Has Anyone Every had a Knife "Removed" from a checked-in suitcase?

I don't think I've flown without my checked luggage being pawed over. I've had knives relocated (but still there) on a few occasions. That is a minor annoyance...the only time I was really pi$$ed was when I sliced the heck out of my hand when retrieving a knife they'd toyed with. (The blade was partially open, and loose in the pocket. It was an auto axis, on which I'd set the secondary lock and clipped before rolling the jeans - it didn't get unclipped, fall into the pocket, unlocked, and opened by itself.)
 
I spent the better part of two years travelling for work and never "lost" anything from my checked baggage. I did leave behind my Kindle Fire in a seat back pocket, but that gave me an excuse to buy the iPad I wanted;)
 
I have traveled by air with several thousand dollars worth of photographic eq1uipment and never had anything removed from checked luggage.

When traveling with the same stuff in carry-on bags, once in a while they looked through everything and wiped the inside of the padded bag.
 
No, but they have lost my luggage before. It took it 3 days to get to me. Luckily it was on the return trip.
 
Not a knife, but I had some gifts I was taking to family stolen from checked luggage once - a game controller and some other stuff. That was when I stopped checking luggage.

Here's a news article about someone busting an airline employee with an Airtag last week:

www.theguardian.com

AirTag leads to arrest of Florida airline worker accused of stealing luggage

Giovanni De Luca, 19, was arrested on 10 August for two counts of grand theft after police recovered stolen items from his home
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
I've never lost a knife from my luggage, but a friend of mine had a Spyderco stolen. It was a knife that I had given him, so I was mad, too.
 
Never had a issue with knives, but have had luggage permanently lost. Still, I only put cheap knives in checked luggage. There's always a first...
 
I have not flown in forty years, but still I have to ask: wouldn't checked bags be locked?

Are they just breaking into the bags to inspect them?
 
drawkcaB said:
wouldn't checked bags be locked?
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If you lock your checked luggage, you either have to use a "TSA approved" lock (meaning they have a key, and the lock is garbage anyway), or they'll break them if they want to open them.
 
Danke42 said:
Not sure about that. I suspect the pets wouldn't do well in the hold.
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There are multiple holds. The one for animals not only has heat but oxygen also. The luggage holds have no heat or oxygen. That's why stoways in luggage don't usually make it. It's also why the airlines demand live animals be declared.

The cold would probably be ok, but lack of air is a real killer.
 
The only thing I have ever had removed from my luggage when I used to fly a lot as a professional photographer was, cans of dust off or when they thought we had an excess of batteries, nothing else in over almost 300,000 miles of flying.
 
Knives&Lint said:
On a side note: I have on multiple occasions, noticed condensation on my knife when removing it from my luggage. Whether that be from traveling in a luggage compartment, or changes in humidity at my destination, I know not. Could perhaps be a consideration on which knife one chooses to take. It's even been enough to cause some discoloration once on a nickel silver Case bolster
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Sounds like a job for H1 steel. 😅
 
I never check any bags and never carry any "weapons" on board an airplane. So, I've never lost a bag or a knife while traveling by air.

If I think I need a knife where I'm going, I'll buy one there and, if it's worth at lot of $ (which is unlikely), I'll ship it back to myself. Otherwise, I'll just leave it somewhere where someone can find/use it or give it to someone who looks like s/he may want/need it.

PS: They aren't just stealing "stuff" from checked bags, these days. They're just stealing the bags. Recent report of an AirTagged bag resulted in the arrest of a ground worker in Florida who just took the bags home w/him but he wasn't smart enough to check for an AirTag. LOL! ;)

See: Airline Worker Arrested For Sealing Luggage.
 
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I have flown maybe 30K miles per year for the last 7 years. I have 4 knives in my checked bag and haven't had any issues.
 
Fly domestically about 20 times per year for work, 99% on Southwest.

I’ve never had anything go missing from checked luggage including firearms, knives, medical supplies and equipment.

I have had luggage get delayed once or twice in the last 3 years but Southwest does a very good job of retrieving it and either delivering it or giving me flight/mile credits when I come back to pick it up myself.

Another couple of purely anecdotal data points to consider.
 
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