- Joined
- Apr 29, 2002
- Messages
- 1,273
I visited Shanghai for 4 days, I just got back. Right after getting back home, I went and fondled some knives, since I was bladeless for the duration of the trip. Big bummer 
Everything was carry-on.
So in lieu of knives, I brought a Surefire 6P and an Inova X5T. Got to use them a bit. Inova is much more of an EDC, use-a-lot light.
Just so everyone knows, security when flying from Hong Kong to Mainland China is pretty strict. Even worse (or shall we say, "better") than the kind you get to see in the US. On the return flight, everyone had to take off their shoes and put them on the metal detector. Not many tourist places have security checks, but I was checked once. The guard didn't know what my Inova was, he had to yell at me: "WHAT IS THIS?" I don't think they see many pepper-spray devices, or they'd know better than to point a long black cylindrical thing at themselves and activate. I tell the guard it's a flashlight. After blinding himself, I guess he figures that it was a damn nice flashlight. Too bad I didn't bring my 6P out that day
Now that would have been fun. Same thing happened again at the airport.
There were lots of horrible looking Pakistani and Chinese copycat knives at tourist attractions. I almost had to throw up. There was no way in hell that I would have touched any one of those!
I looked around for shops selling real local user knives, but I couldn't find any. I guess they're not usually on the tourist trails. I saw some iron blades, not pretty, but they've gotten the job done for centuries. The people use knives for everyday work, even in cities, but I think there's a big divide between the people that have to work with their knvies and those that don't. So people that need to use knives, use them. Those that have no clear use for knives, don't carry them at all. Didn't see much in terms of self-defense.
The police know the locals from the tourists, so they probably won't give you much trouble if you're visiting for fun. If you can bring in a little knife, it'd definitely be handy. Just don't bring your ultra-tactical-stealth-night-killer blade!
Everything was carry-on.So in lieu of knives, I brought a Surefire 6P and an Inova X5T. Got to use them a bit. Inova is much more of an EDC, use-a-lot light.
Just so everyone knows, security when flying from Hong Kong to Mainland China is pretty strict. Even worse (or shall we say, "better") than the kind you get to see in the US. On the return flight, everyone had to take off their shoes and put them on the metal detector. Not many tourist places have security checks, but I was checked once. The guard didn't know what my Inova was, he had to yell at me: "WHAT IS THIS?" I don't think they see many pepper-spray devices, or they'd know better than to point a long black cylindrical thing at themselves and activate. I tell the guard it's a flashlight. After blinding himself, I guess he figures that it was a damn nice flashlight. Too bad I didn't bring my 6P out that day
Now that would have been fun. Same thing happened again at the airport. There were lots of horrible looking Pakistani and Chinese copycat knives at tourist attractions. I almost had to throw up. There was no way in hell that I would have touched any one of those!
I looked around for shops selling real local user knives, but I couldn't find any. I guess they're not usually on the tourist trails. I saw some iron blades, not pretty, but they've gotten the job done for centuries. The people use knives for everyday work, even in cities, but I think there's a big divide between the people that have to work with their knvies and those that don't. So people that need to use knives, use them. Those that have no clear use for knives, don't carry them at all. Didn't see much in terms of self-defense.
The police know the locals from the tourists, so they probably won't give you much trouble if you're visiting for fun. If you can bring in a little knife, it'd definitely be handy. Just don't bring your ultra-tactical-stealth-night-killer blade!
