Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol

5/1/13 5 Best TSA-Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol

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Fly-ready folders Keep Calm Carry-Ons: 5 Best TSA- Approved Pocket Knives

B UYI NG GUI DE PRICE : $25-$99 B y SCO TT PACKARD on 4. 5. 13 Pho to by ERIC YANG

Many of us remember the days of over-zealous and hyper-vigilant guardians of flight security; I’ve had children’s safety scissors, nail clippers (sans nail file), and three wooden toy swords (gifts for my sons) turned away in the name of national security. Being a serving member of the military didn’t help, even on the occasion when I was flying with both a service rifle and pistol on a contract aircraft.

The lifting of the Transportation Security Agency’s prohibition on knives brings both a boon for your every day carry (EDC) and a challenge in deciding on a folding knife that meets the TSA’s parameters. The search may involve more than simply looking at the list of requirements, though — the first implementation of any bureaucratic policy runs into the reality of execution on the gearpatrol.com/2013/04/05/keep-calm-carry-ons-5-best-tsa-approved-pocket-knives/ 1/8 5/1/13 5 Best TSA-Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol front lines. Wading into travel regulations and the many suitable sharp options on the market, we’ve found the five best pocket knives (plus a bonus) that will both get the odd job done and actually make it onto a plane.

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Wenger Esquire

The Safest Bet TSA-Approved Knife: With a compact design with 6 implements for 7 convenient functions, the Esquire Swiss Army knife (SAK) is a minimalist choice with lots of capability. It includes a pen blade, springless scissors, a nail file, a nail cleaner, a toothpick, tweezers and a key ring. It’s slightly larger than Victorinox’s Classic (both companies are owned by Victorinox, so the battle of “original” vs. “genuine” SAK is now moot). Wenger’s springless scissors are superior, with a serrated self-sharpening edge, and for this reason alone the Esquire is the better choice. Consign yourself now to the eventual loss of the toothpick and then the tweezers — it happens with every SAK, Wenger or Vic. Iconic Watches BUY NOW: $ 17 E A S Y R E A D E R Timekeeping Icon: Heuer Carrera Victorinox Midnite Minichamp

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A S I P F R O M T H E B I T T E R E N D Malted Madness, Round Five: Flight of Four Best Well-Turned-Out TSA-Approved Knife: The 2.25-inch Midnite Minichamp is a SAK that packs 16 tools (TSA-compliant blades included) into a slim pocket carry. This knife adds an LED T H E T A S T I E S T K I N D O F R E M I N I S C I N G Malted Madness: The Best Beer I’ve Ever light to the basic Minichamp, a nice touch while you’re rooting around for your socks under a Had strange bed at 2 a.m. The most complete keychain-sized mini SAK from Victorinox, the multi-tool M E E T T H E B E S T L A G E R , L I G H T A L E , has 2 different blades, scissors, nail file with nail cleaner, cuticle pusher (works better than dragging D A R K A L E A N D W I L D C A R D Malted Madness, Round Four: Crowning ‘em on the ground, Neanderthal), screwdriver with ruler, a fruit peeler with scraper (trust me, she’ll the Category Champs

love this), a marginal bottle opener with a magnetic Philips screwdriver, wire stripper, pressurized T H E G O I N G G E T S T O U G H , T H E S U D S G E T G O I N G ballpoint pen and either tweezers or a toothpick — pick one and then replace it with the other Malted Madness, Round Three: The Sudsy Sixteen when you lose the first.

BUY NOW: $ 48

K.I.S.S. (keep it small, stupid)

The TSA provides a list of constraints (must haves) and restraints (must not haves) for allowed edged blades: no more than 2.36 inches in length, 0.5 inches in width, with no blade lock and devoid of a molded handle. Those eased restrictions still have many in the EDC community scratching their collective heads. Measuring differences are going to be the bane of anyone who skirts the edge of the limits — tip to tang versus the blade proper will present a learning curve for TSA’s execution in the trenches. Don’t bet your recent acquisition on a basically trained Transportation Security Officer’s ability to make the distinction. Government agencies are ever conservative, but all the more so where life safety applies, so err on the small side, as there will be growing pains gearpatrol.com/2013/04/05/keep-calm-carry-ons-5-best-tsa-approved-pocket-knives/ 3/8 5/1/13 5 Best TSA-Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol

during the breaking-in period for the policy.

