Airline friendly Mulitool

[flownosaj]

I had asked a question about this last week before I flew out to PA. I had a Ti mini-tool that I figured wouldn't pass muster but I thought might be able to be brought along. Cooler heads prevailed and I put it in my checked luggage before I left the house.

If it's worth something, I've been educated that it's best not to carry it. The screwy thing is that although I didn't have my "dangerous" tool, I had a carry-on full of items that could be excelent improvised weapons.

The most dangerous item I brought on the plane was a 1,400 gram human brain, and I CAN'T put it into checked luggage. Sometimes it feels like I did though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

-Jason

 

[FlashlightOCD]

I agree the airport security is a just a sham to make people "feel" safer.

I suspect that you could put a razor in a plastic holder and I doubt the metal detectors would find it. Even if they did, you could use a sharp pencil for a weapon if you really wanted to.

About the only positive aspect for airport security is that it is creating new jobs.

 

[Unicorn]

No, the metal detectors have had the sensitivity turned up probably all the way. Especially if you get selected for a hand search (which is like every third person). Those pick up the zipper and rivets on jeans, so they will definately pick up a razer.
Screwdrivers can be a very deadly weapon. But then so is the stainless steel ballpoint pen I make it point to carry when I have to fly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Even the two inch ones on the Swisstech Screwzall are long enough to reach an artery, but this is getting rediculous. Give every flight attendant the new higher amperage Air-Taser, and the cabin crew decent handguns.

 

[driven]

Anyone tried a Swiss-tech Utilikey ??

I've been carying a Utilikey for three years now, and have never had a problem. I do about 100 flights a year domestic. It's on my key ring and looks like any other key.

 

[pedalinbob]

You can bring a Victorinox Classic IF you have it in a checked bag. We brought on on a cruise only a few weeks ago.

I will be confiscated if you try to carry it on.

I am with many others, in that I cannot believe that they donot allow a tiny tool such as the Classic, but they allow scissors!

Bob

 

[bjn70]

Unfortunately government agencies don't have to apply logic to their thinking, and in lots of countries it is worse than that.

I learned long ago to check my pockets and carry-on thoroughly before flights to make sure there is nothing suspicious in there, and insist that my wife does the same with her bags. Also I don't take anything in my checked baggage that I would be sorry to lose. Usually I carry relatively inexpensive knives and lights in my checked baggage. I might carry a folding knife but I typically carry a cheap Gerber multitool that I bought a Wallyworld. If I lose it I can just go buy another one. I'll carry my camera, PDA, laptop, and maybe a QIII in my carry-on baggage.

 

[TKC]

I do not beleive that there IS such a things AS an airline friendly multi-tool.

 

[Reaper]

Just came back from Vegas and got pulled aside and questioned about my Atwood Prybaby on my keyring. TSA guys said that the tip could be used as a jabbing weapon and if sharpened, definately a confiscation item. All this time another guy was playing with my lights (ARC-AAA-P, Fenix-P1, Fenix L1P and a KL-3 on a UBH) running down my batteries. Finally got their OK but it was funny how they would question the little Prybaby but say nothing about the club-like KL3/UBH.

 

[Kryosphinx]

Most of us were born with hands. They're the most versatile multi-tool i know of.
If your hands fail, you have your feet.

 

[carpdiem]

Am I the only one who think we'll all find out just how silly these no-carry-on laws are when terrorists with serious martial arts training hijack something?

 

[bwaites]

I think the era of hijacking anything is pretty much over.

No one, under any circumstances, is going to be cowed into NOT doing anything while the hijackers use the plane and passengers to make a statement.

In my view, the response to an attempted Hijacking now would be so fast and so overwhelming that you would have to have something like nerve gas or an automatic weapon to keep people at bay.

In the past, hijackings were about using the passengers as bargaining chips, and so passengers were willing to take the chance that they would be the ONE or two who might survive. Post 9/11, that bet no longer exists, and like my signature says, people will make the decision to fight against whatever odds there are.

Bill

 

[Sturluson]

I have some sympathy with TSA.

I've been inconvienced, and lost at least a couple of Leatherman Micras, though at other times they've passed.

But consider the reality: after 9/11, it was absolutely essential to make airlines safer. The bad guys commandeered those planes with box cutters. The Feds had to set stringent guidelines covering a multitude of items that could be used as weapons. If they err on the side of caution, that's completely understandable. And sometimes their choices of what goes on the prohibited list - and what stays off - seem absurd. But it's an impossible task to do with any degree of absolute precision.

Frankly, though I'm tempted to criticize what seem like bonehead decisions, blanket criticism of the system - a la "typical Feds" - is a cheap shot.

