Swiss army knives on airplanes!

I'd still leave it in my checked luggage. I lost all my swiss army knifes to the TSA. (sigh) They took a set of allen wrenches too. "Careful you could poke an eye out with one of those." I've now got an original leatherman which I love!

Say what about box cutters? A razor balde is 1.53 x 0.5 (unless you count the thick bit folded over the top.)

Same here. Several times I've forgotten they're in my pocket. I usually toss them before I get to the "ball-handler" ;-)

I did forget I had a very nice cork-screw in my carry-on. TSA didn't spot it. At the client's location I had the secretary mail it back to me so I didn't risk losing it on the return trip.

I avoid demonstrating what you can do with the typical mechanical pencil or needle-point pen.

It has dash-dash-space, you senile moron.

A couple of years ago I flew from Auckland to LAX, then from LAX to Frankfurt, headed for Zurich. The official in Frankfurt asked me to open my backpack, "What's this?" he asked, pulling out my Swiss army knife. He didn't make a fuss (after all I was headed for Switzerland), he just said "Don't do it again" and put it back in my bag. I thought it was amusing that the backpack had passed through the anal security systems of AKL and LAX, but it took German thoroughness to find the knife.

I guess they were too busy groping your junk to look for more metallic security threats.

Hong Kong has particularly anal security.. I've lost a couple of things there (some really nice fine tweezers and another small tool)

I arrived at SFO security and realized that I had my SAK in my pocket. I told the first person that "I have a Swiss Army Knife." All sorts of chaos followed. I was passed through about 5 different people, and they finally called the supervisor. She said that I couldn't take the knife on board. I knew that; I asked her if they could hold it for me, and return it on the trip back. No.

They must have an enormous collection of Swiss Army Knives. I wonder what happened to mine.

I often travel with weird electronics in my carry-on, but nobody notices.

Recently I forgot the knife in my bag again (yes, I know). The guy at AKL was quite friendly though. He opened it and measured the blade. "Just on the limit" he said and gave it back. I think it was a fraction over the limit.

The Aussies are pretty anal, too. I have to prove I had money and a ticket OUT of Australia before they'd let me in ;-) ...Jim Thompson

Probably sold off at auction, along with many of the other prohibited items confiscated by the TSA.

As I understand it, Federal law requires that the confiscated items be transferred to the state government to be sold as surplus.

Just as long as they don't look like a bomb. I've heard of people having all sorts of trouble trying to take home-built or kit-built electronic devices aloft... if it resembles anyone's idea of an improvised timing/detonation device, you could expect harsh questions, alarums and excursions, and a possible nasty delay in your departure.

The Sloman rule?

Like in New Zealand they also have severe fines for bringing food in. One of my former colleagues forget he had a banana in his bag. He nearly got an AU $250 fine but since he was a first time offender he got off with a warning. When travelling to New Zealand I choose the red lane instead of the green lane. I just gave the customs officer my hand luggage saying 'I've been travelling for the last 55 hours so just take anything out that may not enter your country'. Make it their (legal) problem. And the red lane was not busy at all... I had to wait a while for my colleague because he had choosen the green lane.

If it's a data capture device with buttons that say 'arm' and 'trigger' you should put tape over them.

A cow-orker was stopped for a cable with bisexual banana plugs on the end. He had them all plugged into the next one in the string and that wrapped around a box with replacement boards. They didn't find that amusing. The fact that he's of middle-eastern decent (and has an accent) didn't help.

All bombs have LED countdown timers, don't they?

--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com

Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom laser drivers and controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME thermocouple, LVDT, synchro acquisition and simulation

I guess that's not enough to slice your neck like 911.

Greg

That is so last millennium.

reminds me of the fellow who took with him on an airplane a spare "electron gun" for a SEM...

Jure Z.

Okay, if we insist on color TFT LCD touch screens with proper licensed sans-serif fonts (no Comic Sans or Papyrus!), we'll set the terrorists' development programs back significantly.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

e.

I'm always taking 'scopes and other test gear onto planes, and sometimes the 'last minute' bit of air-wire electronics... no one seems to care, about 50% of the time I don't even have to open up my bag for a 'look see'.

As long as you just do things with electrons, nothing nuclear, you're fine. :^)

George H.

(We sell this muon apparatus, is that a nuclear or electron 'thing'?)