ONTPax
23rd Oct 2001, 21:17
For lack of a better word, here's an "interesting" article from the October 18th edition of the LA TIMES. Were any of you aware of the existence of knives that don't show up when screened by an x-ray machine? Also, at the bottom of the article are the reponses to it in the Letters To The Editor column... :confused:
http://latimes.com/business/la-tester-knive.story#
October 18, 2001
SECURITY
Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security
By ERIC MALNIC and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Times Staff Writer
Airport security in the United States, strengthened to repel terrorists since last month, may still be no match for the Busse Stealth Hawk knife, marketed in a weapons catalog as "invisible to metal detectors."
The knife is among a class of composite and ceramic blades that are difficult or impossible to detect with current airport security equipment, according to security experts and knife manufacturers.
Such knives, sold openly and legally through retail stores, mail-order catalogs and on the Internet, expose a major loophole in the efforts to prevent a repeat of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings, which apparently were
executed with small cutters and knives previously thought harmless. Since the
attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration has rescinded its old rule allowing knives with blades shorter than 4 inches aboard flights. Now, "cutting instruments of any kind and composition," either carried by
passengers or in their carry-on luggage, are prohibited.
But enforcing that new rule relies on equipment that is largely ineffective against nonmetallic knives that are as sharp and as hard as steel. FAA officials acknowledge the system's vulnerability to plastic weapons, but also insist security nevertheless is adequate.
Congressional and Bush administration officials have suggested that terrorists may have carried plastic weapons when they took over the four jetliners by attacking the flight crews, though whether they were using
anything like the brawny Stealth Hawk is unknown.
The Stealth Hawk is made from a high-tech, nonmetallic laminate known as MP45. Its 4 1/2-inch, serrated blade is so strong it can be "pounded through steel drums, car doors, wood planks, etc. without damage," according to the description in a catalog issued by Shomer-Tec, a mail-order firm in Bellingham, Wash.
The purchase and possession of the Stealth Hawk and other "undetectable" knives like it are perfectly legal in most states, including California.
No license, special permit or identification is needed to purchase one. To get a Stealth Hawk, a customer need only mail off a check for $137, plus a $7 handling fee, and Shomer-Tec will ship it via United Parcel Service.
Some people wonder why.
"There is no place in our society for a weapon like this," said Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "Shame on the person who is marketing this. He puts all of us at risk."
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House subcommittee on aviation, said last week that the hijackers "may have been armed with hardened plastic knives in addition to the box cutters reported by a passenger on one of the planes."
"Unfortunately," Mica said, "screening technology required by the FAA does not detect plastic weapons."
A spokesman for Mica said his remarks were "based on information provided in
a briefing by the administration."
Three weeks earlier, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said: "For the
first time, we had a commercial airliner turned into a lethal weapon. People boarded with plastic knives that can be as sharp as metal knives." Mineta has subsequently declined further comment on the issue.
The Justice Department this week would not comment on whether plastic knives were carried by the hijackers.
Plastic weapons represent a tough challenge to existing security. Two electronic devices currently are used at airports to screen passengers--a metal detector and an X-ray machine.
The metal detector, which looks like an open doorway, sets up a magnetic field. Passengers step through the doorway and metal objects they are carrying disrupt the field, causing an alarm to sound. The sensitivity of the machines can be adjusted. Hand-held detectors are used as a backup.
People who trigger the metal detectors are patted down by hand, but nonmetallic objects, like plastic knives, will not set off a beep, said Douglas R. Laird, a private security consultant in Washington, D.C., who
formerly worked in security for Northwest Airlines.
The X-ray machine, a large oblong box with a conveyor belt running through it, is used to screen passengers' carry-on bags. X-rays penetrate the luggage and a screen displays what's inside.
"Metal objects will show up vividly, especially if they are large," Laird said.
"A razor blade would be hard to see, especially if it was on edge." he said.
"With a nonmetallic knife, you might be able to see a faint image, or you might see nothing. It would depend on how the bag was packed."
FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler acknowledged Wednesday that existing metal detectors are not effective against plastic weapons. However, she said that such knives in carry-on baggage could be detected by airport X-ray screeners, who "are trained to detect all sorts of guns, knives and explosives."
Trexler said that FAA Administrator Jane Garvey "believes we have adequate security in place right now, given the heightened threats, but we will be looking at systems constantly to see how they might be improved."
Trexler said one of these is a "back-scatter" probe that uses harmless,
low-level radiation to paint a detailed picture of what a passenger might be carrying beneath clothing.
There are not believed to be any federal laws regulating undetectable knives.
The California Penal Code specifically prohibits the manufacture and
sale--but not the purchase or possession--of any undetectable knife.
As defined by the code, "an 'undetectable knife" means any knife or other instrument, with or without a hand guard, that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death that is commercially manufactured to be used as a weapon and is not detectable by a metal detector set at standard calibration."
Plastic knives have a history of use in attacks in courthouses, prisons and other public facilities across the country, though there is no known evidence that they have become a staple in the arsenals of terrorists. A defendant in a Compton courtroom used a 10-inch plastic knife two years ago to stab two bailiffs before he was shot and killed by a deputy.
Jeff Jaffe, president of Shomer-Tec, concedes that his firm markets the Stealth Hawk as a knife that a person could slip though existing security systems. "One could do that," he said.
But he and Jerry Busse, whose firm in Wauseon, Ohio, makes the Stealth Hawk, insist that there is a legitimate need for such weapons.
"Police and [Drug Enforcement Administration] undercover 'buy-and-bust' teams need protection, and they know that drug dealers use metal detectors," Busse
said.
Jaffe added, "In some states, like Washington, there are laws against carrying a firearm into a bar. In some bars, there are walk-through metal detectors. Undercover alcohol enforcement guys want some means of protecting themselves in places like that."
Jaffe said Shomer-Tec will continue to sell undetectable knives, but another mail-order firm has had second thoughts.
"Due to the recent horrific terrorist acts perpetrated on our country, we have decided to temporarily stop the sale of undetectable knives," Irv Miller, president of J & L Self-Defense in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., announced
two weeks ago on the company's Web site.
"I am not a politically correct kind of guy, but I feel that for right now, it would be best not to sell them for a little while," Miller said when asked about his decision.
Miller insists that the Stealth Hawk poses no more threat than a sharpened stick and says it was not designed to be used against a person.
"It was designed primarily as a non-rusting knife that could be used by scuba divers under water," he said. "The other use is for bomb squad technicians who would be dealing with munitions that could be set off if there is a change in the magnetic fields around them."
But other undetectable knives clearly were designed primarily as weapons, including Shomer-Tec's CIA Covert Cutter, which "can be clipped directly to a belt, pants, sock, etc.," the catalog says, and the Deep Cover Knife, described as "a must-have for those on the move."
Before they were temporarily pulled off the market a few days ago, J & L sold several particularly lethal models, including the CIA Knife, the CIA Spike and the CIA Finger Grip Knife, also known as the "Heart Attack."
The J & L catalog also includes the now temporarily discontinued Stealth Security Comb and Brush Set.
"Made from undetectable nylon fiber, these security items are a must for every woman's purse or glove box," the catalog says. "They look like a normal 8-inch comb or hairbrush until you pull them apart to expose the 3 2/3-inch blade."
The comb-and-brush set appears to violate laws in California and other states that prohibit the possession of knives disguised to appear as something other than weapons. In addition, the Stealth Hawk, CIA Covert Cutter, Deep Cover Knife and the weapons in the J & L catalog are too big to be carried out of sight without violating state concealed-weapons laws.
Ernest Emerson, designer of the undetectable Deep Cover Knife, asked Miller a few days ago to stop advertising the 10 3/8-inch weapon in the Shomer-Tec catalog. Miller complied and the knife no longer appears in the online catalog, though it is still listed in Shomer-Tec's printed catalog.
"I felt that with what's been going on, it probably would be best to discontinue that weapon," said Emerson, whose Emerson Knives Inc. is located in Torrance. Emerson makes and sells a variety of metallic knives, but no undetectable knives. Deep Cover, designed by Emerson for Shomer-Tec, was manufactured by a machine shop in Washington state.
