Can I pack my EDC in My checked Luggage?

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

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Dec 10, 1998
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I am traveling to las vegas tomorrow, for the las Vegas classic knife show. I always feel naked when I cannot bring my knife somewhere with me, it's a Wh T-12. I constantly keep checking to see if it's there and I hate it when it's not. Will it be safe in my checked luggage? Should I call the airline and ask them what their policy is? I know that I really won't need it but I will also be carrying Diamond Engagement ring in my pocket and I would feel safer with the EDC while walking aroung Vegas. I heard that they are actually checking everyone's checked luggage, are they really searching each one by hand?
Thanks for your replies and advice,
Chuck
 
I can tell you that at least in the NYC area airports (JFK and Laguardia), all of the airlines are in the process of installing x-ray machines into the existing conveyer systems so that every checked bag will be getting x-rayed as per the new federal regs. What I can't tell you is if the people who are reading the machines are going to care about an EDC type of knife or not.
 
Yes. It is completely legal to have knives in your CHECKED baggage. I have been doing this ever since the ban of knives in carry-on bags.

Also, you can also check guns through as well, as long as you declare it to the ticket agent so that you can sign a declaration that it is not loaded, and that any ammunition is in a separate container. Most likely an airline representative and/or local police officer will at least take a look at the gun in your presence prior to the bag being checked. The tag stating you have declared the gun is placed inside the luggage, to prevent undue attention to said bag...
 
Here is the FAA site, with an Excerpt:


FAA checked baggage link



Items prohibited from aircraft cabins. The following items must be placed in, or transported as, checked baggage or risk confiscation:



Knives of any length, composition or description


Cutting instruments of any kind and composition, including carpet knives and box cutters (and spare blades), any device with a folding or retractable blade, ice picks, straight razors, metal scissors, and metal nail files
 
They might possibly open the luggage and examine the knife in question. For whatever reason, they want to look at it even if it was a trainer. If you try to hide it, it usually is not a good idea and ends up delaying the search for them to ask all sorts of questions and stuff. :grumpy:
 
I've traveled post 9/11 with lots of knives in my checked bags and not had a single problem.
 
Originally posted by mnblade
I've traveled post 9/11 with lots of knives in my checked bags and not had a single problem.
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Me too. I put it in a 1G Ziplock bag with duct tape, zip ties and alarm clock.
 
I flew early this year with the new equipment and had several knives in my bags. No one cared. It is perfectly legal to carry knives in checked baggage. There is no way that you can get to these knives while the passenger is in flight, therefore, they pose no security risk to any crew or passenger. BTW, carry a good nail clipper with a file when you fly. They can be very useful for the loose thread or for even opening your babys' formula wrapper when one is knifeless.:)
 
There is nothing wrong with knives, swords, etc., in checked baggage. Your bag will not be opened because of suspecions surrounding the knife if it is spotted by baggage screening.

Your bag may be opened if something in the bag resembles an undeclared gun or an explosive device.

If, for example, your cell phone was to sit in an exact relationship to your camcorder battery such that in the fuzzy, two-dimensional x-ray, the might resemble a gun, your bag might get opened for inspection. If the inspector discovered your knife, there would be no problem relating to the knife. There is nothing wrong with the knife being in your checked baggage. The inspector would see the cellphone and camera battery and laugh and tell his college, "False alarm! It's just a cellphone and an camcorder battery sitting near each other." And that would be that.

There is, of course, some concern about employee theft. The inspector might pocket your knife, or your cellphone or camera battery for that matter. The TSA hasn't thoroughly addressed this issue.

My advice is to take some digital pictures as you pack your bag. Then, close your bag with some sort of seal that will have to be broken to open it. A self-adhesive mailing label with your signature on it applied over the latch would be just fine. If, when you pick up your bag, your seal is not intact, do not open the bag but proceed immediately to the airlines baggage office and insist that they watch as you inventory your bag.
 
You can transport almost anything in your checked baggage. it's no big deal because you don't have access to it during the flight.

As far as theft goes, any time I fly, I intend to lock my luggage. If they have to cut the lock off, so be it, but they better have a really good reason.
 
