Hi all. I am flying home for a visit in a couple of weeks and was wondering if any of you could enlighten me about what is and is not allowed on planes now. I have a cross-stitching project that I’m working on, and would like to be able to work on it during the rather lengthy flight. However, I have to be able to snip the threads. I am assuming that sewing scissors would not be permitted. How about nail clippers? Would those be OK? And could I even get away with the sewing needles?
I found this at the FAA’s FAQ:
"Can I carry my pocket knife on board?
“No knives or cutting instruments of any size or material will be allowed in the aircraft cabin. Knives may be transported only in checked baggage. Airlines will no longer provide steak knives for on-board food service.”
Note the phrase “of any size.” I think that excludes scissors, nail clippers, and the like. Needles might get through, but then you’d have to bite off the threads.
I think you’re going to have to bring a book. I sympathize; my wife is a dedicated X-stitcher, and she’s looking for something else to do on our next flight.
Oh, and if you want to read more about the new security procedures, visit this website:
A diver leaving Bonaire just reported (it’s on this BBS: http://www.bonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/27/11107.html?1000846472 ) that nail clippers were removed from his shaving kit. Dive knives were removed from checked baggage. Will all security groups be that strict?
I don’t think we know yet. You might try calling the airports you will be using, but I have a feeling the answer may depend on who you talk to.
I don’t know how accurate the info is, but I just heard an official-sounding announcement on the radio that stated that fingernail files, scissors, spray cans of hair spray, deoderant, etc. were forbidden, and suggested that you simply wait and buy these at your destination.
Maybe plain nail clippers without an attached fingernail fail would be permissable? I don’t know.
Oddly enough, one of my e-mail lists just posted instructions on how to use these and other items to attack and overwhelm hijackers.
I wonder if any dark-skinned, turbaned airplane passengers are suddenly going to find themselves under attack by women swinging purses, trying to stab them with inkpens, spike them with high heels, and throw blankets over their heads?
I fly between six and eight times a year. There’s no way of knowing if my embroidery scissors are going to be taken away from one flight to the next. I typically travel with my oldest pair, and also bring along a back-up-book. When I’ve suspected that security would be unusually tight, I’ve cut thread in advance, and wound it onto my business cards.
My husband flew this morning and he said airport security (here in Denver) were very strict. They took away his meat thermometer (which he understood). He mentioned that it was a good thing he pack his toiletries in his check-in bag because people were not allowed to take razors or nail clippers with their carry-ons (yes, he specifically mentioned nail clippers).
There is now.
I’m just off a flight to Dublin from San Francisco (changing planes in Paris). I overheard someone mention that her tweezers had been confiscated. Mine weren’t, though.
To be honest I didn’t notice security being any stricter than usual, which worries me a little bit.
The detector at Charles de Gaulle caught the metal buckles on my jacket and shoes. The one at SFO didn’t, which worries me a LOT.
Here is my suggestion: pack needles with blunt tips. Also, a great way I have found to cut string and thread is to pack an emery board. One of the really cheap cardboard or paper ones. Just rub the string up against the file’s edge, and it cuts it very well.
Hey, thanks for the great idea, red_dragon60!
Wow, red_dragon, that never occurred to me (re the emery boards). Thanks for the tip. And thanks to everyone else who has provided info in this thread. I think I’m going to leave the nail clippers at home but try to bring my sewing needles on board. I don’t have any blunt tipped ones at present, but I’m sure I can pick some up at the local fabric store.
According to today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune, fingernail clippers are ok as long as they don’t have “penknives” attached (I assume the author means those useless nail-file thingies that flip out).
If you want your nail clippers to look even less threatening, try the ones in the baby section of the supermarket. They’re only about an inch long, don’t come with the nail file, and often have teddy bears on them. Can’t imagine anyone trying to use those as a weapon with a straight face.
They ought to cut embroidery floss, though!
I heard Peter jennings report on ABCNews after 6:30 PM on 9/18 that among the 10,000 or so items confiscated were nail clippers. I have also heard similar reports out of my local airport. It’s the same kind of hysterical zero tolerance school children have been subjected to.
Whoops, those 10k items were confiscated at LAX.
I’m not sure why I posted that link to the FAA site, 'cause everybody that posted after me proceded to speculate or cite FOAF info, instead of reading the official policy.
Ladies and gents, the FAA sets policy on airport security. If their site says “No cutting instruments”, that means no. Now, if you want to take the chance of bringing a pair of baby nail clippers, go right ahead. But don’t be surprised if they are confiscated and/or you are delayed on your way to your plane.
We’ve all seen the news. Things are nuts right now at airports. We should all be trying to find ways to REDUCE potential problems, instead of seeing what we can get away with at the security checkpoint.
This rant made possible by a grant from the Chubb Corporation.
But I don’t understand. What was he doing with a meat thermometer in his carry-on luggage? Carry-on is designed solely for things you cannot check for security reasons (like your expensive laptop computer) or for things you need before arriving at your destination.
The best thing the airlines could ever do is implement draconian restrictions on carry-on bags. No roll-on luggage. Absolute limits of one bag per person, restricted to the size of a briefcase 6 inches thick. Require all bags to be locked in the overhead compartments for the flight’s duration.
Of course, they’ll have to improve security and reliability in the check-in baggage department. I’ve never lost a bag, in fact, my luggage often gets to my destination long before I do. But I understand why people don’t want to check in their luggage. They’re exploiting loopholes in the existing system, and the loophole should be plugged.
Where is it written that carry on should only be things of need during the flight? I carry on things I don’t wish to have stolen from me by baggage handlers, I also carry all diabetic supplies with me, because losing my son’s insulin would be a very bad thing. Also, if you lock away the baggage, people with medical conditions, such as diabetics, would have undue restrictions placed upon them. The idea that I would have to argue with a flight attendant over getting my son’s glucagon kit, whilst he is unconscious, is just unreal.
So remove it from the locked up overhead compartment and put it in your pocket or the seatback pouch before the plane leaves the station.