[twoblink]

I just bought a Ceramic Kyrocera kitchen knife.

Ceramic blade, rubberized grips.

There's no way this will beep walking into the airport..

Am I the only one that has thought of this??

[hso]

Metal in the handle

Searchs of carry-on luggage

Personnel searchs

Clothing, shoes, bags, packs x-rayed

[twoblink]

I don't think there's any metal in the handle..

[brownie0486]

twoblink:

Yes, I've thought of it, but only fleetingly at most as to the possibility.

It may get through the checks and it may not as HSO has pointed out.

Get caught trying to board with it and you will promptly find yourself in need of an atty with some heavy charges files for attempting to commit a crime.

You know they are not allowing knives on the planes after 911. If you then want to test the system [ circumvent it ] you run the risk of criminal record and fines.

They'll only need to show you had intent to board with a restricted item to win their case against you, unless your IQ is 46 and then they may just send you to one of the homes those people are usually found at in a stupor from the drugs they are given.

Not a pleasant thought in any of the scenarios if caught.

Good luck if you try it.

Brownie

[Steve Smith]

Wow, I actually agree with Brownie. Despite what we all feel is common sense, there is no way you will ever survive the backlash if you get caught. Your name and face will be on every newspaper and TV news show. You would become a 36 hour Goldstein.

[Ol' Badger]

This is no joke but, I observe TSA (I Work At Airport) doing a random toss of every 30th bag and they came up with a ceramic knife! They called the guy back saying he had ticket problems. To make a long store short, he got away with a warning, becasue of two things. 1st: TSA's played with the knife, while waiting for the Police. Instead of leaving it there were they found it. 2nd: It was a hair under 4 inches and the State Law says thats ok. In the end the LEO took the knife and considered that was that. The Screening/Security manager for the TSA (Try'n to Save America) wanted the whole Airport shut down and everyone rescreened. That never happend, but imagine if it did? There would be alot of angry folks at the guy. Just a thought.

[Psssniper]

Someone I know "accidentally" carried a titanium knife onto a flight two months after 9/11..........undetected. On the return the Ti knife was packed in the luggage, or so I was told. I wouldn't recomend that anyone to try and pull off.

[brownie0486]

The 4" blade restriction was in place before 9-11. No serrations on blade and you were good to go.

That guy got lucky and obviously the LE who handled the matter determined he was not a potential threat or he would have been detained and not just the knife being confiscated.

Ones perceived intent has a lot to do with how you are treated when caught with something thats restricted. It's risky business to be attempting to board with a knife that is not screenable due to it's composition. They certainly could make a case relative your presumed intent to circumvent the laws.

I'll take my cane when I fly thank you.

Brownie

[CWL]

Don't the ceramic blades also have boron (or something with metallic signature) mixed into the handle material?

Newer screening devices already being used in some hi-trafic airports search for density variations on a person, others provide a video x-ray image of each person. You can even tell if someone has breast implants.

Asian prisons (Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Phillipines, etc.) aren't much fun, they do use torture to extract confessions.

[Harold Mayo]

A few years ago (prior to the 9/11 attacks), I was flying a lot for work. I carry a Benchmade AFCK everywhere I go but a few times at airports they wouldn't let me go through with it because it was, supposedly, too long. Other times and airports they wouldn't care. The times that they wouldn't, I was lucky enough to have been GOING instead of coming and I was able to return the knife to my vehicle. Most of the time I would just put it in checked baggage. Anyway...I ended up forgetting to check it once at an airport where I knew that they would tell me that it was too long. I decided to not bring it to anyone's attention but to go ahead and go through the metal detector with it. Surprise! The thing didn't go off. That got me thinking and experimenting. I would carry as much metal in my pockets and on my person as I could and, when going through the metal detector, would see approximately how much would make it go off. You'd be surprised at how much you could actually take through without it detecting anything. Up until 9/11, I just carried whatever I wanted through because I knew how much would set the metal detectors off. I haven't flown much since 9/11 (not because of 9/11 but because I have a different job) and would NOT attempt to carry something on board a plane at this point in time unless you're willing to risk a federal felony charge for kicks. I wouldn't have done it prior to 9/11 if the airport personnel hadn't been so inconsistent in the treatment of my knife.

[JDSlack]

BAD IDEA!!!

Even if you get it past screening, what are you going to do with it? If something hapened on the plane and you intervened, what would be the result? If everything went well, you'd be a hero to the passengers, but I'd bet dollars to donuts you'd be in jail. The results you would achieve would not negate the post 9/11 make everyone safe laws, and you'd be charged for having it on the plane.

[Patrick Bateman]

To answer the question, you're not the only one to think of it. I'm an airline pilot and my dad has a ceramic knife. There's alot around. They work great and as long as the handle and other compliments to the knife don't have metal and the ceramic is not a composite with metal, it's through the arch with no problem. The Gumment just don't want the rest of the populace to know about this.

[Moparmike]

I carried my keys in a carry-on bag, that had a p-38 can opener on it. I didnt know I had until I had flown to Cancun and back. I personally have been stabbed with this thing in my pocket, so its bad news if anyone used it for a bad purpose.

[bad_dad_brad]

Don't do it.

The last two times I flew I was profiled. They would have found a ceramic knife.

Carry a really robust ball point pen instead.

[twoblink]

I wouldn't do it, I'm just afraid someone of someone else doing it...

I saw a few clever ones though; the beltbuckle knives.. Most will beep, they will manually scan you, and beep at the belt buckle and they let you in..

[Hal]

I wouldn't do it, I'm just afraid someone of someone else doing it... Too funny for words,,,,,,,,(too bad it's sad and true)(gotta laugh though or you'll go nuts)

Think about it....

Most, if not all, people are more scared of the consequences of being appreheded by the police, than they are of the idea of going down in a fireball.

[jdege]

If you feel the need to carry a weapon onto a plane, pack in your carry-on:

- a stick of deoderent
- a tube of toothpaste
- a bar of soap
- a change of underwear
- two pairs of socks

[gun-fucious]

i gather some one with evil intent would be able to carry aboard a whole host of un dectectable sharp and pointy things hidden inside shoe soles or cell phones

[Kentucky Rifle]

I mostly use a Leki "Wanderfreund". It's light, telescopes to different lengths (depending on what I need), and has a "pistol grip" hand-hold. It also has a rubber tip on the lower tip that's usually there, but the rubber is removable and there is a tungston carbide "tip" for use on ice. If the need arose, I could easily ram my cane through a man's chest. I've gotten that cane through the gate a few times.

KR

[CWL]

gun-fucius,

the first thing even badly-trained airport security people will ask you to do is to turn on your cell phone to prove that it works. I get asked about 40% of the time to take off my shoes for the x-ray machine.

You are suggesting some real prison time for those unaware of the realities of our airports.

[No4Mk1]

Any one with determination, time, and not much money could find creative ways to smuggle a whole host of potent weapons onto an aircraft. Airport security is not presently about stopping terrorists, it is about giving the appearance of "doing something about it" so that the politicians can avoid facing up to the real problems. It is a small-minded knee jerk reaction to a a complex problem. Pretty much like everything else that comes out of Washington DC.

Edited to add: KR, doesn't that "Pistol Grip" thingy make it an evil "assault-cane"? Does it come in tactical black? Is it pre or post ban? ;)

[sch40]

A few years ago I had bought my mother a pen with an "additional feature" -- if you took the cap off, it was a normal pen, but if you took the casing off, it was a *really* sharp knife (granted it was probably crap iron, but it wasn't a completely serious gift). At any rate, she thought it was great, kept it in her purse with her other pens, and it was forgotten about.

A little over a year ago, in the spring of 2002, I was over at her house and we were complaining about the security policies at airports. At this point, she had just gotten back from flying down to visit my brother at his college for the second time in as many months (hence the airport security discussion). We were just talking about how security guards can no longer use logic as a means to search people (it needs to be completely random and "fair" :barf: ), and I looked over at her purse and noticed her dual-purpose pen. I said something like, "Wow, you still have that? Did you have to check it, or did you just leave it here?" She looked at her purse, puzzled, then her eyes got really wide. She completely forgot about it and took it as a carry-on both times! That's four passes through airport security that didn't even look through her purse (and airport security at STL international is pretty thorough)!

So to make a long story short... there are a bazillion different ways to smuggle a weapon on board an aircraft (whether the passengers will let you use it is a different story). If they didn't even find one of the most cliche hidden spy knives, what's the point in taking a 70-year old lady's sewing scissors, or my dull old keychain swiss-army knife? My opinion is that giving a few people a false sense of security by being rediculusly secure is not worth the bother.

take care,
sch40

[gunsmith]

and they never even looked.
it made me nervous,but she's a lawyer
and if they were to argue with her they would
lose as she is right 100% of the time...
I carried 20 dollars in quarters and
strong socks

[feedthehogs]

Security check points are to keep honest people honest.

They make the uninformed, narrow minded average citizen feel safe.

After all, the government and law enforcement are the best slight at hand magicians in the world.

Like locks, alarms, safes, etc., any professional determined to bypass can and will.

If you live in fear, you've already lost.