They don't need to have a really good reason to open your bag. If some X-ray or bomb sniffing gadget causes them concern they will open your bag or leave it off of the plane. This causes real problems if you have a suitcase with an integral lock on it. I think that they are trying to get copies of the common Samsonite keys etc, but they may decide they need to force your bag. At this point no one is feeling a need to pay you if they force your case. They will probably tape it shut if they have destroyed the latch.

If you need to lock your bag it is best if you can do it with a padlock that can be easily replaced after being cut off. Some people are switching to using nylon cable ties which they replace before every flight. The suitcase manufacturers are alarmed. They wish they had more time to prepare for this problem. I would be careful to clean my bag to insure it has no traces of nitro-based propellents. I would also consider how I pack my bag to insure X-rays don't look like guns or bombs.
 
Bear in mind that the TSA is now recommending that checked luggage be left unlocked, much to the glee of larcenous baggage handlers, I'm sure!
 
Bag handlers were bad to steal from luggage even when the luggage was locked. There were several hidden camera exposes of this on TV over the years. I would not place a good knife in checked bggage because I would not expect it to make the trip now that they are going through them. It should disturb more people than it does that the 4th amendment to the constitution has been gutted. Hard for me to believe that it has happened under a Republican administration. I would have expected it form a Democrat. - Lee
 
I just wonder what they would do if they couldn't see anything...you could always line the case in metal! lol
 
Originally posted by Steven Roos
I just wonder what they would do if they couldn't see anything...you could always line the case in metal! lol
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Open the bag?

Regards,

Ed
 
Originally posted by x39
Bear in mind that the TSA is now recommending that checked luggage be left unlocked, much to the glee of larcenous baggage handlers, I'm sure!
Click to expand...

I simply will not fly on airlines. I will not subject myself to the worry that some UNACCOUNTABLE near-illiterate will avail himself of my personal property and I will have absolutely no recourse. I'm a private pilot, and I will either fly myself somewhere or drive my own car to get there. Screw the airlines, and with them the TSA and the rest. Nothing they are doing is going to keep anyone safe from a true and earnest terrorist danger. Do you think it will?
It really seems that no one it playing with a full deck when it comes to the so-called security measures they've enacted. Meanwhile we read every once in a while about how a person makes a connecting flight and is arrested with a gun in their carry-on bag. Remember, I said on *connecting* flights. That means they've already slipped *onto* at least one flight. Real confidence-inspiring.
 
you can legally pack your knife in your luggage, thats checked in. If you happen to get the "lucky" number and they check your bags just let them know its in their. Ive been checked a few times with my knives in my checked luggage and no problems. Ive also noticed if you show up to early it seems that they check you.
 
you could always line the case in metal!
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Depends on what metal you use. Many metal suitcases are aluminum for weight. Aluminum (especially thin sheets of it) is transparent to X-ray. In fact, passing through a piece of aluminum has a polarizing affect on x-rays and can actually improve the quality of x-ray images making them clearer. Many medical x-ray machines use this technique.

The issue of checked baggage inspection IS NOT NEW. Checked baggage on domestic flights has been subject to inspection for decades. And many major airports have been x-raying a fraction of checked bags and opening and further searching as necessary for decades.

What's new is the mandate to do this to 100% of checked bags. That's the only thing that's new here.

Suitcase locks are NOT and NEVER HAVE BEEN intended for security. They're intended to reduce the risk of the bag coming open in handling if the latch gets caught on some machine or something.
 
I have always flown with my Lansky Zytel knife stuck down in my boot..I guess that should i need to use it for a justifable use someone or everyone is going to have a sh** fit.. But perhaps you could get this to Vegas without anyone noticing.Just a thought
 
I'm not going to fly again, as well. There's nothing important in my life that needs my immediate participation. And I certainly would NOT pack my Strider in a checked bag.

But, never say never. I think I would mail a mid-priced knife to my location. If I knew of a good B&M store at my destination, I might buy something there. I've considered salting away a 3" or 4" Voyager clip-point, only to be used for checking into baggage if all else fails.

I only trust you and me. And I'm beginning to have my doubts about you.
 
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