On Tue, Jun 06, 2006 at 02:42:21PM -0700, David Brodbeck wrote: > Rich Thomas wrote: > > The TSA will safeguard the flying public and anyone on the ground below > > by cutting open your bag/lock if it has a padlock on it. How many tools > > survive that experience is questionable. They like to rummage around in > > bags that have anything solid in them (i.e., non-clothes items). > > A friend who works as a field tech and regularly flies with a checked > bag of tools tells me that ever since they stopped allowing locks, he > generally loses one tool per flight. He says Leatherman tools seem to > be the favorites of sticky-fingered baggage handlers and TSA inspectors.
If you have a bag of tools that you have to carry, and also a firearm, you might consider declaring the firearm. This requires TSA to search the bag manually and be happy with it, then you lock it (nobody wants the liability of a declared weapon disappearing). This is about the only way I know around the lock cutting rule. It must [obviously] be checked baggage, and must be declared to the ticketing agent per FAA regulations. I am not suggesting everyone carry guns on airplanes, or suggesting that guns are anything worthwhile or worthless to society... K
