Ever feel bad travelling without a knife?

Boozoo Chavis said:
I absolutely hate traveling without a knife, so if possible, I mail a knife to my destination so I'll have one when I'm there - then mail it back when I leave. A bit of a pain in the backside but better than being without a pocket knife.
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Yep that's about what I'm ready to do. Buying a new knife in different cities and mailing it home sounds fun but expensive. I thought about buying cheap discard knives to carry while away, but I don't think a junk knife will satisfy my itch to have one of my own good knives on me. And I don't want to risk losing a pretty good knife like a 940 on a checked bag...for me that would be a helluva loss.
 
Yes, in fact I'm feeling that way right now. I flew this morning for a quick overnight trip and didn't take a knife. Just now my wife was trying to get a tag off of her new pair of pants and asked me for my knife.
 
hate not having one... but hate being arrested in a train station and missing my train for having a lockblade in my backpack way more. make sure you know the laws, lol.
 
I never go out without have the hunting knives or the fixed blade knife with the knife sheath attached to it.
 
I hate when you need it and grab for it and it's not there.

I have mailed one of my knives to a hotel I was staying at in Vegas. Mailed them back home, too.

I don't like the idea of having to buy one while I'm there much either........I guess having to find a store, find a knife, compare prices, walk around for a while trying to decide.....naw.

I just send a small check bag with a couple of tosser knives, usually Cold Steels, some moonshine and some dirty clothes.

Everything else I carry on.

Moose
 
I thought you can bring knives on planes again? Just not sure what type/size... I check my knife with my baggage. I have a trusty Opinel 8 that always flies with me. On vacation I'll check someting nice and am sure to make a pic of the bag contents in case it gets lost or stolen.
 
I usually bring a small knife with me in my checked luggage, except when going to Korea because on the customs form there's a check box for "nuclear weapons or knives" and I'm not checking that!
 
Boozoo Chavis said:
I absolutely hate traveling without a knife, so if possible, I mail a knife to my destination so I'll have one when I'm there - then mail it back when I leave. A bit of a pain in the backside but better than being without a pocket knife.
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I have done this also.
 
Makes me feel the same when I forget my wallet or cell phone at home. That sick little feeling in the pit of your stomach. Never thought to look for a knife while traveling. Now I will. Thanks for the idea. The wife is gonna love this.
 
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If I travel for work, they'll pay for me to check a bag, so I always do, and I ensure that my knife is in it. If I'm flying for personal reasons, it means I have my wife with me, which means I'll absolutely have a checked bag or 10, so again, I make sure my knife is in it.
 
We are flying to Puerto Rico this summer. I got a spyderco dragonfly in H1 that I plan to put in my checked bags. I dont expect any issues, but worst case its only a $45 knife.
 
utahsam said:
I had to fly this week, so...no knife with me. I hate it. The thought, insane as it is, crossed my mind, for just a second, "I could mail myself a knife, then mail it back..." How nuts is that?
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I have a Leatherman Micra that I've cut the knife blade off of. I open it fully when going through security check points saying, "I'm sending my scissors through. There is no knife blade."

The Micra scissors are not errant threads and nose hairs scissors, although they'll handle those just fine.

The Micra scissors are cut through zip ties, cut wiring, cut cardboard and heavy packing tape scissors. Most of my short airplane travel is airport, rental car, hotel, restaurant, business park, repeat type of travel. I would prefer to have a pocket knife in my pocket, but realistically, the Micra does everything I generally need. Not like I'm deep in the woods.

My plane friendly Micra is the red one.
image by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
I turn my folder into a knife kit. The blade goes in checked luggage; the handle is carried on. The assembly tools go in a sandwich bag and get carried on also.
 
I've traveled due to deaths in the family 3 times this year. I've felt bad each time, mostly due to the thought of things being stolen from checked baggage. When I was a kid we used to send Christmas presents back and forth with people who were flying for visits. Things have changed.
 
I make frequent trips to Arizona for work, and have a couple of knives stored where I stay there. For trips elsewhere, I check a bag, mail a small knife (Vic Classic) to the hotel, or buy something at the destination. With destination-buys, you can mail it home, check your bag, or even leave it as a gift for housekeeping, which I've done on occasion with a cheapie blade.

Sometimes it happens that one or more legs of the trip is via regional jet, and you have to check a bag for those unless all you have is a briefcase-size carry on, which I don't.

With knives in checked bags, the basic principle is: carry no more than you can afford to lose.
 
Totally. That's why I bring a bar of 1084 steel and forge it into a bowie in the hotel sink. Then I remelt it and make it back into a bar and bring it home again. Works like a charm.
 
Since the better half retired a few years ago, and joined me in self indulgent self centered pursuits and living off the government, we've been traveling a lot more and spending the kids inheritance. I hate to be without a knife, so I usually mail a SAK to myself at the place I'll be staying, and gift it off when I leave. So far I've given SAK's to the grounds keeper at a Key West guest house, the counter guy at the Thrifty car rental in Medford oregon, and a nice youn gman who was the van driver who dropped us off at the John Wayne airport in Orange County Caifornia. They all seemed very appreciative of receiving an almost new SAK.

Or you can just buy one at the first big box store where you land and gift it off as a nice plus tip when you leave.
 
I'm a compulsive "pocket-patter," so I have mini panic attacks every time I travel without a knife (or any time I'm without a knife). I feel so naked, and I don't even carry for self-defense. I've just had a knife on me for the majority of my life...
 
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