Knives stolen by Tsa in checked luggage

It sucks to have your stuff picked clean by professional scavengers. When I fly, which is rare these days, I'll still often pack knives in my checked luggage. I ensure that there's nothing expensive and/or hard to replace. The last flight I was on my checked luggage had a fixed blade I wanted an excuse to upgrade and an Artisan Cutlery folder that I wouldn't cry if anything happened to it. Naturally they were both fine. Depending on the airport I leave from I wouldn't even bother putting anything shiny in my checked luggage and would mail them home or to wherever I was going. If I don't have enough notice to have the mail line up with a flight, it's going to force the checked luggage option and downgrade my steel choices.
 
dirc said:
actually thats a good idea - put knife in a ziplock bag, then wrap with underwear liberally stained & smelly?

sigh, it's sad that it's come down to this in north america
I distinctly remember friends making this point when flying to the carribean in 80s & 90s, 'you can't trust anything down there, they'll steal stuff from your luggage'

this led to the adoption of hard plastic shell luggage & more sturdy key locks
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I mean you have organized mobs of smash and grab looters attacking department stores and trains being attacked in transit. We are getting much closer to the third world than we would like to think.
 
Danke42 said:
BRIEF-SAFE.jpg
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WOW!!! That has to be the most EPIC toilet paper ever!! 🤣👍
 
sgt1372 said:
Any luggage insurance? Any proof of what was packed in the bag?

SOOL if not :(

This is 1 among many reasons why I don't like traveling by plane anymore and always use carry-on bags and do not carry any weapons w/me when I do.

if it's important enough, I ship my guns & knives to myself at my destination via UPS or Fed Ex and back again upon my return.
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I've been doing that as well, drive whenever possible and ship both ways if had to fly. For different reasons though. I do it for policy reasons. (I don't live in the states.)

The good thing about my local equivalence of TSA is they're required by law to open and go through passengers' packages in front of the passenger if they have to go through them. The bad thing is they are de-facto permitted by law to confiscate anything with a blade even if it's legal size and shape and in a checked luggage.
 
Search for mom and pop Hardware Stores at final destination. Buy folding box cuter, pepper spray and ball pin hammer in cash.

Toss on the way back to airport.
 
Do you think that Mom & Pop store might have machetes and bone-saws in stock??
Oh! We also need a Bear Grylls Ultimate Pro hunter knife!
(The ZEE Hunter of the survival crowd...)
 
I picked up a small Bear Grylls lock back on sale years ago. I drop it in the bottom of my shaving kit, haven't had any problems.

I did have the TSA look at a small Leatherman multi tool in my carry on. This one has no blade in it. Got it out for him and showed him that it had no blade. He said he liked it and might have to get one for himself. Very nice guy.
 
That's the real frustration. I think most of the TSA personnel are fine people. They are human. Some aren't on some days. Some aren't when things get arduous. Some just aren't. Maybe you're lucky and never interact with those people. You also have the ones who seem to revel in the fact you have no actual recourse. They're the ones that will remind you that it's up to the individual agent if an item is contraband or prohibited; big TSA will tell you the same. They're the ones who will confiscate an item you've carried on multiple times, even had a conversation about it with another agent at another airport because they can. They're the ones that will confiscate spark plugs because Duh! spark plugs can cause sparks. TSA is an utter and complete joke and there was only so much I could take before it was going to become a problem for me. Not flying is protecting myself from myself.
 
... about that shipping it to yourself - I once did this to avoid having to check a bag. I was with friends over the holidays and one night perusing DLT I saw they had an exclusive in stock and I didn't have one yet, nor did I have a knaf with me. Bonus! Right? Well, I had it for a few days. I then went to the very friendly, small local post office, contented that I was protecting this new gift to muhself and supporting our beloved USPS union. I also know USPS so I spent the extra 1.50 and insured it. Guess which box disappeared somewhere along the way? The knaf-shaped one. It. took a few minutes online and a few weeks, but they made it right and sent me a check for the full price on the receipt and the postage. Classy - but a pain in the butt
 
I’m flying to WA for a camping trip this summer and will need a good knife, planned to take one of my CPK fixed blades. I’ve thrown folders in with my shaving kit but that’s not coming with me so I might duct tape the knife to something else in our checked bag.
 
It's a funny thing. Every year I visit the US to attend the Blade Show and afterwards I end up flying around the country with a suitcase full of very expensive knives. I have lost count of the number of flights I have taken and how many times my cases have passed through the TSA checks.
Interestingly the only time the TSA have opened my case is when I have unidentifiable handle material like G10 or Micarta. Generally the TSA have not the slightest interest in checked knives.

In all those years I have had flights delayed, cancelled, missed and even had my cases lost for 24-48 hours on two separate occasions.
In all those circumstances nothing has ever gone missing. I am told that the TSA conducts bag inspections in a special room that has more surveillance cameras in it than the Bellagio. Making it all but impossible to steal.

The one thing I will say is that I use excellent quality hard shell suitcases when I travel. No soft suitcases or bags. I have never had a problem.
 
Things have been stolen out of airline luggage before there was a TSA. It's a racket at some airports. My uncle, NYC cop, recommended you don't use luxury suitcases. They attract thieves everywhere they go.
 
brownshoe said:
Things have been stolen out of airline luggage before there was a TSA. It's a racket at some airports. My uncle, NYC cop, recommended you don't use luxury suitcases. They attract thieves everywhere they go.
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I agree! We quit using Name brand garbage bags years ago.. Between that, and the ZEE Hunter: no problems!
 
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