Kilt Pins and Air Travel

[Tobinn]

I know that the topic of flying commercial with kilt pins in place has come up in other threads with various opinions and experiences being shared. Since I'll be heading up to NJ this summer (kilted) I thought I'd go right to the source and email the TSA . I included the webpage for the exact kilt pin with which I plan to travel (the Welsh pin from USA Kilts - very nice by the way) so they could have a look themselves.

I received the following response (within an hour or two - much quicker than I expected):

"Thank you for contacting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Contact Center.

After reviewing your inquiry, the item in question should be placed in checked
baggage. It is not permitted through the passenger screening checkpoint. The
item could pose a potential threat to other passengers and flight crew.

For travel tips and information about our screening procedures and what you can
bring, please visit www.tsa.gov/travel. "


Anyway, there you go; travel with a kilt pin in place at your own peril. I for one, will forgo (reluctantly) my bling and stash the pin in with my checked bag.

I wonder how they'd react to a sgian brew tucked in my hose?

[Jumpmonkey]

I've found my kilt pin apt to get caught on things through the course of the day, so I believe it shall be relegated to formal, rather than daily functions. The tight confines along with the general crowds, and luggage to be dealt with, make me feel it a perfect situation for either loosing your bling or tearing your apron.

[Barb T]

Interesting reply from TSA, given that my full-size sewing scissors are allowed because the blades are less than 4" from the pivot....and yes, they were actually measured by TSA. But a whole lot more substantial than a 2" kilt pin!!!

[Kiltboy]

I remove my kilt pin before screening. Put it in my carry on, and send through x ray. Then put it on later. I've been doing that for many years without problem.

[Liam]

I have a grouse foot kilt pin that I wear when going through security. Never had a problem.

[kingandrew]

I have not worn my kilt while going through security. However, I have a special kilt garment bag (from Order of the Gael) which has a custom kilt hanger and pockets and loops for 3 sporrans, a couple of wide belts, and plenty of socks and bonnets. I put my kilt pin (along with flashes, sporran chain, and other small accessories) inside one of the sporrans in the garment bag. It went through the x-ray with no problem and I carried onto the plane and through security again when I changed planes in Japan. So I can verify that your pin will likely be just fine in a carry-on bag.

In fact, I had two balmoral bonnets with standard-size cap badges on them in the bag, too. Those would probably be more formidable tools for poking someone than the kilt pin, although none of them would make a very realistic weapon under any circumstance.

I have never tried to take a sgian dubh or dirk through security and would not advise trying it

Andrew

[Father Bill]

I'm always gob-smacked: If people know something could be a problem one way, and not the other, why would anyone try to nudge the system and "get away" with it instead of just going with the other cleaner no-problem solutions.

There are an awful lot of people here who try to game the system instead of playing ball the way the rules are written.

A lot.

[ctbuchanan]

Once again Fr. Bill and I are in complete accord. Why would you try to play the system especially with a kilt pin that "might" be confiscated? Not to mention the attention it would draw to you above and beyond the kilt you are wearing.

I grew up on a farm and I was always taught never to poke the bull with a stick. It seldom ends well.

CTBuchanan

[CollinMacD]

Although I am not a TSA Officer, but a US Customs Officer, I think a perspective from our view needs to be examined. Although you could argue the kilt pin is nothing more than another piece of small jewelry or almost like a broach, it does look like a weapon (sword pins) and considered to be an item that could be altered. OK I know it's pushing it, but you have to remember we deal with thousands of people every day, domestic and international travel, many are not stable, or actually are threatening. So we go on the conservative side to protect all of us. I have seen the gambit during my long career, and have seen people do real crazy things that threaten not only their lives but others in the airport and on the aircraft.

Even though I travel with credentials, I too must go through the same airport security that you do when I travel for business or pleasure. I normally remove all metal, travel with as little carry on as possible, I rather check bags and forget about lugging things through the airport. I keep my electronics to a minimal, and follow directions when told.

I understand to many this is frustrating, but remember this is for your own safety, as you do not know who is traveling with you, and what their motives are. Not everything is as innocent as it seems, our job is your first line of defense for the traveling public and our nation.

Good job on checking, wish more would do that, save so much time, just remember keep your peacock, Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig and or chicken at home.

[John_Carrick]

I usually manage to travel with the kilt pin in my spectacle case in my carry on. However once at Berlin Schoenefeld, where the security man found it (it was quite a heavy kilt pin) but graciously allowed me away with it.

I have a dodgy kilt pin that Uri Geller has touched and I don't mind risking that or maybe a blanket pin, which is only a pound to replace, but again in carry on.