knitting needle are permitted on most US domestic flights, (internationally, there are sometimes different rules.)but you still can't take a pair of scissors aboard.

straight needles aren't very good 'weapons'. the points are rather dull, and aluminum is likely to bend and warp if you try to 'stab' someone (rather than peircing them) even if you do peirce them, it unlikely to be fatal. plastic or bamboo might be a bit more 'dangerous' but hardly.. (i suppose you could blind someone with a knitting needle, but a ball point pen could be used to that effect too)

curiously circluar needles (ridged points at an end of heavy duty nylon cable (fairly think cable.. think of the cable on grass trimmers/edgers) are also permitted.

since these can be 40 inches long (about 1 meter) the cable is long enough to be use to garrot someone!


my other obsession