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Being able to carry your personal belongings with you when you travel is of the utmost importance. Why wouldn’t you be able to carry your bowie knife with you on an airplane? Well, after the backlash of 9/11, it seemed that you couldn’t carry anything aboard a plane, without being suspected of terrorism. However, the TSA has eased some travel requirements. So, can you carry that bowie knife with you on a plane?

First, you will need to make sure that your bowie knife is not packed in your carryon luggage. While you can take bowie knives aboard planes, your carryon bag is most certainly not the right place for them. Where can you put them? The only place that the TSA allows bowie knives is in your checked baggage – your suitcase, for example. This type of baggage is checked at the ticket counter, and then sent down a conveyor belt to be loaded in the belly of the plane. While this will certainly keep you apart from your knife for the duration of the flight, it does allow you to travel with your weapon.

However, the news is not all bad. The TSA does allow you to carry a bowie knife with you if it is packed in your suitcase, so long as that suitcase is checked at the ticket counter and is not a carryon item. Of course, there are a couple of further caveats to this, as well. Your knife must be securely packed, sheathed and safe. It cannot be left loose inside your suitcase, nor can you pack it without its sheath. Interestingly, the same rules apply to swords, razors and other knives. If this seems a bit inconvenient, remember, you shouldn’t have any need for your knife during the flight, so packing it away before hand should be no issue.

What if you are not taking any checked luggage? If you’re only going for a short trip, or just like to travel light, it’s pretty common to only take carryon baggage with you. If this scenario sounds familiar, you should consider shipping your knife ahead, through UPS or FedEx. However, you should check the freight carrier’s weapons policy before attempting to ship that bowie knife ahead.

As you can see, taking that bowie knife with you is not as difficult as you might have thought. Of course, these rules might pose a problem if you were only going to take a carryon bag and didn’t intend to have any checked baggage. In this case, consider shipping your knife ahead to your destination if possible.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie hunting knives store featuring the Cold Steel training knife. Additionally, Dylan is also the President of an online humidors store.