Travelling with your Swords

[Lisa]

We ofen travel the airlines with our rifles. We needs a PAL certificate which basically states we are allowed to transport our rifles. Sometimes we get grief from the uneducated employees of the airlines as to what papers we need etc. To protect them they are placed in Pelican cases because once they leave our sight, lord knows what happens to them on the airplane.

For you swords when you travel to seminars, etc. Do you need any special paperwork? Just curious as to what the law states about them.

 

[Blindside]

Nope, its just a big knife, but then we don't need paperwork to travel with firearms either. For firearms, all you have to do is show the person at ticketing that it is unloaded, and in a lockable case, you lock it, they red tag it, and then you check it in.

Lamont

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Exactly what Lamont said. No problems here at all.

 

[pgsmith]

Hi Lisa,
As has been stated, there is generally no problem with traveling with swords. I place mine in a large Pelican case so they stay safe. One addition I have is a large sign on each side that says No Firearms: Martial Arts Equipment. The TSA folks have thanked me for that on several occassions as they don't have to hassle with figuring it out for themselves. They don't usually have to unlock it either. They do usually spend extra time under the x-ray machine with all of them crowding around to check out the swords though!

 

[Zida'sukara]

I am really suprised that this is going so easily after all the problems you hear on the news about security on airports. I thought they would be more carefull with weapons.

They almost arrest me in Orlando and point big rifles at me because I am trying to get my bag back that was taken by somebody else and than they let weapons cross so easily. Somehow I do not understand the logic of their security.

 

[Blindside]

You can't carry them on the plane with you, and you check them in before you go through security. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

[shesulsa]

I've never travelled with mine via aircraft, but have heard it's rather straightforward.

 

[Zida'sukara]

@blindside
I worked at the airport in amsterdam and could drive to every plane and whole the airfield, was good friends with the security and could do everything I wanted. I could even grap to others bags if I wanted to because they were just standing around and frequently I picked up a bag or a box which fell down from a trolly. I was not the only one, a lot of people could reach the trollies with bags without being noticed.

I do not think it is save to transport the weapons this easily considering that 1 of the securities from this airport was arrested because of help to an illegal weapon transport even though he was screened properly.

Especially in these "dangerous" times with terrorists, I expected the security to be much stronger. Of course it is better for the martialarts people in this way but I hope everybody understands my point of view.

 

[jdinca]

We travel back to a tournament in Baltimore every summer. Imagine the looks when weapons for 70 people are checked through! We've never had a problem.

 

[Blindside]

@blindside
I worked at the airport in amsterdam and could drive to every plane and whole the airfield, was good friends with the security and could do everything I wanted. I could even grap to others bags if I wanted to because they were just standing around and frequently I picked up a bag or a box which fell down from a trolly. I was not the only one, a lot of people could reach the trollies with bags without being noticed.

I do not think it is save to transport the weapons this easily considering that 1 of the securities from this airport was arrested because of help to an illegal weapon transport even though he was screened properly.

Especially in these "dangerous" times with terrorists, I expected the security to be much stronger. Of course it is better for the martialarts people in this way but I hope everybody understands my point of view.

Well, if you have poor security behind the scenes, and insiders working for the bad guys, you've got more problems than people checking weapons on board. If someone is going to do something, they could just smuggle something in on their own.

Lamont

 

[Zida'sukara]

If I would be a terrorist, I would check in my weapons too. Employ a weekend courier person like I was to work for a few months to get some trust and than use this person to get the weapons on board.

My personal opinion is that there should be some special treatment with the transport of weapons. I am not a security specialist but I really think it is better for the safety of all. I perhaps will also have the need to transport a weapon with a plane in the future( I hope so) but still I have this opinion.