‘Sticks on a plane’ experiment a success.

[Owen Sparks]

‘Sticks on a plane’ experiment a success.

As many of you know I am a big advocate of sticks and canes as self-defense weapons. Not only are they just about the most effective non-firearm hand weapon you can use, they are almost always non-lethal if used properly. The biggest advantage though is that when a stick comes in the guise of a walking cane you can legally have it anywhere as it is protected as medical equipment under The Anericans with Disabilities Act.
We decided to prove this in one of the most restrictive environments in the country, the nation’s airports.

One of our black belt instructors is also a professional lawyer. He volunteered to be the guanine pig and carry a cane on a recent snowboarding trip to Montana. This trip required him to pass through several airports including Memphis and Detroit. The “cane” was nothing more than a three foot length of hickory with a rubber tip on one end and a hardwood ball on the other. This thing weighs a pound and a half, still had the bark on it and is very rustic and roughly made. It looks more like something Buford Pusser would use rather than medical equipment.

The result? After passing through three airports twice each the cane never received a second glance by the TSA agents or any other security personnel. He did have to put it through the X-ray tunnel but being that it contained no metal no one inspected or even touched it. Our man did not fake a limp but he did use the stick normally by touching the tip on the floor with every step as he walked past the authorities. The rest of the time he kept it in his hand.

Lessons learned:

As long as you behave normally, no one will notice or care if you carry a cane.

Avoid metal because it will attract unwanted attention if you have to go through metal detectors.

Being young and fit does not disqualify you from carrying a cane.

Owning a cane does not make you a stick fighter any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician. You must train with it, especially for close quarters combat where you may not have room for conventional swings.

You have no excuse not to have a heavy walking cane in your vehicle at all times and in your hand any time you think that you might need it.

 

[Rail Driver]

My walking cane is a very lightweight, but strong material made of some kind of synthetic (no clue what it's made from, it was given to me) but I've been unable to break it or damage it more than chipping the paint on it. It makes an ok defensive tool, but I'm looking for something with a bit more weight. Being in Northwest Florida, a great many of the trees around are much too "bent" to provide a straight length of wood the right thickness. Purchasing a cane or stick that would be more suitable and of better weight for my purposes would cost a fair bit more than I can currently afford (at least what I've found).

I've carried my cane through many airports (Detroit, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, DFW, etc) with no problems. One TSA agent in Los Angeles thought to question me about it, but his supervisor overhearing the 'conversation' very quickly reprimanded the agent, and apologized profusely to me for the agent's questions.

Any ideas where I can find something similar to what you described the subject of your post carrying, for a price that is affordable to a broke college student with two kids?

 

[Shadow 7D]

Make it
you can buy a hardwood banister topper or hardwood ball
find a sapling of the size you like

cut to length (a couple, you probably will run into cracking issues as the wood dries)
carve a decorative design (or not) in the bark, top with rubber cane tip and grip

 

[Carl Levitian]

The stick is the ultimate in effective under the radar weapons. It can be made from darn near anything, is non metallic, can be non lethal or lethal depending on how it is used, and can even be made out in the bush. It's probably man's first tool/weapon when some distant ancestor of man picked up something to clobber some dinner. When we got our course in army basic training as part of our escape and evasion class, they showed us how to use almost anything as a stick weapon. Long stick or short stick use depending how much of a broken broomstick, mop handle, towel rack, chair rung, shovel handle, you manage to get a hold of.

I've traveld with my Irish blackthorn stick, which is a knobby rough stick that looks like it would be something one of the O'Mally's would used on an O'tool in the big fiction fights they used to have in Ireland. But I've never been stopped, and the only attention the stick ever gets is they x-ray it to make sure there's nothing concealed in it. So far I've made it through security at Washington Dulles, Londons Heathrow, Frankfort, Rome, Tampa, Key West, and Savanah Georga airports. No problems with a stick getting on board anywhere. Nobody ever looks twice at a stick these days. Even here in Washington D.C. where the federal buildings have very tight security, I've went right through with a stick and a sturdy pen.

There's really nothing else you can carry anywhere in the world, even London, that will block an incoming threat from a sharp weapon, and do some crippling damage in return. Ages ago, those were some wise men who traveled the king's highways with a purse dangling from a belt, but a quarterstaff in hand.
Carl.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

I'm not sure what the big news is. The TSA explicitly states that canes, once inspected (x-rayed) to enure they aren't concealing anything, are allowed and lists no need to prove it is required medical equipment.

 

[Rail Driver]

I'm not sure what the big news is. The TSA explicitly states that canes, once inspected (x-rayed) to enure they aren't concealing anything, are allowed and lists no need to prove it is required medical equipment.

I think the OP was simply confirming what you just stated for himself. As mentioned in my own post, not every TSA agent is aware even of their own policies and rules (this is well known). Also, in my experience, not all TSA agents are proficient in interacting with the public. This results in a lot of mess for some people. Making problems like this public can help to solve the problem if/when the right people hear about it, for example I reported my experience to the TSA administration via their website and contact emails, and in so doing I hope that they made a better effort to educate their employees. This post seeks to do something similar, and also seeks to reassure "regular people" that yes, they can bring their cane or stick with them.

 

[zxcvbob]

Any idea about a metal cane? (steel tubing with a traditional crook on one end and a rubber tip on the other) It would look like about like drugstore aluminum but not adjustable -- and quite a bit heavier if someone picks it up.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Rail Driver, I suppose I was just unaware that people thought this might be an issue. While I agree with your comments about the TSA, I've seen so many canes of various types in the airport that it seemed more or less sorted out. While I've seen people hassled over certain allowed items (mainly actual medical devices/equipment), I've never seen anyone look twice a cane other than the standard x-ray to ensure it isn't a sword cane.

zxcvbob, metal canes are allowed, but I have no idea what would happen with a steel one. I suspect nothing unless it was conspicuously heavy and even then, I'm not sure what they would do.

