What’s keeping people from getting ceramic knives on to a plane. Would the current security measures detect knives such as these:
http://eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/index.html
http://store.knifecenter.com/pgi-ProductSpec?BO89
http://www.osograndeknives.com/Boker/boker_model_2031_ceramic.htm
Do the detectors pick these up, or are they something that could slip past the system?
X-ray machines will show the outlines of objects. The outline of a non-metallic knife should stand out. In a recent thread, the issue of non-metallic guns was discussed. You might want to search for that thread for relevant information. Anything can slip past inattentive security personnel, though.
I’d say that with the case of the knife, it wouldn’t be someting that would go in my carryon if I was gonna hijack something. I’d have it in my pocket, where they wouldn’t be able to x-ray, and would have to rely on the metal detector.
Chekmate,
I recently(a couple of days ago) learned law was inacted in the early 80’s that mandated that all caramic knives sold to civilians(all non-military personnel) must be manufactured with metal embedded in the plastic handle. Sorry, no cite.
I wonder how easy it would be to just remove the original handle and reconstruct it out of Bondo or something.
I’m still wondering about those “plastic” knives that seem to be so popular in the spy-toy catalogs.
The company makes a couple of kinds- a plastic copy of a “tanto” type knife, a double-edged dagger, and a triangular-section OSS “sleeve-knife” type.
They’re all molded entirely of some black, fiber-reinforced plastic, maybe a carbon fiber. Every catalog that carries the phone “voice changers” and whatnot has 'em. They’re about $3 each.
I wonder if the manufacturer will get a nice “Hi, we’re from the Government and we’re here to help you” type visit.
Yeah, what about those big plastic serated knives that chefs on cooking shows sometimes use to slice up onions and tomatoes? I wouldn’t want one of those at my neck or in my back. But as was mentioned, the X-ray machines show the outlines of things going through… if you’ve ever looked at the screen as they pass things through it just looks like a big black-and-white negative, quite clear and in focus - you can see papers and everything! I doubt I’ll be able to ever wander around the security checkpoints to snoop at such things again though; oh well.
But people don’t go through X-ray machines, we just go through metal detectors. I think the OP was concerned about people carrying non-metallic knives in their pockets.
Sultan Kinkari’s information seems to indicate that we are safe from this threat, though I wonder how difficult it is to remove that metal piece.
For information on a scanner that will detect ceramic knives, see here and the links there.
It’s a new device, currently in trial phase in the UK, but as well as being safer, it scans people as they move along and will speed up airport security approximately 3 times.