Shanks on a Plane

It never fails to amaze me how different folks opinions are in different parts of the country.

Maybe that isn’t even fair, maybe it is more of a cultural thing.

In either case, I was having a discussion with a group of vendors at work today and the discussion when from traveling, to travel, to the inevitable topic of dealing with airline security. Everyone shared their stories about someone they knew, or themselves, that accidentally bought a knife, multiplier, or illicit shampoo bottle unmolested through security.

I recounted the days when I would always fly with a knife on a plane. Sure, it was a straight-up tactical folder, but rather my special “airline-travel knife” – usually a SAK that I wouldn’t be devastated if some eager security dude decided to add to his collection. If there were any questions asked – and their usually weren’t – it was usually dispelled by a quick flash of my medic badge and a mildly gruesome story of the benefits of a field-expedient tracheotomy performed mid-flight.

Of course I never got to perform said operation . . . but I am really sure I could. 🙂

Anyway . . .

One of the fellas had just finished describing his accidentally bringing a leatherman multiplier through security and noticing it after the fact, I quietly lamented that I no longer carry a knife on a plane (one viewing of America Undercover: Inside America’s Prisons was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow) . . . I quietly suggested that rather than disarming folks who travel on planes

My suggestion and remedy for security woes, was that everyone on the plane should be allowed to – nay issued – some sort of weapon for airline travel.

Don’t get me wrong here