Metal Detector Dilemma

fedaykincmndr

fedaykincmndr

Joined
Aug 3, 2004
Messages
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I really hope I don't get in trouble for this one and I hope at least somebody has some insight... Has anyone ever carried a blade or like device past a metal detector? Does everyone just go empty handed or have some sort of trick. I know basic unarmed techniques I was taught in the Corps so I could go without if need be, but would rather not. I was just wondering what, if anything, anybody carried or do you just have to trust civilian/airport etc. security?
 
Trust security? ha ha ha ha ha ha

I wouldn't think it's a good idea to try to smuggle something through that you know they don't want you to have. There are legal items you can take which are better than going unarmed, from a cane to a mini maglite to a metal pen. Even a briefcase or a carry on bag can be used defensively.
 
I work at a Govt facility, and after 9/11 they installed airport metal detectors. Put up signs that said, "No knives allowed". Every single time you came in the building, you had to pass through these detectors. Didn't matter that you only went right outside to get a paper out of the machine in direct view of the guards, you still had to go through the detectors. All pockets must be emptied before you pass through, and if the machine goes off, they wand you. I always keep a Victorinox Mini Swiss Champ in the 5th pocket of my jeans, and one day I forgot to throw it in the tray. Bingo, the machine didn't go off. Evidently, there's not enough metal present to set it off. So, I stopped throwing it in all together.

A few months later, they loosened up the restrictions, and now we can carry knives with blades up to 3". Still have to go through the detectors every single time you leave the building, but I don't worry about the little SAK at all. I just leave it in my jeans, and it never sets off the machine.
 
a small kabar folder once set off the alarms at Sydney airport....
 
It happens, knives do get past security. However, if you never want to feel what a cavity search feels like it's best not to push your luck.

Find out what your other options are. There are a number of nonmetalic objects that are better discussed in a more self-defense related forum. Keep in mind if walks like an edged weapon and quacks like an edged weapon but doesn't show up on a metal detector you've got some serious 'splainin to do if it comes to light.

If you're concerned enough to risk taking a weapon through a security checkpoint you're probably already armed to the teeth so I don't need to tell you which knives would pass.

So basically, I fly empty handed. At work-related areas I've been able to talk my way through security with a 3 inch locking folder but it takes some harassment. At clubs, etc I've been able to get away with surefire flashlights (without the new defensive teeth or TIDs, etc) and kubotan with the keys. In many instances I find that if your knife has a screwdriver attached, Leatherman, etc you're fine, that seems to be the magic line.

If you're still concerned about safety find a friend with a prosthetic leg and travel with him, the terrorists will never see it coming.
 
I accidentally carried a CRKT Peck in the Dark mini key chain knife into a New York State Courthouse while I was on jury duty. I even put it in the tray (it was on my key chain) and gave it to security with my pocket change as I went through the metal detector.
I would not have tried this intentionally as Im not fond of interrogations and spur of the moment colon examination.
 
Interesting post from someone in the security business (according to your profile). If you are in a higher-up echelon of that profession, probably easy for you to find out the answer you seek. If you are a typical security guard, hoping someday to move into a career as an LEO, why risk present and/or future employment?
 
nuciform said:
If you're still concerned about safety find a friend with a prosthetic leg and travel with him, the terrorists will never see it coming.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the terrorists, but the airport will. When I went through security, they made me take my prosthetic foot off so they could look at it. Not that they could have seen anything inside it, anyway.
 
In airports and such, I just go empty handed. However at the local fair, I put a folder in my shoes because the metal detector only comes down to about a foot off the ground. I did sneak a knife into a courthouse a few years ago. Looking back, I see how horribly stupid it was (not long after 9/11). Just dropped it on the floor as I entered the building and kicked it under a portable wall into the waiting hall.
 
I would not try to "sneak" any type of blade past them at airports.A retired cop from my city tried that,and he went away in cuffs.

See he took one of those cia letter openers and cleaverly hid it in his boots.Trouble was his boots had a metal piece that ran under the arch which set the dectector off. :rolleyes:
 
I worked for a firm once that wanded you on your way out to make sure you weren't borrowing any of the company property (computer chips and stuff). They just had you hold your keys and stuff while they did their thing. They never even looked at the 3 knives I had every day, even though they "technically" weren't supposed to be there. Strangely enough, through that experience I now know that a foil wrapper will set off a wand. .
 
A very very tightly rolled magazine (thin soft type such as comic book - not one thick and stiff) makes a good baton in a pinch. The ends are very effective when jammed into an eye, throat, or groin. A bit of martial art stick training can make the rolled magazine quite lethal. The best part is, no one pays any attention or cares where you carry a magazine.
 
I would not reccomend trying to get anything past the metal detectors unless it were absolutely non metallic. The detectors currently in use willdetect titanium and anything else metallic. I have even had a detector at an airport go off because I left a quarter in my pocket.
 
Looking for advice on how to commit a crime on a public forum? I dare say that that's not the wisest choice of action.
 
Years ago, I went through one of the local airport metal detectors with a Cold Steel Urban Pal in my vest pocket that I'd forgotten about. It didn't set off the detectors at all. At that time, I was allowed to carry up to a 4" locking blade on the plane, so it didn't matter much. Funny how I wasn't driven insane by the evil knife in my pocket and forced by its eldritch powers to commit terrorist acts..... How many millions of pocket knives travelled peacefully in pockets on airplanes for the DECADES prior to 9/11?
 
Take it easy, I'm not TRYING to commit a crime. I served this country to protect those rights, I believe are being infringed, but let's not get started on that. Anyhoo, I was just wondering if anyone had found themselves in that particular situation.
 
Good Evening All-

FoxholeAtheist said:
"...Looking for advice on how to commit a crime on a public forum...?"
Click to expand...
Foxhole, there are plenty of circumstances when someone is carrying a perfectly legal knife...but because of sheeple-minded security, one has to either part with their blade or "smuggle" the thing to enter a venue. Professional sporting events, nightclubs, concerts, and theater events are perfect examples here in the United States.

It's a pain in the arse to determine your schedule for places that do or don't allow knives and whether they have detection equipment or manual inspection.

It's especially annoying when it is a place you've been peaceably carrying a knife for two decades, within the law and without incident...but now they freak-out if a folder is spotted in your briefcase.

~ Blue Jays ~
 
G'day,
The last time I flew around the States (just on a year ago) I had to take off my sandals 'cause the metal buckle and the small metal sole stiffener had to be x-rayed and inspected. They both set off the metal detectors.
A friend was relieved of her 1.5 inch nail file as it was a dangerous weapon.
Don't worry about being disarmed though--they gave us 3 inch steel steak knives with our meal!
Go figure.
Greg
 
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