Lighters to Take Flight Again?

Sunday July 23, 2006

Word is that lighters may soon be legit on planes again if Congress reconsiders a current ban on carried-on Crickets -- since they became a no-no at airport security last spring, the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has apparently collected 16 million lighters at airport security checkpoints, according to the Kansas City Star. At $1.49 or so per disposable lighter, that's well over two million smackers worth of forbidden flame (and that's probably not counting my $25 Swiss Army lighter/compass, a treasured traveling pocket pal which is now interred somewhere at Denver International Airport's security area after I foolishly left it in a carry-on). The government may be crying uncle on the current lighter legislation because it costs a boatload to pay people searching for the pesky things; the Star reports that the TSA will pay $6 mil to dispose of disposable lighters.

Whether the rules seem silly is irrelevant, though -- don't comply with TSA airport security measures and risk a fine or finding your name on some dreaded list equaling airport hassle. And there is now a solution to waving bye-bye to your stuff, as I discovered after losing my Swiss Army friend: you can mail banned items home from many airports if you accidentally bring a baddie along.