Flying to a knife show, and how to get the knives there?

J

Jason Fry

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Jun 5, 2008
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Just booked my flight from TX to KY for the Knifemaker's Guild show. This will be my first time to fly to a show, but I know I'm not the first guy to do so. What's the preferred way to get your knives to the show?
 
Many folks ship their knives to the hotel they'll be staying in.

I won't be showing at the Guild show, but I'll almost certainly be there to schmooze and drool. I'll be sure to look you up and say howdy :)
 
You can take them as luggage, and they may or may not be safe.

What some folks do is get a lockable rifle case, and a TSA lock ( just like you would do for a gun). Take it to the TSA inspection station and tell him you have a case of knives to be inspected , locked, and sealed with a TSA seal. Most of the time they will comply. That makes your case go as priority handling luggage and everyone who handles it has to sign off for it.

The other way is to send the knives insured either by UPS or USPS. Send them well in advance with tracking, and when done with the show, ship them back the same way. If you have a friend in the area who has a business addres sto ship to it is better than shipping to the hotel ( unless the hotel specifically offers this service).
 
I have shipped ups to my hotel before I set it up a week ahead of time with the front desk thin shipped early so if there was trouble I had some time to work it out. For blade show this year I oiled the blades wrapped them in bubble wrap and stacked them in a clear Tuper Wear with an innovatory taped to the lid, and the lid taped shut and NO SHEATHS. I put it in my checked luggage when I go to Atlanta TSA had not even opened it. I have heard of people being stolen from but as that I had sheath knives with no sheath no one was snaking one of blades out in a paints pocket. hope this helps and have a great show
 
bladsmth said:
You can take them as luggage, and they may or may not be safe.

What some folks do is get a lockable rifle case, and a TSA lock ( just like you would do for a gun). Take it to the TSA inspection station and tell him you have a case of knives to be inspected , locked, and sealed with a TSA seal. Most of the time they will comply. That makes your case go as priority handling luggage and everyone who handles it has to sign off for it.

The other way is to send the knives insured either by UPS or USPS. Send them well in advance with tracking, and when done with the show, ship them back the same way. If you have a friend in the area who has a business addres sto ship to it is better than shipping to the hotel ( unless the hotel specifically offers this service).
Click to expand...

I 've seen other makers mention that only they do carry a pistol in the case as well as the knives.

That way there is no argument, they have to follow the pistol procedures.
 
I USPS express or fedex next day so they are not in transit for too long. For fedex I put the knives in a med box, unsealed and put that inside a large box. This way they are double protected and I have the med box to mail anything home in.
 
With UPS or FED Ex you can insure for any amount... With the airline they will pay you what THEY think your stuff is worth based on a google search probably. Kinda hard to do with custom work... I haven't done a knife show, but have flown with valuable cargo and later regretted it. Now I ship anything valuable I can't keep within arms reach.

And I think you can ship from one UPS store to another and they will hold it for you. They used to I think...
 
I had a knife roll in my suitcase with 6 bowies, I checked the bag only to be taken aside for a bag inspection. When the poor lady unrolled the knives all hell broke loose. people running around and
a lot of loud talking, a supervisor walked up and told her to put it back in the suitcase and send it through. The whole flight I never expected the knives to make it to the final destination, everyone knew
what was in my bag, UPS from now on, Kitchen Utinsels
 
I did the NY shows for a few years (02-07) and just put my knives in the check luggage. I have insurance that covers them. No problems though, bags where never opened.

Flying got to be a PITA for me, so I stopped doing shows I had to fly to.
 
After Ken Onion's expereince a few years back, I asked Delta if they could treat my luggage containing knives as if there were guns in the bags. They have always been very helpful and we walk the bags right over to the TSA special handling inspection station. They go one step further if I have any to bring back from Belgian show. Delta security at Brussels airport has one of their guys hand carry the offending bags down to the airplane.:D Now this is second hand info fortunately, but the rumor mill tells us that you are most at risk of theft of valuable items if you are travelling through any of the three New York City airports or Miami International. Hell, they busted a TSA inspector for stealing in Miami a while back. I might put LAX on that list too because, well, it is LAX and bringing nice stuff through any CF like that is a risky venture. :D As for vandalism (because you knife people are an evil Bambi killer types) Denver is supposedly the place you want o avoid because a number of PETA types allegedly got jobs as United baggage handlers and their union has been good about protecting them even though they do things like intentionally run over expensive rifle cases with forklifts.;)
 
I flew with a finished knife in a box in a checked suitcase in 2010.
It was a very fine edged santoku, and was wrapped in bubble wrap. When I got to Detroit I noticed a small stain on the blade, and realized it was blood.
My first thought was, "Serves em right" followed closely by "The poor so and so probably has to inspect thousands of bags on a shift, gets minimum wage, and flat out doesn't have time to be careful."
I'm not taking knives that way without at least painters tape on the edge again.
 
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