Scissors on board, not a problem.

[Bolster]

I decided to see for myself if I could really carry mid-size scissors on a plane. I selected a pair of 7.25" overall length "Acme Preferred" scissors with 3.5" from tip to pivot. Slightly larger than should be allowed if the 7" rule applies (but I think it doesn't apply to scissors, oddly enough). These are "sharp tip" scissors, not blunt. On an outbound trip from LAX I blatantly displayed them to security by putting them into the scanner bin by themselves. Ran through with no comment. So I picked them up and showed them to the scanner operator: "You're sure these are OK?" "Yeah, no problem."

On the way back from my east coast destination I once again put them alone in the bin, and said to the pre-scanner, "I've got these scissors here, I think they are OK." "Yeah, no problem," he said. However the guy running the scanner was a newbie, with his trainer standing beside him, and when he saw the scissors, he said to his trainer, "Are these scissors OK?" "Yeah," said the boss-man. "They're under 4 inch blade."

The only minor issue I had with them was using them on the plane to cut some paracord (I was weaving some zipper pulls). My seatmates asked me how I smuggled the scissors on board. I told them they were perfectly legal, that I had displayed them openly to security. They gave me a dull look, then repeated, "How did you smuggle them on board?" I repeated myself. More dull looks. "I don't know how you smuggled those on board," they commented, and I stopped talking to them. Yeah, that's right, the only people who had a problem with the scissors were dim-witted fellow passengers.

I read an awful lot of mean-spirited comments about TSA on this forum. People say they're incompetent, arbitrary and restrictive. Well, compared to the rank-and-file airplane passengers, the TSA look like geniuses...so far, in my experience, they follow their own rulebook to the letter.

[Lugsalot]

Well, I guess we can be thankful they appear to be enforcing their ridiculous policies uniformly. The TSA is probably the single biggest reason I don't travel as much as I'd like; last time I boarded a plane, I had to remove my belt, boots and submit to a pat-down search, and this was PRE-9/11/01, mind you! :rant:

[bpa]

Well, I guess we can be thankful they appear to be enforcing their ridiculous policies uniformly.


I'm not sure. The policy may be uniform, but the enforcement is not. Sometimes my granola bar excites them, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes they flip out over my electric shaver and/or my exercise band. It varies by time of day (early morning is often easiest), by the inspector's level of experience, by the setting on the magnetometer, by the zealotry of the particular inspector, and random chance.

It's not the uniformity that catches problems, although it helps. It's the randomness - you never know what will clear easily and what will trigger an inspection.

[BroBrandonB]

I, too, had no problems carrying sharp, pointy scissors on airplanes when I flew this summer. Glad to hear that they are still okay.

[Bolster]

At this point I have taken my pointy scissors through about a half dozen airports, and have had conversations (initiated by me, not them) with at least 3 TSA agents about the scissors...they all say the same thing: as long as the pivot-to-tip is sub 4" no problem. One even said that the 7" rule doesn't apply to scissors, it applies to tools...(um...but scissors are...oh nevermind)...in other words, scissors can be over 7" total length as long as the pivot to tip is under 4". "But no knives!" they remind me.

[Lunal_Tic]

It's not the uniformity that catches problems, although it helps. It's the randomness - you never know what will clear easily and what will trigger an inspection.


It's also what makes getting through security so stressful for the public, you never know half the time, they don't know half the time and they always fall back on the "it's for your security" excuse. I've had a TSA agent claim it's the randomness that protects, actually it's a crutch because their processes are inadequate and often ineffective for the task and they don't have the ability to be consistent. They claim intentional randomness as part of the package because that's the only part they can guarantee intentional or otherwise.



Bolster do you travel with scissors that can be taken apart, screwed together rather than riveted?

-LT

[Bolster]

Bolster do you travel with scissors that can be taken apart, screwed together rather than riveted?

They are German-made Gingher scissors (Like these. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H7MV1C?smid=A3U5R9XX029X93&tag=nextag-office-mp-20&linkCode=asn)) that are held together with one standard-head screw, which spins off in a few seconds using my Keyton. I have taken the scissors apart and reprofiled the edge to a steeper angle on one of the two blades, using my EdgePro.