I have probably cleared airport security several hundred times with my Leatherman PST and my Benchmade AFCK. My secret? I call it "innocence by association". Basically, the "security guards" have to make a go/no-go decision about several hundred people per hour. They have a matter of seconds to consider each person. Despite the popular wisdom to the contrary, they have to judge the book by its cover since they don't have time to even read the jacket notes (unless it's a biker's jacket with skulls and cross-bones on it). The bottom line is that the "guards" are profiling big time. Once you realize that, you can use it to your advantage. If you dress like a gentleman and not a punk rocker, if you carry a gentleman's briefcase and not a soldier's duffle bag, if you act like gentleman and not like a crazy man, if you speak like a gentleman and not like a rouge, then any knife that might come out of your pocket becomes, by definition, just a harmless little gentleman's pocket knife. I slip my Leatherman PST in its clip-on sheath off of my belt and drop it into the change tray, add my Benchmade AFCK, my watch, keys, pen, cell phone, whatever other metal I might have on me, and hand the whole collection to the "guard" as I walk through the the detector. Sometimes, they open the Leatherman sheath, but rarely even take the tool out. They just want to make sure it's what it appears to be. I've never been turned back.
Well, that's not true. I was turned back once, but not because of a knife. It was a osciloscope, a rather complicated looking piece of electronic test equipment. The "guard" just could not be convinced that it was not a bomb. So, I hauled it back to the airline desk and explained that this thing is worth $20,000 and we had to pack it very carefully. He made a phone call and then said, "It's ok, go back and they'll let you through." I did and they did.
Think W!
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
