Air Travel Blade Length Limit?

S

Superman

Joined
Feb 27, 1999
Messages
122
Does anyone know for sure what the blade restrictions on a pocket knife carried on airline flights are? I am going to be traveling to Mexico and want to make sure my knife doesn't get confiscated. Any replies are appreciated, thanks in advance!
 
I believe the length limit is 2.5". I also heard that the knife may not have a serrated blade. Anyone to confirm?
 
i read an article by massad ayoob in either AMERICAN HANDGUNNER or GUNS. if i remember correctly he said that FAA regs were 4" folding. could be plain or serrated. airlines can set tighter regs and many do. i've heard of one that said 2.5" and plain only like you said DrRMJ, but this varies airline to airline. as a personal experience, i flew in august and carried my serrated spyderco native without trouble. just put it in the basket with your keys and wallet. you'd be best off to check with the airline that you're flying. most have an 800 number that you can call for questions. do so. superman, you'd better do some additional checking, as you're going international. what may be legal going onto the flight may not be when you step off that plane.
 
A lightweight plain edge Cricket will never get you into trouble, and it can cut almost anything that you might need in such a situation.
Just drop your knife in your handbaggage and send it through the x-ray machine, 9 times out of 10 they won't even bother to check it if it's not something really large and with a lot of metal on it (better have a zytel handle, it doesn't show up on the screen as something threatening).
 
Hi All,
Two years ago we went to CanCun, Mexico to play in an International Tennis Tournament, and I brought my treasured "Heirloom" Leatherman with me as always. I have never had any trouble flying with it in the US, and of couse, leaving the U.S. was no problem. Upon preparing to return home, we spent a hour in the check-in line, checked our bags and went out to the gate. I was stopped at the Security Gate by a non-English speaking Security Guard and not allowed further with my Leatherman. I ended up having a heated exchange with 3 Security Guards and their Supervisor. They would not let me to board the plane with this small blade, and my boarding time was getting short. I left my wife, literaly RAN back to the main building, ignored the extremely long check-in line and jumped in the empty "First Class" line. I begged the agent to let me put the Leatherman in my previously checked bag. Unbelievably, he let me walk down the conveyor line, find the " luggage car" with my bag and put it in. I barely made the flight. My wife would have had to fly home alone if I had not been able to bring the Leatherman along (Sentimental knife). I guess the moral of the story is that if you have the opportunity to "check" a knife, you are better off doing so, as you never know what problems you might encounter. Obviously, the rules are different there, and when in Rome...
Regards,
Brian

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Brian-The new knife in the Block, and definitely not the sharpest!
 
There is a sign in my local airport right before the metal detectors that says that knife is limited to 4" due to FAA regulations. I went right through with a serrated full-size AFCK (3.9" blade). They did measure it and the guard didn't even know how to release the liner lock. The best advice I have ever heard on this issue is if you think it might be a questionable knife, to carry a self-addressed padded envelope with you with enough postage on it to get your knife home. If you are ever denied passage due to your knife, simply mail it to yourself instead of letting the guard get another free toy.
 
Ditto.

4 inch limit, serrations don't matter. I've carried on 3.5 inch serrated blades several times, even opening them for the security guards to inspect at least 3 times. No problems.

Steve Koski
 
Well said one and all.
If you have/need to carry on board make it small, plain and unobtrusive. Check your Sebenzas and Microtechs or some minuimum wage flunkie security guard may add it to his/her growing collection of toys.
Hey, it's happened to some in the past.
JMHO

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The bible is not such a book a man would write if he could, or could write if he would.

*Lewis S. Chafer

2 Tim 3:16
 
Thanks all for the input! I believe I'll take the safer route and check it. But, there is also the possiblity of customs searching luggage and not liking a Socom or Sebenza in there...
 
if you check it in your luggage make sure it's the kind that locks. Luggage has been known to be opened and rummaged through.

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lifter
Phil. 4:13

Dave
Wharton,NJ


 
Before checking an expensive knife in your luggage, read what it says on the ticket regarding how much money you'll get if the luggage gets lost. For a full 20kg (it's always by weight) it might not be as much as the knife is worth.