Although often referred to as plastic knives, most of the undetectable weapons actually are made from laminates that contain glass fibers, nylon, epoxy resins and other nonplastic materials. These durable
laminates--originally developed for electronic circuit boards used in harsh
environments--have little use in other products, according to Derek Russell, sales manager for Emerson.
There also are stores that sell smaller, nonmetallic knives that can be hidden legally in almost any pocket.
One of these stores is Ross Cutlery in downtown Los Angeles.
Pedro Perez, a 15-year employee at Ross, showed a visitor the Puma Ceramik, a compact folding knife made in Germany. He pointed out that the only metal parts in the $210 knife--which has a razor-sharp, 3-inch ceramic blade that folds into a plastic handle of the same length--are two tiny titanium rivets.
Two customers who fly frequently told him they have carried Puma Ceramiks frequently through airport security systems without detection, Perez said.
He then produced the even smaller Boker Ceramic folding knife, also made in Germany. When folded, the Boker is about 2 1/2 inches long and half an inch thick. The only metallic component is a titanium spring that locks the open blade in place.
"It's very light, very convenient," said Perez, who owns one.
He said he carried the knife in his pocket through a metal detection device at an Immigration and Naturalization Service office in Los Angeles recently.
"The thing didn't beep," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 22, 2001
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Limit Carry-On Bags, Take Action for Security
Re "Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security," Oct. 18:
A major contributing factor to why planes can be easily hijacked in this country is that too many people take on too much carry-on baggage. Most of it can't be properly searched because there's just too much of it. If airline passengers were required to carry on only one small bag no larger than a
briefcase, all of the carry-on baggage could be thoroughly and properly searched. We wouldn't have to worry about nonmetallic knives invisible to metal detectors.
If a person wanted to carry on more than that, he or she could pay an additional fee of, say, $50 per bag to cover the costs of having to thoroughly hand-search that extra carry-on piece. Perhaps the proceeds could
be shared among the airline, the security company and a charity.
James Fuhrman
West Hollywood
*
Much as I hate to use the old argument of the gun nuts, the plastic knives do change everything. If airport security cannot keep terrorists from boarding planes armed with razor-sharp, undetectable knives, then we'd best all be armed.
I'm a big guy. I'd attack a terrorist in a heartbeat. But if they had knives,wouldn't I be much more effective with a knife of my own? In the meantime, where are the armed air marshals?
Tom Ogren
San Luis Obispo
*
Thanks for that terrific article on the nonmetallic knives. Now that you've
provided descriptions of the various capabilities (I hadn't thought of
piercing car doors!), told how sharp and strong they are, the manufacturers'names and which catalogs we can order from, what's left? Maybe next time you could just include a handy order form.
Michele Hart-Rico
Hollywood
*
Instead of having marshals on each and every airplane, why not select volunteers from the passengers? They could be muscular sorts and would be stationed in each section of the plane. To motivate volunteering, the airline
could offer a discount to each such monitor. Remember the hall monitors we had in grade school?
Charles Vanderbilt
Simi Valley
*
Re "Real Danger at Airport Lies Back With the Bags," Oct. 17:
I commend Steve Lopez's excellent analysis of the mess of "increased" security at the airports. Our leaders want to make a gesture, increasing the sense of security. The best way to increase the sense of security is to increase the security! Empty gestures costing dollars, idling productive
people in the military reserves and disrupting their lives--and accomplishing
nothing--seem to nourish the terrorist concept that Americans are too docile to take effective actions for our safety.
Ken Murray
Studio City
October 21, 2001
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Nonmetallic Knives
Re "Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security," Oct. 18: Am I missing something, or am I the only one who sees it this way? Why is The Times printing an instruction manual for would-be terrorists on its front page? Not only do you inform everyone of weaknesses in airport security--arguably a
genuine news story--but you follow it up with clear instructions for how and where to purchase these potentially deadly weapons, including the price and shipping charges. I believe in a free press and an open exchange of information, but I question the wisdom of advertising dangerous weapons in the newspaper.
