While I was watching the realistic movie The Castaway (Tom Hanks) I thought what can be legally carried on one's person when flying these days on major Airlines?

Obviously, anything sharp or a blade is definetly out, as are probablly H2o proof Matches, but could I bring a 2" long Flint Striker attached on my key ring on board a jet airliner? It's quite small with a tiny faded orange mini handle, the whole thing might be 3" long and it's very thin. I wish I could make a key outa' Flint!

But seriously, what types of Survival items can be carried on one's person that would legally pass thru an airport X-ray machine?

In the movie, when he lost the Survival bag attached to the raft, you knew he was kinda F*&*&* ed.

I've come to carrying a money clip on me on planes along with a hot spark. One I was given by an FBI friend happens to be made of coated steel, so I can still use it to strike my flint and I am sure I could get some kind of edge on it if I use a rock as a sharpening stone. Also, I've found that cd's shatter into shards when broken. These can make arrowhead, spearheads, ect. I believe you can still carry a Bic, that is good to have. Some para cord is good to have (I put a coil knot of paracord on my hotspark). Some fishing line and saftey pins would be good, you might even get away with a small sewing kit. A travel mirror, some duct tape, a fresnel lense, compass zipper pull.....hmm, I can't think of any more but those are some ideas. Just don't try to sneak anything, it isn't worth it.

I forget where I read it first, but it's been suggested that you can super-glue flints for a Zippo lighter to the side (in the groove ) of an old key or a blank, and use that along with another key or a P-38 for a striker. If you don't use a Zippo and/or don't want to buy the flints, you can pull the flint from disposable lighters once the gas is gone. Most of the time, the left-over flint is still pretty long (longer than the replacements for the Zippo in fact).

Troy

>>it's been suggested that you can super-glue flints for a Zippo lighter to the side (in the groove ) of an old key or a blank,

I made a couple of those up for myself a while back and still have them. They're quite cheap - you can buy the flints for about $1, and most everybody has at least one old key lying around that no longer fits anything.

I used to carry one around on my keychain with no protection, and discovered after a couple of months that there were no longer any flints on it. Kind of defeated the purpose. The original post suggested that you should put some shrink tubing on the key. This is easier if you use a key blank (the sharp teeth on a cut key will probably cut the shrink-wrap and you'll end up losing it, and then eventually the flints will get jarred loose).

If you use an old key, see if you can get the local hardware store to run it through their key cutting machine and shave it flat.

I made my first one up (well, after discovering that they fall apart without protection) using blue shrink tubing. But I subsequently made two more using clear tubing. I have one on each of my key-chains and have taken them through airport security several times. I'll wager not one security guard in a thousand would give it a second glance; even if they looked closely, I doubt they'd notice anything. (It probably helps that the flints are the same colour as the key - silver. I've also seen flints that are a gold colour, in which case a brass key blank would be better.)

On one of my key rings, I carry a SAK Classic; that one always goes in my checked luggage when I travel. The other has a key ring I got as a freebie many years ago, and has a metal plate attached to a leather fob. This plate can be used quite effectively as a striker.

Striking a spark from this device does take a bit of practice, as the flints don't wear evenly. (I have 5 flints glued in a single line on my key.)

One of these days I will borrow a digital camera and take a couple of pictures of my key rings for anyone who's interested.

The shrink tubing came from Radio Shack - they sell a bag of assorted colours and diameters. (If you're a Ham operator, you should have a couple of bags of these, just for your image; if you're not a Ham, shame on you <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> )

In general, I don't think there's a foolproof rule about what will or won't get confiscated. I once had a Coghlan's wire saw confiscated; the security guard had to ask me what it was, but as soon as he heard the word "saw" he decided it was an unacceptable item. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

You mean the money clip is made of coated steel? If so, ask your friend where he got his.

I was thinking about this last night. Additional items I would carry with me include: a folding pocket magnifier, a 'line by line' bar magnifier made from solid acrylic, spy capsule with split ring, dental floss, small bottle of moisturizer, small bottle of hand cleaner, tiny eyeglass repair kit, tiny roll of duct tape, enough flashlighs to sink a battleship, etc.

I had the needles confiscated from my sewing kit some time back.

Has anyone ever had any trouble with dog tags, 'specially the stainless steel ones? How 'bout the issue chain (it being made of out that deadly steel stuff)? Or just a P-38???

I had trouble (developed a rash) with what I though was a SS chain, but it turn out to be nickel-plated. When I would wear it, occasional I would have a few neck hairs get caught. I think I may try the following from another forum:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthre...=1&vc=1

Is a P-38 the fold-flat military can opener? If so, I had one confiscated at Ottawa airport last month. I kept it in my wallet, folded flat, and threw my wallet into my hand luggage. I've done this several times without problem; this time, one of the security guards got curious about the flat rectangle that showed up on the X-ray and insisted on seeing what it was.

They were actually very nice about it - they insisted at least three times that I could keep it, as long as I went back to the airline check-in counter and checked it in. I figured the 50 cents it would cost to buy a new one didn't make it economically viable to do so (although a part of me still wonders how the airline check-in staff would react to being asked to check an item of "luggage" that was smaller than the luggage tag <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )