# Lightsaber question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065 "2023-10-25T08:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/1 "2023-10-25T08:57:43Z")
So a childhood dream came true and I finally got a real lightsaber. It is just like in the movies! It goes bzzzzzz and cuts through stuff like a hot knife through butter, and the blade is a gorgeous [tyrian purple](https://www.solidbackgrounds.com/images/2560x1440/2560x1440-tyrian-purple-solid-color-background.jpg) in colour. The problem is that I am currently not in my home town, I will have to take a plane. I have found out how to block the saber, so nobody can switch it on except me. I plan to put it in a beautiful wooden box with a velvet lining and claim it is a collector’s item. Still, it should show some suspicious parts in the security scanner, it is high tech after all. And a bit heavier than I expected. What do you think: will I manage to get it on board through security as hand luggage? Will the German customs (I am currently outside the Schengen Area) let me bring it into the country? And if so: will they demand import duties? Or is there a better way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/2 "2023-10-25T09:32:27Z")
Lightsabers are fine (well not sure if it counts as a sword or welding equipment, it may have to go into checked baggage in any case); your problem is that batteries with a capacity over 100 or 150 Wh or so are not allowed on board aircraft, so you will have to ship the power pack separately or purchase one locally. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/3 "2023-10-25T09:33:18Z")
Me: (hand wave) “These items are acceptable carryons.” TSA Agent: “Umm… these items are acceptable carryons.” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/4 "2023-10-25T09:50:44Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > it may have to go into checked baggage in any case No, no, no! I am not letting the baggage handlers lose it, break it or steal it! > [@Smapti](#): > > Me: (hand wave) “These items are acceptable carryons.” TSA Agent: “What, you think you’re some kinda Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I’m a Toydarian! Mind tricks don’a work on me, only money.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/5 "2023-10-25T11:02:27Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Mind tricks don’a work on me, only money.” Sounds like you have your answer then. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/6 "2023-10-25T11:33:37Z")
Not having enough money the origin of many a difficulty is, is it not? And I believe the TSA Agent lied: what really motivates him is not money, but sadism. Anyway: I am not a Jedi. I just happened to get my hands on a lighsaber, and I am not letting it go. _My_ precioussss! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/7 "2023-10-25T11:37:39Z")
Just make sure not to drop it perfectly vertical, then. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/8 "2023-10-25T11:41:03Z")
Maybe you could rebook your flight by way of the Kessel Run, I hear there is less official attention that way. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/9 "2023-10-25T16:26:49Z")
Given that TSA has refused to allow [toy lightsabers on planes before](https://www.loweringthebar.net/2013/06/tsa-has-objected-to-lightsabers-before.html), they’re probably going to be pretty bitchy about a real one. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/10 "2023-10-25T16:30:11Z")
Just say it’s a gun and you forgot you packed it. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/11 "2023-10-25T16:32:35Z")
But mine would be switched off, and even they admit that [![](https://www.loweringthebar.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/6a00d83451bd4469e20192ab0e8550970d-800wi.png) ](https://www.loweringthebar.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/6a00d83451bd4469e20192ab0e8550970d-800wi.png) It is not a long plastic tube, it is just the handle. Cylindrical, more or less, 10" long, 2" wide, shiny metallic with groovy grooves and I see this is going to be difficult. (But a nice article you linked to, thank you!) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/12 "2023-10-25T16:40:07Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Just say it’s a gun and you forgot you packed it. Sorry, I am not in the USA. I found the lightsaber in Aladdin’s Cave, which is in the Arabian Peninsula. To get it to Germany I have to fly, I am not crossing land borders through Turkey or Russia with that treasure. I am not crossing the Sahara Desert either, nor am I willing to cross the Mediterranean on a boat full of desperate migrants. And I am afraid that if I check my lightsaber as baggage it will not arrive at destination. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/13 "2023-10-25T16:44:03Z")
Maybe you can hang on the outside of a Nazi submarine? ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/14 "2023-10-25T16:49:24Z")
Stash it in your R2 unit. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/15 "2023-10-25T16:59:22Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Given that TSA has refused to allow [toy lightsabers on planes before](https://www.loweringthebar.net/2013/06/tsa-has-objected-to-lightsabers-before.html), they’re probably going to be pretty bitchy about a real one. Especially if you can’t control the blade. > **[World's LONGEST Lightsaber](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofvoLdLssA8%2F)** > > Subscribe! ► http://bit.ly/subscribe\_to\_corridorWATCH MORE CORRIDOR ► http://bit.ly/MORE\_CORRIDOR OUR GEAR:PRO CAMERA ► http://bit.ly/\_pro\_8K\_CAMFAVORITE MIC... ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/16 "2023-10-25T17:50:28Z")
This is all great information as I myself am going to be traveling domestically in the next few hours and may yet find a light saber on my way to the airport. It is the DC metro, after all… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/17 "2023-10-25T18:02:01Z")
Some sensible advise at last! ---
**Author:** ![Guapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guapo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/18 "2023-10-25T18:12:49Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Maybe you could rebook your flight by way of the Kessel Run, I hear there is less official attention that way. That will take a parsec longer ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/19 "2023-10-25T19:40:48Z")
How good of a handyman are you? The safest approach is to remove the primary [kyber crystal](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kyber_crystal), rendering the device inert. But when you reconstruct it, if you don’t get the primary crystal perfectly aligned with the focusing crystal, it will potentially detonate. It’s probably easier to remove the power source, as others have recommended. Another possible approach: plasma fields are known to contain lightsaber beams, so if you construct a plasma containment unit, you should be fine. I don’t see anything on the TSA website banning Tokamaks. > **[How Lightsabers Work](https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber3.htm)** > > From hedge trimming to reheating coffee, lightsabers are quite practical around the house. Find out how a lightsaber can improve your life. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065/20 "2023-10-25T19:48:37Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > Stash it in your R2 unit. Do droids require a separate ticket? You might have to claim it’s an emotional support R2 unit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-question/992065.md?page=2)