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Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/

"Smooth and serrated blades cut in two entirely different fashions."
- The Teeth of the Tyrannosaurs, Scientific American, Sep 1999


 
I'm still trying to figure out why "Superman" would need a knife?
wink.gif



Maybe to burrow away from any Kryptonite.

Blues




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Live Free or Die


 
I fly often, and have encountered this issue many times. I've been refused access due to a Benchmade Ascent with a sub-4" blade because it had semi-serrations. I've been refused access due to a plain-edge Carnivour with a blade length of 3.8" due to it's "tactical" appearance. My only "never fail" airport knife is my Spydie G10 Rookie, and I truly believe that it passes because I always make sure to slide a few dollars in the pocket clip and present it like a money clip. Chief's idea about the self-addressed padded envelope is a great one-it worked for me last week when the Carnivour got "busted" at Detroit Metro. Good Luck!
 
sub-4" folder is the standard FAA rule, but it varies from airline to airline and point to point. Domestic US flights are likely to be less trouble than international. With Mexico I'd be very careful as I don't know there approach to knives. The problem with airports is that you have rent-a-cops doing the security and they're not interested in you or the law. There is a clause in the FAA rules about "a menacing or scary knife" this lets the guard at the metal detector decide what is or isn't scary. That's the reason everyone always says no serrations, it's not that they're illegal, it's that they are "scary".

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~ JerryO ~

 
Ditto on the "Serrations are Scary"- My little Spyderco Navigator got the hairy eyeball from a guard at JFK in New York- I did the "Money Clip" trick- the guard made a little noise, but let me on the plane- the only time I've had trouble. The Jess Horn Spyderco is another good little flying knife.
But if you get a knucklehead guard, even the little plastic carry-out knives will get you in trouble. Dress nice & smile- calling the guards names (that they may even deserve) will not warm their hearts. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of these guards do confiscate knives on purpose & have fairly decent collections. (note to self: Fill out job applications at LaGuardia & JFK...)

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Runs With Scissors
AKTI# A000107
 
Just flew to Phoenix from Louisiana via Dallas and in Baton Rouge and in Phoenix I was checked with the hand held wand. My A.G. Russel featherweight wasn't a problem. Just put in the basket with the wallet glasses, change, etc. The small belt buckel and gromets in my shoes kept setting off the walk through. My friends got great pleasure in my personal shake down. I don't know how some people say they walk through the metal detectors with different knives on their person. Some may be set really low but these two detectors were very sensative. I wouldn't carry an expensive knife with me just in case I have a problem. I really do like the envelope idea. Don't like donating anything to the gards.

John

Slidell, La.
 
When I travel I like to have a small fixed bladed knife in my luggage. It's typically a $10.00 Mora or equivalent. Sometimes it accidently gets into a carry on bag and causes trouble. At that point I check the bag. So my general experience is that I've never gotten away with a fixed blade (even a 3"-bladed souvenir).

On the other hand I've virtually never had trouble with any folder that looks like a Swiss Army Knife. If it has the red side panels it is good to go. I usually carry an Adventurer model SAK with a 3.25" locking blade. I just dump it in the pocket metal basket when I walk through the metal detector and people ignore it. Any other knife is hit-or-miss depending on the airport more than the airline or the law. If airport security runs the metal detectors, they are the ones you need to persuade.

Jeff Clark--500 posts, but who's counting.



[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 19 November 1999).]
 
I've had luck getting through with my old Leatherman- I think when it's laying in the coin dish the guards don't even know what it is. Next time I fly the Buck 310 stockman is going just to see what happens. Pretty safe looking for sure.

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I've had luck getting through with my old Leatherman- I think when it's laying in the coin dish the guards don't even know what it is. Next time I fly the Buck 310 stockman is going just to see what happens. Pretty safe looking for sure.

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It depends where you are flying. Cancun was mentioned earlier as a very tight spot. Ten years ago my wife was hassled for a pair of very small cuticle scissors while leaving Cancun. In North America, most small folders get through without a problem. I've never had a problem with serrated knives. Europe is another matter. Locking knives are usually not allowed. The Swiss Army Knife gets through as do most multi-tools. I travel with a Leatherman Sideclip and a SAK in my carry-on and have never been challenged.
 
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