On Monday, March 25th, I headed out with my family for spring break vacation. We took a plane and I packed my favorite knife, a Blue Paramilitary 2 M390 with an STR deep carry clip. Over the last 2 years, I have tried about 50 different knives, mostly Spyderco, and this was the one that fit me best. I put it and a Juice S2 into our checked suitcase in a small black bag with other things such as flashlights and batteries. When we weighed the suitcase, it was 58 lb, exceeding the 50 lb limit. In the rush to lighten the suitcase by 8 lbs, I grabbed the small black bag and put it into my check-in bag.
My check-in bag went through the X-Ray 3 times, with the screener possibly confused that someone would try to bring such a big knife through security. After the 3rd time they opened the bag and pulled out my beloved blue Para 2 and Leatherman and my heart dropped. They asked me what I wanted to do. I could exit security and check it in, or I could let TSA "destroy" them. I didn't have enough time before our flight to exit security, so I made the decision to let them go.
$190 Blue Para 2
$36 STR Deep carry clip
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$226 in Spyderco losses + $40 Juice S2
My advice to anyone is to learn the lesson that I learned the hard way: Don't bring a knife anywhere near a plane unless you would be OK losing it.
The blue Para 2 is my favorite Spyderco I own.
