IMPORTANT THREAD RE: TSA SAFE TOOLS

[Grant Lamontagne]

I got this message on FB from a longtime member and friend, who shall remain nameless.

Hey do you have a contact at leatherman as bought a tread and it got taken at the airport
As the product states allowed on planes and it clearly is not

Here’s the Leatherman Australia reply

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Mar 9, 11:34 AM AEDT

Good Morning XXXXX,

In the FAQ's about flying, we note that the TSA allow the tread to be carried/worn on the air crafts as they do allow this, however, the TSA is not the governing body for Australian flight services (it is for the US where Leatherman Tools are manufactured). Some people find success in advising the airport security that the TSA allow them due to the fact there are no tools etc on the tread and the US have notoriously strict flight conditions so if they allow it then it may be considered here, but ultimately, it is up to the individual agents assessment. Australia does not have one governing security body that has the same rules for each flight or even airport, so we can't say the tread is allowed or banned from all flights, as some airlines may accept them and others would not. As well as this, despite them not having any knives on them, we do not have the authority to overrule a decision made by an airport security agent regarding the Treads.

I am very sorry to hear that yours got confiscated, but unfortunately we cannot replace products that get lost or confiscated.

Kind regards,
XXXXXXXXXXXX

Three things to take away from this:

1- If you are an international traveler, please remember that TSA compliant doesn't mean it will comply with the rules of your airline, airport or national security agency.

2- Regardless of your location, please remember that the AGENT has ultimate discretion on whatever they feel constitutes a danger, regardless of the regulations.

3- Leatherman has no jurisdiction, responsibility or authority to say what can and cannot go on the plane, nor are they likely to do much more than shrug and apologize if your tool gets confiscated.

I know some of you have flown successfully with different items that are labelled as TSA friendly, but I have time and again warned everyone not to take chances with it.  And now, one of our members has lost a $200 bracelet because someone felt it was a threat.

I don't agree with this kind of thing, and I strongly suggest you all write to whatever governing agency in your area handles these matters, and I suggest even more that you do not argue with anyone while you are in a line up at security as you are really not going to win, and could end up losing an awful lot more than your tool.

Def

[Nix]

 

yeah, you right.


 

[Mechanickal]

Pushing people over the edge like this is what causes trouble at airports in the first place.


When means generate consequence...

[ThePeacent]

I got this message on FB from a longtime member and friend, who shall remain nameless.

2- Regardless of your location, please remember that the AGENT has ultimate discretion on whatever they feel constitutes a danger, regardless of the regulations.  whatever they feel is a great gadget they wouldn't mind owning

...a $200 bracelet because someone felt it was a threat.  because someone liked it more than you did and had the upper ground there and then

I don't agree with this kind of thing, and I strongly suggest you all write to whatever governing agency in your area handles these matters, and I suggest even more that you do not argue with anyone while you are in a line up at security as you are really not going to win, and could end up losing an awful lot more than your tool.

Def

sorry but that's my view on most security personnel. 

If I travel now the most I'll take is a bic pen  and if I feel like carrying a tool, a Gerber Dime or other weak piece of cr*p that you can break in half with your hands before handing it to the agent in question that is not letting you through with it   

[Nix]

The last few flights I've taken, I've carried this set of keys:



Someday that style won't make the full journey.

[Aloha]

SIGH.  I haven't flown in a while.  I wont be flying anytime soon thankfully. 

[AndyTiedye]

Something that expensive would be worth checking or mailing to yourself.
No need to let them have it.

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[Grant Lamontagne]

I agree with many of the sentiments that you all have, and trust me, with the current amount of bullsmurftery going on right now with the Canadian knife laws I am a lot more angry about this than i can say.  However, waiting until the last minute, when you are wholly at their mercy is not the time to start fighting it.

Again, I urge all members to contact their local governing agency and/or official if you want this to change.  Having yourself placed in custody and on a No Fly list is not the way to beat this, so I strongly encourage all members to leave your things at home, put them in your checked luggage, surrender them peacefully or mail them back to yourself or hand them off to a family member or friend who isn't flying with you.

I'm all for fighting this, but sensibly, and in a way that won't cost you.

Def

[ReamerPunch]

I am not at all surprised.
I remember a member posting about their Pocketwrench being confiscated. Another member had his auto-lock snap-off box cutter confiscated. Even though the blade had been removed, the agent though it "made a threatening clicking sound" so the harmless tool did not make it on the plane.

Of course, in this case, the tool was worth much more than a pocketwrench. 
I take no chances with airport security. If they take a shine to something you have, you might as well kiss it goodbye.
Since nail-clippers are deemed a dangerous weapon capable of hijacking a plane, what chance does the Tread have?

My condolences to our forum friend who got cheated out of such an expensive tool. It was an expensive lesson to learn. 

[twiliter]

Realistically, I can't remember badly needing anything on a flight other than maybe a pen or a toothpick. Not sure a Tread would have any use for me on a flight either, I'd probably stow in in checked baggage. Sorry for your loss. 

Also I've learned over the years not to give idiots a chance to mess with me, or a reason, so I try to be 'gray man' when traveling as much as possible. I am just another sheep Mr. Rent-A-Cop. Baaaaaaaa..... 

[Mechanickal]

Do keep in mind that not everybody travels with checked luggage!

[twiliter]

Do keep in mind that not everybody travels with checked luggage!

Or multitools.   

[Mechanickal]

Do keep in mind that not everybody travels with checked luggage!

Or multitools.   

True!

[dks]

I do both

[Don Pablo]

I do both

Not everyone has a private plane. 

[Obi1shinobee]

I do both

Not everyone has a private plane. 

 

[dks]

everyone I know does...  where do you people live?

[Don Pablo]

everyone I know does...  where do you people live?

