Airport Knife Owner Fun

S

Smoke

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 14, 1998
Messages
2,463
I'm surprised no one mentioned the old Hard Copy/Spyderco story from a the early 90's.
A woman from Texas goes through metal detector and complains. Why? She was able to carry her 3" plain Spyderco either Endura or Calypso w/ rosewood handles on the plane.

The incident was taped and the lady was conveying her shock. She would actively pursue her campaign to ban knives and was told that the airline would only allow knives w/ 2" blades on carry on.
The woman was disappointed saying "she could cut your throat as easily w/ a 2" blade."

Is this fun or what?

 
Aren't airports fun?
I recently flew down to San Diego and had packed my AFCK in my carry on. I had it stuffed under a sweatshirt and they pulled it off the conveyor belt, zipped it open, looked at the hassle they were gettin' into, zipped it closed and handed me the bag.
They don't give a crap, they just want to go home! -Krumbs
 
Mine is an old story. Flying out of Kennedy with an original Gerber Paul in my pocket, and this wee thing started a firestorm at the security counter. I was just as adament as the security officer, and it looked like I was going to get tossed off the flight. With this, a supervisor ambles over, picks up the knife, fiddles with it for sometime, and fails to open it. He let me on the plane when I showed him how it worked. I still don't know what it was all about.

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Live free and buy. It's the American way.
 
On the way to the '97 blade show Frogman and I took the same flight. He carried his Microtech Chameleon on his person through the metal detector which didn't trigger. As if that was not enough he also had two origional halos in his carry on that went through the x-ray no problems. He was not even stopped or questioned! I had painstakingly packed my CQC-6 in my carry on shaving kit so that the knife would lie with the slimmest profile to the detector. I have found that I am able to slide through the video x-ray of one local airport that has older equipment using this method. This may also have to do with the odd non-knife looking shape of the blade. Incidentally, on our return trip the Atlanta airport walk through x-ray was triggered by the chameleon. They let Frogman slide after measuring the blade against a colored stick and he got on the plane with it! I think that ones appearence has alot to do with whether or not they will let you fly with a knife. Wouldn't a nicely dressed woman stand a better chance than a man in t-shirt and cutoffs?

------------------
Al


 
Coupla things:

1. I had an eye-rolling experience with an airport security dude once...I was picking up a friend and had my Buck folding knife (can't remember the type...but it was under 3", triple blade, non-locking...a truely inoffensive knife) in my pocket. I was a good boy and pulled it out and dropped it in the tray with my keys when I went through the detector. What ensued was a 3-5 minute gentlemanly debate with the retired cop running the checkpoint as to whether it should be allowed in the terminal. Eventually he relented...I think the fact that I was so polite helped (and I'm sure that the fact that it was a decidedly untactical knife didn't hurt).

2. I personally have no problem with security at airports and such. It is good enough (usually) that I have little fear of others walking around better armed than I am, and I recognise the need for keeping arms off of airplanes. Remember...lotsa people around the world do NOT like us. Pan Am/Lockerbie is back in the news again...(though I admit the idea of hijacking a plane with a knife is a little goofy). And if a real hijacking does go down, you think you're gonna stop it with your Spyderco Endura?

Remember, if you want to be armed again straight away after you leave the terminal, just put your weapons in your stowed luggage. Of course, if Delta sends your bags to the Bermuda Traingle...
wink.gif


3. We might not want to be discussing ways to sneak crap on planes. Think about this for a second, huh?
wink.gif
If indeed the one poster (different thread) is correct about detectors (at at least one airport) being set to only scan above mid-calf...we've now told anyone who can read this forum (read: potential wacko or actual terrorist) how to sneak a small handgun or explosive device onto an aircraft. This is not very bright.

Personal opinion? Put the crap in your stowed luggage and move on. If it goes missing, you can and will get a fat cheque from the airline. Flame away
smile.gif


Mike

------------------
And in the Captain's chambers
they're gathered for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives
but they just can't kill the beast

[This message has been edited by Coronach (edited 07 April 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Coronach (edited 07 April 1999).]
 
Oh, and another:

Yeah, I'm sure that demeanour/appearance has a BIG impact on how much leeway you're going to get from security, just as it does with any cop on the street. This can be good and it can be bad.

I'll bet my shirt, BTW, that I would have an easier time getting my AFCK on a plane than would an arabic gentleman who otherwise fits my demographics. Racist? Yup. Practical? You decide...

Mike

------------------
And in the Captain's chambers
they're gathered for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives
but they just can't kill the beast

 
Detecting at "mid-calf" isn't always true. I wear steel toe boots and set off detectors in airports about half the time. No big thing, security just wands me down after I tell em steel toes. I could pack stuff in my boots and they would never look, too much work for them (thank goodness).
 
Back in December of '92 I went through the airport in Las Vegas. When I got home, I was surprised to find my old Randall Model 15 (5.5" blade) in a pocket of my carry-on bag. I had put that bag in the x-ray machine and completely forgot that my knife was in there. Whew!

-Greg
 
Back in 1979, I was flying to Milwaukee with a change over at O'Hare in Chicago. The local plane was delayed when a mail truck rolled into its wing. They had ti go over it carefully to verify no damage. My son and I went wandering in the airport and I was hasseled when I went back through security for my Gerber Folding Hunter with an added thumb stud. The Chicago cop was all for arresting me as the blade was apparently too long to be legal in Chicago. I ponterd out that I had emplaned at DCA and the FAA police had said zip about it. We finally agreed on my checking it hrough in a box that the crew carried and returned to me at tye Milwaukee airport. Since then, I put any knives in check-through. If we are hijacked, I would not find a knife helpful against a bomb or gun and it is otherwise too much hassle.

------------------
Walk in the Light,
Hugh
 
I doubt metal detectors and x-rays have ever prevented a hijacking. Anyone of normal intelligence can think of ways to bring a gun through in carry-on luggage, to say nothing of plastic daggers. Giving terrorists ideas is the least of our worries.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Anyone of reasonable intelligence can think of several methods that will work PART of the time, but that also stand a decent chance of failure. IMHO heres no need to reduce that chance further still by mentioning obvious security problems (as was done in another thread), accurate or not.

And as to metal detectors thwarting hijackings, I beg differ. The deterrant effect, while not measurable, is doubtless present, and several people are caught at checkpoints each year with admitted intentions to hijack planes.

Just my $0.02

Mike


------------------
And in the Captain's chambers
they're gathered for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives
but they just can't kill the beast

 
Anyone of reasonable intelligence can think of several methods that will work PART of the time, but that also stand a decent chance of failure. IMHO heres no need to reduce that chance further still by mentioning obvious security problems (as was done in another thread), accurate or not.

And as to metal detectors thwarting hijackings, I beg differ. The deterrant effect, while not measurable, is doubtless present, and several people are caught at checkpoints each year with admitted intentions to hijack planes.

Just my $0.02

Mike


------------------
And in the Captain's chambers
they're gathered for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives
but they just can't kill the beast

 
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