Can I Bring Can Opener on Plane in Cabin Luggage?

a blue color airline stand on airport runway

There are a lot of things that you can’t take during a plane flight. Now if you are wondering “can I bring can opener on plane?” —then this article is for you.

Many misunderstand the concept of bringing tools like can openers on a plane. There are certain scenarios that allow passengers to bring can openers and some scenarios where it forbids you to do so.

In this article, we’ll go through all of those so that you can travel without facing any issues by bringing in a can opener on a plane.

Bringing a Can Opener on Plane

By the general travel rules provided by TSA and similar organizations, carrying a can opener is possible if it meets travel’s general safety standards via air. So, yes, you can bring a can opener on a plane.

While that is all true, there is various type of can openers, and depending on the type and modifications of the can opener it can get rejected by the airport staff.

The general travel guide of air travel dictates that passengers can not bring any sort of sharp objects that can be used to harm themselves or any other people. That means while traveling on a plane, passengers can’t bring any sort of blade or sharp object with them.

Generally, can openers don’t fall under the sharp object category that can be used to harm a human being. So, it gets the green signal for carrying.

But, there are can openers that come with blades or small knives as an extra feature. This sort of feature violates the safety rules & regulations of safe travels. Therefore, such things will be confiscated from the passenger by airport security.

But does that mean you can’t bring these sorts of can openers during your travels? Well, no. You can bring these types of can openers on your flight. But for that, you will need to understand the concept of hand luggage and checked luggage.

Hand Luggage

As the name suggests, these types of luggage are the types you have with you during the whole flight. This means you can access the components inside anytime while you are in the airplane. But, you can not bring can openers with any sort of blade or sharp objects attached.

On the other hand, if your can opener doesn’t have any sharp objects attached, you can bring it as one of the components in your hand luggage. This means you can bring general can openers, can openers with keychains, and a few other types.

Some airlines and airports allow you to bring can openers with a blade as a part of hand luggage. But that is quite rare, and even in this scenario, the size of the blade should not cross four inches. This safety detail is similar to bringing scissors on flights as a piece of hand luggage.

If the blade attached with your can opener is below or equal to 4 inches, then you can carry it in your hand luggage. But if the length is higher than 4 inches, then it will be considered a dangerous object, and you can’t travel with this type of can opener. So, if you plan to bring a can opener as part of the component of your hand luggage, we suggest you pick one that doesn’t have any sort of blade attached to it.

Checked Luggage

The luggage that you bring on during your air travels but don’t have access to during the flight is regarded as checked luggage. This type of luggage will be in the cargo hold of the plane.

In this case, you are free to bring any type of can opener you want. It won’t matter if your can opener has a blade attached to it or not. As long as it is part of the checked luggage, you don’t need to worry at all about bringing it on a plane.

So, if you need to bring a can opener on your travels but don’t need it during your flight, we suggest you put it as a component in your checked luggage. This way, no matter how many modifications and blades you can opener have, the officials won’t confiscate it. And as there is hardly any scenario where you will need a personal can opener during your flight on a plane, this is the best option for bringing a can opener.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this answers all your questions regarding “Can I bring can opener on plane.” So next time, if you plan on bringing can openers during your travels, make sure that you abide by the rules & regulations of bringing such an object to a plane.