 

[lessing]

pre 9/11 I went to a training in LA from new jersey. Flew out of newark just fine. I had my usual roadie tool case with me. It is a skb briefcase with screw drivers, plyers, flashlights, multimeters, dmx testers, a wireless in ear monitor, cable testers, and a razor knife. The guy I was traveling with have traveled with this stuff all the time, although usually with tickets booked through the sports and entertainment part of the airline. I do not know if that used to make a difference on the flights, but we would put our bags on the conveyor, drop a 4" folding knife and leatherman into the tray and blow through security no problem. Well on this flight out of LAX, the security person puts my case on the conveyor, I walk through the metal detector and he hands me my knife and multitool back and yells "hey stop!".
Apparently i had too many tools to be allowed on the plane. So I inquired as to the limit on the number of tools and he said 2. He also wanted to see all of my electrical testers demonstrated to be working and what they did, along with the wireless in ears. He wanted me to check my test equipment but could not offer any insurance against them. After a long time explaining that most of the electronics needed other stuff to do anything and promising not to arm my fellow passengers with screwdrivers since I could only wield two in my two hands, an airline manager had to come over and ok me on the plane.

 

[Solstice]

Here's a story for you guys. 2 years ago, I was flying with my parents from Philadelphia to Israel with a stop over in Germany.

After we had checked our luggage, I realized that I had kept a Kershaw Leek in my jacket pocket left there from a recent camping trip. For those that don't know, this is a fairly large and intimidating assisted-opening (read: switchblade) all metal folding knife. Well, the knife's worth about $50 bucks and you can bet I didn't want to lose it. I thought about hiding it in a plant or something, but I figured I might as well kiss it goodbye if I did that.

Of course, I also didn't want to let my parents know I had it, so in the bathroom, I went and put the knife in my camera case with a bunch of adapters and cables and the like, which was in my carry-on. In retrospect, this seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do for a $50 item, but I took the risk... here is what happened:

At security, I had to take my shoes off, and take my out my brother's laptop, which I was bringing to him (he was meeting us later). I made it without a hitch. One down, so far so good.

In Germany, we had to be searched again. Once again, no problem.

In Israel (and you can BET they have some serious security there), they didn't find the knife a third time. ALL CLEAR!

Now I'm not bragging or condoning what I did here, and I certainly checked the knife in my luggage on the way back, but this story does illustrate a point. IMO, security is for peace of mind; for show. If someone really wants to get something aboard, there is quite the chance that they will. I recall a study in which a student attempted to board planes with guns several different times as an experiment, and security found less than half of them.

I'm not saying that their shouldn't be security on airlines. Its just that 90% of what agents get in a huff about is the wrong item belonging to the wrong person.

Another brief story: On a flight to Costa Rica, both carry on and luggage were X-rayed BEFORE check in. I was hastled at length about a simple wine cork-screw (not even a foil knife on it). The item was taped up and put in my check-in luggage. The thing is, there was no other security after the initial check in, and I still had all of my bags! I could have taken a machette out of my major luggage and put it into my carry-on since the carryon was never checked again!!

Man, good thing I'm not a terrorist .

 

[Lunal_Tic]

Tools Carry-On/Checked
Axes and Hatchets No/Yes
Cattle Prods No / Yes
Crowbars No/ Yes
Hammers No/ Yes
Drills and drill bits -
(including cordless portable power drills)No/ Yes
Saws - (including cordless portable power saws) No/ Yes
Tools - (greater than seven inches in length) No/ Yes
Tools - (seven inches or less in length) Yes/ Yes
Screwdrivers - (seven inches or less in length) Yes/ Yes
Wrenches and Pliers - (seven inches or less in length) Yes/ Yes

Here's the latest from the TSA. Permitted and Prohibited Items

-LT

 

[bwaites]

Wow, I completely missed the lighters thing, and I've flown multiple times with my jet lighter in my carry on. No one has said a word!

Bill

 

[CanDo]

I think this is a pretty perfect example of preaching to the choir, but:

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH NAIL CLIPPERS OR TWEEZERS??!?!!
If someone offered them to me, going into a fight, I'd politely decline...

Think of improvised weapons all around you:
A roll of coins (fistload)
Shoelaces (flexible weapon)
Wooden strips in there to 'support your bag' or something like that
Air phone cord
FLASHLIGHTS (fistload/kubotan/blinding) (exploding 123s {attempt at a joke})
heavy shoes
Tying a weight or two to shoeleaces (manrikigusari)
Pens
Boiling water
Belts
Heavy pots
you get the idea (ok, so you had the idea long before this)

How about martial arts? Most perfect concealable weapon imaginable.

Anyway, it dosn't matter. There will never again be another hijacking of that sort. If there is, without a machine gun, the hijackers don't stand a chance.

Another note:
Needle nose pliers (of the smallest 'non folding' size) are an absolutely lethal and versatile weapon. I haven't seen any illusions to it yet, but play around with them, and you'll come up with the same think I did...