Awwww yeah, those suckers at the US Transportation Security Administration are going to let people take knives on planes again. Pocket knives are the best. Get one. Here are some suggestions — all plane-legal in the US as of April 25, 2013.
Buck Chairman Series Companion
The two-blade craft knife, aka pen knife, is a classic. A larger workhorse blade paired with a smaller one that’s great for detail work — like fine whittling or cleaning your nails. I have one like this, and I carry it every day. ~$33. [Amazon]
Swiss Army Money Clip Knife
The undisputed classic, with a money clip on back. ~$34. [Amazon]
Pulltap Double-Hinge Corkscrew
Any waiter will tell you that the double-pull corkscrew is king of the wine openers. What’s that you say? That’s not a knife and it doesn’t count? Tell it to your Swiss dream girl, sitting impatiently on an Alpine hillside as you try to open a bottle of wine with a shoe. Let’s just take a moment and be thankful that the airport goons won’t be confiscating these anymore. ~$7. [Amazon]
Leatherman Style
Even the teeniest Leatherman is no wimp. It packs a TSA-legal blade, scissors, nail file (for breaking out of airport jail) and tweezers. And it’s soooo cute! ~$15. [Amazon]
Leatherman Squirt CS4
Need a little more than just a blade and some tweezers? Leatherman’s Squirt PS4 is the company’s smallest plier-packing tool. A great travel pal. ~$25. [Amazon]
Swisscard Lite
If you don’t have an American Express card, this could be the most useful thing in your wallet. The Swisscard Lite won a Red Dot design award, and you can see why. There’s a knife, scissors, screwdriver, pen, tweezers (of course) and a torch packed into an itty bitty thing that fits in a credit card slot. Genius. One word of caution: If you’re a wallet-in-the-back-pocket type, you will break this thing (like I did). Keep it in your bag or something. Still worth it. ~$48. [Amazon]
Gerber Artifact
It is entirely possible that the TSA’s boxcutter prohibition will make this knife a no-no, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it on a plane — its blade is removable, so if the agent gives you any guff, just take the blade off and throw it out. The artifact uses standard #11 hobby knife blades, so you can just pick up a replacement at any art supply store. Even without the cutting edge, this thing is incredibly useful, with a bottle opener, pry bar, bottle opener, bit drivers, bottle opener… ~$8. [Amazon]
You know what? It’s hard to find a decent knife that meets the TSA’s specs. Help us out in the comments below.