Case Peanut XX Prime Stag Pocket Knife

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Buying Guides

C A L L F O R B A C K U P Five Alive: 5 Best iPhone 5 Battery Cases Best TSA-Approved Classic Jackknife: Coming out of the box razor sharp, the Case Peanut looks like a knife your grandfather carried. The stag handle makes each knife unique, and the antler T H E G O O D K I N D O F S H A D Y will wear with age and use to add even more character. While not quite large enough for traditional Clear for Takeoff: 5 Aviators for the Summer carving, the Peanut handles small chores will style and agility. It measures 2.875 inches closed, and

weighs 1.2 ounces — the right size to disappear into your pocket, yet large enough to get those B O W E R S ' E S S E N T I A L S Staff Favorites: Ben Bowers sundry jobs around the house, yard, and office done; its second blade gives you a utility tool to conserve the edge of the main blade. Y O U R O F F I C I A L S U M M E R R E A D I N G L I S T 10 Great Summer Reads While the stag-handled version comes in stainless steel (not “surgical” steel, as mislabeled by Amazon), Case also offers several Peanuts with CV (Chrome Vanadium, or high carbon steel) blades C O N F I R M Y O U R S E A R I N G D E S I R E S for those who prefer carbon steel for the ease with which it takes a fine edge and acquires a patina. The Heat is On: 10 Best Grills W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Company has been making premium, hand-crafted knives for more

than a century and still crafts the knives in Bradford, Pennsylvania with the finest materials and D I V E R D O W N Go Deep: 7 Best Dive Watches time-honored techniques.

BUY NOW: $ 69 B R A D L E Y ' S B E S T Staff Favorites: Bradley Hasemeyer

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Masthead gearpatrol.com/2013/04/05/keep-calm-carry-ons-5-best-tsa-approved-pocket-knives/ 4/8 5/1/13 5 Best TSA-Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol Eric Yang, Editor in Chief @hashtagyang Ben Bowers, Managing Editor @benbowersgp Chris Wright, Editorial Assistant @wrights_writing

Correspondents Jeremy Berger @mrjberger Bradley Hasemeyer, Automotive @bhasemeyer Jason Heaton, Timekeeping @jasonheaton Amos Kwon, Automotive @wrathofkwon

Contributors Brandon Chuang @bchuang Jon Gaffney @jongaffney Jonathan Gallegos @jonathantweeted Anthony Huang @xcb5 Matt Neundorf @neunrulez Scott Packard @ageresequitar Austin Parker @aparker_ut

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Best TSA-Approved Entry-Level Multi-tool: The Dime is a solid basic option for light duty. While it elicits complaints regarding fitment and flimsiness, and initial tool opening tightness is a real fingernail destroyer, the inexpensive multi-tool handles small jobs just fine, and the package opener is convenient for cracking plastic clamshells. The scissors are better than most, as is the bottle opener, though both have a learning curve (hint: use the scissors right-side up).

BUY NOW: $ 16

Leatherman Squirt ES4

Best TSA-Approved Multi-Upgrade Knife: With the Leatherman Squirt, you get a significant bump in quality and durability — for only a few dollars more. Leatherman’s keychain multi comes gearpatrol.com/2013/04/05/keep-calm-carry-ons-5-best-tsa-approved-pocket-knives/ 5/8 5/1/13 5 Best TSA-Approved Pocket Knives - Gear Patrol with both needlenose pliers and a pair of scissors, eliminating a previous compromise in earlier models. For even more utility, the pliers come with wirestrippers in five gauges, from 20GA to 12GA, making the Squirt a no-brainer choice for a computer network tech. The mechanics of the Squirt are rock solid, and the tool opens and closes smoothly. (As a disclaimer, I’ve carried a Leatherman of one variation or another for over 25 years, and I’m partial to their tools.)

BUY NOW: $ 22

Emerson Hummingbird

Bonus: Best TSA-Approved Premium Holdout: Ernest Emerson, the maker of high-end tactical folders popular with military and law enforcement, is rumored to be modifying his Hummingbird blade to be TSA-compliant. A craftsman who focuses on utility over art, Emerson is a proponent of knives as both tool and weapon, and he designs and builds them for hard use, with 154cm high carbon steel and a chisel-grind edge. While we advocate you remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened during flight, an Emerson would be the EDC you’d want if you get the call, “Let’s roll”.

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