Can You Bring Safety Pins on a Plane?

You can bring or wear safety pins and other types of fasteners, like lapel pins and decorative pins, in both your carry-on and checked luggage.

The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) allows these objects, but you should warn security about them before your bag goes through the metal detectors. 

Can You Bring Safety Pins on a Plane?

Airport security can sometimes be quite serious about what you can and can not bring or wear on a plane. The TSA has strict rules about knives and other sharp objects, so it’s easy to wonder, can you bring safety pins on a plane? 

Safety Pins in Checked Baggage

Safety pins are allowed on planes in checked baggage along with other sharp items like knives and axes. However, you need to ensure you have secured sharp points on all of these items, including safety pins. 

To secure a safety pin, all you need to do is make sure that you have closed the pin before you pack it in your checked baggage. 

However, you should also keep all of your safety pins in an enclosed space instead of loose in your checked bag. A plastic or metal sewing box is the perfect place for these items to keep them together and secure. 

The reason you need to keep safety pins secured in checked baggage is that you do not want them to prick a TSA officer if they need to go through your checked bag. 

Of course, keeping your sharp items enclosed properly in your checked bags is a courtesy to keep airport security and baggage handlers safe. But, you should know that the TSA can confiscate sharp objects that you haven’t appropriately secured, and there’s even a small chance that an agent could sue you for injuries since you haven’t followed the rules. 

Safety Pins in Carry-On Luggage

Certain sharp objects are allowed on planes in your carry-on bag, such as safety pins, knitting needles, and nail clippers. You can even bring scissors in your carry-on bags as long as they are not too long. 

But, remember that you should also keep your safety pins secured in your carry-on bag. That means keeping them closed and in their own area of the carry-on, preferably inside a hard plastic or metal case where they can’t poke through if they open. 

Additionally, you should warn airport security about any sharp items you have in your cabin baggage, like safety pins, lapel pins, or other decorative pins. A quick warning makes injury less likely. 

Similarly, you might want to tell security that you have them in your carry-on baggage before the bag goes through the metal detector. By doing this, the agents can instantly recognize the objects, so there’s less chance they will need to search your bag. 

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Will Safety Pins Set Off the Metal Detector?

Safety pins are most commonly made of steel or brass. Therefore, the metal detector may pick up the metal in the safety pin because these machines look for the most common metals, which include brass and steel. 

But, remember that not all metal detectors are the same, so some can pick up metal as small as bobby pins while others need something bigger like a metal belt buckle. Thus, even objects as innocuous as souvenir Disney pins can set off some metal detectors. 

So, when you go through TSA security, it’s best to remove any metal from your body, such as a lapel pin or any metal objects like keys or nail clippers that you may have stuck in your pocket. If you just take them off of you before security, there is less of a chance that the TSA agent will need to search you. 

Also, overall, you should not wear any metal when you get on a plane if you want to get through security quickly. 

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What Other Metal Items Can I Bring on the Plane?

According to the TSA website, you can safely bring the following items on a plane in your hand luggage: 

• Pins, such as decorative Disney pins or a lapel pin
• Crochet hooks 
• Disposable razors
• Lock picks
• Nail clippers
• Pencil sharpeners
• Sewing needles
• Tweezers

But, prohibited items include: 

• Flammable liquids, such as spray paint, compressed gas cylinders, paint thinner, gas torches, and blasting caps. 
• Most weapons, projectile shooters, and items that look like weapons. However, you can have some of these objects in checked bags, like cap guns and box cutters. 
• Strike-anywhere matches
• Bear mace
• Most ammunition, including CO2 cartridges. 

Yet, remember that what are and aren’t prohibited items can sometimes be up to the security officer who inspects your luggage. So, you may think an item is okay to bring with you, but the final decision is ultimately up to the agent at the security checkpoint. 

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What Else is Allowed in Carry-Ons?

Most airlines allow the following common items in hand luggage: 

• Any sharp object that a person can not use as a weapon. But, you may need to remove them at the security checkpoint. 
• Sanitizers, like baby wipes and wet wipes. Hand sanitizer is also temporarily allowed on planes as long as the container is less than 12 ounces. 
• Cigarettes, cigars, and vapes 
• Lighters and batteries 
• Most electronics and food 
• Medications and medical devices 
• Baby carriers
• Clothes

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Conclusion 

Above are some of the best tips for bringing safety pins and other everyday metal items to the airport and on a plane. So, just remember you can bring pins and some other sharp or metal objects on a plane, but you should keep them enclosed so that they do not poke anyone. 

You also should not wear any pins on your clothes when you go through security. Otherwise, TSA agents may have to pat you down.