Lighters banned on all flights beginning 4/14/05

[ITG]

I was just watching the local news and they reported that lighters are banned not only in checked baggage but starting Thursday (4/14/05), lighters will be banned in the cabins too. I know several of us have Relic Raider lighters and this even includes battery operated lighters, which would mean Ziplights would be banned. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. I'm flying next week, so I had better remember to not pack my Indy lighter.

http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_multi_image_with_table_0099.xml

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Daily/CA_Daily_News/0,2342,1038,00.html

If any lighter is discovered in a passenger's luggage, it will be confiscated and destroyed regardless if the lighter is empty...Cigar scissors (no pointed tips), guillotine cutters or bullet cutters are permitted in carry-on baggage or in checked baggage.

No matches are permitted in your checked baggage, and up to four books of matches are allowed in your carry-on baggage or on your person. For safety reasons, strike anywhere matches are prohibited at all times from carry-on and checked baggage.

 

[gobler]

This is yet one more reason I will NEVER fly again. :rage: If I need to go overseas it will be by ship. I turned down a job in Vegas because they wanted to fly me and I offered to drive my own car. For whatever financial reason they insisted I fly, I told them no thank you.

:cheers1:
Jeff

 

[The Wingnut]

...

This crap is getting downright fascist. How can a lighter in your luggage be a threat?

 

[Mycroft]

It explodes from atmospheric pressure.

 

[ITG]

What I don't get is the banning of battery operated lights in a lighter container...like Ziplights.

 

[The Wingnut]

It explodes from atmospheric pressure.

That'd be an awfully flimsy lighter to do that, and it woudn't be combustion, it'd be decompression.

Considering I carry a Zippo, I doubt it'd 'explode'.

*sigh* What moron makes these decisions? I'd like to throttle them.

 

[farnham54]

Just curious...

Has anyone EVER heard of a plane crashing due to a lighter being in checked baggage? How many millions of lighters are flown through checked baggage every year? And it's been that way since, what, the 50's?

Nonsense. Pretty soon we'll all have to board planes in the buff for "Security purposes". Let's face it folks, you can harm a person with nothing but your bare hands, and if theres enough folks involved, you can hijack an airplane with NOTHING but your bare hands. Heck, even one well trained individual could!

Balance out those odds even more--the edge of a credit card can be sanded into a razor-sharp cutting blade. I'd like to see a security guard catch THAT. Or even up the odds again, a ballpoint pen! Or how about a Western style buckle on a sturdy leather belt? A bludgeon! Or even MORE harmless, an orange in a sock!

Anything can be a weapon, anyone can use said weapons for anything they have the willpower to try. It saddens me to think that basically all of these new security measures are simply ways to give us a terribly false sense of safety.

Okay soapbox is free

Cheers
Craig

 

[BellyTank]

I posted on another thread about my wife getting through security with her hair (in a high bun) being secured by 2 sharp, 6" long skewers. This was after the security operative removed the nail clippers from my wife's handbag.
There are rules- but if the operatives aren't dilligent and observant or are stupid, there's not so much point. This is why there are so many rules- no operator discretion is expected or allowed.
I've seen the lighter thing flying in Europe and out of India- people always complain- "how can I smoke then?- I'll need to buy another lighter..."

B
T

 

[ITG]

Yeah and when they buy a new lighter, then dispose of it in the trash before they leave on their return flight, it seems it'd be more harmful because they'd most likely be disposing of a half filled container of lighter fluid or whatever is in there. If that trash can caught on fire (Like if someone disposed of lit ashes in the trash can) that could do some bitter damage.

 

[Michaelson]

It explodes from atmospheric pressure.

Not a Zippo. It's not a pressurized unit and poses no such threat. Regards. Michaelson

 

[Fuente]

Zippo's BIC's All lighters are now banned. Matches are allowed in carry-on's but not checked luggage. Had to light my cigars while in NYC earlier this week with a match. You should have seen the pile of lighters at the security check point at La Guardia last night. One of the TSA people said to leave matches behind as well...I showed her the TSA bulletin saying Matches were OK in carry-on and she let me pass.

Rich :cool2:

 

[MDFrench]

Back in post-9/11 they also banned bullwhips. Frankly, I don't understand why a bullwhip is seen as a threat in those tiny airplane interiors, and I don't like the idea of checking a $600 David Morgan.

MAYBE it would be possible to choke someone with it, but heck, I can do that MUCH more effectively with some shoelaces off my feet! Course, I assume that soon we'll be required to fly in velcro shoes...

This is getting ridiculous and I am starting to see this whole "sacrificing freedoms for security" thing as a fascist sham in the works. The last country I wanna emulate is Israel - those poor people are under security oppression every waking minute of the day. This is America, right? Sheesh...

 

[SappySwami]

I checked the list of banned items a few months ago, and was happy it wasn't too insane (though I'll have to leave my cattle prod at home. Blast!) But now they add lighters. I don't get it.

From Somethingawful:

 

[ITG]

French, with the bullwhip, I guess they think the handle can pose a threat (bopping someone on the head) and the strangling thing too, but you can do that with just about anything I'd think. Are they gonna ban shoelaces next?

 

[Canadave]

... Had to light my cigars while in NYC earlier this week with a match...

[sligtly off-topic]

You should be lighting cigars with a match anyway, right?

David

 

[Chamorro]

Richard Reed, the shoe bomber, tried to give himself a hotfoot with MATCHES. The ONE thing that isn't banned. It boggles the mind. Your government at work folks.

 

[Fuente]

Cigars should be lit with a splint (a small strip of non aromatic cedar) The next best method is with a butane torch, no odor from the butane and enough fire to toast the foot of the cigar prior to lighting. Third would be a match that you held away from the cigar for a moment to allow the sulphur to dissapate. Last resort is a lighter fluid fueled lighter the odors from a Zippo will damage the taste of the cigar.

Rich :cool2:

 

[Canadave]

Cool. Where does one get "splints"?

David

 

[Dr. J]

Now you tell me!

Now this is one thread I wish I had read earlier. I went to Chicago two weeks ago for our own PrettyBigGuy's bachelor party. Upon my return, I openend my luggage to unpack. There was a note saying that my RelicRaider Clover Leaf 1941 Style Zippo had been "confiscated". Some luck, huh? I called and asked how I got it back. The woman said "you don't". I'm sure some "Security" person is lighting his smoke with MY lighter! :cry:

Regards, Dr. J

 

[ITG]

Dr. J, that sounds as if they shouldn't have been able to do that because they weren't supposed to start until 4/14, which was about 5 days ago. So if you went on the plane a few weeks back, that sounds like they stepped over the lines a bit too early. If I were you, I'd be fuming!

I wonder how this works when RR sends his products via mail since those probably are transported via a plane, or maybe this rule is just for commercial airlines.