Lockpicks as carry on luggage on airplanes OK?

[AdverseRandomX]

Sorry for the rather random question but I'm travelling pretty soon and I'd like to practice while I'm traveling. I've searched here and on google but I couldn't find any information about this. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thx!

[hydruh]

Sorry for the rather random question but I'm travelling pretty soon and I'd like to practice while I'm traveling. I've searched here and on google but I couldn't find any information about this. Does anyone have experience with this?

It is case by case. I got stopped in Columbus and Orlando, but it was OK in Vegas and Seattle.

My advice - ship them ahead.

S

[datagram]

Agree with hydruh. Better safe than sorry.

dg

[yoyoboy]

practice on the plane.
No Joke, I've done it before, post 9/11.

[patrickson]

I think it also depends on your destination.
If you travel from somewhere, where picking is tolerated (ie:your picks won t be confiscated if found) to somewhere, where even the posession of lockpicks is a crime in itselft (like Japan), then you shouldn t bring them with you.
Besides, these days security is really strict concerning "kinfe-like objects" and it would be a waste if they took your set away at the security gate

Better safe....

[ridinplugspinnaz]

For what it's worth, all the picks that I recently traveled with appeared to have arrived just fine, though they were packed in check-in luggage. The only picks / lock tools that stayed with me in carry-on bags were my (plastic-bodied) jackknife pickset and a key gauge, neither of which seemed to set off any red flags at the screeners. I was a bit worried that the jackknife set would do so due to how it looks, but since it was fairly inexpensive I decided to risk it. I left it attached to my keyring along with a bunch of other keys, so maybe on the x-ray screen the folded picks just looked like a couple extra keys or something.

[talbuz]

I have travelled hundreds of times due to my work, and I always carried picks in my check-in bag. I would imagine that whether you have a problem or not if TSA find picks in your carry-on will depend pretty much on the person on duty. After all its his right, and his duty, to question anything he is suspicious of, so the question for us is then whether its worth risking the hassle to carry them on board. I prefer to make things easy and not have to run to catch my connecting flight because the TSA needed to clear my picks with theiur superiors, etc, so I dont take them ob board.

As for the advise of practicing lock-picking on the plane, I'm sorry but I totally disagree with that. On a hyper-sensitive situation like a plane, where security concerns and nervousness are heightened, I think we need to respect the that people sitting next to us and behind us are probably going to get jittery about this guy who, rather than read a book, listen to ipod or watch a movie, takes out these shiny pointed metal things (a diamond rake could easily be a weapon in their eyes!) and plays with them on his lap. As if that's not bad enough, he is also showing off his ability to open locks, something which most people are used to seeing only on tv and they can associate with burglars etc as much as they do with locksmiths and law enforcement. Someone wrote on this forum about how he practised lockpicking padlocks on a plane and caused a panic with the stewardess and other passengers, with the plane having to land for security reasons. A case in point.

[patrickson]

What Talbuz wrote is really no kidding....
Since I am not a locksmith (= no license) I am now considering not to bring my picks at all when I travel, not even in my check-in bag.
It could cause too much trouble only for some hours of practicing, which would otherwise could be done anywhere.

Again, I just suggest anyone to check the regulations in your destination and transfer countries as well before packing your picks.

[op-sec]

I've carried my picks through CMH, CLT, PHX, GSP, ATL and many others. As long as your picks are under 6inches long (I believe... All of mine are around 4.25in max) they are "tools" and can be carried onboard. This information is all on the TSA website.

I carry mine in my pocket, all the way to the security checkpoint. I put them in the same bin as my cellphone, keys when I am going through the check. I've had TSA ask me what they were but, once I told them "locksmith tools", there was no problem whatsoever. In 8-10 flights, I've been ASKED twice and hassled ZERO times.

[WOT]

I've carried my picks through CMH, CLT, PHX, GSP, ATL and many others. As long as your picks are under 6inches long (I believe... All of mine are around 4.25in max) they are "tools" and can be carried onboard. This information is all on the TSA website.

I carry mine in my pocket, all the way to the security checkpoint. I put them in the same bin as my cellphone, keys when I am going through the check. I've had TSA ask me what they were but, once I told them "locksmith tools", there was no problem whatsoever. In 8-10 flights, I've been ASKED twice and hassled ZERO times.

TSA is confiscating swiss army pocket knives, even though many are under 4 1/4" long. You should see state surplus sales on auction sites that include things like 50 swiss army knives in a box, that state took possession from security point confiscations.

They'll make you take off your shoes at TSA point. LAX even made me take off my sweatshirt.

[Puzzlerf]

I had to leave a set at an airport once because the post office was closed and for some reason I couldn't check them. Luckly a lady saw me at the post office area and offered to hold them at the bar she worked at until I came back in town a few days later.

Personally I think airport security is a joke. Few years ago, when I still smoked a pipe, I got stopped and they took my 3in swiss army knife even when I offered to break the blade off. But they let me keep my pipe tamp that had a 6in steel spike on it, along with a box of matches.

[mikitric]

Whenever i travel i just keep them in my luggage, its not worth all the fuss if they were to find them in the carry on. Oh, and for added security i stick it in my washroom tote with my razors etc.

Anyway, beware of profiling too. I imagine that if you look young or prone to mischief then they'll be more likely to stop and question you (as it is less likely for younger people to have actual lock smith licenses) which could get you in a lot of trouble if you dont have a license. And of course the issues of race and so forth are implicit, so i wont mention them here.

[raimundo]

Personally, I would never carry them across borders, as its easy enough to make a set whereever they have sweeper bristles or wiper stiffeners.
and of course,what would I need them for?
I think that it would be better to learn to locate and buy them in the new destination, many places have jobbers that sell them, you can mail them home when you return. I remember when they were sold in some of the more comprehensive hardware stores. I guess those days are long over. the quality of some of those sets wasn't that good anyway.

[nostromo]

I used to have a job in DC where my frequent flyer miles had frequent flier miles and learned that airport security is arbitrary. A fly fishing reel and line seen on xray will get the TSA's quite agitated, yet a utilikey never seemed to get noticed when I'd forget and keep it on me. Anything that was an obvious violation like a pocketknive or multiplier got taken.

If there is a policy against having tools that could somehow gain access to the flight cabin or sabotage the aircraft, and you have something that obviously fits that profile, it will get taken. The odds of getting something through are pretty fair,though, if the object(s) don;t obviously fit the profile, but it's not worth the risk or the tension. They don't kid around. You can miss your flight while being 'interviewed' and there is no apology. Nor should there be.

It's just not worth it. Take some of the wonderful material or offline copies of tutorials or whatever from Barry Wels, Steve Hampton, and others. Or DVD's.

[wakeboard1290]

I agree with nostromo. Even if you can legally get picks through security, the flight staff doesn't know what they are. Shiny steel picks could be mistaken for a knife, and is it really worth it? Instead why not read up on something that you're interested in like high security locks or alternative bypass techniques?

Just my 2 cents