Evil black folding "assault knife"...

W

WETSU

New member
No kidding. Talked with a buddy of mine today and he told me about his recent rousting at the airport. He was carrying the small Benchmade Mel Pardue knife, with a blade under 3". He dumps it into the change/key thing while walking through. Rentacop Jr. grabs his knife, opens it and says "Whoa, you're gonna hafta put that in your checked baggage". After arguing with the pinhead, he finds out the reason his knife is "bad". Not because it's too long, nor was it serrated, but because it was BLACK! Rentacop Jr: "no way, this knife is black, only military or law enforcement carry these-sorry".

WTF? I know I've seen other threads like this on TFL, but I had to vent.
 
sounds like a real pinhead. as bad as the guy who said my Spyderco CRICKET was a no-no when I was on my way to pick someone up.

The FAA limit is 3" I believe, but there is some horse$hit clause about a knife looking "menacing" which apparently gives the mental midget behind the metal detector some authority. I believe that the general rule is that the largest airliner in the airport makes the rules from there, so maybe we should consider a letter campaign.

Goto Bladeforums if you want to hear this conversation come up on a regular basis :)

Here's a tip which seems to work. Knives with clips can be used as money clips. Have a $100 or two on the top of the fold with some fivers or whatever stuffed in between, and it'll come out clean. They are trained to avoid money like Ebola Zaire. If they raise a huff, you can always accuse them of stealing one of your bills. :)
 
This is getting to be ridiculous! I carry a Victorinox Executive and a Spyderco Cricket every day. I'm 49 years old. When I was in school, the person with a nice pocket knife was admired. Now if a kid took his Case to school he would be labeled a terrorist! When I go to the book store to purchase the latest issue of "Shooting Times" I draw stares of contempt. (I stare back. :)) I hate to read posts like this. It seems like the country is determined to go in a different direction than I want to go.

Will

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Mendacity is the system we live in.
 
FAA legal length is 4". Whatever gets on a plane is ultimately at the discretion of the pilot, it is his responsibility. Since heightened airport security began serrated edges have been considered menacing, though I use a serrated Spyderco Harpy (hooked blade) as a money clip and by dropping it into the tray clip up with a $100 bill on the outside they have been more distracted looking at the money than the knife. Never heard about a black blade.

WLM, don't stare, GLARE back with a crazed look in your eye and one eyebrow raised, then while slumped over tuck the mag in your shirt or jacket, while leaving the store be sure to to give a paranoid glance over your shoulder. That should scare the sheep into staying home next time. Sheep will to anything to avoid a confrontation.
 
Yea, you should have seen the look on a coworker's face after I handed her my knife, a Benchmade Mini-AFCK. Funny thing is, she asked me if I had a knife she could use! Sheeple amaze me...

Erik
 
And then there was the time during one of my peace officer's classes, the instructor asked for a knife. Out comes my lefty AFCK BT blade for use as an example. One dimwhit states that it is an assault knife (presumably because it is black and mean looking), and that she would confiscate it.
Last I heard she passed her peace officer's exam.
Those airport "security" monkeyspanks need to get a life!
 
Sounds like the kinda guy that buys "Tactical" stuff at twice the price just to be cool with his buddies! Real halmark of a rookie Rent-A-Cop. We have a real problem with exactally the same type of person here on the military bases, and they're just glorified DoD stooges playing police man. Hate 'em, and for good reason. Real mental midgets from the shallow end of the gene pool.

Tom



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Remember, no matter where you go, there you are!
 
Hey, if I can run a Mary Kay road grader (The Pink Panzer), why can't you just paint the black knife?

Pink, pastel green...Or chartreuse! Tres, tres chic, ma cher, n'est pas?

:), Art

"A day gone by without spreading confusion is a day plumb wasted."
 
I don't know about you folks, but according to a job description I ran across once for a nearby airport where I live, the educational requirement for a position as security over the metal detectors are, "Must be able to speak and read English"!

Not a knock on all airport security, but somehow, I have to wonder if there isn't any potential for some real legal Einsteins to slip in and help us ignorant peasant folks intrepret FAA regulations. ;)

[This message has been edited by SB (edited February 10, 2000).]
 
Funny thing i carry a 5" butterfly knife a leo gave me everyday. I use it to open packages we get in from ups or fedex. Anyways in Indiana they are illegal. I can easily kill someone with any one of the number of pistols I carry at work, but a knife is deadly!!!!!
 
I comprende on this one...here in Texas it's illegal to have a knife w/a double edged blade. Swapped for a Gerber Applegate/Fairbairn and had to grind one edge off. How stupid is this? Bob

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Illegitimi non Carborundum
NRA LIFER
 
Art, I had the same thought about him painting the knife. I told him he should have gone to the giftshop, bought some pink nail polish and painted the thing very pretty like. He said "dang, I wish I would have thought of that!"

Probably wouldn't have helped.
 
A little off the subject here but...
Last august I had to go to Denver International Airport to pick up the wifes relatives. I took my Digital Camera along, big mistake. Security snatched it and took it to another area and then snatched me and made me use the camera to prove it was a camera. The bad part was the entire security force spoke almost no intelligible english at all so I didn't know what they wanted. I dealt with 5 different people and none of them were understandable. I actually suspected the airport had been taken over by forein terrorists.
What crap I think they should at least learn to speak the language and it wouldn't hurt to be a little polite either.
 
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