Claire E. Gorfinkel
Altadena
http://latimes.com/business/la-tester-knive.story#
October 18, 2001
SECURITY
Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security
By ERIC MALNIC and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Times Staff Writer
Airport security in the United States, strengthened to repel terrorists since last month, may still be no match for the Busse Stealth Hawk knife, marketed in a weapons catalog as "invisible to metal detectors."
The knife is among a class of composite and ceramic blades that are difficult or impossible to detect with current airport security equipment, according to security experts and knife manufacturers.
Such knives, sold openly and legally through retail stores, mail-order catalogs and on the Internet, expose a major loophole in the efforts to prevent a repeat of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings, which apparently were
executed with small cutters and knives previously thought harmless. Since the
attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration has rescinded its old rule allowing knives with blades shorter than 4 inches aboard flights. Now, "cutting instruments of any kind and composition," either carried by
passengers or in their carry-on luggage, are prohibited.
But enforcing that new rule relies on equipment that is largely ineffective against nonmetallic knives that are as sharp and as hard as steel. FAA officials acknowledge the system's vulnerability to plastic weapons, but also insist security nevertheless is adequate.
Congressional and Bush administration officials have suggested that terrorists may have carried plastic weapons when they took over the four jetliners by attacking the flight crews, though whether they were using
anything like the brawny Stealth Hawk is unknown.
The Stealth Hawk is made from a high-tech, nonmetallic laminate known as MP45. Its 4 1/2-inch, serrated blade is so strong it can be "pounded through steel drums, car doors, wood planks, etc. without damage," according to the description in a catalog issued by Shomer-Tec, a mail-order firm in Bellingham, Wash.
The purchase and possession of the Stealth Hawk and other "undetectable" knives like it are perfectly legal in most states, including California.
No license, special permit or identification is needed to purchase one. To get a Stealth Hawk, a customer need only mail off a check for $137, plus a $7 handling fee, and Shomer-Tec will ship it via United Parcel Service.
Some people wonder why.
"There is no place in our society for a weapon like this," said Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "Shame on the person who is marketing this. He puts all of us at risk."
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House subcommittee on aviation, said last week that the hijackers "may have been armed with hardened plastic knives in addition to the box cutters reported by a passenger on one of the planes."
"Unfortunately," Mica said, "screening technology required by the FAA does not detect plastic weapons."
A spokesman for Mica said his remarks were "based on information provided in
a briefing by the administration."
Three weeks earlier, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said: "For the
first time, we had a commercial airliner turned into a lethal weapon. People boarded with plastic knives that can be as sharp as metal knives." Mineta has subsequently declined further comment on the issue.
The Justice Department this week would not comment on whether plastic knives were carried by the hijackers.
Plastic weapons represent a tough challenge to existing security. Two electronic devices currently are used at airports to screen passengers--a metal detector and an X-ray machine.
The metal detector, which looks like an open doorway, sets up a magnetic field. Passengers step through the doorway and metal objects they are carrying disrupt the field, causing an alarm to sound. The sensitivity of the machines can be adjusted. Hand-held detectors are used as a backup.
People who trigger the metal detectors are patted down by hand, but nonmetallic objects, like plastic knives, will not set off a beep, said Douglas R. Laird, a private security consultant in Washington, D.C., who
formerly worked in security for Northwest Airlines.
The X-ray machine, a large oblong box with a conveyor belt running through it, is used to screen passengers' carry-on bags. X-rays penetrate the luggage and a screen displays what's inside.
"Metal objects will show up vividly, especially if they are large," Laird said.
"A razor blade would be hard to see, especially if it was on edge." he said.
"With a nonmetallic knife, you might be able to see a faint image, or you might see nothing. It would depend on how the bag was packed."
FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler acknowledged Wednesday that existing metal detectors are not effective against plastic weapons. However, she said that such knives in carry-on baggage could be detected by airport X-ray screeners, who "are trained to detect all sorts of guns, knives and explosives."
