Flying with Airgraving in Carry On

Has anyone put there Airgraver in their carry on luggage and had an issue with security ?

I can imagine an issue with a 2" long, surgically sharp graver in the cabin.

SECURITY TO SCREENING !
SECURITY TO SCREENING !

I've wondered about handpieces, too. I think it boils down to how astute or paranoid a TSA agent might be, so it's a crap shoot. I think you're better off and safer putting handpieces and gravers in checked baggage. That's how I travel with mine.

One second thought, if you dismantle your handpiece and put the parts in a plastic bag so it doesn't look like it shoots a .22 bullet you might stand a better chance getting through security. Maybe carry a printout of the handpiece in case you have to explain anything. I don't know about Lindsays, but GRS handpieces might look like the end of a gun barrel to a TSA agent.

Not a "carry on" story, but...


Once flew back to San Francisco from the Tucson show.

We were tired, and I had the Lindsay PC hooked to a cylinder & gauge.

Pulled it outta my backpack and tossed it on top of a bunch of clothes in my wife's suitcase - meaning to take it apart and leave the bottle behind.

It states quite plainly ON THE CYLINDER that they are not to be taken on aircraft... even if they are empty as that one was.


Well, we got up late, were in a rush and she threw more clothes on top of it, slammed it shut and we were off to the airport.

I completely forgot about it. About halfway to SF - I remembered... way too late.


Figured I'd just lost the works. Felt pretty sick.

TSA would see "bomb" in the scan. Metal cylinder, some kinda gauge, connected to the "detonator" with a sharp probe sticking out the end.

Even if by some astronomical chance the inspector knew what he was looking at and could read (iffy?) he'd see the warning on the cylinder and pull the whole works.


So we get to SF.

Took about 4 hours for the luggage to arrive on the carousel. (Not really, just felt like it)

Snatched her bag and immediately opened it, right there on the floor - incidentally blocking a lot of pi**ed off people from getting to their own luggage.


And guess what?


Everything was just as it was. Still connected to the cylinder.

Alongside it was the business card of the TSA agent who HAD spotted it - and left it there.

I would not have been at all surprised if at least the cylinder was gone... but then I can read - and I know what a high pressure cylinder looks like!


Brian

So you risked killing several hundred people, had the plane had to decompress AND make an emergency descent ?
And ya wonder WHY they have screeners ?

I didn't knowingly risk squat. I made a mistake by not disconnecting/discarding the bottle before falling into bed.

The TSA agent who should have caught it, did not. Or judged that there was no "risk" - based on his inability to read or recognize what that ominous cylinder could have been.

(Then again, maybe he WAS an engraver, knew what he was lookin' at and checked that the cylinder was empty? Still shouldn't have passed it.)


And I have no problem with my vision or reading my monitor that requires "screaming", Jephro...

I do wear glasses, and they do the job just fine. Maybe you lost yours?


B.

I just discovered the "ignore" option under profile options... perhaps there are a few others who didn't know we had that option and wanna join me? Wish I'd found it sooner...

Fire away Jephro! I've got no more time to waste bantering with you. Or the "screaming" for that matter... ain't gonna see it or even know about it.

Pretty much all complexed aircraft have high pressure bottles installed. I don't think you put any aircraft or people at risk Brian.

Like Sam, I always put all tooling in the checked baggage..........Goodness knows what it looks like in an Xray machine!!!

Some of this stuff is subjective to the security people on the day and what one will allow through, another won't.

Better safe than sorry

I've never had any issues with tooling in checked luggage.

Cheers
Andrew

A couple of years ago they refused to allow a motorcycle magneto on with my hand luggage. Said I might try to club someone with it.

