Question on international airline pick issues

[Richie]

Hello. I was wondering about the legality of carrying lockpicks across international borders. I am not a locksmith, just someone who enjoys picking locks as a hobby, and I am planning a plane trip to canada soon. Will the airline people stop me for questioning if I have a jacknife pick set keychain as I put it in the little bowl?

I'm not too concerned with the foreign laws once I get there (only staying a few days for a get together), but I would hate to leave one of my favourite hobbies behind. Any help you can give would be most appreciative.

[logosys]

Hello. I was wondering about the legality of carrying lockpicks across international borders. I am not a locksmith, just someone who enjoys picking locks as a hobby, and I am planning a plane trip to canada soon. Will the airline people stop me for questioning if I have a jacknife pick set keychain as I put it in the little bowl?

I'm not too concerned with the foreign laws once I get there (only staying a few days for a get together), but I would hate to leave one of my favourite hobbies behind. Any help you can give would be most appreciative.

Well, with airline regulations the way they are, I wouldn't carry the set on (airline security might deem them "weapon-like")

[Richie]

Also, I've never flown before, so I have no idea what to expect. Would they do an ultra thorough search of my checked baggage for any picks? Or anything else for that matter?

[plot]

if you're in the united states, don't bother, sharp pointy object, jackknife, etc... anything like that is not gonna fly with the airlines (pun intended)

[plot]

Also, I've never flown before, so I have no idea what to expect. Would they do an ultra thorough search of my checked baggage for any picks? Or anything else for that matter?

don't take anything metal or pointy with you basically. all razors, etc. need to be put in baggage and checked, can't carry any of it on.

they won't let you take simple tools onboard either such as pliers, plastic knives, sporks, razors, etc...

as far as i know though, pretty much anything can be put in baggage and checked. they spot check the baggage, where they'll pull your bag and go through it to make sure there's nothing explosive, illegal, etc. in it. put your jackknife pick in there and chances are they won't know what it is and just think it's a pocketknife and it should be ok. if they check your baggage, they'll leave a note in there saying they did....

[Varjeal]

Yup. Definitely leave it in your baggage. Depending on how mean the customs people feel like in Canada, they may/may not give you hassle, but they DEFINITELY will if it's in your pocket.

[frollard]

yah.

metal detector going on, and xray your carry on - busted. even if they were told what they were, think - you can still stab someone with a strong half diamond.


check it. (pun also intended) My parents were recently the target of 'random' baggage search. Nice polite note left on top. It's funny, my dad's been blackballed by Canada/US customs - we imported a few vehicles, and had the wrong paperwork, so now we're in the terrorist database. When they went to miami for a vacation last, they were pulled out of the lineup, and asked to sit in a room where when my mom finally snapped on them (not knowing why) the supervisor said the file says "do not allow to import vehicles. You dont seem to have any on you, so you can go".

what a RETARDED system.
if you have picks made of plastic, you'd be okay....*scratch that - bad idea*

that said...

[mcm757207]

One more than one occasion someone I was traveling with had their luggage searched (padlock snapped off and things rearanged inside), but no note. Nothing was stolen though- and that's wh I think it was airport security or whatever. My recommendation to you to save the hassel is to disassemble the jacknife and put the difference pieces in different places through more than one bag if possible.

[mbell]

Security has tigtened up MASSIVELY over the past few years.

Slightly off topic: Three or Four years ago when I went on holiday to Spain I took a multi-tool (Leatherman type) in a backpack. It has numerous sharp objects includeing a 3" blade.

English customs never said a word or didn't see it on the X-Ray machine and the Spannish customs asked me to get the knife out of the bag. I showed them it and they gave me it back & I put it back in the bag.

I dont think that's possible anymore!

[frollard]

a leatherman would get you thrown into the slammer if you're entering the states

dont travel

[iarnell]

English customs never said a word or didn't see it on the X-Ray machine and the Spannish customs asked me to get the knife out of the bag. I showed them it and they gave me it back & I put it back in the bag.

A few years back, I was flying regularly between London and Amsterdam with a leatherman in my carry-on. No problems for ages, then one day, leaving London, security picked up on it and confiscated it as it had locking blades and is considered an offensive weapon in the UK.

[PickPick]

When I went over to Japan last autumn I had some KGB picks in my purse, I forgot to take them out (they're my emergency emergency set). Anyway, the purse went through xray, they saw the strang metal objects, I explained what it was and I was allowed to board with them still on my person.

[oldlock]

Two comments :

Hold baggage for the pick, but if it is found you are probably going to get into hot water for carrying burglary tools ? In the UK it was called going equiped to commit a crime - and can wind you up in a whole lot of trouble.

I have carried picks on flights before and been challenged about it, but I have trade ID so no problem there (pre 9/11)

re the leatherman, prior to 9/11 I flew to the US three times, making a number of internal flights and to australia twice with a leatherman wave on my belt. No problems at all.

Paul

[32768]

I thought this question was interesting since I'm actually in canada right now visiting from the states and I brought some picks and locks with me to stay in practice. My technique was to put everything in a small box in my checked luggage along with a few other tools. I figure if they opened it and saw a couple padlocks and some tweezers and pliers they probably won't look too closely to see the picks. Also, I made sure I had my foley belsaw student id just in case they started asking questions or in case tools are restricted here. Everything stays in the house when I go out- I don't see a need to carry them around with me. Incidently, I was surprised to see abloy disk locks on commercial buildings here. I'd never seen an abloy disk mortice cylinder before- they're pretty cool looking.

[randmguy]

Going to Canada I would be careful. I know Alberta requires a license to carry lockpicks. I'm not sure of the other provinces but I'd be careful just the same. It wasn't bad before 2001, I flew to Canada multiple times prior to 9/11 and was stopped once in Ottawa with picks in my carry-on. They asked to see ID and I showed them my bonding card and my Police ID (its nice to be married to a cop sometimes...I work on their locks after hours for reduced rates and I get an ID as a qualified vendor) and they told me to enjoy my stay. The only country I've ever been hassled on entry is Italy. It turns out they were having a major terrorist problem at the time so it's hard to fault them for being suspicious.

Since 2001 I haven't even tried to carry picks on the plane because it just doesn't seem worth the hassle even on domestic flights. We've had engineers from Hamworthy and Peabody engineering stopped in customs for hours because they had "unidentifiable wires and connectors" in their laptop cases. It's gotten to the point that they just send their tools and equipment via Fed-Ex now to avoid the delays at the border. We had a Peabody engineer stopped at the US-Canadian border for 3 days while their lawyers obtained clearances from different government agencies so he could return to the US with parts he had removed from our boilers to be tested at the factory.