A private plane is one of the things that you would think that everyone would have...
For the record, I’ve never met anyone in real life who has no private plane. 
But I’ve heard rumours. 

[dks]

peasants, having to squeeze into 1st class,,,

[ironraven]

...a $200 bracelet because someone felt it was a threat.  because someone liked it more than you did and had the upper ground there and then

Does anyone remember when this crap first went into effect? iPods were brand new, and they have electronics and you could build something naughty into one. So of course, many of the got seized as dangerous devices. Amazing how the panic about Al'queda building a bomb out of an iPod faded after Christmas that year. At this point, I'd carry a $3 pair of scewkeys and a glasses screwdriver and a pair of nail clippers with non-pointy tip on the file. And nothing more.

And my boss wonders why I refuse to travel.

[kaput]

Realistically, I can't remember badly needing anything on a flight other than maybe a pen or a toothpick. Not sure a Tread would have any use for me on a flight either, I'd probably stow in in checked baggage. Sorry for your loss. 

This.

Always good to check on requirements and do due dillegence prior, especially for folks in less tolerant countries for multitools and such. That's  a bummer

[Old Boy]

Everything Def said I learned the hard way. At one point I had to travel for work mainly in Asia and immediately noticed that what was confiscated was in the eye of the beholder.

So far the only thing that has passed muster is my Gerber Shard. But even then I have a spare it case it got confiscated. Cheap tool to replace.

I have used it a few times for a stuck baggage zipper, opening a package, or a loose screw in the hotel so I really dread it if at one point we are not allowed to bring any tool.

[kaput]

Bummer

[jaya_man]

It’s exactly because of the reasons mentioned above that I store my saks/multitools safely inside my luggage prior to checking in. Don’t want to risk loosing may stuff this way.

Even the Zebra F701 can be considered dangerous to some security personnel. A friend had his confiscated...

Here’s a picture (a friends pic) of what gets confiscated at Indonesian airports. Even scissors deemed safe to bring to schools get confiscated...

During my trip to Australia last year, I happened to have 2 disposable lighters in my pocket. One got confiscated... even my steel fidget spinner caused problems... but luckily it wasn’t confiscated... :lol:


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[ToolJoe]

I only fly with a Maglite Solitaire LED, p51, craftsman 4 way screwdriver, Doohickey and leatherman 5..

[Old Boy]

I only fly with a Maglite Solitaire LED, p51, craftsman 4 way screwdriver, Doohickey and leatherman 5..

I read somewhere that someone’s P51 got confiscated.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I am barely dressed when I fly.  Flip flops or sandals, shorts, wallet, keys, phone, shirt and a laptop bag.  I don't agree with it and a sure as heck don't like being treated like a criminal, but that is not the battleground for these kinds of things, and I don't want to put up with any additional scrutiny from these people who have ultimate authority over that area.

Years ago, long before 9/11, in the days when my skeleton was still made out of a bone-like material, I was a security speSmurfpillst and investigator, and my opinion of the majority of security personnel at the time was that most were working security only because they were too mentally deficient to pass the aptitude test to work at Burger King.  Over the years, that opinion hasn't been changed, although many of the "experienced" minimum wage security guards I encountered then now work at airports as they pay better.  These idiots in uniform are not any smarter or better trained than they were then, they are just given more authority and more space to swing their smurfs.

Because of this, I really don't like to give these people any excuse to stop and harass me if there's any chance of avoiding it.  I got stopped in Las Vegas one year for a "suspicious" pack of M&M's candy.  In Toronto I was almost arrested because the airline lost my luggage and the Customs officer wrote KNIVES across my boarding pass because I had Swiss Army Knives in the luggage that was lost, just so I could enjoy additional screening.  Another year, when going to my brother's wedding I had to tear apart the gift I was bringing them because the kitchen set I had gotten included a circular pizza cutter, which is a much worse weapon than a laptop or camera on a strap.

A maintenance man I know at the Halifax airport was telling me one day that pre- 9/11 he carried a Swiss Army Knife at work because it was helpful for his work, and most of the other maintenance guys did as well.  Then 9/11 happened and they were no longer allowed to bring their personal SAKs to work with them because they were knives... so as a replacement the airport bought the all Leatherman Waves, because those are tools.  One handed opening, locking bladed tools, potentially a lot ore dangerous than SAKs.  So, if you have a problem with the peons in uniform and decide to try and escalate it, this is the kind of management you will get to deal with.

Def

[gadgetman7]

I agree. We need to change the narrative. Unfortunately, big media is owned by people with there own security and prefer to have the only available protection. Until someone hits them in the wallet nothing will change.


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[Sea Monster]

One of my favourite arguments with an airline "security" person was over a Lighter.

I had taken the lighter out of my pocket to put in the tray that goes through the scanner, she took it out of the tray, berated me for having it, and rather forcefully informed me it must stay on my person at all times on the plane.



No $#!+ dumbass....it was IN MY POCKET before I had to go through the scanner, and it will go BACK IN MY POCKET as soon as you give it back to me.


She didn't like my attitude and threatened to not let me board (in a larger airport, this might have been a legitimate threat. This was a rural area with no amenities. Not letting me board the one flight that have per day would probably count as murder)


anyway, I guess if your job is being a security guard at an airstrip in the middle of nowhere, you probably deserve to be a grumpy moron, I sure as hell wouldn't take the job....



Anyway, my other experiences with airports, such as they are - Just put everything in checked baggage.

Funnily enough, I have less problems getting all sorts of tools and equipment through Customs* (or Borderforce, whatever they are calling themselves now) than I do taking anything onto a plane in my carry on.



*This is because they only care about meeting national laws, which are pretty persmissive, all things considered. It is state laws that will stitch you up.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Borderforce?  Seriously?

Sounds like they should have their own line of action figures.   

Def