Knife on a plane...

N

n8swag

Joined
Feb 4, 2012
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Hey, so end of may/june I'm taking a trip from here(SC) to my Gf's in OR. I just want to make sure that it's okay for me to pack a knife or two in my luggage(non-carry on). I was going to take a Karambit and my Kershaw Scallion. Would I get them confiscated if I packed them?
 
Totally fine. I flew to Italy with a Gerber Multitool and a regular generic folder in my check baggage. No problems. They really don't care at all about checked so long as it's not a bomb or some other volatile item that could pose a danger in flight.

As an interesting aside, the federal government has determined that knives are not a concern taken in carry-on either, but the flight attendant union lobbied to keep the ban out of pure paranoia despite the decades of knife carry on planes prior. How fragile our freedoms can be in the hands of fools.
 
Checked luggage is good to go. Perhaps roll them up in underwear or dirty socks, I doubt they would go near them. :D
 
glistam said:
Totally fine. I flew to Italy with a Gerber Multitool and a regular generic folder in my check baggage. No problems. They really don't care at all about checked so long as it's not a bomb or some other volatile item that could pose a danger in flight.

As an interesting aside, the federal government has determined that knives are not a concern taken in carry-on either, but the flight attendant union lobbied to keep the ban out of pure paranoia despite the decades of knife carry on planes prior. How fragile our freedoms can be in the hands of fools.
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Huh, that is interesting! Some of the plane laws are rediculous, but I guess I'll be thankful for them when i'm on the plane:P
 
gundude73 said:
Checked luggage is good to go. Perhaps roll them up in underwear or dirty socks, I doubt they would go near them. :D
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Hehe, I think I'll do that:P I'm definitely not joking around with TSA about having a bomb or something on me. My friend did that and he got pulled aside and thoroughly checked.
 
I take all of my electronics and so forth in my carry-on, and try to have nothing but clothes and toothbrush in my checked baggage. IOW nothing valuable in checked baggage. Depending on where I am going I will carry a multitool (so it isn't viewed as a weapon) or an inexpensive folding knife.
 
unless someone can show otherwise TSA is not responsible for 99% of thefts from luggage.this dishonor goes to airport baggage handlers.
 
Everytime I fly I check my luggage so that I can have my knives. Never had one stolen. Then again, I also bury them so that it helps mitigate any potential theft. I've taken OTFs, side-automatics, fixed, and folders and its never been an issue.
 
I turn my checked luggage knives into knife kits. Handle in one suitcase, blade in another. Screws, spacers, springs, Allen wrenches, etc. can be carried on in a sandwich bag. A Buck Selector or a Gerber exchanger can be disassembled with a flick of the wrist (no tools).
 
My uncle recently visited us from Winnipeg, and while he was here I gave him a couple knives and he bought another from me. When he flew back they stopped him at the airport and asked him if he had any knives in his checked luggage. Apparently they had already discovered the knives, and were hoping he would say "no". After he came clean about the knives they let him go on his way...
I flew to Winnipeg last year and took a fake Cold Steel Black Sable with me. Very intimidating knife to say the least. When I opened my suitcase later it looked like they hadn't even opened the box, which was clearly marked "Cold Steel". Very strange.
 
gundude73 said:
Checked luggage is good to go. Perhaps roll them up in underwear or dirty socks, I doubt they would go near them. :D
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Just put the folder(s) inside a well-worn pair of running shoes, with dirty socks or a jockstrap stuffed in behind to hold it deep inside the shoe, near the toe. You are correct...I never had one stolen after using this technique (LOL!!)
 
I think I speak from experience, as both having run a screening checkpoint (in a past life it seems) and being a frequent traveller with both knives and guns on me as well as checked. TSA Screeners fall into the same honest to dishonest ratio as any other vetted group of society. Your checked items will probably get to their destination and if not the reason will most likely be error not theft. If possible, do not check anything of value in your luggage because things do happen. If it's that valuable leave it home. If that's not an option your best bet is to discourage loss due to theft (nothing can be done about the error part). Stinky socks and dirty underwear have zero effect on someone desensitized to such things but it can't hurt. As for knives, at a minimum, tighten up the pivot as much as possible before stowing. tiguy7 has it right, breakdown the knife into pieces and keep them seperate. Anything that can easily be identified by a potential thief as useless won't be stolen.

BTW - I know it was NOT said above but just to clarify a misconception, the TSA does not, can not, and will not confiscate prohibited items at a checkpoint. If an item is illegal it will be taken by the police and if it's simply prohibited you always have the option to either surrender the item at the checkpoint or take it back outside the sterile area.
 
As long as it's in your check on luggage you wil be fine. As far as I am tracking, you dont have to claim a knife in checked baggage. I normally take one or two on long trips, but if I am only taking a carry-on, I usually make my first stop a sportings good store to pick a new one up.
 
If you really must take the knives,and you have concerns about theft~loss, might I suggest you ship them there ahead of time vis post. As for Striders point on the police being the only ones capable of confiscating unauthorized items,my Leatherman was confiscated on a domestic flight one year after 9/11 and it was most certainly a TSA/security agent(s) that did the confiscating. I had simply tossed it into my dopp kit from force of habit,never giving it a second thought.
That was many years ago and most likely many rules have changed since then.
 
As others have suggested, I usually hide them well in my checked bags when traveling with knives. Rolled in socks, in a shoe with socks stuffed in after or some similar. Just don't toss them in on top where they are tempting to the kleptos who work at the airports.
 
glistam said:
Totally fine. I flew to Italy with a Gerber Multitool and a regular generic folder in my check baggage. No problems. They really don't care at all about checked so long as it's not a bomb or some other volatile item that could pose a danger in flight.

As an interesting aside, the federal government has determined that knives are not a concern taken in carry-on either, but the flight attendant union lobbied to keep the ban out of pure paranoia despite the decades of knife carry on planes prior. How fragile our freedoms can be in the hands of fools.
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You mean like mercury in your carryon (thermometer anyone...?) Wait, no, that's perfectly fine.

[video=youtube;Z7Ilxsu-JlY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY[/video]

For those that don't know, Mercury basically eats thru aluminum and planes are made of Aluminum.
 
+1 to the above suggestion, carry in checked luggage and hide them well. If you have a small locking box that you can put in your luggage, that could be an option, but sometimes that in turn is just like putting a neon sign on it, saying "I have something valuable here, steal me and break me open." The best way to prevent theft is for them to never know you have it. Hide your knives in harmless looking locations, like a rolled up pair of socks, etc. Won't totally prevent theft in all cases, but usually they aren't going to totally rip your luggage apart to that extent, and I've never had a knife disappear using this approach.
 
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