General Cycling Discussion - Flying and multi-tools

I don't know if I'm the only one who didn't know this, but apparently, a multi-tool is not allowed (edit:in carryon luggage) on commercial flights anymore. I was flying to spend a week riding, with a small multi-tool in my carry-on. I also had shoes, cleats, pedals, a saddle and lots of electronic gear. The TSA guys went through every inch of my luggage, until he said that it looked like I was carrying an allen-wrench. Of course I was - I didn't know they were illegal. But, they took it, giving me the option of checking my bag or mailing it home - although, one of the guys just started to walk away with it while I was trying to decide what to do. Luckily, there is a post office in the airport that was open for five more minutes, so I bought a padded envelope and mailed it to myself. Bottom line - no tools on airplanes - even allen wrenches.

Sign of the times now. Before all of this whenever I traveled I rarely check in luggage. Now I find it less hassle to check the luggage and just carry on my music, books, and crosswords to keep me busy during the flight. Though I wonder how long before they ban pens and pencils, which can be used as a weapon as easily as a multi tool.

My brother-in-law missed his flight because he had a lighter on him that said torch on it. By the time they let him through security the plane door had been closed and they would not let anyone else on.

Next they're going to ban passenger movement and instate handcuffs for everyone since you can use yourself as a deadly weapon.

STUPID

I believe multitools and even knives are allowed on as checked luggage. But yeah, with an allen wrench, you could have unsrewed the plane in midflight! :)

A CD is much more dangerous. But don't tell them I said that.

I believe multitools and even knives are allowed on as checked luggage. But yeah, with an allen wrench, you could have unsrewed the plane in midflight! :)

I thought planes used torx? :p

The name of the game is fear.
That's right, by breaking open a CD into jagged shards, you too, can stab your fellow crew member in the neck.
Plastic knives? Jabbed in the eyeball.
What about a ceramic blade hidden inside a shoe?
Bic pen?
Long crusty nails?
I can strangle you with my tube socks.
Anthrax make-up kit.
Martial arts master, able to mortally wound a person with one hit. Should be band his entire body?
8 cans of cold beans, enough gas to wipe out a small passenger plane.

See what I mean, those silly rules are meant to keep honest people honest. If you really wanted to, I'm sure you could find a way to sneak a deadly weapon on the plane. Why don't they just put a metal door to the cockpit on the plane.

Why don't they just put a metal door to the cockpit on the plane.


Because I can pick the lock and remove the hinges with my allen wrench...

Because I can pick the lock and remove the hinges with my allen wrench...

And those are expensive doors. You wouldn't want cockpit-door theft to become rampant in the airline industry. They're already having enough financial difficulties. :)

I would think that it's a lot easier to kill someone with a sharpened pencil than with an allan wrench. And yeah, snap a CD in half and you've got one sharp weapon!

Because I can pick the lock and remove the hinges with my allen wrench...

...or a BIC pen... :D

Because I can pick the lock and remove the hinges with my allen wrench...

Ah ha! We'll put the lock on the INSIDE of the cockpit.

Ah ha! We'll put the lock on the INSIDE of the cockpit.

And hope no one in the cockpit needs CPR :)

You haven't flown recently have you! Tools of any sort haven't been allowed in carry-on luggage in years.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/majorissues/transportationsecurity/baggage.htm

Below is a list of items not permitted in carry-on baggage on board aircraft. For more information on carry-on baggage items, you may consult the list of dangerous goods (http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/commerce/DangerousGoods/regoverview/passlugg/menu.htm) and Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) website (http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/travel_voyage/list.htm). Screening authorities retain the right to refuse any additional items they perceive as a possible threat to the security of air travel.

The list includes:

- Ammunition
- Automatic weapons
- Axes and hatchets (unless part of aircraft equipment)
- Billiard cues
- Billy clubs and blackjacks
- Bows and arrows
- Box cutters
- Brass knuckles
- Carbon dioxide cartridges and other compressed gases (except those required for medical purposes or to be used for aircraft maintenance or for aerodrome maintenance or construction)
- Caustic materials (including acids)
- Chemicals or gases that are disabling (such as incapacitating sprays, pepper spray, mace and tear gas)
- Corkscrews with attached knives
- Dangerous goods within the meaning of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, and the regulations under it, unless specific approval has been granted by a person authorized by the Minister to carry out an inspection under section 8.7 of the Aeronautics Act (such as wet cell batteries, dry ice, large quantities of matches and radioactive material, except those required for medical purposes or that are part of aircraft equipment)
- Darts
- Devices for shocking (such as stun guns and cattle prods, except defibrillators that are required for medical purposes or that are part of aircraft equipment)
- Explosives (such as blasting caps, detonating cord, dynamite, black and smokeless powder, gun powder, hand grenades, slurries and all products labeled as being explosive) and military explosives (such as C-4, DM12 and sheet explosives)
- Fire extinguishers (except those that are part of aircraft equipment or aerodrome safety equipment)
- Gas torches
- Golf clubs
- Guns (such as revolvers, rifles, shot guns, BB guns, pellet guns, compressed air guns, starter pistols, flare pistols and spear guns)
- Gun lighters
- Hockey sticks
- Syringes and hypodermic needles (except for personal medical use, and with the needle’s guard in place, and when accompanied by labelled medication)
- Ice axes and ice picks
- Ice skates
- Insecticides (except those to be used by crew members for disinfection purposes)
- Knives or knife-like objects of any length (such as hunting knives, scuba knives, swords, sabres, meat cleavers, straight razors and religious knives)
- Lacrosse sticks
- Liquids marked as flammable (such as gasoline, kerosene, lighter fluid and turpentine)
- Liquids that are unidentifiable in unmarked containers
- Martial arts devices (such as throwing stars, kubasaunt, kubatons and numchucks)
- Oxygen tanks (except those required for medical purposes or that are part of aircraft equipment)
- Paint
- Paint thinner
- Parts of guns
- Penetrating objects (such as scissors with pointed tips)
- Pyrotechnics (such as fireworks, road flares, flare pistol cartridges and starter pistol cartridges)
- Razor blades (not in cartridges)
- Replica weapons
- Restraining devices (except those used by peace officers or crew members or by escort officers escorting prisoners)
- Scuba tanks
- Ski poles
- Sling shots and catapults
- Sporting bats (such as baseball bats and cricket bats)
- Tools (such as hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, drills, saws, crow bars and heavy tools, except those to be used for aircraft maintenance or for aerodrome maintenance or construction)
- Toy weapons including toy transformer robots that form into toy guns


And those just the Canadian rules ... think how much stricter the American rules must be!!

In Canada, I've had the teensiest screwdriver (an eyeglasses screwdriver) confiscated. I was also "forced" to take a drink out of the bottle I carried on board to prove that it wasn't some sort of poison.

In Singapore, a friend of mine nearly lost his cycling shoes when the cleats made the detectors go off - he had to quickly explain what the pieces of metal on the bottoms of his shoes were.

If you fly, you've got to be REALLY careful what you bring with you.

Years ago, back in the 90s, my grandparents were about to fly to Italy for vacation. My aunt was dropping them off at the airport. Just as he's about to go through security, my grandfather stopped, turned to my aunt, told her to hold her hands out, and proceeded to empty his vest pockets of about a half-dozen unused shotgun shells. He then went through security and got on the plane. My aunt just stood there with her hands full of shotgun shells, wondering what her father was thinking.

Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) website (http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/travel_voyage/list.htm).

Apparently whips are okay in both checked and carryon. Hmmm... wonder if that includes chain whips. :) Also, they allow umbrellas... Did they not watch any James Bond 007 movies?

It's a good thing they caught that multitool. They didn't catch the spyderco folding knife in my laptop bag, though. I flew with that thing for a year and half without knowing, as I'd thought I'd lost it. When it finally turned up as I was cleaning out the bag, I freaked quite a bit.

A friend of mine was in a rush to head out for a business trip. He packed his stuff quickly by throwing his clothes into the first empty bag he could find. As he was going through security, they wipe-tested his bag. The security agent doing the test nearly went into a panic over the results on the screen. You see... the bag he grabbed happened to be the duffel he normally used to take his gear to the shooting range. :)

Years ago, back in the 90s...


Deary me, are the 90s *really* that long ago? :D

You all realise now that this thread has been sent to the Department of Homeland Security for analysis on new and preivously undetected methods of causing mayhem on an aircraft, don't you?

One thing missing from that list is mercury.
Mercury let loose inside an aluminium aircraft rapidly destroys the airframe.
It'll hardly cause an immediate crash, but the entire aircraft has to be scrapped after it lands.
www.popsci.com/popsci/how2/article/0,20967,693558,00.html

And hope no one in the cockpit needs CPR :)

That's why we'll always have 2 people who both know CPR in the cockpit.

Prior to 9/11, I had a Kryptonite U-lock in my carry on bag. The security screener called over a supervisor, and they told me I had to put it in my checked luggage bacause it could be used as a weapon.

Prior to 9/11, I had a Kryptonite U-lock in my carry on bag. The security screener called over a supervisor, and they told me I had to put it in my checked luggage bacause it could be used as a weapon.

Did you kiss your knuckles and ask, "what about my misses?"

what about my huge ass belt buckle, i could kick some ass with that, or what if i sharpened the edges on it?

what about my huge ass belt buckle, i could kick some ass with that, or what if i sharpened the edges on it?

You might want to refrain from wearing that through the metal detectors too. I got caught behind some guy in LA with one of those. They eventually pulled him off to one side and let the rest of us go.

yeah, i dont really like flying anyways...
edit:except on my bike

Ughh...depressing. The options are dwindling. It will soon be to the point where your choices for comfortable air travel are Cessna or Beechcraft, pilot sold seperately. I hope I have the time and money to get my own liscence some day.

Ughh...depressing. The options are dwindling. It will soon be to the point where your choices for comfortable air travel are Cessna or Beechcraft, pilot sold seperately. I hope I have the time and money to get my own liscence some day.

It's a pretty good deal. Expect to spend about $5000 on a license.
But once you have it, you can rent a plane for anywhere from $50-$200/hr.
Assuming you're covering 180 knots, you can get around 10 hours of driving for 2 hours of flying for $150 to travel some place and take your friends in style.

Yeah, but fuel ain't cheap.

Around here, a single engine 4-place will run you around $100/hr wet (includes fuel). Hours are usually measured on the Hobbs which is on from engine startup to shutdown. Some places charge on tach time but that's usually the exception to the rule. Keep in mind that you're not going to be able to simply jump in the plane and go. You need to take into account preptime, the walk-around/preflight, clearance delays, etc... This can add up to anywhere between a half-hour to an hour or longer depending on how anal your pilot is, how congested the field is, the type of field, the type of flight, the type of aircraft, the weather, etc...

One thing missing from that list is mercury.
Mercury let loose inside an aluminium aircraft rapidly destroys the airframe.
It'll hardly cause an immediate crash, but the entire aircraft has to be scrapped after it lands.
www.popsci.com/popsci/how2/article/0,20967,693558,00.html

Mercury is not on that list but chemicals fall under IATA jurisdiction and that is a dangeroous good.

Also locks banned