further problems.

And yeah, times have really changed. I remember when you could bing fly-fishing gear on the plane no problem in a tubular case. The guy would ask, "what do you have there?" "Fly fishing gear." "Move along."
I used to fly with a butterfly knife, pre-9/11. Hell, a few times a flew with my G19 in a shoulder holster, because I forgot to put it in checked baggage.

[NaturalMystic]

Why would they have problems? You can take basically anything in your checked luggage...If you meant carry-on, that's a different story.

I always assumed that 14-16 yr old teens would raise some suspicion carrying a bunch of weapons back into the country. Back then and even to some extent now as far as I know, Trinidad customs used to (randomly) inspect incoming baggage, even checked luggage. At the least I found it somewhat risky. They also had/have pretty strict weapon laws.

[Ultimate]

I always assumed that 14-16 yr old teens would raise some suspicion carrying a bunch of weapons back into the country. Back then and even to some extent now as far as I know, Trinidad customs used to (randomly) inspect incoming baggage, even checked luggage. At the least I found it somewhat risky. They also had/have pretty strict weapon laws.

I see, interesting.

[Joben]

Wow, nice job TSA. How they miss a chunk of steel like that is something.

That's probably the key word, "chunk of steel." A leatherman wave doesn't have a very knife'ish profile, could have been mistaken for any number of other common roughly rectangular objects on an X-ray

[Medic1210]

That's probably the key word, "chunk of steel." A leatherman wave doesn't have a very knife'ish profile, could have been mistaken for any number of other common roughly rectangular objects on an X-ray

But if they can't identify a big chunk of steel like that, I'd like to think they'd at least pull the bag for a manual check. I'd hate to think of some terrorist having a few leatherman's in his bag and make it on my flight. We've already seen what a few simple box cutters are capable of...

[goodeyesniper]

That's the good thing about spyderco you can padlock the hole to your suitcase frame. Could probably get a lock of some sort through your lanyard hole of some knives

[Medic1210]

Hell, a few times a flew with my G19 in a shoulder holster, because I forgot to put it in checked baggage.

You just forgot to put it in a checked bag? And they let you past the metal detectors?? Unless you're gonna tell us you're an air marshal, I'd have to call BS.

[NaturalMystic]

I've been considering buying something like the PacSafe TravelSafe 100 for traveling, to keep my knives and other small valuables in inside my suitcase, as well as in my hotel room.
I usually just keep my knives in the pockets of my folded cargo pants or cargo shorts. More recently I've been keeping them in small zippered pouches like my Maxped Cocoon Pouches inside my suitcase.

[Joben]

But if they can't identify a big chunk of steel like that, I'd like to think they'd at least pull the bag for a manual check. I'd hate to think of some terrorist having a few leatherman's in his bag and make it on my flight. We've already seen what a few simple box cutters are capable of...

Box cutters only worked because prior to 9/11 the standard advice for highjack victims was 'sit down and shut up' (and perhaps, because no one else even had a pocket knife.)

It will never be possible for that to work again in our lifetimes since all the passengers would instantly dogpile them no matter what they have...in fact that's already happened several times.

The 9/11 highjackers in effect exploited a glitch in a human risk analysis process. A bug that has now been patched.

[RYP]

Actually no they make you sit strapped like sheeple 30 minutes before landing in DC

[akthor]

Sorry OT but Joben I emailed you and PM'ed ya!