My airport story

Last week I had to drop a few people off at Logan in Boston. There was construction going on at the terminal, so the entire upstairs was a security area, not just the gates. Anybody, not just ticket holders could enter through the security checkpoint. I was planning on haveing dinner with group, so I threw my SOCOM into the tray with my keys and phone at the metal detector. The guard measured the blade, said it was too big to carry on the plane ( no surprise-I wasn't planning on going through sercuity). I simply stated that I wasn't getting on a plane. He handed the knife back and said have a nice night. One, how did he know I wasn't getting on a plane, as this was the last checkpoint before boarding. Two, what stopped me from handing the knife to one of my friends? Made me think about what else got through security.
The kicker of the story is that a guy behind me tried to take small pocket knife through the metal detector and got it taken away.
 
It just goes to show you all the inconsistencies with airport security, despite FAA guidelines for knife carry. Had the guy behind you, placed his pocket knife in the tray with his keys, it might not have been confiscated. The fact that it was on him when passing through the metal detectors, may have prompted the confiscation. I have travelled to New York and back from Atlanta once with my Benchmade AFCK tucked away in my carry-on luggage. Both times, my bag was x-rayed and was let through, and when I boarded the plane, I simply opened my bag and clipped the AFCK to my pocket. No one on the plane noticed.
 
Security at airport checkpoints have very few if any real guidelines for knives. For the most part a sensible guard isn't going to be all that worried about a pocket knife anyway so letting you through with it isn't that big of a deal.

Also since you were most likely not carrying any carry on items and did not look like a traveller I expect that he figured you were indeed telling the truth.

If the knife had belonged to a member of your group who was going to fly then they would have a much better chance in getting it on the plane with them by slipping it in an x-rayed carry-on instead of trying to have someone walk it though.

It was pretty much his disgression. I guess you have an honest face.
 
J

Jstrykr

Joined
Sep 21, 2000
Messages
25
Actually, I was carrying my girlfriends carry on for her. They seemed more interested in her knee brace. Forgot to mention that this took place in the international terminal. I've never had a problem carrying my Spydie standard on a flight, but the SOCOM is over an inch longer and a lot bigger overall.
 
Walked through security at BWI to pick up a friend. Back then, I was carrying a benchmade pinnacle. dropped it off in the tray and walked through. on the other side, one of the ladies opened it up to measure up. she wouldn't let me have it back, saying it was too big, and it looked too "dangerous". a coworker of hers took it and placed it against a engraved plastic plate that was screwed onto the x-ray machine. the blade was a little shorter than the plate. the co-worker said it was ok, and handed it back to the lady at the machine. she started to fumble with it, since she didn't know about liner/scale type locks and I though she was gonna cut herself up. The coworker told her to hand it back, and I closed it, dropping it off in my pocket. luckily, they had some sort of check for carry blades. i wasn't about to run around and protest blade-length and try and recall carry laws for MD. I dunno, but I was thankful someone had thought to put a check at the gate for blades.

toast

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"One must practice ceaselessly." -Miyamoto Musashi
 
My BM 940 is so slim that it fits nicely into one of the pen loops in the front of my laptop case. I have never had a problem with it while flying and, as mentioned before, run it through the xray while in my laptop case and then put it in my pocket later.
 
I carried numerous folders through security w/out trouble. I usually clip my Spydie Goddard to my underwear positioned under the zipper on my pants. When they wand me (I always wear steel toes), they think my zipper is setting off the wand.

I've gone through LAX and at security, I put my (at the time) CS Scimitar folder in the plate with my watch etc. They didn't even check the knife for length (4").

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Win if you can, lose if you must, but ALWAYS CHEAT.
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I have taken many a switchblade through airports in carry on. Never a problem. Once I was stopped and measured for a socom, they said it was too long but let me through anyway since "your mother is with you". Watch out if your comming in from Hawaii. I was stopped when I put my BM 710 in the tray and they wouldn't let me through. I told them the blade was under four inches but it was useless, had to go back through the line to box it up. They boxed it up then I had to go through another line to make sure there was no fruit in the box. Kinda messy.
Jeff
 
I was going through Logan a while ago. Supertool was in carry-on and never a problem. I wear steel toe boots and ALWAYS set of the detrctor. I travel about once a month on business, so I am very used to stopping on the other side of the detectors, expaining I have steel toes on and being scanned by hand. So, I walk through, stop and begin to explain about the boots when I realize the detector didn't go off. When I asked the guard if it was on he gave me a surly "keep moving." I did, but it made me wonder what else might have gone through that day.
 
Inconsistency is the operative word when it comes to airport security policies. I've been taking an informal poll by asking security people and other knife carrying travelers what is allowed through the checkpoints. Going through the security check at Columbus, OH last week I asked what the policy was...reply: "anything under 4" without serrations." In Orlando I asked the same question of two security people and got two different answers but both said "no serrations". In Tampa an official said serrations were OK as long as the blade was shorter than 3". In Detroit, I put a BM705, a Dragonfly and a keychain with serrated ladybug in the tray with no comment by the secutity man. In Dayton a few months ago, I was hassled about my Dragonfly which I put into the tray with money clipped to it. I was asked if I was trying to sneak a knife through. Most recently, I've been packing my knfe or knives in my carryon luggage as opposed to carrying them in my pocket. So far no one has asked me to open my bag. The lady ahead of me had her bag searched because she was carrying several rolls of quarters to give to her grandkids. My rule of thumb is to carry my knives in carryon luggage, no serrations and a blade length of less than 3". So far I haven't been disappointed.
 
If its an expensive knife or simply one you can't bear parting with its a good idea to carry an addressed and postage paid mailer so you can drop the knife in a mail box if you get hasseled about your blade with no time to check it.

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"I'm inuspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctious to have caused you such pericumbobulations."--Mr. E Blackadder

[This message has been edited by Mr E Blackadder (edited 06-21-2001).]
 
Folks,

Went back and forth to DC with my Terzuola folder (3.5" plain blade, titanium handle) in my carry on luggage. No sweat. Leave enough time to check my bag if "security" finds it and insists.


Alan
 
I was just re-reading some of the other posts and the knife on the underware behind the zipper idea doesn't strike me as a smart thing to do.

While I'm sure the average airport rent-a-cop isn't interested in making a close inspection of your nether-regions if one is suspicious enough to go far enough to find the blade you could easily find yourself in hot water because you were obviously trying to sneak it by them.

As an aside: BBC America has in the past shown a series called "Airport" which is a reality type show about the workings of Hethro Airport in the UK. That, (nor any other airport either really), is not the place to try to be funny. On one episode an American bringing a violin back with him when asked by customs "What is in the case" decided it would be funny to say that it was a machine gun. The short version of the story is that he didn't get to fly home until the next day and went through a huge amount of red tape and questioning by the Airport cops.

It was amazing to see the process that anyone had to go through to transport firearms of any kind through the UK. Even foreign security personel who had their weapons checked in locked and labled containers had to go through a long process of each item being inventoried and checked. The fuss they made over a competiton rifle shooter who was carrying a firing pin was amazing.

I love a lot of things about the UK and would love to vist there some day but I could never live there because of their incredible paranoia about guns and knives.
 
I just came back from Idaho with two spent .357 Mag casings in my carry-on (didn't realize they'd fallen in.).

Nobody blinked.

Amazing how inconsistent security can be...

~B.

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Brian Jones
Co-moderator
Wilderness & Survival Skills Forum

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