Glad to be back, tho i'm probably a junior member again - ughhh!

anyway, what are the general rules for taking a kniife to an airport and on a plane. i've got a spyderco delica, fwiw. i'm sure every airline is a little different, but wanted to get some input/experiences. don't want to cause any problems. thanks!

There has been many a discussion about this on another forum www.bladeforums.com in the general discussion area. My .02 cents not longer than than 3in blade and no serrations seems to go buy fine. I have tried a Spydie co-pilot as a money clip and a Swiss-army with no problems, Tried a delica one time with serrations and had to go back to the car and leave it.

Good luck

The rule in the US is blade must be under 4". I generaly carry a 3.6" Benchmade and some airports will give it the once over. It seems in the East you get it measured every time with a dirty look thrown in for good measure(same for Kalifornia) in most of the west they don't even look at it. Some states don't allow auto-opening blades (switchblades) so i din't carry the Dieter/CQD out of state. Hope that helps.

is there a link to these laws?  I am traveling next week and would like to read it for myself.

Just flew US Airways with my CRKT folder,2" blade length with 7/8" being serrated clipped to my pocket and the metal detector never went off.  I've also placed it in those small bins used for your pocket contents and sent it through the X-ray....no problems there either.

BD

btt, anyone else?

I fly with my Gerber Covert folder.  3 7/8 blade, partially serrated.  Only had one lady (in Denver) comment that it was "kinda big".  I replied, "maybe, but it's legal"  that was it.  She's the only one that's even looked at it.

Hey jvic, I travel out of DIA to, but with differing luck:

October '00: CRKT w/ 3.75" blade, serrated, initial guy calls his supervisor, the "css" and it is AOK, FAA rule is 4" or shorter.

November '00: Nope, says another CSS, DENVER's rule is less than 3.5 inches(!). So I quietly agreed, but went down to the south security checkpoint. They told me the same down there! I had to check it, and they asked which airline I was on. I didn't even think about it, and told them the ACTUAL one I was on(oops). When I had gone back to the same ticket counter that I checked in at, the lady recognized me, but the computer had a block on my name to check baggage! I had to go to a check in stand called "secondary screening". My check-in bag was THOUGHOULY x-rayed in a big machine, much larger than the checkpoint machines, and it took alot longer. After it went through, I ran off for my flight, lucky to make it after the delay. I was pissed. Now how was I supposed to kill a hijacker, let alone open my bag of peanuts?

January '01: Same CSS as 10/00, no problem.

So: FAA rule: less than 4" blade. And let them know that you know this. The clincher is local rules though, so check beforehand if possible.



Gunfighter- I looked the FAA website up and down before I went out in Oct, but found nothing. If they say the FAA rule is not 4" demand to see said rule in writing, because they are FOS. BUT- check the local laws, that's the variable here.

I actually had no idea a knife was allowed until I found out on the old AR-15 board. Now I always fly armed. I really think a good, folding fighting knife is a superb CQB weapon, especially on a plane.

ive taken my berreta air-light through air ports a few times, doesnt set the metal detectors off.

I have in the past flew with my Swiss Army knife Champ model and never did have any problem.

YMMV!

I've carried my Leatherman Wave in my carry-on bag, a few years back when I was traveling, I never had a problem back then.

An MP5 and 12 pounds of plasic explosives, no problems here. They hassled me about my Gerber Gator though.

radioman

Let's all just get ceramic bladed and kydex/fiberglas handled knives, magnetically intert :)


Would absolutely love a ceramic!  Positively!  And one without a magnetic strip put in it's handle so that it has magnetic properties.