Multitool for air travel...

S

Straightedge

Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
12
Pretty self explanatory. I'm aware that Swiss Army makes the Clipper which can be had sans knife blade and qualifies. Anything else out there that has a good selection of useful tools and good quality that can be carried on a plane without provoking the TSA to escort you to a "private room"? I usually EDC a Leatherman Micra and am fond of their products, but as far as I know they don't have anything along these lines. It doesn't necessarily have to be small; in fact I could do with both something small like the Swiss Army and something larger which could be more generally useful, like something with large pliers and screwdriver blades.
 
You can open up a SOG Crossgrip and replace the knife blade with another tool. It's between the size of a Micra and a Squirt.
 
JNewell said:
You can open up a SOG Crossgrip and replace the knife blade with another tool. It's between the size of a Micra and a Squirt.
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Did the same thing with my SOG Power Plier, only I replaced the combination clip-point/ serrated knife with a stainless steel pry-bar I had made by a friend.

Had to really demo the 'knifeless'-ness of it to the "authorities" though, before they let me carry it on board. So far so good, and hey Bob, thanks for the tip on that SOG Plier Head for sale, I just got it installed.

Cheers all for the coming holidays. :D
 
Before 9/11 have any of you brought your "knife/multi too" on board?? i've know that have brought gerber multi tools with them with no problem
 
cheung_victor said:
Before 9/11 have any of you brought your "knife/multi too" on board?? i've know that have brought gerber multi tools with them with no problem
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I walked on a plane from Minneapolis to Atlanta in 1999 with my original Leatherman. Never even gave it a thought as I went through security, I threw it on the X-ray machine and they never said a word about it.
 
Anyone other than sparkee attempt flying with a knifeless multitool? I would be afraid that, even without a knife blade, it would be hard to convince the authorities that it's ok to cary onboard.
 
Before 9/11 I carried a wave or a vic. sak on a plane without hassle. I don't think anyone ever thought anything of it actually.

Since then I have not flown with any type of multitool. I do carry other things though, like my surefire e1e with an LED head, and that hasn't caused any problems.
 
I like the various Swiss-Tech products for air-travel EDC. Mostly they go unnoticed. One drawback with the "knifeless" multis. You will not win an argument with TSA or the airport cops. You may be able to convince them you are right but if they won't back down, You lose. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Before 9/11 I regularly carried a Leatherman Supertool and a Spyderco Delica on flights. The Leatherman sat in my laptop bag and nobody ever even pulled it out to look at it. I usually carried the Delica through the metal detector inside my pocket (not clipped). If I was careful I could walk through more than half of the metal detectors without setting them off. If I set it off, I'd just dump my pockets into the plastic tray and pass. Often they wouldn't even look at the small black knife in the tray.

Ironically, the only airport where security would really look at my Delica was Portland, Maine. I always had to empty my pockets to get through the metal detector. Two different security screeners there checked my Delica. The one I dealt with the most usually opened it and scowled about it, but every time I'd just stand there and wait, not saying anything, and he'd have to let it go through because a Delica was a perfectly legal size to fly with at the time. Why is all that ironic? Many of the 9/11 hijackers passed through the same security screeners. I really feel for those screeners because they were the toughest and most thorough I'd seen in any U.S. airport.
 
Just flew out of SFO with a SwissTech Micro-Plus, nail clippers and an ArcAAA in my carry-on bag. No issues. I might be getting that Leatherman Knifeless Fuse before my next flight. We'll see how that goes. If they try and take it, I'll just mail it back to myself.

Befire 9/11, I flew with my original Leatherman Wave and a small SAK.
 
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