are ice skates considered to be a weapon?
 

My son would like to take his hockey skates with us on an upcoming trip. These skates have about an 11 inch long rather sharp blade on them. To me, they're sporting equipment; will the TSA see them as weapons?

We'd rather not put them in checked luggage because they were a rather expensive custom order, and my son has them nicely broken in now, so would be extremely upset to have them stolen by the luggage gremlins.

TSA website says that ice skates are OK for carry-on.
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ohibited-items

You might, of course, get the "rules changed, website is out of date, yadda yadda" claim from the TSA, but they should be entirely fine.

Gotta love TSA "logic" - my pocket knife is banned, but skate blades, much larger and almost as sharp, are not.:rolleyes:

No issues, just don't board the plane with them in your hand without guards. Keep them in a bag with guards and you wont have any issues.

Blame the FAs that were worried about a tiny fixed blade but are perfectly comfortable with racing skates.

Now let's not over-inflate things. While there have been times when skates have been banned, it is not because TSA perceived them to be weapons, but rather because they saw an object, which could be used as a weapon. I don't think they ever denied that the primary purpose of skates was skating. Fortunately, for athletes everywhere, it seems like you can carry them on, now.

I've always found it rather perverse that they would ban items like hockey skates but continue to allow wine bottles, either by the crew or via duty free, which could serve as both a cosh and a cutting instrument.

Again, despite the fact that the skates were expensive, skates really aren't the target of thieves. They want things that are easily sellable - electronics and jewelry - or of course, cash! The real risk is not that they will be stolen, but that they will be lost. Taking into account both the cost of the skates and the cost (in time and blisters) of breaking in new ones, you definitely want to carry them on.

Yeah, this was a (rare) case where TSA was actually trying to be (more) reasonable, but got shot down by outside pressure.

I'm not sure I believe those changes were suggested in good faith.

The FAs objected to tiny knives, but the knives were only one of several items. Ski/trekking poles were going to be permitted. TSA could still have relaxed (normalized) the rules on the other items, but instead, the entire list was rescinded.

Let's ask Richard Zednik and Clint Malarchuk. :D

... or the kid on the opposing team who needed 10 stitches in his arm after a collision with one of his own teammates.

There's a reason that metal thing on the bottom of the skate is called a blade. It would be far easier to slit a throat with a skate than with my pocket knife.

...assuming the attached boot didn't make it a pretty awkward weapon.

That would depend on whether or not the screeners verified that the blade could not be removed.

I don't know about modern hockey skates, but figure skate blades can be removed, although it is a time-consuming process that would surely be noticed.

If someone had nefarious intent, it would be much easier to tinker with a pair of skates to make it easy to remove the blades than it would be to turn a very small knife blade into a serious weapon.

I'm not suggesting skates should be banned, only that IMHO, they're easily capable of causing much more damage than the small knives that the FAs were worried about.

No one is going to take command of a plane with either one, but there is more potential for damage from the skate blades.

OT, but in an antique/junk shop a few years ago, I saw an older pair of skates with removable blades. The idea was that you could walk around in the skate boots just like regular shoes. When you were ready to skate, the blades attached under the boot. I wish now I'd paid more attention to the mechanism, but it worked very much like cycling SPDs. Pretty cool, actually.

I don't see how arguing that skate blades are more capable of causing damage than small knives is a good way to discourage TSA from banning skates.

To my mind, it is irrelevant whether one is marginally more dangerous than the other (I could certainly craft an argument for the reverse) because neither of them are a real threat to aircraft security.

All it would take to get the blade off the boot is a screwdriver - like the ones many hockey players carry to adjust their helmets. Wouldn't take more than 2 minutes. The metal shaft of the screwdriver is less than 2 inches long, and it wouldn't be hard to conceal.

You want to where? is correct that the skates are a not a real threat to the aircraft; my original question is whether they would be perceived as a threat and thus banned in carry-on luggage.

The figure skates that I have seen have 8 screws, so I assumed longer than 2 minutes - granted not a lot of time, but it would be pretty obvious to someone sitting near them.

Incidentally, you wouldn't have to conceal the screwdriver. Like skates, they are permitted (assuming they aren't particularly big).


I certainly understand both your question and your concern. They have been banned in the past and I know at least one competitive figure skater who had his skates lost (eventually found) by the airline before a major competition.

New mid- to high-end Bauer skates have quick-release blades (see Tuuk Lightspeed Edge) with the idea that you may want to change a broken blade during a game or something. The blade holder has a sort of trigger on it, then you just have to pry the steel out. It would barely take a minute.

If you are in fact able to take skates as carry-on, I wonder what they would do with spare sharpened steel on its own?

If you can afford those skates, you're probably flying private. :D

Not brave enough to try it and see. ;)

But let us know if you try it.

Haha, last time I flew with my private-plane-class Bauers I checked them because I believed I couldn't carry them on. It's nice to see that I have the skate carry-on option for the future. I am not brave enough to try the spare steel carry-on either!