Quote:
|
Find it hilarious that they won't let me carry a knife with a 3" blade (or even shorter) but they will let a 300# man carry a big stick. Humanoids were killing with sticks long before they figured out any kind of knife,
|
ADA laws make that happen. I have been carrying canes onto airplanes for years. Way before I actually needed one and after the knee surgery I'll continue to carry canes onto planes. The first time I did it, years ago, I was carrying a cane made in Africa, with a hippopotamus head on the top (kind of uncomfortable, actually), and made of 4 different kinds of wood held together by a solid iron bar. When they x-rayed it they allowed it because it was HELD TOGETHER! The bar was somehow glued in there so it couldn't be accessed. Let me tell you, that is one doggone heavy cane - you could break skulls with it. The law says they must be permitted.
All well made canes are excellent defensive weapons. It is true that "mastering" their use takes practice but it doesn't take a lot of practice to swing one if necessary - you just have to realize it can be caught when you're doing that. Holding it in closely and tightly in your hand and getting into a perp's "space" with it works better.
One of the best defensive canes is a shillelagh. They are always extremely solid if you buy a quality stick and without hooks and handles they are very maneuverable two-handed weapons. My two choices when I fly (I have choices) are either a standard hooked cane or a shillelagh.
In either case I just pretend to be a silly old man with a limp and a cane. Well, that is actually true, now, I suppose, as opposed to years ago, but I promise nobody wants to enrage me when I have a cane.
Now, speaking of sword canes, and I have had one for over 50 years, they are no longer illegal in Texas. However, they might be very illegal where you live so if you have one at home leave it there unless you are certain that your state and local jurisdiction allow it.