Pocket Knife and TSA

[clelaj]

Got up this morning, dressed, put my regular stuff in pants pocket and headed for the airport. I got TSA Pre Check so did not have to empty the pockets until I beeped the metal detector. You're right, my regular stuff includes a pocket knife. No muss no fuss, $20 later TSA is mailing it back to me. Lesson learned.

 

[ACC]

Wait...you just had to pay them $20 and they will ship it back to you? Did you have to fill out a form or something? Damn....I have tossed two pocket knives in the trash while waiting in line at TSA. Luckily, they were inexpensive knives.

 

[alc1985]

On one of my trips from Tucson to Chicago I had my pocket knifes in my bag that I intended to check. I arrived a little too late so I rolled the dice and left it in my bag. TSA found it and asked me if the party that brought me to the airport was close by. Long story short I called my son and the TSA gave him my knife. If I was going to Tucson from Chicago my knife would have been long gone.

 

[BluePig]

One time I forgot I had my knife in my pocket and was walking away from the checked baggage counter.
I got about 6 feet away and remembered and begged them to get my baggage back.
They went back behind and brought in out and I put it in there.
Recently, I have been travelling very light with carry-on only.
Only thing I carry is my Leatherman Style PS.
Last time I flew thru South Bend, the TSA agent was really checking it over.
I was sure it was going to find a new master.
He spent about 5 minutes with it.
I finally had enough and asked him if I could have it back.
He ignored me and I said that it was a TSA compliant tool and I had a copy of the compliance from the manufacturer and copy of the TSA rules in my backpack if he wanted to dispute it.
He then said that he had never seen one before and thought it was really cool.
That is when I figured he was going to keep it for himself.

 

[snorko]

Try going through security with a 5.25" Kbar. I have a big Marmot lumbar pack I keep in the car for when have to trek into the woods for work. I decided to use it as my carry on once. There is a sneaky somewhat hidden compartment on the front which easily will conceal a 5" K-Bar knife. Yep, moron move for me. Nothing can replicate that feeling of a TSA agent holding your stuff aside, casually going through it then pulling out a big black knife. Of course this was like 24 hours after a bunch of bombs were found on cargo flights.

Photos and a report by local PD at the gate, made the flight. Later had a phone interview with TSA and was fined $250, reduced to $125 if not contested and paid in 30 days.

 

[Ark]

Wait...you just had to pay them $20 and they will ship it back to you? Did you have to fill out a form or something? Damn....I have tossed two pocket knives in the trash while waiting in line at TSA. Luckily, they were inexpensive knives.

Good argument for carrying inexpensive EDC knives. Never know when you might get stuck in a situation where you just have to trash it.

People who do deep, difficult shipwreck dives make a point of carrying cheap, ****ty dive knives. That way, if you screw up and drop one, you won't be tempted to make a potentially life-ending decision because "aw man I spent $80 on that knife, I gotta go get it".

 

[Bapak2ja]

I lost two Swiss Army knives (Jakarta and Ulan Baatar) and one fingernail clipper in Tokyo to local security. The clippers had one of those small rotatable nail files on it and it was deemed unsafe by the kid doing security.

Forgot a knife in Atlanta and was allowed to go back out of security to the post office window and mail it home. Now I carry a large Gerber clip-on knife. No way I will forget that clunker.

It made me mad at first, losing those very good knives; but I can't blame them for my forgetfulness. Lesson Learned Along the Way (which is also the title of my book).

 

[cosermann]

Oh for the good old days. Used to fly routinely with a 4" lock blade. Only once did security ever say anything. Got called aside in a MN (or WI?) airport and the guy measured the blade length with a ruler, then sent me on my way.

But, some perps use box cutters on 9/11 and now no one can carry a pocket knife on a plane. Safer now? Ridiculous. Feel-good, security theater.

 

[Thor]

People who do deep, difficult shipwreck dives make a point of carrying cheap, ****ty dive knives. That way, if you screw up and drop one, you won't be tempted to make a potentially life-ending decision because "aw man I spent $80 on that knife, I gotta go get it".

Yeah, I lost a really nice knife in an area where the bottom was well below where I could get to with the tanks/air available. Lesson learned. I got a cheap replacement and it's been on years of dives. Good serviceable blade, just not high dollar. It's done everything the expensive one did except impress others with my fanciness. Though it is fairly large and I've had other divers ask what I was expecting to fight; my reply? Everything.

 

[rhino]

Oh for the good old days. Used to fly routinely with a 4" lock blade. Only once did security ever say anything. Got called aside in a MN (or WI?) airport and the guy measured the blade length with a ruler, then sent me on my way.

But, some perps use box cutters on 9/11 and now no one can carry a pocket knife on a plane. Safer now? Ridiculous. Feel-good, security theater.

Amen! The last time I flew was 1992. Among other things, I had a RED Spyderco Endura on me. No one said a thing when I put it in the bin with me keys and a couple of other knives. The only time a knife was ever questioned was in either Kansas City or St Louis. A woman at the security station didn't want to let me through with a SWISS ARMY KNIFE. She didn't realize what the Endura was, but that SAK really intimidated her and she was sure it was illegal. I asked her to call a supervisor over, she did, he educated her, and I continued to the gate.

 

[77broncoman]

I forgot to put my pocketknife in a checked bag when flying though Boston-Logan airport and luckily found it myself when unloading pockets at TSA. Thankfully, I had enough time before the flight to find a full service USPS and mail it back home.

Since then, I typically fly with a small, self addressed bubble envelope with postage in my backpack. I figure it will come in handy someday when I forget to check something or get TSA hassled and need to quickly mail something back home.