Question for The Stare or any other Metal nut (Sal)

FL_fisher · #1

I had a question on ceramic blades. Do the ceramic blades have any metal component to them or are pure ceramic? Would the metal in the liners be enough to set off metal detectors? Do any of the Spyderco knives set off metal detectors? I know I have gone thru detectors and gotten onto a plane with my swiss army knife no problems.

tique · #2

The ceramic blades by themselves would not set off a metal detector. The handles and other parts of ceramic knives tend to have metal in them that would be capable of setting off a metal detector. In the ceramic fixed blades from Mad Dog Knives, there is a metal strip embedded in the handles that would set off a metal detector, this is in the civilian models only though. All Spydercos that I am familiar with have metal blades and at least a little other metal in the handles, which will set off a metal detector without much trouble.

As far as going through metal detectors with knives and not getting caught... About a month ago I went to our courthouse and didn't drop my Leatherman Wave in the little box because I forgot it was on my belt, got in with no trouble and that is quite a bit of metal. But I also remember a time when one of my ex-girlfriends and I went through a metal detector in D.C. and her braces were enough to set it off. It all depends on the sensitivity level the detector is set on, and you can bet your*****they are on high right now. There are also detectors of sorts that basically take an xray of you as you walk through... this will catch any blade you have on you.

Hope that helps.
Tique

Edited by - tique on 9/12/2001 11:04:24 PM

FL_fisher · #3

Thanks for the info. I was just wondering about ceramic knives I heard of. Now that knives are not allowed on planes, I'm sure law abiding citizens will not bring one on the plane but what about those people who want to cause harm. Couldn't they just get a ceramic knife now?

tique · #4

Ceramic knives don't worry me that much, as mentioned above due to the metallic content in most of them... The ones that could cause more problems are the knives made of plastic and G-10, as they cannot be picked up by metal detectors, only by the xray scanners. They are also much more easy to obtain than pure ceramic knives.