I don’t think that rate has gotten any better despite all the money spent on the TSA security theater show since then.
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I’ve carried mine on both domestic and international flights with no problems at all. Simply had it in my small personal carry-on going through the TSA scanner, then put it in my shirt pocket for completing immigration forms on the plane.
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Once inside the airport security perimeter, it’s extremely unlikely you will need your tactical pen. Just put it in your checked baggage.
Problem solved.
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Certainly possible, though.
I mean, people EDC a spare magazine despite no concealed carrier that we know of in the modern US ever needing one…the odds aren’t always what drive decisions after all.
There is also the consideration of the possibility that your checked baggage gets lost, or doesn’t get off the plane with you, etc, so you end up at your destination without it. I have had that happen personally and also been traveling with people that had it happen to them. If you carry something on you can be reasonably certain you will actually have it at the other end.
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But you may need it or something like it the moment you leave the secured area to go pick up your baggage. Also given TSA’s success rate, it is likely there are more than a few other people in the secured area with even more effective tools. And grandma could always go berserk with her knitting needles or someone could take them from her. Or you could run into a drugged up angry ragging unarmed traveler.
Lots of reasons to want to have a tool of some sort. I usually carry a none tactical sturdy metal pen in none permissive environments. It’s a little better than nothing.
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I don’t know a tactical pen my have come in pretty handy when the 9-11 hijackers jumped up screaming Ali Akbar… just sayin.
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Yeah but back then there wasn’t a TSA so anybody could have brought one on board 
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“Back Then” a lot of people from the east coast were afraid of their own shadows. I’ll put it like my dad, who was near 70 at the time, put it “I’ve been kicked by horses, stepped on by bulls, thrown out of bars by multiple bigger men, I’m just not afraid of a guy with an f’ing box cutter…”. But maybe that’s just the way the old west red necks were raised and raised their kids.
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We talked about this on another thread, and if I recall, it’s hit or miss. It seems to depend, in part, on which airport you’re at. My local airport is relatively small, and I rarely have issues with TSA there or at airports of comparable size. If I go through TSA at large airports like Chicago or NYC, the TSA will almost always take at least one item from my luggage, just to prove they can.
It also seems to make a difference what type of tactical pen you have. I carry the old style S&W tactical pen, and I have never had an issue. I have a friend who carries the new style S&W pen, and he has his confiscated. I suspect that the issue is that the new style has a glass breaking point, but it could also be that he just had a cranky TSA agent, that day.
FWIW, TSA regulations give the agent on the ground broad authority to decide whether or not to permit an item. I’ve had agents allow items through that I forgot to take out of my pack, and I’ve had agents take silly things like fingernail clippers. It’s a roll of the dice every time I fly.
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I’ve carried this on my key ring for the past 15 years through TSA, court houses and police stations, not a second glance.
A pen, tactical or not is kinda innocuous. Just toss it in the bin with all the rest of the detritus from your pockets and no one will notice anything odd! It’s a functional pen not a kubaton. I carry a pen all my life, never leave home without it, and have considered it a tactical tool for the past 25 years.
Then again, it will depend upon the bravado of the particular agent and what side of the bed he rolled out of!
Your more likely to get serious looks for this, than a pen in your left breast pocket! Really, who uses a pencil, other than John Wick?
Think the TSA is more interested in grandma’s anti-bacterial soap than your pen!
The only difference, are the materials used and how you intend to use it.
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Did you hear about the stabbing in multiple Canada? Well in my opinion TSA are keeping us safe from killers not the average Joe with Tactical pen. Face it Joe isn’t going to be able to do too much damage really before multiple passengers overwhelm. A killer can kill with little, in fact most Marines IMPROVISE and make use of surrounding objects efficiently.
TSA won’t save you that .0009% a REAL killer is on your plane, Joe WILL get his toy taken away, it makes the masses feel better, but actually NOT ANY SAFER AT ALL. Politics my friend keep you unsafe, just travel when absolutely necessary or not at all.
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Some years back, I had a TSA agent admit to me that most of what they do is to make us “feel” safe.
I’m not saying they have no purpose. I’m just saying that most of what we see them do is meant to be seen. There’s definitely a theatrical aspect to their job, perhaps not much different than police officers patrolling neighborhoods to be seen.
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Security and cryptology expert Bruce Schneier coined the phrase security theater over a decade ago to describe this situation.
The general population and news sources have recognized how deeply infected TSA is with security theater, exemplified by the 2014 Atlantic article
The TSA Is in the Business of ‘Security Theater,’ Not Security
and 2015 from National Review:
The TSA’s 95 Percent Failure Rate: Security Theater as Farce
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Could always pull the Kevin Kline “Fish called Wanda” maneuver with the pen: A Fish Called Wanda (1988) - Metal Detector - YouTube
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You can take a screwdriver as long as it measures 7" or less. That goes for any tool. As for a tactical pen, it is up to their discretion. I have gone through with one, but the guidelines state “No”, but the final decision rests with the officer.
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Not true. Had a special tamper tip screwdriver confiscated that fit the measurement. Since I had no checked luggage, I had to turn it over and eat the loss. Unfortunately it made the work I was sent to do alot more difficult. It fit every criteria for being allowed, and yet they took it and another screwdriver.
I kindly thanked him for being a thief and moved on. Also sent an email to the TSA asking about it. They basically said even though the acceptable items are posted, it can change at any time and their agents can make field determinations.
Never trust them. They are not there to make anybody safe. Just another government agency who love to abuse their powers and make it up as they go along.
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Do not rely on anything posted on internet… even TSA website.
The most important part is: The final decision rests with the TSA officer.
I was flying to Texas for IT work and this was taken from my carry on baggage:
It didn’t pass “ID size” test. 
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Wear bicycle shorts and put it in the front… I doubt they will pat you down… You will get a new nickname, but at least you get to keep the pen… 
I told a friend several years ago after yet another “enhanced screening” that the next time I was going to wear flip-flops, bicycle shorts and a tight t-shirt. He laughed and said, no, don’t… For a while, even though I have Pre, it was just about every other trip that I would get flagged for a “random enhanced screening”, which means a pat down, even though I passed through the metal detector without an issue. I even wear an all nylon belt, so I have no metal on me, except my wedding band. Pay to not get harassed by TSA, and you get more of the same, but at least you get to keep your shoes on… 
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