# I brought a box cutter through TSA... twice
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 1, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091 "2014-04-01T15:54:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/1 "2014-04-01T15:54:15Z")
So I went on a long-ish trip yesterday. Went through TSA at the first airport, then had to go through again because I changed terminal buildings at one of my connections. When I got to my hotel room I realized I still had my box cutter in my knapsack. It came on three planes with me and I wasn’t asked about it once.
Should we find this alarming or surprising? Especially considering one of the airports was Boston, where the 9/11 plotters went through security with their box cutters? I can’t believe I wasn’t tackled or at least admonished by someone.
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### Author:  [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/2 "2014-04-01T16:08:55Z")
They were probably distracted by someone’s fingernail clipper or shampoo to notice your box cutter.
I once accidentally brought a souvenir pocket knife through the airport and nobody said a word.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/3 "2014-04-01T16:11:52Z")
My wife took a cake cutter with a 12 inch blade through several years ago. Theater of security…
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/4 "2014-04-01T16:12:15Z")
I’ve twice left O’Hare airport with something in my carry-on or pockets that then was ‘caught’ on the return trip. One was a Zippo style lighter I found in the parking lot while leaving for the trip, the other was a pocket knife. Neither was intentional and I just surrendered them and let security keep/dispose of them rather than hassle with having them mailed to me, etc.
Anyway, crack job going on there at O’Hare.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/5 "2014-04-01T16:12:55Z")
The TSA agent knew there were no boxes on board your flight.
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### Author:  [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/6 "2014-04-01T16:37:20Z")
My Leatherman Wave made three unintentional airline trips with me.
“ **That’s some mighty fine police work there, Lou.** ”
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/7 "2014-04-01T16:43:22Z")
There’s an article called “The Things He carried” published in the Atlantic, in which the author intentionally packed jihadist materials and weapons, matchbooks from Beirut hotels, rope, lighters, Hezbollah videos… He also did things like conspicuously tear up and discard fraudulent boarding passes in the terminal. All ignored by TSA “security.” On one occasion nail clippers were confiscated from him.
I can’t link but you should be able to find the article easily by the title.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/8 "2014-04-01T16:55:03Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#):
>
> Should we find this alarming or surprising? Especially considering one of the airports was Boston, where the 9/11 plotters went through security with their box cutters? I can’t believe I wasn’t tackled or at least admonished by someone.
It has always been _publicly stated_ that the 9/11 plotters used box cutters. Whether the plotters used box cutters or something else just as effective but easily passes through TSA (even today) remains elusive.
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### Author:  [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/9 "2014-04-01T19:03:56Z")
A few years back I made it onto two flights - from Milwaukee to San Francisco and the return flight - with live ammunition in my carry-on bag. Granted it was just 3 .357 magnum cartridges that had fallen out of an ammo box during a recent trip to the shooting range, but still… We have a bunch of quasi-trained monkeys with GED’s working for the TSA busy feeling up grandma while I’m boarding planes with live ammunition. Just goes to show you, we’re paying billions of dollars for security theater.
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### Author:  [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/10 "2014-04-01T19:21:45Z")
I have carried 1 liter steel or aluminum bottles full of water through security at 6 airports. Never intentionally, but I always forget to dump them out before I get to the checkpoint.
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### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/11 "2014-04-01T19:23:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> The TSA agent knew there were no boxes on board your flight.
Or there were, but those boxes had guns.
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/12 "2014-04-01T19:35:32Z")
I took a very functional large Swiss army knife through with me, forgot it was in my jacket.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/13 "2014-04-01T19:41:24Z")
A few years ago I was hassled because I had a deck of playing cards in my bag and they “couldn’t identify it through the scanner.” On the return trip I forgot to remove my liquids from my bag and I sailed right through.
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### Author:  [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/14 "2014-04-01T19:44:10Z")
I fly a lot. Way more than I want to. But anyway…
Here’s my 2 cents on this. I think the bigger the airport, the lower the chance stuff will be found. I have accidently carried banned items on flights at least 4 or 5 times in the last six months. I fly out of ATL. Nothing has ever been flagged and confiscated here. I fly into and out of Boston quite often. Again, never a problem. Same thing in Dallas, same in Miami, same in Orlando, etc.
So things that were missed by Atlanta were often found on the return flight when flying from smaller airports. Swiss Army knife, donated to Rochester TSA, another cheap promotional pocket knife donated to Portland TSA, a gift Zippo (new in box, no fuel) donated begrudgingly to the TSA in Rochester (different trip). A few others, but all seem to point to the trend of smaller airports catching stuff bigger airports didn’t.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/15 "2014-04-01T19:49:15Z")
I was stopped and held aside because _my middle name was misspelled on my ticket._ The reservations were made for me by an employee. She spelled my middle name “Steven” instead of “Stephen”. At one point I did a subtle eye-roll, adding an additional five minutes to my delay.
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/16 "2014-04-01T19:58:55Z")
I seem to recall that for a while TSA was keeping a running tally on their web site of all the fingernail clippers, pocket knives, etc. they had taken off passengers, as though every one was a hijacking averted. The total was in the hundreds of thousands. I guess they aren’t doing that any more.
> [@](#):
>
> I was stopped and held aside because my middle name was misspelled on my ticket. The reservations were made for me by an employee. She spelled my middle name “Steven” instead of “Stephen”. At one point I did a subtle eye-roll, adding an additional five minutes to my delay.
Frankly understandable, when you consider how many years they were looking for Osama Steven Bin Laden before they finally found him.
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### Author:  [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/17 "2014-04-01T20:06:39Z")
My sister was once pulled aside at JFK for what turned out to be studs on her jeans. On the same flight, her carry-on passed through with a large set of wood carving knives she’d forgotten about. It was a bit . . . disconcerting.
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### Author:  [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/18 "2014-04-01T21:06:37Z")
I haven’t ziplock-bagged my travel-size toiletries in years and no one’s noticed. TSA agents did, however, flag my partner’s bag because the block of fudge inside “looks a lot like plastic explosive on x-ray.”
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/19 "2014-04-01T21:18:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I brought a box cutter through TSA… twice
J’accuse …!
{INSERT PARODY OF WILD-EYED FOX NEWS RANT HERE}
🆒
😃
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-brought-a-box-cutter-through-tsa-twice/685091/20 "2014-04-01T22:25:08Z")
I went through (both ways) with a pair of large screwdrivers in my backpack. I didn’t realize they were there until I got to my destination. When I went back, I decided I’d try my luck since they were really good Milwaukee screwdrivers and I knew if I gave them up I’d never see them again. I got through.
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