Anyone ever had to deal with a blade stolen from airline bagage?

winmagfrog

winmagfrog

Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,149
UUUGHGHHH!!! I've been passed around like a bad cold for the last two hours trying to get someone who will help me! I was on US airways flying out of Birmingham Al and my Baggage didn't show up with me here in VA Beach. When they did arrive, I was missing one thing. A knife.

I'm deploying in a couple of weeks and this is not how I want to spend my last few days in the states:grumpy: I've been told 8-12 weeks for a claim:eek:

Any advice?
 
Dealig with the airlines is AWFUL. Especially when you are claiming one of their employees outright STOLE from you. Good luck, don't let it ruin your last days before deployment. I have gotten tot he point of shipping knives to myself ahead of time so as to not risk them stealing them.
DOes this seem to be happening more and more lately?
 
cstorr2004 said:
Ken Onion knows something about that. He had a whole handful of custom blades stolen between Honolulu and California..,
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I was out about a grand of baggage on that same route, about 14 years ago... over 1 year of jumping through AA hoops, and never saw a dime... I never checked my own bag for many years after that... only carryon.. until i got married, now i check so dang much... :(
 
winmagfrog said:
UUUGHGHHH!!! I've been passed around like a bad cold for the last two hours trying to get someone who will help me! I was on US airways flying out of Birmingham Al and my Baggage didn't show up with me here in VA Beach. When they did arrive, I was missing one thing. A knife.

I'm deploying in a couple of weeks and this is not how I want to spend my last few days in the states:grumpy: I've been told 8-12 weeks for a claim:eek:

Any advice?
Click to expand...

I WISH that I had advice to give! Can you be sure that TSA or HomeSec didn't remove the knife during a luggage search and forget (yeah, right) to repack it? I'd let them know that this IS an increasing problem, theft of items from luggage. How are WE supposed to trust TSA and the airlines when the theft is rampant??? I miss being able to lock my luggage. Remind them about Ken Onion and his 12 BEAUTIFUL stolen customs... $60,000+ worth of labor and love and KNIVES gone. Makes me weep just thinking about them they are top notch. Personally, I was going to fly to BLADE, now I'm not so sure. Oh yeah... F*** US Airways, they are turning into the worst airline. Sorry, ranting. I hope that you get lucky and get your knife back, but if you are deploying that quickly (Tell US Scareways THIS too... stealing from military personnel, for shame), then I'd get another knife to use while deployed. Sorry brother... If you have trouble finding something quickly enough, I have an FSH, new unused that I'd be willing to let you use while deployed. Good luck to you on this.
Jaxx
 
That sucks man. No reason to go without a blade though.

You need something smaller than that FSH just send me and e-mail. I got some stuff you could use while you're away. Fixed, folders...whatever.
 
United lost my Co-Pilot back in 2000 when flying from LA to Sydney. The LA "security guard" wouldn't let me fly with it even though I had just flown in from MSP with no problems.
I had to go to the counter, put it in a box and send it with the checked luggage. When I arrived in Oz one of the luggage monkeys had ripped the box open and helped themself. After filling out paperwork I got a check for $30 about a month later. About 1/2 of the actual value.

Now I pack all my knives in a carry-on sized suitcase, tie it up tight with rope, put it in a box w/ shoes, jackets, etc., take pics of everything as it goes in, place a large note on top of everything that says all contents are documented, and then tape up the box and tie a nylon rope around the box for security and to use as a handle.

It may be extreme, but it worked okay last year to and from Blade.


I hope you have better luck than I did getting your claim settled for the actual replacement value. :)



∞
 
Heavy said:
That sucks man. No reason to go without a blade though.

You need something smaller than that FSH just send me and e-mail. I got some stuff you could use while you're away. Fixed, folders...whatever.
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I got Game Wardens too... But I figured he'd need something BIGGER than that little knife, LOL. Heavy, you ROCK! :thumbup:
 
I had $150 worth of knife/multitool stolen from my checked luggage. (I would guess TSA). I filed a claim with the airline (American) and they sent me a check.
 
Jaxx said:
I got Game Wardens too... But I figured he'd need something BIGGER than that little knife, LOL. Heavy, you ROCK! :thumbup:
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Well if he needs something bigger than a GW and smaller than the FSH I got him covered. :thumbup:
 
RVO3VOM said:
It may be extreme, but it worked okay last year to and from Blade.


I hope you have better luck than I did getting your claim settled for the actual replacement value. :)



∞
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In 2005, I shipped my knives to a hog in that area. Then had another hog ship them home to me. Worked well and even got a few knives stropped :D

Just a thought for this year ;)
 
Jaxx said:
I got Game Wardens too... But I figured he'd need something BIGGER than that little knife, LOL. Heavy, you ROCK! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Heavy said:
Well if he needs something bigger than a GW and smaller than the FSH I got him covered. :thumbup:
Click to expand...


Much thanks to both of you:thumbup: . Fortunately I am an aspiring HOG so, I have a few extra myself ;) This is the first time I've flown with a knife not in a locked case, and it will be my last, for sure. I usually fly with firearms, and on my return flight I did not, and thereby did not have the ebility to have a locked bag/case. I put the knife in a side pocket deep in the suitcase, hoping it would be OK... Expensive lessons usually stick with you, but if anyone else reads this, just learn from my mistake on this one.

Oh, and oddly enough the knife I lost was not a Busse, but a Ken Onion! It was a ZT301, right from the head of the ZT product lines desk... I want to say it was #64, made in AUG06, both of wich are etched on the blade near the frame lock. If any one sees it while I'm gone, snatch it for me and give me an address of the new owner! I'm sure I'll be in a great mood when I get back:mad:
 
Yeah, it's almost worth flying with a gun so you can lock stuff up.

I'm sure there are mostly hard-working, honest people in the TSA, but frankly it's a boring, low-paying job, so I'm sure they get people who don't fit the highest standards.
 
I lost a Benchmade 705 that was packed securely in my luggage in a zippered pouch inside the suitcase on a Delta flight in early 2006. Delta didn't want to pay but I kept after the airlines and completed their endless stream of paperwork and TSA forms dealt with their endless BS and finally (6 months later) got a check for full retail for the knife. Be persistant and keep your records straight.

Good Luck!
 
That is why I use a black ziptie on all of my checked bags, and I tell them that if they want to open it, I want it to be in my sight, and I reseal it with another ziptie if/after they have to, and they sticker it.....

I had items disappear from my checked bag flying home from Winston-Salem just after 9/11, even though it was ziptied by me before the flight. When I got my bag at home, it had a red TSA ziptie on it, and a nice letter in it hat TSA had checked my bag for "Security purposes".

Thier only response was "can you prove it?":eek: :eek:

They seem to be able to curtail the terrorists, but can't do a damned thing about thieves....bastids...:thumbdn: :mad:

Best of luck on getting your blade back bro.
 
KAAK, I just want to say I want 2 and a half minutes of my life back after seeing that much of that video!!!!
 
Hey, why should one government agency (TSA) be any different than another (USPS)?

If I ship it, I insure it for double. If I take it flying, I treat it just like I would a firearm.

Ultimately, you are at the mercy of others. Sucks don't it?
 
Maybe if they weren't so busy looking for knives to steal they wouldn't have missed the two LOADED M9 magazines in my baggage coming back from Iraq...

Grimalkin
 
thatmguy said:
That is why I use a black ziptie on all of my checked bags, and I tell them that if they want to open it, I want it to be in my sight, and I reseal it with another ziptie if/after they have to, and they sticker it.....
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Mike, how does this really work in practice? A few weeks ago I checked a bag with Southwest. They directed me to drop it off at the TSA station. Luggage was piled six deep, even outside the roped area. I stood there with my bag, waiting to hand it to a TSA agent, so at least I could see it move into the 'secure' area. She curtly told me to leave it there, outside the rope. I complied, of course; one CANNOT argue with our new federal masters. Then I stepped away a discrete distance and waited until I saw them pull my bag into their area.

I cannot imagine telling them I want to be there when they open it. It does not seem likely they would agree to that request.
 
They never have an issue.

I do it in a civil tone, and outright explain that I'd had items disappear before, and that my concern is that once it leaves their control, I'd prefer it to be "locked".

I also make the comment that they do a good job with terrorists, but that nothing can be done about thieves.

Zero problems with them ever.

The only time I didn't wait was when bags were over 50 deep, and we wanted to grab some chow before we flew out.

Seal was intact.

I buy the small zip ties, maybe 4" and thin profile, and carry several in my laptop bag.

The tail, which I normally cut off at home, but leave intact when returning (since my cutting tools are packed), will thread through the zipper after securing, maintaining a low profile, almost invisible on black cordura bags.
 
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