Packing Tips for India travel - What's in your bag? The essentials to bring and what to leave at home. Includes questions about costs.

Pocketknife


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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 02:08   #1
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Pocketknife

Wotcha.

Anyhoo, I'm off in a few days, so I'm beginning to turn my house upside down looking for all my stuff.

The one thing I do have is my leatherman, which I usually carry all the time - if I stick this in my luggage for India will I be allowed to carry it around with me?

It may be a silly question, but I know some places have strict rules about carry knives - the blade is only 2.5 inches long.
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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 02:33   #2
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You can definitely bring it in your checked luggage but not in your carry on or on your person. I've been putting my Swiss Army Knife in my checked luggage for years now and never a problem. A Leatherman is pretty much the same.

BTW, did you know that Tim Leatherman is the founder!!! It's a real guy! (sorry, I just can't stop being a know-it-all )
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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 02:48   #3
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Bring it along - don't know how many hotel 'issues' - I've solved with a utility knife while waiting for the hotel staff to figure it out - but it's more than a couple. Corkscrew - check, bottle opener - check, scissors - check ...... and don't those handy-dandy pliers make great cockroach squeezers.
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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?
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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 03:36   #4
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I've carried a machete in checked luggage more than once for bushwalking purposes - no airline has had a problem (or customs for that matter).

Having a knife in India is perfectly Ok (even essential for little repairs and other tasks)- just don't flash it around.
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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 04:33   #5
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Oh definitely - how else can you dissect and peel one of those delicious giant papayas while squatting on the footpath or sitting in a park!!!!! Or custard apples, or all the other fruits I never learnt the names of and had never seen before...Remember you can't eat the peeled fruit off the street and the fruit is delicious!!!
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Old Feb 26th, 2008, 08:14   #6
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I carried a pocketknife around for 5 months while in India...No problems whatsoever. And handy too! I agree with Brisso, just don't flash it around. if you use it for what it is intended for, no one will notice...or care.

Have fun!
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Old Mar 2nd, 2008, 10:11   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asicola View Post
I carried a pocketknife around for 5 months while in India...No problems whatsoever. And handy too! I agree with Brisso, just don't flash it around. if you use it for what it is intended for, no one will notice...or care.

Have fun!
Where the police is frisking people ( at sensitive points like the National Museum in Delhi, or at religious trouble sites like Ayodhya, Mathura or in Varanasi) police would take your knife away and hand it back later, if you had it with you.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2008, 13:12   #8
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police frisking us in srinagar took knife on entry to site and returned on exit
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Old Mar 2nd, 2008, 18:32   #9
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Oh yeah, forgot about that. I had my knife taken at a few museums and held while I was viewing the exhibits. It was returned to me at the end of my visit.

For that matter, I also had batteries for my camera and a lighter held at the same time. Just think what I could have done with a pocketknife/lighter/battery combination...I could have ruled the world!

Cheers!
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Old Mar 2nd, 2008, 18:52   #10
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Whilst I've always had a knife, or even a multi-tool, amongst my stuff, I've never seen much need to take it out on the street.

Having it to peel fruit with would be an idea --- but I remember doing this once in a hotel room and cutting myself quite badly! How ironic, to use my own knife for cleanliness and then injure myself .

Of course, when the cry goes out, "This is an emergency! Has anybody got a Pocket Knife?" it would be much more fun to be able to stride forward, knife in hand, the foreign hero --- than to have it back at the hotel room .
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Old Mar 3rd, 2008, 04:05   #11
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Funnily enough I never had the knife taken in India - we used the metro a lot in Delhi and were searched every time, and various museums etc around the place....
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Old Mar 3rd, 2008, 13:18   #12
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Just to correct myself: At the Golden Temple in Varanasi there is a double or triple check-point, first one where you leave your bags and things with Police attending, then later where you are frisked once or twice. In such a situation it is likely that the knife woud not be returned, because it can be seen as trying to smuggle in a weapon. This is an extremely sensitive spot, since bombs could be expected to be detonated there. This type of police is trained like armed forces and I would expect them to be very strict. If something (anything...) happens the Union Government would immediately be blamed for security lapses, which is why they have strictest top-level-to-bottom orders.
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