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Anyone have issues bringing a small 3" pocket knife to CR? Will customs confiscate at airport?

Anyone know the law for small blades?

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ ... items.shtm

Per TSA's web site. Checking it both ways is no problem, NOT in carry on luggage

Actually, what I meant was Customs at Costa Rica airport. Not sure if they follow same rules as TSA.

I could have been that they inspecting agent wanted them, but coming back from CR they kept my shaving blades refills.

Short answer--I have carried in checked baggage a 3" serrated-back thumb-operated flick knife through CR Customs for 5 trips now--nary a look.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

If you mean any issues having a blade in your carry-on luggage while going through the security checkpoint DEPARTING SJO, yes, they will confiscate it if found.

I speak from personal and recent experience.

Put it in your checked bag.

mh

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mh

CR security personnel will confiscate a pocket knife in carry-on baggage on the way out. 3 or 4 years ago, I inadvertently left a favorite knife in my carry-on while exiting SJO. No surprise... it was detected. I stepped out of the line and returned to the ticket counter. A supervisor was nice enough to track down my checked bag and slip it into a side pocket.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Like others have said, IF found they'll most likely confiscate it. The real question is how likely is it that they will find it. And I'm not so sure anyone can really say about that with any precision. Speaking only from personal experience and FWIW, I have carried my small swiss army knife with me on several trips and they have never picked up on it. However, I should add I also do several things that MIGHT reduce the likelihood that it will be detected (or at least the consequences if it was):

1) I position the thing at the lower back bottom part of my pack, where the agents rarely if ever dig deep enough to detect on manual hand searches. Incidentally, I also pack my condom supply as described in items #1 and 2 here, not that those are illegal or will be confiscated but I'd rather not make them so obvious or be forced to pull them out while the agent is looking for something else buried below them in the bag.
2) I place the blade in an upfront position relative to how the pack will be positioned on the conveyor belt while running through the x-ray machine (so that it appears only as a somewhat innocuous unidentified 3/4" x 3/4" blob on their screen)
3) I'm not sure if some x-ray machines in the US also provide a 2nd view from the side that would defeat my precaution in item #2, so I also try to position it close to any luggage hardware if my bag has it (e.g. the lower wheel assembly when I was using a wheeled bag).
4) I also place it next to other hard and "complex" objects I might have such as electronics rechargers
5) I have a simple but seemingly "innocent" cover performance ready like "Oh, I forgot that was there" in the event it is detected. Most likely the worst that will happen is that they'll simply take you at your word and confiscate the knife and you won't be taken into any back rooms for further interrogation (however I wouldn't count on being as lucky as BlueDevil was in regard to being able to keep it and take it back to the check-in counter where you could put it in your checked bag).
6) I only do this with an old fairly inexpensive knife that I've had for years, gotten my plenty of use out of and wouldn't really care that much if I did lose it to an airport inspector.

BTW, if its a matter of having an item for self-defense while you're in CR and you make regular trips you might want to check with your hotelier about holding it for you between trips rather than having either to carry it in checked luggage when you fly out or else risk losing it to an inspector if you try it with your carry-on bags. That will also allow you to have a larger more fearsome defense weapon than a 3" long pocket knife.

If you fly Spirit Air AND they follow through on their plans to charge (and charge MORE) for carry-on, it will make these discussions moot. You shouldn't ever have a problem with a small edged weapon in checked baggage. OTOH, if tou truly feel a need for longer-range non-lethal weaponry (Tasers, capsicum, etc), "Search" here for local sources etc.--those I wouldn't try to bring down, and was said, maybe a local friend or hotelier will hold on to that stuff between trips. The above is not a recommendation for any of that--just Brother-to-Brother info.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Thanks for all the feedback. The knife(s) will be in checked bag. I have 3" fixed blade for day packing and hiking and a 3" folding knife for misc. Both will be checked.I was moreless concerned about customs in Costa Rica, after I get off plane and have to go through customs, if there was any laws for having blade.

To be clear about my post, my personal experience applied to BOTH US and CR security (after all, I didn't buy my swiss army knife in CR). I usually fly from Tampa through Miami and back the same way. Sometimes, depending on the nature and timing of my connecting flights (or how they're working things at the MIA airport at that particular moment) I've had to go through extra security there and sometimes not, but at the very least I've been able to slip it by security at the Tampa airport on the way down every time. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I think if you're careful about how you pack (AND of course are prepared to lose it if they do find it) you'll most likely be just fine. However, I'll definitely go along with what brother JB just said. If security finds a small multipurpose pocket knife, the worst that will probably happen is that you'll lose it (and maybe spend a few extra minutes getting searched more carefully). I would NEVER try this with larger or more dangerous items.

I take a 4 inch lock blade all the time. I put it in my toiletry kit in my checked baggage along with my shampoo, deodorant, razorblades, and such and have never had a problem both ways.

Yeah, this is true, but unlike WTM I was talking about carry-on too.

If you check a bag with a weapon inside, you don't take it through the more stringent security that passengers go through and the restrictions on what you can pack inside are considerably less restrictive. So there should be no problem with a bag with a weapon (even a declared gun) inside once it's checked inside the airport. However, those checked bags are still subject to some inspections while going through the baggage processing areas, so you should also use TSA approved locks on those bags (if you lock them up as you should) so that, should TSA choose to open your checked luggage for random inspection they can do so without having to bust open the bag. And, of course, if you carry a gun and ammo in your checked luggage and it gets through airport security, this doesn't mean that you won't have some problems getting a gun through CR customs. Like Srlim said, while flying in the US you still have to declare it when checking through something as serious as a gun. Perhaps Srilm can also clarify what documentation one needs to carry in order to bring that gun into CR (assuming a gringo can do that at all) and then what documentation one would also need to bring that gun back through US CUSTOMS as opposed to the passenger security checkpoints.

While baggage with a weapon inside (even a real serious one like a gun) is not really a problem inside the airport once its checked, a weapon inside a carry-on bag (even a small pocket knife) is certainly more of a potential issue IF they happen to find it and will probably just wind up being confiscated.