TSA will allow small knives starting 4/25/13

[autolycus]

Beginning 4/25, the TSA will allow certain small knives on planes originating in the US. Other countries might not allow the same, so be conservative when traveling outside the US.

Here's what will be allowed:

Permitted:
The blade must be no more than 2.36 inches or 6 cm in length – from tip to where it meets the handle or hilt
The blade must be no more than ½ inch in width

Not Permitted:
Knives with locking or fixed blades
Knives with molded grips
Razors and box cutters

I personally think this is a great improvement, but I will be very careful what types of knives I try to carry-on for a while. "Locking" blades is a tough restriction though. That almost certainly means I can't even carry on my Leatherman Wave because the blade does lock to a moderate extent. Anybody with a safer alternative leatherman? Does the Skeletool's blade lock? Is it <2.65" long and < .5" in width?

[Fat Crip]

The locking restriction is a pain, to say the least! Even my baby pocket knife locks because I value my fingers. Clearly they are saying a small Swiss Army knife is OK, leave anything else at home. I wouldn't want to risk my Wave trying this as I'd be gutted to lose it after having had it for 12 or 13 years.

[Rory]

Nice, my Gerber Dime makes the cut (sorry for the pun).

[capncat]

in my experience, they haven't been that consistent about enforcing this restriction anyway, so maybe they've been unofficially allowing them for a while? i have (albeit accidentally!) flown on multiple US domestic trips over the past 2-3 years where i forgot to take my small swiss army knife out of my "oh sh** kit" and no TSA agent, in both huge and the very tiniest airports, has so much as batted an eye.

[autolycus]

in my experience, they haven't been that consistent about enforcing this restriction anyway, so maybe they've been unofficially allowing them for a while? i have (albeit accidentally!) flown on multiple US domestic trips over the past 2-3 years where i forgot to take my small swiss army knife out of my "oh sh** kit" and no TSA agent, in both huge and the very tiniest airports, has so much as batted an eye.

Yeah, there are quite a few anecdotes similar to yours. I have personally been carrying a Swiss-tech utili-key with no problems. It's cheap enough that if they take it, I won't cry, but it does have a small blade and phillips head in case I need one of those. It looks like a large key blank, so that's part of why I believe it has gone un-confiscated.

[Rory]

Has anyone found an official document outlining the changes? Nothing I can find on tsa.gov. News reports say they will also allow golf clubs, lacrosse and hockey sticks, pool cues, ski poles, and small/novelty baseball bats. I haven't seen anything on scissors or nail clippers.

Re: the comments about lack of enforcement, I think that is just sloppiness on TSA's part. According to one article, "Pistole told the audience that TSA screeners at the Los Angeles International Airport alone seized roughly 47 such knives a day over the last three months of 2012"

[autolycus]

Has anyone found an official document outlining the changes? Nothing I can find on tsa.gov. News reports say they will also allow golf clubs, lacrosse and hockey sticks, pool cues, ski poles, and small/novelty baseball bats. I haven't seen anything on scissors or nail clippers.

Re: the comments about lack of enforcement, I think that is just sloppiness on TSA's part. According to one article, "Pistole told the audience that TSA screeners at the Los Angeles International Airport alone seized roughly 47 such knives a day over the last three months of 2012"

I meant to include links in my original post. Sorry about that.

Changes to sports equipment rules
Changes to knives

EDIT TO ADD: wrt scissors and nail clippers, the policy has been for some time: "Scissors - metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than 4 inches are allowed, but blades longer than 4 inches are prohibited"

[TavaPeak]

I donated the tiny blade from my "Swisscard lite" in December. Not clear if it would make the cut with the new guidelines anyway...

[lotuseater]

Hmm, last time golf clubs, hockey sticks and the like were allowed in the cabin was long before the airlines started charging for checked baggage. Have the geniuses in the TSA actually seen the average aircraft's overhead bins 2/3 of the way through the boarding process? Good luck being able to shove in a rollaboard when some dufus before you has brought on sporting equipment. (All the more reason to carry a softsided bag that is more efficient in the use of space.)

What's the chance that the airlines will find a way to introduce a surcharge for anyone bringing sporting equipment on board?

I do find it amusing to see one item in particular listed as a prohibited item (emphasis below is mine) -

"Full-size baseball, softball and cricket bats are prohibited items in carry-on luggage and must be placed in checked baggage."

Aside from annoying the heck out of the sizable H1-B visa holding Indian population working in the IT industry, who else is going to know what on earth the sport of cricket is?

Edit: The comment above is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. I inadvertently offended someone when I made a similar comment on another forum that doesn't use emoticons. I'm a Brit myself, and had an H1-B visa. And before that, saw my country on the receiving end of superior cricketing skills in international test matches. It's a pretty obscure sport in North America for someone in the TSA to go to the effort of documenting it as an excluded item.

[photocat]

How about letting me take a week's worth of toiletries in my carry-on instead of a knife...sigh. (Long hair and being a girl = lots-o-liquids)

[autolycus]

What's the chance that the airlines will find a way to introduce a surcharge for anyone bringing sporting equipment on board?

They'll just require certain items to be gate checked or put in the front "closet".

It's (cricket) a pretty obscure sport in North America for someone in the TSA to go to the effort of documenting it as an excluded item.

Or someone at TSA is a fan of the movie Shaun of the Dead.

[lotuseater]

Or someone at TSA is a fan of the movie Shaun of the Dead.

Ooh, I had forgotten about that. Best post apocalypse movie ever. Zombieland was a close second, but yes, the cricket bat really knocked the undead for six Now to the point, does someone in the TSA actually have a (British-inspired) sense of humour? Will we start seeing references to the Ministry of Silly Walks or the Norwegian Blue next?

[Pocketz]

Does the Skeletool's blade lock? Is it <2.65" long and < .5" in width?

I have a Skeletool and the blade does indeed lock.

[bltkmt]

Nice, my Gerber Dime makes the cut (sorry for the pun).

Mine too! That thing is on me 24/7.

[cucciasv]

...Or someone at TSA is a fan of the movie Shaun of the Dead.

Ha! It so happens that I will be showing Shaun of the Dead tomorrow in my "A Fun Look at Horror Cinema" class I give at the local University! (I thought I'd give my students a mid-semester break with a comedy horror film between such gems as Night of the Living Dead, Psycho and The Shining, on one side, and Suspiria, Ringu, and The Exorcist on the other.)

Meanwhile, it's a curious thing to me about carrying knives... I am into gadgets, EDC stuff, cool stuff, etc. but I must admit that – as with lip balm and water bottles – I never had the "need" for a knife always with me. I've never run into a situation where it would have helped to have a knife. Perhaps I lead a boring life.... yeah, I think that's it!

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Someone please help me!
I have BAS (Bihn Acquisition Syndrome)!!

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