Fountain Pens And Airport Security.

[max dog]

Are fountain pens OK to take on flights? I always worry they may try to confiscate my fountain pen at security so I usually leave them in my checked baggage. Has anyone encountered a problem boarding with a fountain pen?

[Hawker]

I recently carried over 60 pens in cabin luggage from one side of the globe to the other. No problems at all.

[Mulrich]

I had one instance where the X-ray person thought my pens looked like large caliber ammunition but once they opened my bag they laughed and let the pens and me through. That airport is near a major military base so they probably get army folks trying to carry ammunition on the plane.

Other than that I've never anyone say something across dozens of security checks. You should be fine.

[ENewton]

I have had no trouble getting fountain pens onto airplanes, but on a recent trip I made the mistake of using a fountain pen to fill out my customs declaration. My normally dry-writing Kaweco Sport made quite the sloppy mess on my form, causing the officer at my point of entry to look at me with marked displeasure.

[MsRedpen]

I didn't have any problems neither through security nor on the plane, usually travelling with 3 pens in hand luggage.

Only once I was asked to open the pen pouch, probably due to magnetic clip on the pouch (guess?).

You may want to give it a try first with one inexpensive pen.

[Ergative]

I had one security person ask if it was an e-cigarette, but she was happy after I unscrewed the cap and showed her the nib.

[zaddick]

No problems for me in the US. I don't check bags so carry on is my only option. I carry them filled too and sometimes a bottle of ink. The TSA seems to have relaxed a bit in the last few years.

[Raidon]

I recently travelled with two of my MB pens. I kept them in the MB leather pouch and it was fine. If you are carrying ink then it has to be below 100 ml and fit in the plastic pouch.

[Buzz_130]

I used to travel internationally about once a month, and I never had problems carrying my pens on my person or carry-on bag. I would not want to put pens in checked baggage as I've had two many items disappear after "inspection."

 

Travel with them with the nibs pointed up until level off, and then write to your heart's content.

 

Buzz

[Fuzzy_Bear]

No problems here. Carried three TWSBI's and two Lamy's in carry on from Dallas to Orlando and back.

[kestrel]

Only had a "problem" once, returning to the U.S. from a small airport near Guelph, Ontario. The x-ray machine for carry ons was down so the Canadian equivalent of TSA was hand inspecting everything going on the plane. Minor concern over my pens, especially a rather large vintage Conklin Crescent that was my favorite daily writer at the time. Concern turned to fascination when I showed him what it was and how it worked. I may have made a convert.

 

Any inked pens I carry on planes never go in checked baggage because I am concerned about the nib up/nib down thing and possible leakage caused by pressure changes on ascent.

[inkstainedruth]

I haven't flown recently, but a few summers ago my husband and I went to a family wedding outside Seattle. I had four pens with me, and sample vials of the inks currently in them, in case I ran out because we were gone for about a week, and included a visit to some old friends who now live in Spokane. I flew back early (so I could go to DCSS for Saturday and Sunday). No problem either way with the ziplock bag of ink samples in my purse -- TSA didn't bat an eye. *But* for the flight home, I had put my facial cleanser stuff into the carry-on bag, in case they misplaced the checked luggage (since I was getting back late at night and then having to repack down to one suitcase for the pen show -- for which I was picking up a friend at 5:30 AM) and THAT stuff (because it was in larger than "regulation" containers -- ALL got confiscated at check-in in the Spokane airport for the trip home....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Oggie]

I've only had an issue once, last summer in Seoul. A young security agent spent a while looking at the items in my pen case then finally took my handbag and upended it into a bin so he could look at every single item and run the lot back through the scanner. After that he handed the bin and my handbag back to me and that was the end of it.

[jchch1950]

No problems with the exception of Seul where they wanted to to check each pen that has some metal in them.

[Jerome Tarshis]

I have been flying with fountain pens since the 1960s. With one exception, I've never had a pen leak, and that pen also leaked on a sea-level railroad trip, so it wasn't high altitude that stained my shirt pocket.

 

As for airport security in our frightened recent past, nobody ever wonders about the pens I carry on at the airports I use. Other airports, possibly other experiences.

[mitto]

Last year while on an official visit to karachi, luck did facour me as I found there, in the evening, 42 vintage pens (P51s, P61s, P75s, P45s and some Sheaffers) in the wild. On the return journey to Islamabad I was scared the Security people would stop me carrying the pens in my hand carry bag. But, no. They only did stare at me and at the pile of the pens visible on the monitor of the scanner but said nothing. A great sigh of relief!

[ISW_Kaputnik]

If you're flying through U.S. airports, it's worth looking at the actual TSA web site for yourself. Pens of any kind are not listed as prohibited items, and I've "never had a problem". But note what they say, "The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint." No matter how many of the rest of us never had a problem, it's conceivable that some individual TSA officer may get nervous about these odd pointy looking pens and forbid them. The probability seems very low to me, but there's no guarantee.

 

For countries other than the U.S. I leave it to people with experience to say (and check any web sites for their security agencies). My last flight outside the U.S. was, I think, 1988. Things were different then.

Edited September 20, 2016 by ISW_Kaputnik

[inkstainedruth]

If you're flying through U.S. airports, it's worth looking at the actual TSA web site for yourself. Pens of any kind are not listed as prohibited items, and I've "never had a problem". But note what they say, "The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint." No matter how many of the rest of us never had a problem, it's conceivable that some individual TSA officer may get nervous about these odd pointy looking pens and forbid them. The probability seems very low to me, but there's no guarantee.

 

For countries other than the U.S. I leave it to people with experience to say (and check any web sites for their security agencies). My last flight outside the U.S. was, I think, 1988. Things were different then.

 

Thanks for the link. I just looked at it and pens weren't mentioned but they said that fountain pen ink can go in carry-on luggage if it followed the 3-1-1 rule (3.4 oz. or less, in a 1 quart/liter ziplock, and only one per passenger); larger amounts can go in checked luggage.

Ironically, that was in the link for special instructions for liquids. Which also said that rule applies to aerosols (yet the main page said that aerosols are prohibited... ).

Apparently -- unlike a decade ago -- I can now bring knitting needles on the plane.... It *isn't*, however, clear as to whether my husband can bring an oxygen tank (treatment for cluster headaches...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[VivienR]

Not at all.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Ruth. Check with the individual airline you will be flying. My daughter was on oxygen. We found it easier to have the DME deliver some tanks to our destination. However, most airlines will accommodate, you just need to check in advance what they require.