ceramic knives vs metal detectors???

[dan330]

a friend just purchased a ceramic knife set.. from Costco.
i saw some at home depot... even on amazon. cheap too.

these things are sharp!!! and light.

easy to hide and carry.

it occurred to me.. these things can be snuck past metal detectors!!!!
that is scary!.. airports??? who cares about nail clippers and letter openers!

 

[olbriar]

Hmmmmmmm... never thought about it. However, you can make a very dangerous weapon out of plastic. It won't hold an edge but I don't think that's a huge factor in a hijack situation.

 

[breadnatty08]

I thought about that too when I first got a ceramic peeler.
However, you gotta hope that the person running the scanner can recognize the shape of a knife, no matter what the material.

 

[dan330]

not of you lay the ceramic blade against some other ceramic things and metal things...

 

[unnamedny]

So does plastic, carbon fiber, fishing strings, and 3d printer materials.

 

[TJGoSurf]

If someone really wanted to cause trouble they wouldn't need a knife. They're pushing body scanners at the airport hard and if you refuse that you get patted down

 

[SiempreTuna]

I'm pretty sure you could get a ceramic knife past security. While they're definitely very sharp (I keep thinking I should get some for cooking), they're also relatively easily broken (the reason I don't get them for cooking) .. but still: 9/11 was done with box cutters ..

Re airport security, a more surprising statistic is the growing number of guns getting seized at airports in the US these days: 1,525 in 2012 (85% were loaded, 26% had a round in the chamber) and the I believe the number is up for 2013. Apparently, people 'forget' they're carrying, which I guess explains why so many were loaded.

Of course, that's only the people who were caught and charged: you have to wonder how many get through.

 

[dan330]

Wow.. 1525

 

[dibblebill]

Ceramic knives? That's all you're worried about?

You must've missed Evan Booth and Terminal Cornucopia
Evan Booth Airport Security And Weapons - Business Insider

 

[dan330]

btw.. she dropped the knife on a tile floor.. snapped in half!

 

[Xyro]

I'm probably for any number of watch lists now, but after doing some googling it sounds like the manufacturers typically include metal in the knife in some form or another for this reason. I don't know if that means metal components/inserts in the handle, or mixing in some metal with the ceramic.

 

[dibblebill]

I'm probably for any number of watch lists now, but after doing some googling it sounds like the manufacturers typically include metal in the knife in some form or another for this reason. I don't know if that means metal components/inserts in the handle, or mixing in some metal with the ceramic.

Metallic ceramics can be very strong but brittle, as our friend just discovered. My favorite is tungsten carbide

 

[merg]

Ceramic knives may be detected by some of those High Frequency Scanners or even the X-ray Backscatter Scanners.

And Like dibblebill said...They are brittle. They tend to chip depending on how you use them.

 

[Strings]

LOL

Folks... I remember going to one of the local airports with my wife, to pick up my brother.

Wife sets her purse on the xray conveyor, not thinking. While waiting for my brother, she goes to get something out of her purse... and notices her buck knife is still clipped there.

We walk back to security (small airport, dead night) and point out that they missed a knife. Even sent through by itself, it wasn't showing up on the screen

"Security" at the airport is nothing but theater

 

[Codegerm]

It is impossible to catch everything. Even a piece of plastic can be a very effective blade. If you want to see creative uses of things to make weapons, look at things corrections officers have found while doing searches at a prison.

 

[huh]

a few months ago hubby forgot he had straight edge razor blades in his dopp kit in his carry on...nobody caught it or seemed to care..
also my friend had a weird experience when she came to visit me from Texas..at the airport in texas they told her she was randomly chosen to skip the security check point so go ahead straight to the gate...like she won some lottery or something....she asked wait..what??? they told her they routinely do that as some part of some program or experiment...don't remember exactly now........but um wow!!! now THAT makes me nervous...WTWhat??

 

[dan330]

what?? really.. lotto?
go ahead.. no problem!
scary!

when was that? what airport?

 

[dibblebill]

Personally, the thought of less security doesn't frighten me as much as it does most. Honestly, pre-9/11 and pre... Well, I won't go there lest this be tossed into P&CE, but I don't remember there being that much worry about terrorist attacks. In fact, that could've even been prevented if regulations for the system in place at the time were simply being followed.

 

[huh]

what?? really.. lotto?
go ahead.. no problem!
scary!

when was that? what airport?

Beginning of November

Austin
I know right?? I couldn't believe it!!!

 

[Strings]

dibblebill: I remember flying home from San Diego for Christmas in '92. My carry-on was a headless bass in a hardcase (looked for all the world like a rifle case), with several knives in the accessories compartment.

The only thing the airport folks were concerned with was where to put it so as to not take up all the overhead space