Trexler said that FAA Administrator Jane Garvey "believes we have adequate security in place right now, given the heightened threats, but we will be looking at systems constantly to see how they might be improved."
Trexler said one of these is a "back-scatter" probe that uses harmless,
low-level radiation to paint a detailed picture of what a passenger might be carrying beneath clothing.
There are not believed to be any federal laws regulating undetectable knives.
The California Penal Code specifically prohibits the manufacture and
sale--but not the purchase or possession--of any undetectable knife.
As defined by the code, "an 'undetectable knife" means any knife or other instrument, with or without a hand guard, that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death that is commercially manufactured to be used as a weapon and is not detectable by a metal detector set at standard calibration."
Plastic knives have a history of use in attacks in courthouses, prisons and other public facilities across the country, though there is no known evidence that they have become a staple in the arsenals of terrorists. A defendant in a Compton courtroom used a 10-inch plastic knife two years ago to stab two bailiffs before he was shot and killed by a deputy.
Jeff Jaffe, president of Shomer-Tec, concedes that his firm markets the Stealth Hawk as a knife that a person could slip though existing security systems. "One could do that," he said.
But he and Jerry Busse, whose firm in Wauseon, Ohio, makes the Stealth Hawk, insist that there is a legitimate need for such weapons.
"Police and [Drug Enforcement Administration] undercover 'buy-and-bust' teams need protection, and they know that drug dealers use metal detectors," Busse
said.
Jaffe added, "In some states, like Washington, there are laws against carrying a firearm into a bar. In some bars, there are walk-through metal detectors. Undercover alcohol enforcement guys want some means of protecting themselves in places like that."
Jaffe said Shomer-Tec will continue to sell undetectable knives, but another mail-order firm has had second thoughts.
"Due to the recent horrific terrorist acts perpetrated on our country, we have decided to temporarily stop the sale of undetectable knives," Irv Miller, president of J & L Self-Defense in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., announced
two weeks ago on the company's Web site.
"I am not a politically correct kind of guy, but I feel that for right now, it would be best not to sell them for a little while," Miller said when asked about his decision.
Miller insists that the Stealth Hawk poses no more threat than a sharpened stick and says it was not designed to be used against a person.
"It was designed primarily as a non-rusting knife that could be used by scuba divers under water," he said. "The other use is for bomb squad technicians who would be dealing with munitions that could be set off if there is a change in the magnetic fields around them."
But other undetectable knives clearly were designed primarily as weapons, including Shomer-Tec's CIA Covert Cutter, which "can be clipped directly to a belt, pants, sock, etc.," the catalog says, and the Deep Cover Knife, described as "a must-have for those on the move."
Before they were temporarily pulled off the market a few days ago, J & L sold several particularly lethal models, including the CIA Knife, the CIA Spike and the CIA Finger Grip Knife, also known as the "Heart Attack."
The J & L catalog also includes the now temporarily discontinued Stealth Security Comb and Brush Set.
"Made from undetectable nylon fiber, these security items are a must for every woman's purse or glove box," the catalog says. "They look like a normal 8-inch comb or hairbrush until you pull them apart to expose the 3 2/3-inch blade."
The comb-and-brush set appears to violate laws in California and other states that prohibit the possession of knives disguised to appear as something other than weapons. In addition, the Stealth Hawk, CIA Covert Cutter, Deep Cover Knife and the weapons in the J & L catalog are too big to be carried out of sight without violating state concealed-weapons laws.
Ernest Emerson, designer of the undetectable Deep Cover Knife, asked Miller a few days ago to stop advertising the 10 3/8-inch weapon in the Shomer-Tec catalog. Miller complied and the knife no longer appears in the online catalog, though it is still listed in Shomer-Tec's printed catalog.
"I felt that with what's been going on, it probably would be best to discontinue that weapon," said Emerson, whose Emerson Knives Inc. is located in Torrance. Emerson makes and sells a variety of metallic knives, but no undetectable knives. Deep Cover, designed by Emerson for Shomer-Tec, was manufactured by a machine shop in Washington state.
