What in the world in the reason for allowing this? Can’t think of one “pro” for this…WTF???
The ban on knives has always been a bit silly because it includes things like pocket knives, which are really more tools than weapons. Sure you can stab someone with a pocket knife, but they aren’t that deadly. You can stab someone with a pencil too, and in fact a pencil might even be more deadly because it’s longer and can penetrate deep enough to strike vital organs. So the banning of something like a Swiss Army knife has always been a bit silly.
Weapon style knives (anything with a blade long enough to reach vital organs) are still banned.
Always keep in mind: The pen is mightier than the sword!
Did you hear about the poor old lady who had her knitting needles confiscated?
TSA was afraid she’d knit an Afghan.
Really, there are a million things you can use for weapons. Banning them all isn’t possible, so why inconvenience someone by making them mail their Swiss Army money clip with a little blade and scissors if they absent-mindedly forget to leave it at home?
I’d like to know how they decided 2.35 inches would be safe and 2.36 inches is dangerous.
2.36 inches looks more menacing in person, I swear.
Today, if a handful of people stood up and started waving tiny pocket knives around, I’m quite certain (or hoping, at least) the rest of the 100+ passengers would immediately tackle them and stomp them into bloody paste. I’ll gladly risk a gash or two if it’s going to save my life (and everyone else on the plane), as I’m willing to bet most people would as well.
Hey, people need their pocket knives to defend themselves against those lunatics armed with four ounce bottles of shampoo.
Works out great for me. I have a tiny Swiss army knife on my keychain (one of these), and I hate having to either remember to take it off the keychain before I leave the house, or leave my keys at home when I travel. The whole thing is only two and a quarter inches long (blade is more like 1.4 inches) and it comes in darn handy for lots of itty bitty jobs. You never know when you’ll need a pair of scissors, you know?
I’ve always considered it idiotic that my 3" pocket knife is forbidden, but a 6" mirror in a woman’s purse is just fine. But if they’re going to allow pocket knives, then how about getting rid of that stupid ‘no scissors’ rule?
And how precise their rulers are going to be. I’ve already had two incidents of having to argue with a TSA agent that a bottle explicitly marked “100 mL” is, in fact, within the 3.4 fl.oz limit.
There is a standard test question in counterterrorism training which requires the student to identift twelve improvised weapons which can be used to restrain or disable an aggressive person and can be taken through airport security without issue. Three of the most common choices–including one that is greviously injurious if used effectively–can be found on most carry-on luggage.
Stranger
2.35in = 6cm
The reality is that with reinforced/locked cockpits, nobody is taking over a plane with a knife anymore. This was true a week after 9/11 and will be likely be true for the next 50 years. I don’t care if the guy is swinging a machete, all he’s got is a captive audience that is going to pile on his ass the moment he starts getting violent.
A bomb, OTOH, will work just as well today as it did on 9/10, so your big bottle of shampoo is a no-go.
The pliers on my Leatherman Squirt are more dangerous than the knife blade. About time they got a smidge more sensible.
TSA rules have never even pretended to make sense or that they have anything to do with safety. I’m guessing a bunch of people got tired of having their Swiss army knives thrown away, so they buckled. They say it was to be better in line with how the rest of the universe travels, but really, they didn’t want to be bothered with hassle of throwing away (often valuable) 1 inch blades anymore. Now if only they’d realize that I wasn’t going to moisturize the plane to death with a tiny bottle of Dove. What cracks me up most about these clowns they don’t seem to care how much liquids/gels you bring on the plane, except when they do. Ten 3 oz bottles? No prob. One 6 oz bottle that’s about 1/4 full? Chuck it.
One day I’m going to grow tired of complaining about the TSA, but not today.
And when you have to chuck it, they chuck it into the trash can right next to them, so if it were explosive, they just killed themselves and everyone else standing there.
The right angle on a webcam can do wonders as well.
In fact, the security gate arrangements in most airports are what counterterrorism experts would call a “target rich environment”; passengers crammed into a small and constrained space, large amounts of baggage, and most importantly effectively zero actual security. You could walk into an airport and right up to the security gate with a bomb, can of gasoline, or assault rifle, and there are zero barriers or surveillance except the minimum wage flunky who prechecks that you have a photo i.d. The most convincing argument that there are not, in fact, massive underground terror cells in every city and hamlet from Manhattan to Mendicino is that no one has availed themselves of this overripe fruit.
Security theater, my ass. More like “security kindergarten puppet show”.
Stranger
Scissors have been good to go for sometime as long as the blade is shorter than 4 inches. I’ve been taking little scissors along with my super sharp, pointy, sock knitting needles on planes for a while now. Seriously, the needles are the more deadly of the two. I’ve been tempted to use them on obnoxious passengers, but I didn’t want to mess up my project.
The reason for allowing it is that the items in question (small pocket knives) are basically harmless, and prohibiting them seriously inconveniences a lot of people and also wastes manpower that’s better dedicated to looking for REAL threats.
Next question?
Like hand sanitizer.