I just put all the sharps and the other dangerous stuff in a checked bag. Haven't lost anything yet, not even collector grade knives I've bought on the road, or in a couple of intnernational flights (one with lost luggage coming back from Italy).

One time, I forgot about the Ultimate Survival Strike Force flint/steel in my briefcase, and got the full treatment (next best thing to a strip search). They let me go, and let me keep it. That was before the lighter ban, though. Of course, I probably got off because I developed a rapport with the hand screener, due to the Wichard sailing hardware on my keychain ("Hey, are you a sailor?"), so I wouldn't recommend you try this.

Oh yes, BTW, I never put locks on my checked bags. If thieves want in, TSA locks aren't going to stop them, and if the TSA guys want my stuff, obviously TSA locks won't stop them, either.

It is an Everest bag. I don't know about model, but you can find several different versions at everest.com website. Typically they hold about as much as a standard purse. No one gives me a hard time about wearing it. Then again I am 6'6 and weigh 265 lbs.

As a general rule, most TSA agents have enough integrity and scrutiny that they won't steal anything from luggage. They are watched pretty closely by people who can't really afford to lose their job, and there are better procedures in place to file a claim against the agency if your luggage has an approved TSA lock on it, you have a bill of lading (packing slip, inventory of contents), even just pictures of what was in there before the trip. When they find out that only TSA agents were allowed into the luggage, the excrement will hit the fan at the office. It'd be like someone opening your fed ex package at the processing terminal. It just doesn't happen often enough to worry about.

If you check baggage, use luggage with approved TSA locks. If I can make it in and out of Baghdad to Seattle and all points in between without losing my knives, lighters, cameras, money, etc. then it should be good enough for just about anything else you might pack.

Yes, theives will always find a way to steal, no matter what you do. I find the TSA lock on my new Samsonite luggage to be very difficult to defeat short of damaging the container itself. Now if some luggage Gorilla manages to get his hands on a TSA key, well, even banks still get robbed these days don't they? Ultimately, there is no truly secure way to ship what you think you need anywhere, so you must accept that certain conditions are simply inevitable, and take your chances like everyone else. I've had more than my share of things lost, stolen or damaged by the USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, and DHL enough to understand that they are no better.

Let me ask you this, what other choice do you have, and isn't some form of protection/security better than none at all?

I'm 5'11'' and 130 pounds. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> As you can plainly see, we're roughly equivalent. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Then again, no one sees a thin nerdy geek as a threat, so people generally leave me alone. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

-- Craig