Aaahhhh yes... flying and the TSA. I have to fly a lot with tools and it is a constant headache. My main airport is Philadelphia, but I also fly out of Newark quite a bit and have had heart to heart talks with the TSA agents multiple times about the tools and if they have to be checked. If you look at the rules for flying (at least domestically) you are supposed to be allowed to take small tools on the plane as long as they are not beyond a certain length (7 inches I believe) including wrenches, pliers, etc. So I have taken my tools to the head TSA guys at the airport and asked if they comply. Here I'm speaking about the gravers NOT even in a collet or hand piece at all - just the simple gravers. Three times now with different people I get the same answer..... Yup, it would seem to comply with the rules, but if you get a TSA agent who interprets the rules differently then they will be confiscated, etc.

I even asked if I could provide a full set of tools to be inspected so that maybe I could get a letter that states they have had the once over and are OK.... Nope.... It all comes down to how someone feels on a certain day.

Now, having said that - and back to your hand piece. I have flown with hand pieces in my carry on bag multiple times and have never had a problem. I NEVER have a graver installed in the hand piece. It is always neatly packaged with the hose coiled up. I also have a printout of the hand piece (from a catalog or web site), my card which states I'm an engraver and a small engraving sample on me so that I can show people what "an engraver" really means. In my case the hand pieces I now travel with are not that expensive or personalized. If I wanted to travel with a Lindsay I would probably also go the extra step of disassembling some of it so the entire thing looked smaller and probably store the parts in different pockets of the bag.

Good luck - I know this is so frustrating. In the end it will come down to whether or not the person thinks it may be a threat and will or will not be reasonable with your explanation.

My 901 handpiece can look rather menacing.

sam said:

View attachment 34638

My 901 handpiece can look rather menacing.

Click to expand...

sakes alive ! does abigail sleep with one eye open ? you look like a -------- ! in that foto.

Two days without coffee will do that to you...

B.

if you do this you goanna get a spankin TSA has little hummer. back in the day I worker for Beretta and we had 1"x1/2" key rings of a 92fs. the TSA spent the next 30 minutes trying to make this sold cast replica work and myself being held in detection. ship your tools if you fly to your hotel avoid the hassle of the TSA. it is not worth missing a flight over, let alone the embarrassment. don't drink and drive you might spill your drink. gcleaker

I've traveled with my Lindsay Palm Control a few times in my carry on with gravers in the bag and not a peep out of TSA.

Once I did carry on a mini vise and they poked through my bag for that and swabbed it because they didn't know what it was. This was in Reno but once they looked it over they sent me on through. If they ask what it is, reply to them that it is a "handle". Do not tell them it's a "tool" as some airlines make a blanket policy that you can't carry on tools.

A little trick that the knife makers do now when flying with thier knives. Buy a Gun Case with a lock it goes on the plane prechecked and the lock never gets in locked until you receive it at other end.

If they cannot open the lock - the case will not accompany your luggage. Don't ask how I know... (Hawaii workshop 10+ years ago)

So, the knives still manage to vanish - locked box or not.


There are several ways to reduce your risk when transporting small high value items. Here's one of them:


Print an inventory & description with detailed images. NO PRICES! NO SPECIFICS as to metals or stones.

Same as is done in normal jewelry trade shop take in. I.E. - describe as white metal, yellow metal, white stones, red stones... NOT as 18K yellow gold with rubies.


Get someone to witness that that is what they saw before it goes through the scanner & TSA hand check. Maybe take a picture of the witness holding the open box?

Put a copy of the inventory and images with the witness signature in the box or container - right on top, so the TSA guys can SEE it first thing. Include your contact info.

Then cross your fingers and hope that they can read...

Follow up by checking your inventory immediately on arrival at the other end. BEFORE you leave the airport.


B.


I use a local deputy sheriff as my witness and include his card stapled to the documents...

But I still cross my fingers and knock on wood.

If there's a gun in the case then it will be there. TSA will do any inspection right at the beginning by having you unlock (and then re-lock) the case.

Of course this only works if you're traveling to someplace you can take a firearm. It's also a good reason to get a little NAA revolver - leaves more room in the case.