TexasCHLforum.com

Hoi Polloi wrote:

bnc wrote:I've actually been thinking of getting one of these: http://www.tuffwriter.com/tactical-pens.html


It could be handy in places where the Constitution and Natural Rights are ignored.

Like in lava flows, on ice sheets, and on the moon? I don't see the point. I'm only seeing a pen that can handle temperature and altitude extremes being propped up next to a gun. What am I missing?

I've been thinking about this since the last time I flew. I wonder how things would have turned out if some of the passengers on AA 11, UA 175, AA 77 or especially UA 93 had something like this.

davidtx wrote:

Hoi Polloi wrote:

bnc wrote:I've actually been thinking of getting one of these: http://www.tuffwriter.com/tactical-pens.html


It could be handy in places where the Constitution and Natural Rights are ignored.

Like in lava flows, on ice sheets, and on the moon? I don't see the point. I'm only seeing a pen that can handle temperature and altitude extremes being propped up next to a gun. What am I missing?

I've been thinking about this since the last time I flew. I wonder how things would have turned out if some of the passengers on AA 11, UA 175, AA 77 or especially UA 93 had something like this.

A pen?
What are you going to do with a pen that they couldn't do with the pens they already had?
A Bic would be sufficient to go through someone's heart if you had enough intent.

Back then it was legal to fly with a knife. I even flew overseas with a knife on my person before 9/11, although at one airport they asked me to put it in my carry-on bag.

Funny story about flying with a knife. The summer right after 9/11 I flew to a camp in Virginia all by myself at age 15. It wasn't until after I was on the airplane that I realized I'd passed through the metal detectors and everything with my pocket knife still clipped to my pocket. Talk about a sinking feeling in your gut.

That was the same knife that I'd walked through the Six Flags detectors several times only to remember and check it it after I was through. It had a metal blade and a flashlight in the handle, not sure why it wasn't ever detected.

I figured that telling anyone would be a bad idea, so I just unclipped it and put it all the way down into my pocket. For the flight back it got to ride with my luggage.

On topic: Though I can see what you could do with a pen that you couldn't do with a foot, I'd much rather kick someone with a box cutter while wearing pants and shoes than try to poke them with a pen.

Fangs wrote: On topic: Though I can see what you could do with a pen that you couldn't do with a foot, I'd much rather kick someone with a box cutter while wearing pants and shoes than try to poke them with a pen.

I'd be inclined to kick and then stab them.

Or you could take this guy's approach:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=YL7v9ox9uHs[/youtube]

I suppose this is similar to one of my Krav Maga instructor's approach. She does field work along the border and carries a couple of 2" knives. She say's she can hold a knife in the hand, still deliver punches and use the knives.

This is clearly a controversial topic, but for me it seems like a reasonable approach to defense in no-gun, no-knife zones. Its better than nothing.

Hoi Polloi wrote:

davidtx wrote:

Hoi Polloi wrote:

bnc wrote:I've actually been thinking of getting one of these: http://www.tuffwriter.com/tactical-pens.html


It could be handy in places where the Constitution and Natural Rights are ignored.

Like in lava flows, on ice sheets, and on the moon? I don't see the point. I'm only seeing a pen that can handle temperature and altitude extremes being propped up next to a gun. What am I missing?

I've been thinking about this since the last time I flew. I wonder how things would have turned out if some of the passengers on AA 11, UA 175, AA 77 or especially UA 93 had something like this.

A pen?
What are you going to do with a pen that they couldn't do with the pens they already had?
A Bic would be sufficient to go through someone's heart if you had enough intent.

A Bic would probably suffice for one strike, but that would be like carrying a gun with one bullet.

jester wrote:Back then it was legal to fly with a knife. I even flew overseas with a knife on my person before 9/11, although at one airport they asked me to put it in my carry-on bag.

Before 9/11, I always lawfully carried a knife on my person while flying, just as I did at all other times since I was 6 years old. I never had any issues, even in overseas travel to multiple countries on 3 continents. I was always careful to abide by the blade length restrictions and to make sure to use a straight (not serrated) edge after some air security genius added a serrated edge prohibition when he heard that serrated edges could be used to saw through the skin of an aircraft. (While that may be true of some robust fixed blade combat knives when used on the aluminum skin of a helicopter to create an emergency egress point in a crash, I'd pay money to watch someone demonstrate that trick with a partially serrated 2" pocket knife blade on a commercial airliner when starting from inside the passenger cabin).

If anyone tried to do what I and thousands of other folks routinely did back when we were significantly more free, it was legal, and caused no trouble, he'd be treated like Osama bin Laden and perp walked before the cameras as if some horrific danger to humanity had been stopped before it could cause widespread death and destruction.

It's another sad reminder of how far we've sunk in just a few short years.

A Bic would probably suffice for one strike, but that would be like carrying a gun with one bullet.[/quote]
With a Bic you need a BUP (back up pen)

Excaliber wrote:It's another sad reminder of how far we've sunk in just a few short years.

When I used to travel overseas regularly I carried a "mini-office" in my carry-on bag which included nail clippers, scissors, swiss army knife and a cork screw. Some how I doubt that the world is safer with the recent restrictions.

Excaliber wrote:If anyone tried to do what I and thousands of other folks routinely did back when we were significantly more free, it was legal, and caused no trouble, he'd be treated like Osama bin Laden and perp walked before the cameras as if some horrific danger to humanity had been stopped before it could cause widespread death and destruction.

It's another sad reminder of how far we've sunk in just a few short years.

Precisely. We needed to do two things - reinforce the cockpit doors and educate passengers to understand that compliance is no longer a survival tactic. Those have been done but, unfortunately, neither requires a massive bureaucracy for somebody's crony to be the head of. Hence all the rest.

WildBill wrote:

Excaliber wrote:It's another sad reminder of how far we've sunk in just a few short years.

When I used to travel overseas regularly I carried a "mini-office" in my carry-on bag which included nail clippers, scissors, swiss army knife and a cork screw. Some how I doubt that the world is safer with the recent restrictions.

I used to keep a Leatherman tool in the carryon too. Now that goes along only on the rare trips when I check baggage.