According to Hofmann: Pack your light saber and bowling ball; it’s going to be a long flight
Saying you don’t like to fly automatically makes people assume you’re afraid of flying. ItĢƵ like when you refuse alcohol, and they assume you’re a recovering alcoholic, but you reassure them you’re a fully-functional alcoholic, but are taking antibiotics.
I don’t like flying because itĢƵ expensive, and I don’t want to travel anywhere, which is why I haven’t stepped on board an airplane in over a decade, on a train in seven years and a zeppelin in 50 years even though I’m 41 years old.
However, my wife had to fly somewhere recently, and being a novice with only one other air-traffic experience under her belt, she sought advice from an old high-in-the-sky pro like me, who flew three times in his entire life.
Her big and only question was: WhatĢƵ permitted on a plane nowadays?
It was a good question because even as an interested observer and casual reader of FAA and TSA regulations, I know the rules have been set, updated, reset, amended, nipped and tucked and sandblasted throughout the years so much that itĢƵ totally unclear what you can and cannot bring on a plane…like a sandblaster.
ThatĢƵ why I went straight to the source, the TSA website, which has full list of items that are just begging me to mock and tease.
Obviously, weapons of any kind are not allowed in your carry-on, especially nun chucks, which is the first weapon I searched, followed by cattle prods and rocket launchers, which aren’t allowed at all and, yes, I had a strange upbringing.
However, Antlers — a.k.a. Deer Talons of Death — are allowed as a carry-on as well as nail clippers, so itĢƵ still ideal to fly with caution, folks.
Artificial skeleton bones are allowed as both a carry-on and checked luggage, and the only reason itĢƵ on the list is likely because people have asked about it…numerous times. However, I found that real human skeleton bones are not listed, maybe because a majority of us are already carrying 206 human skeleton bones at all times so a few more wouldn’t make a difference or, on the other hand, maybe nobody had the nerve to ask or they’ll end up sounding like a serial killer.
Nuts are allowed on a flight, but I don’t know why thatĢƵ not considered a weapon with the thousands upon thousands of dire warnings for people with nut allergies; these people are warned about crossing a street if a nut vendor is a block away. Of course, the rules may be updated by the time this is published, so who knows?
ItĢƵ either obvious or a head-scratcher to why parachutes are allowed as a carry-on. It makes no difference because nothing builds the confidence of the other passengers than bringing your parachute on the flight. The TSA also permits bringing body armor on a flight, so when you take your seat and adjust your flak jacket while stuffing nylon in your backpack, you can look at the passengers and say, “I had a bad experience.”
Not that the TSA is totally strict or totally open when it comes to your carry-on or checked luggage as thereĢƵ some items that you have to check with the airline before boarding a flight, which includes emergency position-indicating radiobeacons, which is a distress beacon used by mariners worldwide to alert search and rescue forces.
So, all you mariners out there, prepare a convincing argument with the airline company to bring your distress beacon on a plane. My argument would simply be, “I had a bad experience.”
Now, whoĢƵ to say the TSA doesn’t have a sense of humor? The correct answer is people who have been subject to a full-body cavity search, of course, but even they would be wrong in this case.
For example, one of the items listed is a light saber, the preferred weapon of a “Star Wars” Jedi.
“Sadly, the technology doesn’t currently exist to create a real light saber,” the TSA states on their website. “However, you can pack a toy light saber in your carry-on or checked bag. May the force be with you.”
The same goes with their rules on bringing a Magic 8 Ball on a flight.
“For Carry-on bags: We asked the Magic 8 Ball and it told us…Outlook not so good!” the TSA website reads. “For Checked bags: We asked the Magic 8 Ball and it told us…It is certain!”
So there you go — sound advice for those travelers who can be rest assured they can bring along handcuffs and Geiger counters with confidence, but are warned to not smuggle grizzly-bear pepper spray or engine-powered equipment with residual fuel, or they’ll be on the other end of a TSA agent snapping a latex glove on their hand, saying, “You’re going to have a bad experience.”
According to Hofmann is written by staff reporter Mark Hofmann of Rostraver Township. He hosts the “Locally Yours” radio show on WMBS 590 AM every Friday. His book, ”Stupid Brain,” is available on Amazon.com.