Although often referred to as plastic knives, most of the undetectable weapons actually are made from laminates that contain glass fibers, nylon, epoxy resins and other nonplastic materials. These durable
laminates--originally developed for electronic circuit boards used in harsh
environments--have little use in other products, according to Derek Russell, sales manager for Emerson.
There also are stores that sell smaller, nonmetallic knives that can be hidden legally in almost any pocket.
One of these stores is Ross Cutlery in downtown Los Angeles.
Pedro Perez, a 15-year employee at Ross, showed a visitor the Puma Ceramik, a compact folding knife made in Germany. He pointed out that the only metal parts in the $210 knife--which has a razor-sharp, 3-inch ceramic blade that folds into a plastic handle of the same length--are two tiny titanium rivets.
Two customers who fly frequently told him they have carried Puma Ceramiks frequently through airport security systems without detection, Perez said.
He then produced the even smaller Boker Ceramic folding knife, also made in Germany. When folded, the Boker is about 2 1/2 inches long and half an inch thick. The only metallic component is a titanium spring that locks the open blade in place.
"It's very light, very convenient," said Perez, who owns one.
He said he carried the knife in his pocket through a metal detection device at an Immigration and Naturalization Service office in Los Angeles recently.
"The thing didn't beep," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 22, 2001
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Limit Carry-On Bags, Take Action for Security
Re "Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security," Oct. 18:
A major contributing factor to why planes can be easily hijacked in this country is that too many people take on too much carry-on baggage. Most of it can't be properly searched because there's just too much of it. If airline passengers were required to carry on only one small bag no larger than a
briefcase, all of the carry-on baggage could be thoroughly and properly searched. We wouldn't have to worry about nonmetallic knives invisible to metal detectors.
If a person wanted to carry on more than that, he or she could pay an additional fee of, say, $50 per bag to cover the costs of having to thoroughly hand-search that extra carry-on piece. Perhaps the proceeds could
be shared among the airline, the security company and a charity.
James Fuhrman
West Hollywood
*
Much as I hate to use the old argument of the gun nuts, the plastic knives do change everything. If airport security cannot keep terrorists from boarding planes armed with razor-sharp, undetectable knives, then we'd best all be armed.
I'm a big guy. I'd attack a terrorist in a heartbeat. But if they had knives,wouldn't I be much more effective with a knife of my own? In the meantime, where are the armed air marshals?
Tom Ogren
San Luis Obispo
*
Thanks for that terrific article on the nonmetallic knives. Now that you've
provided descriptions of the various capabilities (I hadn't thought of
piercing car doors!), told how sharp and strong they are, the manufacturers'names and which catalogs we can order from, what's left? Maybe next time you could just include a handy order form.
Michele Hart-Rico
Hollywood
*
Instead of having marshals on each and every airplane, why not select volunteers from the passengers? They could be muscular sorts and would be stationed in each section of the plane. To motivate volunteering, the airline
could offer a discount to each such monitor. Remember the hall monitors we had in grade school?
Charles Vanderbilt
Simi Valley
*
Re "Real Danger at Airport Lies Back With the Bags," Oct. 17:
I commend Steve Lopez's excellent analysis of the mess of "increased" security at the airports. Our leaders want to make a gesture, increasing the sense of security. The best way to increase the sense of security is to increase the security! Empty gestures costing dollars, idling productive
people in the military reserves and disrupting their lives--and accomplishing
nothing--seem to nourish the terrorist concept that Americans are too docile to take effective actions for our safety.
Ken Murray
Studio City
October 21, 2001
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Nonmetallic Knives
Re "Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security," Oct. 18: Am I missing something, or am I the only one who sees it this way? Why is The Times printing an instruction manual for would-be terrorists on its front page? Not only do you inform everyone of weaknesses in airport security--arguably a
genuine news story--but you follow it up with clear instructions for how and where to purchase these potentially deadly weapons, including the price and shipping charges. I believe in a free press and an open exchange of information, but I question the wisdom of advertising dangerous weapons in the newspaper.
Claire E. Gorfinkel
Altadena