Airport Friendliness

[mundele]

Have a question for you guys. I have seen several postings mention knives being "Airport Friendly". What length is generally accepted? Does serrated vs nonserrated matter? Are there actual documented guidelines, or is it just up to the security guard?

[Carlos]

I looked up the FAA guideline, and the official blade length limit is 4"

But individual airports and airlines often have tighter restrictions. The lowest common denominator we have experienced is 3" max blade and no serrations. Serrations have been demonized recently for some reason.

As always, I should note that I am not a lawyer and you should check the rules yourself.

Edited by - Carlos on 8/24/00 7:06:04 PM

[sam the man..]

It's 3&quot; - legal carry here in Malaysia but its always better to put those 'lil spydies in your bum bag when your cross over the metal detector. When I travel on domestic flights, I pack a spydercard in my wallet -- this excellent blade gave me no hassles at all at the boarding gate! <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>

Sam

have spydies
will travel...

[Brian_Turner]

Carlos -

Where did you find the FAA reg? I'd love to get a printed copy to show the rent-a-cops!

[Joel McNamara]

The catch-22 with the FAA reg is security has the descretion of not allowing any knife they consider is threatening or menacing. Obviously pretty vague and subject to lots of interpretation by the individual employee and his/her manager.

Getting into a lengthy &quot;discussion&quot; with airport gate security (low pay, high job turnover, minimal training) over a knife is a great way to miss your flight.

In my opinion, low profile is the way to go. For airports, smaller is better. I've never had a problem with a plain-edge Delica or Dragonfly while generating a whole lot of frequent flier miles over the years.

Joel

[Slayer]

Several years ago, I was flying monthly within the US. I had a problem twice with a serrated endura and almost missed one flight because of it. Serrated edges definitely get their attention. I was in the phoenix airport later and overheard &quot;security&quot; telling some passenger &quot;no serrated knives&quot;. I put mine in my briefcase with the knife spine on top so that x-ray would only see a line the width of the blade and not the blade outline. I continued doing that and never had airport hassles again. Traveling a year or 2 later, I was carrying a delica and it did not draw any funny looks from airport people even though it had partial serrations; they rarely looked at the edge. It also helped that I acted like a &quot;weary business traveler&quot; who was harmless and just wanted to get home (the truth).

My suggestion would be a plain edge, delica sized knife (or smaller) for airport carry with something larger in other luggage. I considered the larger knife my travel weapon since taking a pistol wasn't an option.

Slayer

[Carlos]

Brian:

Their offical site is:

http://www.faa.gov

Just do a site search under &quot;knife&quot;

[Brian_Turner]

Can you be more precise? I bring up over 500 articles on &quot;knife&quot;.

Thanks!

Edited by - Brian_Turner on 8/28/00 12:12:38 PM