Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul F
I've had one pocket knife most of my life. Its a 2-1/2 blade with a bone and silver finish. In the old days when airport security was pretty simple, I went through with a tool case. I put my knife in a tray along with my change. The security person opened the knife, looked at it, and handed it back to me. He opened the tool case, looked at an 8 oz. ball peen hammer and said, "You can't take that aboard. It's a weapon". True story.
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Lol! I had a bit of a story when I arrived at the airport here and the female customs officer opened up my suitcase and saw the big bowie sitting right on top. It was upside down and when she picked it up and turned it over she went into shock and almost dropped it as if it had burned her hand.
She said "Oh sir sir, you can't have something like this!" All the while holding it up and away with 2 fingers like it was a dead rat. I asked why not - its just a knife - no law against that, I have a bigger one in my kitchen. She just kept holding it up and shaking her head until a senior officer noticed and came over to see what was going on.
He looked at her funny and asked me what I plan to use the knife for. I told him it'll be a bush knife - hacking branches, peeling fruit, opening coconuts, gutting fish, etc. when I'm out on my estate. He asked "Not for cutting people up in self-defence?" I replied that I have a licensed firearm for that. He laughed and asked where the estate was - turned out he grew up in the area and we spoke briefly about the beach and the terrain. Then he turned to the woman still holding the bowie up like he'd almost forgotten about her, and said kind of impatiently, "Give the gentleman back his knife!"
Its served me well - I even carry it in my tennis bag and use it for cutting out broken strings and stuff. I'm careful who's around when I do, but it always gets quite a reaction from my buddies when I pull it out.
They're not handy now for photos, but this is a pic of the same bowie:
And this is a web pic of the K Bar Tanto - another great knife that sees a lot of bush duty and does it's job really well. I've even taken this one diving in salt water a few times - rinsed it and oiled it thoroughly afterwards of course.
