FLYING WITH YOUR GEAR IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE SEARSON

You don’t have to leave your EDC gear home when you travel if you follow certain TSA rules.

TOMASZ KUSNIERZ / DREAMSTIME.COM

EDC gear is not always TSA friendly. In many cases when you fly, you will have to either not take it with you or place it in checked baggage. If your non-permissive gear is inexpensive, that is not cause for concern. However, if you carry a highend knife, multitool, expensive flashlight or tactical pen that makes TSA (Transportation Security Administration) get all jittery when they see it, checking a bag might be your best option.

THEFT IS A PROBLEM

The problem with checking a bag is your expensive or simply beloved gear (let’s be honest—most of us get attached to our EDC kit) is now subject to random theft by baggage handlers or TSA personnel.

In 2006, custom knifemaker Ken Onion had 14 knives worth more than $40,000 stolen from his checked bag while flying from Honolulu to San Francisco and on to Huntington Beach, California, for a knife show.

Over the years I have heard of other knife collectors stashing their EDC gear in their shaving kits or in their clothing pockets in their checked bags. Sometimes this is effective, but you still run the risk of loss or theft.

LOCK YOUR BAG

I rest a bit easier on my flights because I fly with firearms in a secure case. If your EDC gear is important or valuable, you might consider the same, even if you do not carry, own or even like firearms.

A few years ago, while flying through Phoenix International Airport with firearms, a fellow passenger took great interest in me putting padlocks on my Pelican case at the counter and asked how I was able to do that. He routinely transported high-end electronics and did not trust the security of “TSA Approved Locks.”

I told him that I was transporting firearms and suggested he could do the same by placing a firearm in his secured case with proper locks. He seemed hesitant; he had nothing against guns, but he just didn’t own one. He was relieved when I told him that TSA considers a pellet gun, air soft gun or starter pistol a fully-fledged firearm, and a $20 nongun would allow him to lock his checked bag to protect his other valuable contents.