 

[Shadow 7D]

allowed, but they probably will get wiped
*edit* to run in the explosive detectors

 

[glistam]

Even steel would probably be fine. I was conversing with a lady with MS a few months ago (she saw my hornbeam cane and struck up a conversation). She said she specifically uses a pair of steel canes because anything weaker like aluminum would bend under her weight due to how she has to use them. I've also heard of many other people who are obese or just very tall with big frames who use heavy steel canes for purely structural reasons.

Incidentally, maybe we should all quiet down about this subject. The stupid policymakers might be listening...

 

[zxcvbob]

Incidentally, I am 6'7" and overweight (not obese but close) and when my back acts up I need a longer sturdier cane than most people. A steel cane (1/2" EMT) would be perfect, but I don't know what happens when they try to X-ray it.

 

[Owen Sparks]

I would rather avoid the undue attention a metal cane would attract at the airport. Just about anywhere else it would not matter.

One thing I would avoid like the plague is this:

http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerc...Stick™+with+Skull+Head+Grip/CS91STS.html

The objective is to remain low key and nothing about a deaths head is low key.

 

[conw]

The objective is to remain low key

THR has a LOT of Google juice.

If I was interested in canes as a SD weapon and as they relate to TSA, I would do my best to keep search queries for "tsa+cane" or "What weapons does TSA still allow?" or so on (and on and on) from revealing that interest, both as they related to me personally (or even if Owen Sparks isn't your real name) and just in general, despite what I felt the odds were that anything would come from it, either on a systemic or personal level.

Some cherry picked quotes from your post, attributed to your name, on the 3rd page of some newspaper, might also be bad news. You never know what some reporter might pick up on a Google search and write about. THR members usually think of themselves as "the good guys" and expect others to realize it, but the following quotes taken out of context might be bad publicity, to say the least.

 

[Resist Evil]

What type of venue typically offers self-defense cane training? Do I just call Asian martial arts places, tell them I've got a cane and I would like to learn how to use it for self-defense?

Part of getting the correct answer is asking correctly and I have no clue where to begin asking.

 

[RX-178]

Could have saved the lawyer! I've kept a walking cane with a crook, that had a very sharp point on it (like a bird's-head cane, with a sharp 'beak'?), painted glossy black, and with grip surfaces all the way down its length. It doesn't even LOOK inconspicuous, it looks like a something that can hurt you.

Now, I HAD kept a inconspicuous wooden walking stick in the past, but it started to splinter and crack over a lot of training with it, so with how often I travel, I eventually had to fly with the black cane. I imitated using it (touching the tip to the floor as I walked) the first few times... then I stopped doing that, and just kept it lashed to my carry-on bag so I could get through security faster.

I have now flown (INTERNATIONALLY as well) with this cane nearly a dozen times, without even using it as I walk. No issues, except being asked if I need it.

And no, they weren't accusing me of having a weapon when they asked that. They were asking me that because if I needed it, they were going to hand it to me so I could use it as soon as it went through the machine.

 

[hso]

Avoid metal because it will attract unwanted attention if you have to go through metal detectors.

That needs further clarification since my umbrella has gone through half a dozen x-ray conveyors in airports all over the east coast and west this year alone. It isn't the presence of metal, but the unexpected presence of metal that would draw attention. It would be moronic to try to pass a sword/dagger cane through an airport, but it would be nearly as foolish to try to pass a cane with a head fashioned to provide a spike on the handle. A handle mounted using both a double ended screw and glue wouldn't make any alarms go off, but a big spike tip with a cover would. Just so everyone knows that an absolute statement isn't being made.

 

[Owen Sparks]

I really would avoid metal mostly because of the hassel of having to wait for it to be inspected. Also a heavy metal knob handle might be seen as a weapon.

 

[Carl Levitian]

The basic question that comes to me is; with a stick being such a great capable weapon for offense or defense, and completely under the establishment radar, why would you want to crumb up a nice stick with metal hardware to gain unwanted attention?

Carl.

 

[zxcvbob]

Don't for a minute think it's under the radar. It's just political suicide to try to demonize walkers, canes, crutches, etc. right now.

 

[saltydog452]

There is the business card of my Rheumatologist M.D. guy in my Passport. On the back of that card is a brief signed stmt to the effect that 'a walking aid is needed occasionally. Call if there is a need for clarifacation.'

I thought the card would be handy for Cruise boat/Port Of Call security personnel, but even then, the card wasn't needed.

salty

 

[Owen Sparks]

It might be ONLY if you were to travel outside the US where the ADA does not apply.

 

[CWL]

I've been traveling with a cane or umbrella since shortly after 9/11. Been thru all the major airports in the USA, Asia and Europe. Never get a second glance.

Also tend to carry these with me on Intl. flights.

 

[glistam]

ComTech Stinger goes through airport security? Really?

 

[regularjoe]

You have Lignum Vitae there, in Fla. That is some of the hardest wood going. You have to work to keep these hard woods from spitting as they dry, but it is worth it. I have a stick of Desert Ironwood, and I exercise with it every day.

 

[CWL]

ComTech Stinger goes through airport security? Really?

Yep. Domestic and Intl.

I'm more concerned about the flashlight with the crenelated bezel, which is why I carry a cheapie, so that I can surrender it if I ever get hassled.