Scottish Broadsword

[Chef]

I think it's all down to attitude-- when I was with Wilkinson Sword I used to trudge around all over the place with a sword and was never hassled-- on those few occasions post 9-11 when I've had to fly with a sword it has either ridden up front in the cockpit or been checked through with my luggage. Ditto dirks.

I think your right to a certain extent. However in NY I think a lot depends on the attitude of the police as well. When I wore the dirk I had policemen come up to me to give me a hard time and also police who just wanted to chat about it because they liked the look of it. The police that gave me the most trouble were the Transit Police. I still wear it occasionally when I don't feel like carrying a bag but most often it is in my case.

What I have had trouble with are my medals and breast star. My medals are mouned "court style" which means they attach to my jacket by means of what looks like a 4-inch long safety pin. On two occasions I have been denied access to my flight because I refused to allow security to confiscate my medals. In both instances once the police arrived I was allowed to proceed to board.

Ahh yes. Don't we all feel safer knowing that someone is being stopped for wearing a safety pin. I've actually had a couple of kilt pins converted to post style pins (as opposed to long pins) because I had one taken away by airport security. Luckily it was a cheap one and since I would have missed my plane if I hadn't given it up, it wasn't worth the argument that time.