Self defense options for carry on flying in the USA

[Atavar]

‘IF’ you practice and train.
I picture "Hold on Mr. Terrorist, whilst I tightly roll up my magazine. "
In the scenario described you are likely fighting a terrorist trained and skilled in hand to hand combat, if not armed. I highly doubt that an untrained amateur with a magazine is going to prevail.

 

[.38 Special]

Roll up a magazine tightly & deliver a punch(end first). Lots of Martial artists have demonstrated how effective it can be. Far better then a smart phone. If there is something more effective you can have on a plane, I'd love to know.

Elbows and knees.

 

[rabid wombat]

A point to remember… since 9/11, you will not be alone. Yes, 9/11 was a disaster. By the fourth plane, everyone recognized the ‘rules of the game‘ had changed. How many people ‘post 9/11’ have charged the cockpit door or otherwise drew attention to themselves (sadly, many were of ‘reduced mental capacity’) and were either killed outright, or subdued. Now, they were not ‘trained’, or have a terrorist mindset. A LOT of your fellow passengers will follow…it only takes one to lead.

 

[Bcwitt]

Elbows and knees.

A heavy paper roll extends your reach. Elbows & knees shorten your reach. Also, lowers chance of self inflicted injury. Seriously, I really suggest you try a tight paper roll & deliver a blow to something like a tree or block wall. You might be surprised how much integrity it has. Save your knuckles.

 

[Bcwitt]

‘IF’ you practice and train.
I picture "Hold on Mr. Terrorist, whilst I tightly roll up my magazine. "
In the scenario described you are likely fighting a terrorist trained and skilled in hand to hand combat, if not armed. I highly doubt that an untrained amateur with a magazine is going to prevail.

What would you arm yourself with on a plane?? Takes 3 seconds to get ready. You can do so behind the cover of the seat in front of you. Have you ever been on a commercial flight?

 

[Bcwitt]

‘IF’ you practice and train.
I picture "Hold on Mr. Terrorist, whilst I tightly roll up my magazine. "
In the scenario described you are likely fighting a terrorist trained and skilled in hand to hand combat, if not armed. I highly doubt that an untrained amateur with a magazine is going to prevail.

Edited Erased. Redundant.

 

[.38 Special]

Actually, never mind. My previous posts express my opinion adequately.

 

[.38 Special]

In all seriousness: anyone who is or plans to be in SoCal and would like to play with some of this stuff under controlled circumstances is welcome to contact me. Age and injuries have forced me to cut way back on training, but I still know most of the local force-on-force guys and probably could arrange some mat time. We've tried and discarded an awful lot of this sort of thing; my experience is that the majority of "good ideas" just don't hold up to realistic training.

 

[Mr Creosote]

Cutting to the chase, is it possible to bring an item, that would double as a handy weapon, onto a commercial flight? Yes. Without piling on to the TSA, the fact that they failed to detect 95% of dummy weapons and explosives in a mystery shopper exercise says it all really. It's become a cliche but all of these so-called checks are just theatre. I just see more and more of this doing something so it looks like we're doing something in policing (and society in general) rather than actually doing something effective.

Fr'instance. I'm approaching the end of my career in policing in the UK. I'm a career Detective and every time I had to give evidence at the court which deals with the more serious cases, Crown, I had to put items in a tray and be wanded, just like in an airport. If you were a uniformed officer, they'd wave you through. If you took off your kit and stripped down to black uniform trousers and uniform shirt to go for a coffee outside, they'd wave you back in. I have taken guns, drugs and a replica of the spear that the Predator uses in Predator 2 (true story) into Crown and still had to be searched - after which I was immediately given the above items back. Security knew I was Police but policy stated I still had to be searched if I was wearing a blue shirt rather than a uniform white shirt. Airport security is like that. There's no evidence that airport security have stopped any terrorist attacks since 9/11 - I mean the 9/11 terrorists were kind of a shambles and, it seems very likely at least one of them (on Flight 77) had a box-cutter/Stanley blade (as we'd say here) literally sticking out of his pocket as he walked through security. If you have a situation where you don't trust security to create a sterile area (I don't) then inevitably your mind wanders to thoughts of "OK, I'll sort out my own security".

That said, does anyone think we're going to return to the days of Indiana Jones in Raiders, where he tosses his S&W revolver into his luggage, sticks the case in the luggage rack on the plane and then tilts his hat over his eyes and goes to sleep? Even for such a cautious fellow as Indy ...

 

[Sour Kraut]

Roll up a magazine tightly & deliver a punch(end first). Lots of Martial artists have demonstrated how effective it can be. Far better then a smart phone. If there is something more effective you can have on a plane, I'd love to know.

So just for accuracy here…..are we talking “magazines” or “clips”?!

 

[Bcwitt]

So just for accuracy here…..are we talking “magazines” or “clips”?!

The magazine can be clipped for coupons. Lol

 

[hso]

If there is something more effective you can have on a plane, I'd love to know.

Cane, umbrella, flashlight, but in trained hands a large format slick magazine is a good defensive tool.

 

[AlexanderA]

This thread is surreal. Planes these days are packed like sardine cans. You don't have much scope for individual action, improvised weapons or not. Anybody who gets out of line will be quickly subdued by their fellow passengers.

 

[hso]

terrorist trained and skilled in hand to hand combat

That hasn't been the norm. Skyjackers aren't ninja or commandos.

 

[hso]

quickly subdued by their fellow passengers

United Flight 93 and all the recent cases of passengers helping subdue violent and threatening passengers clearly denies that idea.

 

[jeepnik]

I use a cane for balance issues. I use a solid aluminum cane that has a screw off handle. Never had TSA even look twice at it. Of course they are likely fearful they will be hit with an ADA suit if they give me any grief.

 

[sgt127]

Having a hobby to while away the hours is good.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Nevermind, don't want anyone in trouble.

 

[sgt127]

Non metallic weapons. Don't know if they show up in xrays.

Yes they will. And, you have no plausible deniability that you didn’t know you were carrying a “weapon”.

They will get past a magnetometer or wand.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Yes they will. And, you have no plausible deniability that you didn’t know you were carrying a “weapon”.

They will get past a magnetometer or wand.

Yep, thought it might.

The "ice scraper" thing in the 3rd pic down might make it through. Check with your lawyer! LOL

 

[Mk-211]

As I said earlier in the thread, be careful of what you carry.

Some of those are illegal in certain states. My wife bought a set of those cat knuckle things.

I told her not to put it on her Keychain and to hide it in her purse if she was going to carry them.

 

[hso]

Non metallic weapons. Don't know if they show up in xrays.

They do and the scanners, so it is inadvisable to take any knife intended to avoid detection when it is not an innocuous day to day item.

 

[joneb]

In CA they call that a "monkey fist" and they're illegal. Pretty sure other states have similar laws.

Never put the battery in the sock, unless your life depends on it.

What does CA call a d cell battery outside a sock?

 

[Mk-211]

What does CA call a d cell battery outside a sock?

Legal.

 

[shafter]

It always gets me yelled at, but my opinion is that these "improvised weapons" threads usually border on - if not fall right into - self-delusion and fantasy. Or, to put it bluntly, smacking a terrorist with a cellphone or rolled-up magazine isn't going to help.

If you're really concerned about having to fight in a "sterile" area, go sign up for Krav, MMA, or some other "real world" program. If you can't or won't do that, then you're going to have to stay in at this recess: there's nothing in an airport or airplane that will allow an untrained man to prevail in a fight that he otherwise would have lost.

Absolutely correct.