It will depend on the officer - that is, if the officer recognizes it as a tactical pen. Tactical pens are on the prohibited items list. Check TSA website for clarification. They will confiscate it.
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That seems like the simplest answer.
Directly from What Can I Bring? A-Z List | Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov)
Tactical Pen = Sword, according to TSA.
That said, no one has ever said anything about my older style S&W pen. It basically just looks like a fat pen for someone with poor hand grip. But if some junior TSA agent decides he wants it, I canât stop him from taking it.
Smith & WessonÂź Military & PoliceÂź Tactical Pen (smith-wesson.com)
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Iâm sure this would be confiscated, but can you believe itâs only $10?
And it comes with three sets of batteries, the one it comes with, and two spare set of batteries; bottle opener, fire starter, window breaker, bright lights. Interesting for where we not allowed to carry âheavyâ. Just not USA made.
Same for any high dollar actual pen. If the TSA person covets, you lose it with zero recourse. If questioned, they will have some excuse on why you canât carry it.
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Would come in handy if you wanted to light your shoe on fire.
I was recently at a GOA event where they discussed TSA Confiscating Sharpies because they are âextremely flammableâ âŠ
Thoughts on this pen from Zebra? It doesnât have the traditional tactical cone-shaped point on the endâŠ
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Just flew Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Sydney Australia and back with a tactical pen in my carry on bag with no issues.
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I have questions about the efficiency of TSA, been on 5 trips with a carry on bag where I forgot I had a folding knife in the side pocket and I just recently found it on my last trip to Phoenix when I was unpacking. Part of me is relieved I did not lose it to the TSA the other part of me questions wtf are they doing where they are not spotting a pocket knife with a 3" blade not once or twice by 9 times.
Donât even think about going through a TSA line with an auto pen.
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I had a pink metal tactical pen taken away from me by TSA about 10 years ago. So yes, they will take it! They give you the option to mail it back to yourself, you have to pay the postage right then and there. Wasnât worth that for me. Eventually got another Tactical pen. Also there are tactical Sharpies, all plastic; you can possibly get through TSA with one of them, your mileage may vary ⊠and Iâve been told that TSA is now catching those as well.
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Yes.
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Yes, TSA is theater only. I have posted on this forum about some of my experiences, too. My wife had a cheap pocket knife in her pocketbook that she forgot about, going through TSA checkpoints countless times for many years until it was finally found.
A couple of my incidents: I got questioned once about having knives in my carry-on that turned out to be an umbrella. Then another time going through my carry-on because they saw something. The agent wouldnât tell me what it was that he was looking for. When he couldnât find anything, and was letting me go, he finally told me he saw a metal hook. I immediately knew what it was he was searching for, but as he let me go, I didnât want to waste anymore time telling/showing him what it was. I carry a luggage scale and it has a metal hook to grab the handle.
I used to joke with a friend who at the time had worked part-time for TSA about all the stupid things we experienced going through TSA. At one point, after getting yet another ârandomâ enhanced screening and being patted down, I stated that next time I am wearing a tight t-shirt and bicycle shorts and let them figure out what to pat down. When we were younger, my wife frequently was ârandomlyâ selected for pat downs.
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Who uses a pen when itâs 250 degrees? I donât want an adventure that takes me there!
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Iâm so sick of airport security after my recent trip. Got the royal pat down at Philadelphia. At London they put me through some extra screening device they had. Then they went through my bag. Agent there asked if I had notebooks or business card. She rifled through my bag and found my Bible. She asked, âis it a holy book?â I said itâs a Bible. She asked if she could touch it. I said of course. She flipped through it. Then swabbed the plastic bag it was in and put it through an analyzer.
In Kenya you have to go through security to get into the airport. Then again to get to the terminals. In Nairobi itâs a third security checkpoint right at the gate. The trip home was four different international airports and more trips through security than I wanted to count. Bag was rifled through again at London. Not sure what they were looking for that time.
I never want to fly again.
Regarding a tactical pen, I think I suggested it earlier on the threadâjust carry a flashlight. They didnât question that at any security checkpoint I went through. Itâs probably more useful than a tactical pen anyway.
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