new TSA rules prohibiting lighters on aircraft

[padiscubapro]

I don't get the rationale for the old rule banning lighters from checked luggage. I don't believe there's a single documented case where a lighter has caused a problem to an aircraft.

As for lighters being banned from carry-on, that's directly due to that dude who tried to light his explosive shoes a while back. Talk about the extreme outside envelope of statistics...

And it's not just butane lighters that are banned, but ANY lighter.

According to TSA, folks can still pack matches, but they have to be "safety matches". Whoopdee-doo.

Because the DOT classifies it as Hazardous cargo.

 

[scubasean]

Because the DOT classifies it as Hazardous cargo.

But, as I recall, you can put ammunition in checked bags, so long as you declare it...or did they close that crazy nonsense...?

I think you can still put an unloaded handgun in your checked bags also, so long as you declare it...

 

[sharpenu]

OK, and? An unloaded handgun is a harmless piece of metal. Safely tucked away in the cargo area, it can harm no one, unless it falls out and lands on the head of a baggage handler when they open the cargo door.

I don't think that lighters should be hazardous cargo, but they are more likely to start a fire than the limited amount of ammunition allowed in your bags. Why is ammunition crazy nonsense? You are limited to (I think) 3 lbs of ammunition. Since the bulk of the weight is the bullet and casing, about 1% of the ammunition is powder or primer. That means less than half an ounce of flammable material total in a 3 lb box of ammunition.

 

[archman]

A quick update for this thread. There's a way to pack your zippo lighters aboard carry-on luggage now.
http://www.watertightcase.com/1610series.html

In June 2005, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an exemption for previously fueled Zippo lighters in checked luggage. The new ruling, allows passengers to pack up to two previously fueled Zippo pocket lighters - each placed in an approved case - in checked luggage aboard all commercial airlines.

I wonder if there are other TSA amendments out there. Sure would be nice to keep other lighter types.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

This is the single most stupid government regulation of all time...

except for just about everything else this government does.

Jeff

 

[Tom Smedley]

When I worked in the Emergency Room at Clark AB Philippines we were called to a Flying Tigers inflight emergency with an injured passenger. The injured party had placed a butane lighter in his shirt pocket. The container failed at altitude and the passenger had frostbite with a circumference of four inches where the pressurized butane escaped from the lighter. He ended up losing his left nipple. Luckily, there had been no ignition source when the gas escaped. I'm sure that there is adequate methane release on any flight to cause significant ignition without adding to it the possibility of high pressure butane release.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

And, for the record, this ban seems to apply to all lighters and matches...not just butane. This is Congress doing what it does best...making mistakes.

Jeff

 

[DandyDon]

And, for the record, this ban seems to apply to all lighters and matches...not just butane. This is Congress doing what it does best...making mistakes.

Jeff

Last I heard, one was allowed 3 books of Safety Matches on person or carry-on, none in checked luggage.

This new Zippo case is interesting. The cost of traveling goes up again. :14:

 

[HowardE]

Since we sell ZIPPO lighters at all 3 of our stores, this has great interest to me, since many tourists buy zippos, and ask how to get them home.

Since the April change in law, I have been on 7 round trip flights so a total of 14 plane flights.

EVERY time on the last 14 flights, I have brought both a bic lighter, and a pack of regular matches... just to see if I could... and I did.

I also on one occasion brought a cheap zippo with, again, just to see... These items were in my carry on (computer backpack) and I didn't hide them, they were in the inside pocket.

I did get hassled when I flew to Roatan, and I had the weight for my video camera housing in my carry on. They x-rayed that about 3 times. But I was still able to bring a lighter with me.

 

[DandyDon]

Since we sell ZIPPO lighters at all 3 of our stores, this has great interest to me, since many tourists buy zippos, and ask how to get them home.

Since the April change in law, I have been on 7 round trip flights so a total of 14 plane flights.

EVERY time on the last 14 flights, I have brought both a bic lighter, and a pack of regular matches... just to see if I could... and I did.

I also on one occasion brought a cheap zippo with, again, just to see... These items were in my carry on (computer backpack) and I didn't hide them, they were in the inside pocket.

I did get hassled when I flew to Roatan, and I had the weight for my video camera housing in my carry on. They x-rayed that about 3 times. But I was still able to bring a lighter with me.

Did you realize you can be arrested for testing the system like that?

TSA searched my carry-on once looking "for something" but never found it. He even open this waterproof box, but missed the pocket knife I didn't realize was stuck in the top... :11: