You' re absolutly right, in sea survival (very bad example from me) it doesn't make much of a difference, but what I'm trying to say is that it is best to have your personal survival equipment ON YOUR PERSON!
If it is somewhere else, you might not be able to get it, or it could get lost.

Maybe it's just best to give your knife and PSK to the steward, If a Emergency occurs, you can always ask it back.
(if she gives it back....) <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

> Yes, but if you crash or ditch in the sea, wat are the chances you'll find your baggage and your knife
> and Psk between the wreckage?

Higher than if it isn't on the plane.

Seriously, one advantage of having it in checked luggage is that you can get it back on your person as soon as you clear baggage reclaim, and have it with you for the rest of the journey. My most recent flight was a skiing holiday. It involved a transfer coach journey of about an hour, from airport to resort .Nowadays I wouldn't want to do that feeling naked without my gear. It was an unfamiliar country, through mountains etc, and things could have gone wrong.

To be honest I'm not big on knives anyway. My core EDC is a whistle and flashlight, which are airline-friendly. Arguably if the plane crashes, you will get rescued within hours anyway.