How do you adapt to "no knife/blade/pointy anything" settings?

[NeitherExtreme]

I'm just curious how other people deal with these situations. I generally just go tool-less, except for the Proto screwdriver that's always on my keyring. Maybe I'll add a bottle opener, can opener, and/or eyeglass screwdriver if I'll be flying, especially if I'm not checking any bags. If it's just a more "P.C." setting, sometimes I'll downsize to a keychain tool like a Squirt P4, and hope nobody notices.

So how do you all "cope"? Do you push the boundaries (and if so, how) or just give up?

[Lynn LeFey]

Some time back, I got a Leatherman Style PS. I didn't know how well it'd work for short trips, but it ended up doing a good job. Most of the tasks a blade does can be done by the scissors. Most of them.

I never check my bags, because I think I must be the single most unlucky person on earth about the airline misplacing them.

I've been happy enough with the Style PS that I did a handle swap with a green Style CS, to have my own custom version. I get irritated having no tools on me. When i've tried, I just get this little voice in the back of my head that won't shut up. So, this is my solution, and while it might be sub-optimal, it's been 'good enough'.

[Live]

It's pretty annoying, especially since I always keep a Midnite Manager attached to my keys.
Every time I fly in the end I have to borrow something from friends when I arrive if it's a short trip.

[JAfromMn]

How do you adapt to "no knife/blade/pointy anything" settings

Not very well

[NeitherExtreme]

How do you adapt to "no knife/blade/pointy anything" settings

Not very well

 

[Fattsgalore]

Other than a court house (jury duty) I haven't been anywhere where I couldn't carry a blade...or gun.
Tend to shy away from such locations.

It's a damn shame a 58mm SAK can be considered a "weapon".

[Lynn LeFey]

It's a damn shame a 58mm SAK can be considered a "weapon".

I wouldn't call it a 'damn shame'. I'd call it 'pathetically laughable'.

I think shoe laces are more potentially lethal. Literally.

[Chako]

As long as I have scissors, I don't need a knife blade 98% of the time.

[NeitherExtreme]

Some time back, I got a Leatherman Style PS. I didn't know how well it'd work for short trips, but it ended up doing a good job. Most of the tasks a blade does can be done by the scissors. Most of them.

I never check my bags, because I think I must be the single most unlucky person on earth about the airline misplacing them.

I've been happy enough with the Style PS that I did a handle swap with a green Style CS, to have my own custom version. I get irritated having no tools on me. When i've tried, I just get this little voice in the back of my head that won't shut up. So, this is my solution, and while it might be sub-optimal, it's been 'good enough'.

(Image removed from quote.)

This seems like a good idea to me, especially for the museum/courthouse sort of setting where I won't necessarily lose the tool if they don't like it. I don't think I'm brave enough to take one on a plane, with the possibility of losing my stuff and having to maintain my cool while dealing with the TSA at their most irrational. (And IMO, anyone taking away a Style PS for safety has left rational thought far behind. )

[NeitherExtreme]

As long as I have scissors, I don't need a knife blade 98% of the time.

I agree. What's the best way you've found to bring scissors without the knife?

[Lynn LeFey]

I don't think I'm brave enough to take one on a plane, with the possibility of losing my stuff and having to maintain my cool while dealing with the TSA at their most irrational. (And IMO, anyone taking away a Style PS for safety has left rational thought far behind. )

This tool has made it through airport security 6 times, one of them when I was pulled aside for pat-down. I open all the tools on it before it goes through the scanner, which seems to ease its passing. I'm always a little shocked how hard some people find opening the various gadgets on an MT, so I take all the difficulty out of the process, and it's become quite a smooth operation.

I'm not exactly fearless when I bring it along, but confident in it's passing. I've also resigned myself to its loss, in the event someone gets a wild hair some day.

[Chako]

I pack a Leatherman Knifeless Fuse.

[ironraven]

I avoid them if at all possible.

[av8r1]

When I'm traveling by airliner, I check a bag and just feel naked until the baggage claim on the other end.  Otherwise I'm seldom welcome anywhere my Skeletool is not.    When I'm in the pilot's seat, I've always got an MT on my hip.

I might invest in a Style PS for those odd times when I can't have a blade. It's silly that they don't sell them in multiple colors when they do the CS, since the colored portion is identical for both.

What do you think gang?  Knifeless rebar with scissors instead?  It really would be nice to have something to do the Diet Fuse's job in the catalog.

[nate j]

First, I don't care about being PC.  I'll only modify what I carry in order to follow (1) the law, and or (2) the rules of my employer, although fortunately my present employer is pretty relaxed about this with the exception of not allowing firearms.

Second, in situations where no knives are legally allowed (commercial flying and courthouses are the only two recent such experiences that come to mind for me), I've managed with only my LM Style PS and my PWII.    The Style PS has received some close scrutiny, including TSA officers opening all the tools to be sure none were knife blades, but it hasn't been confiscated yet.  Moreover, I think I paid $10 for the PWII and less than $20 for the Style PS, so I wouldn't be out too much money if I lost one or both to an overzealous security officer some day.

It's a damn shame a 58mm SAK can be considered a "weapon".

I wouldn't call it a 'damn shame'. I'd call it 'pathetically laughable'.

I think shoe laces are more potentially lethal. Literally.

I must agree.  Canes, ballpoint pens, huge wads of keys, steel-toed boots, screwdrivers less than seven inches long...the list of items allowed to be carried on that make better weapons than small non-locking folding knives is long indeed.  I hate security theater...

[Faiaoga]

I understand that small scissors are acceptable on commercial aircraft.  Scissors and a GI can opener, a pen light and a set of screwdrivers that clip to a pocket should handle most chores. 

[Corwyn]

THIS:



At least it's got a Vic logo on it so I don't feel completely naked. When passing through security I open it up so they can see the USB inside - just in case they instinctively throw it in the bin on sight - it's been known to happen.

[Craiger]

I avoid such settings whenever possible. The lack of common sense these days makes me wish I was born a few decades earlier.

Currently a grey-zone at my work as we get more and more PC and big business, although said work is filled with all sorts of dangerous things that could kill many more people than a multitool. Whatever. I keep bringing it, and fly under the radar when necessary. I wouldn't lose my job over it, but would probably start looking for a new job if told to leave the MT at home. My boss says OK which is all I care about (he recently bought all our techs Gerber 600's). Corporate can  all they want.... What they don't know won't hurt 'em!

[Millhouse]

Fortunately, I bought 2 LM Knifeless Fuses before they went out of production. I also have 2 MTO Style PS.

[kkokkolis]

I just leave everything in the car when I visit prisons (trying to establish opioid substitution programs there) or put everything in the checked in luggage. In the prison they let me keep the Minichamp/Ladybag for some reason.
Since I always worry about forgetting something, I intend to put everything in a Skinth. All I'll have to do is remember the Skinth.
Sometime I'll find something that is airplane acceptable. Maybe a classic with a broken blade? Or a similar Squirt.

[ducttapetech]

I avoid these places like the plague. But if I am forced, I leave my stuff in the truck. I can go toolless if I have too. But I absolutely hate being without my knife.

live from Nate's mobile

[Grant Lamontagne]

The only time it is an issue for me is when I fly, which is not all that often.  When it happens I am fine with having no knife or bottle opener on me- the bit that gets me is the lack of a nail file.  I hate having crap under my nails and sitting there for a few hours with nothing else to do makes me notice my nails more than usual.  But, it's a minor concern at best.

And yes, I will say that I agree, a small blade is maybe not as dangerous as shoe laces, canes etc, but I have personally witnessed first hand what kind of a mess a Victorinox Classic can make on a dance floor in a club.  Admittedly that is a specific type of location, and it probably wouldn't work as well in a courthouse or on a plane, but even so, I can see how it might be an issue.  However, by the same token, anyone that wants to make a mess will find a way, whether he has access to a keychain knife or not.

As for carrying on an airplane, I don't trust airline security to follow their own policies, nor do I have any desire to surrender anything to them.  When I travel (even in the frigid winter!) I wear a light shirt, shorts and flip flops or sandals.  I carry nothing even remotely offensive with me- usually just a laptop and camera- everything else goes in my checked luggage.  If they lose it, they lose it.  So far that has only happened to me once, and they returned it to me 24 hours later.

Def

[J Mackrel Jones]

For airline carry-on I have broken off the blade of a Classic and a Midnight Manager and take one of those.  The scissors work well enuf as a blade for most traveling-type things.  Have to show Those Who Proect Us From Ourselves that the knife has no blade...
I always wonder -  Which of these passengers on the plane is the armed flight marshall?
At the courthouse met another guy hiding his pocket knife in the bushes and we agreed to take only our own when we got out.  Honor among scofflaws...  (Actually I think I had to deliver some papers to an attorney my wife does the taxes for - but that's another subject and Don't Get Me Started.)

[Lynn LeFey]

At the courthouse met another guy hiding his pocket knife in the bushes ...

  

This is an awesome little anecdote.

[dks]

Apart from when flying (checked luggage) or visiting a prison (give it to the guard/leave in car) I do not really care; I just carry what I really need (90% of the time it will be a small slipjoint/SAK) . I have had a Dime in my bag when entering a major UN building, where the guard saw it in the scanner, took it out, had a look at it and gave it back to me with an "it's OK" nod. I adjust what I carry according to the place I am going and to what I will need. It is unlikely I will need a fixed blade when shopping so I just do not carry one.
In most buildings they are bound to have knives bigger than mine in their kitchens, canteens etc. If I drive somewhere with my own car then I will have a Manager or Micra etc. on me, at the least. Plus I can use, if I need to, whatever I have in the car.

[Live]

As long as I have scissors, I don't need a knife blade 98% of the time.

Airport security refused to let me board the plane with my luggage, since I had a dreadful weapon with me...


luckily it wasn't a low-cost flight, and they allowed me to send it with hold luggage. Blade length: less than 1.5cm.

[NeitherExtreme]

At the courthouse met another guy hiding his pocket knife in the bushes ...

  

This is an awesome little anecdote.

Yeah, I "laughed out loud" at this one too. 

[nate j]

At the courthouse met another guy hiding his pocket knife in the bushes ...

  

This is an awesome little anecdote.

Yeah, I "laughed out loud" at this one too. 

Our courthouse has lockers outside the security check point where prohibited items may be stored for the duration of one's visit, and retrieved afterwards.

[Lynn LeFey]

That's a really good idea, and should be implemented everywhere. I thought about this for our local airport, and wondered why they didn't have lockers. I'm assuming it's another security thing. (sigh)

[gorbag]

There's a couple of shops at O'Hare and Midway airports that make a bunch of money by offering the service of mailing prohibited items back to the owners.  It goes as such: check your pockets and realize you have a prohibited item you forgot, see the sign offering the service, pay three to five times normal costs to mail the item back to yourself to avoid confiscation.

The world belongs to the funkiest.