No! The maximum I'd risk is this: http://www.res-q-me.com/ , or the like. As far, as the TSA officer at the desk is the ultimate authority, and literally anything can be converted into a deadly weapon, it is a pure gamble.

My favourite laptop is the trusty old Panasonic CF-27. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I think it goes deeper than that ... in the post-9/11 security hysteria - and hysteria IS the right word - anything can be made to seem un-American or un-patriotic. Look how far John Ashcroft as managed to come in turning the US into a police state.

I'm not saying whether I agree with this guy or not, but it's something to think about:

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/11/6/9523/36989

No one likes him very much, do they?

And yes, "hysteria" is the word of the day, probably the word of the decade, and possibly the word of the foreseeable future.

I agree with the article.

Of course we have a member who will argue that there exists no "IRREFUTABLE" evidence to that end.

Bountyhunter

On passing through airport security my brother had the battery of his maglight confiscated on grounds of being able to blind the pilot. They just dont give you a chance to be prepared anymore! Upon a crash landing you first have to get in the hold somehow to grap your PSK. If you find your bag that is!

Problem is, people are quickly losing the ability to trust, and governments refuse to address the causes (poverty, third world debt etc), and instead increase the tension within societies and communities, I can only presume because they want to be needed (or need to be wanted), and their jobs entitle them to make powerful decisions.

BBC news quality is going downhill incredibly fast since September 11, every small piece of 'news' is fired at you down the wires 24/7 ("BBC News 24"), perspective is being lost from this once impartial corperation, and this is the organisation which battles the government! It does though have some good reporters. It's not even worth talking of the other news broadcasters.

At the moment i can only think of taking this simple approach: think green, act green and vote Green. Being prepared has got to apply to how we prepare for the future of democracy, if you treat it as a mindset anyway.

As regards preparing for plane travel, I suppose your greatest asset in a crash or such like is your brain, if you concentrate too much on having the tools I think you can miss the obvious options. If you know to wait until crashing in the sea before opening your life-jacket for instance, try and tell everybody else that. If you can't undo the seatbelt, maybe you can loosen it first and wriggle out, but it's not the action which counts, it's the overall approach to the situation. I'm sure everybody already knows how important this is, I'm just speaking my mind here and don't mean to speak down to anybody.
Ian

Hmm.. maybe we should sit down and ask ourselves what would macgyver do? Perhaps we could come up with a way to cut through the seatbelt with a piece of chewing gum wrapper <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Don't see a problem with that, they're serrated after all!

I'd sharpen my teeth but then they would probably want to confiscate them too! Oooooooooouch!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />