Slashdot Mirror
Security Tips for Traveling with Tech Gear
securitas writes "Many Slashdotters will be traveling during the next week and PC World has an article about how to travel with tech gear with a minimum of security hassles. The Transport Security Administration maintains an allowable and banned items list (PDF) that you might want to check. Make sure that you have fully charged batteries for any tech gifts you received. I've had big hassles with all the tech gear that I routinely carry, especially when combining business trips with a vacation. One security screener even asked me to log in, decrypt and look at files on my notebook's desktop, which was unnecessarily invasive (not to mention against my then-employer's security policy). He settled for viewing the secure login screen 'to make sure it worked.' Any other horror stories out there?"
We carry around all this crap (yes, me included) and require it for our jobs and personal lives. We can't live without it. Right? Laptop, cell phone, Wi-Fi gear, PDA, and related equipment. Are we not borg already?
Discuss...
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
I thought this article has some nice information. I printed it out and will be handing this to my father-in-law, sister-in-law, and my two brothers.
"Try living without the IPod for a few days"
What in the name of Linus Torvalds is this guy thinking? Living without my precious? I don't think so....
Sorry, but some security guy trying to do anything on my computer is an attempt to bypass a security device and in violation of the DMCA. Federal law says I can't do what the federal agent says.
Showing that it works does not really mean much. How much stuff could you pack into a laptop and still have it boot once? Take out the CD/DVD bay, or take out the hard drive and boot from a live CD, hollow out the PC card slot. Make a false battery and tell the agent your battery is dead so you have to use AC, etc.
I just find it strange that we're not allowed to bring a pair of pliers, but can bring a spear-like umbrella, and "safety" razor blades (which take around 2 seconds to "unsafe").
It's even stranger that we are allowed to bring explosives like LiIon batteries... Bypass the fuse, short it, and you have a nice little bomb (as the owners of many a Nokia phone can attest to).
--
*Art
Most important, leave the laptop at home unless somebody's paying you to take it along--borrow friends' computers or stop in any cybercafe if you feel compelled to check your e-mail.
Oh yeah, that's exactly why I bought a laptop: so that I can pay a cybercafe to use a computer on the road.
You allowed someone to look at secure FILES on your system? What on earth made you think they had the right, or the authority for that matter, to look at FILES? They can physically inspect your system, but they do not have any right to search your laptops electronic contents.
I've flown about 85 - 90 times this year from a base out of either Kansas City International, or Raleigh Durham International.
I've flown to Dallas, San Francisco, Oakland, NYC Laguardia, Des Moines, IA, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, and other cities and have carried even two laptops, a cell phone/pda, a iPod, and between 3 - 7 paper back books.
At the most I've had my bag physically searched because the x-ray guy couldn't see something quite right because a few of my chargers were laying weird. I've even been told what caught them up a few times.
I've carried a backpak full of camera equipment (digital SLR body, three lenses, battery charger, extra batteries, video camera, two microdrives, and a Powerbook G4) through multiple times on vacation and never had a single concern.
If a screener *ever* asked to see the contents of my laptop they'd get the verbal equivalent of a polite middle finger. There is *no* way any TSA screener needs to look at the contents of anything I have that is beyond a cursory physical examination.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
What is horror? I travelled from Durban to Amsterdam on september 15th, 2001, and still have pictures of every security-guard who frisked me on the way. "Make a picture, Sir. Show me its a real camera."
:P
Oddly, security-personell shouldn't let themselves get photographed. That's a violation of security.
I have one of those old clunky IBM craptops. TSA not only made me turn it on, they had me open it up and check the internals.
Luckily, those old IBM models come apart quite readily, just pop the keyboard to access the drives and battery.
So I had to remove the C4 (wrapped in tin to look like a second battery) and the detonator (masquerading as a floppy drive), put them through the metal detector before they'd let me board the plane.
But I must have crossed a wire when I reassembled it all, because somehow the plane actually made it to Albuquerque.
OT, but it is the holiday season...
About a month ago, my brother's family flew to Florida from the UK, and my young niece's beloved teddy bear (travelling as hand baggage - she can't bear to be parted from it) had to go through the X ray machine at a US airport. The security officer in charge joked "How do you want it - medium rare, or done to a crisp?" She gave him a very hard stare...
(Well, it tickled me.)
Using HTML in email is like putting sound effects on your phone calls. Just say <strong>no</strong>.
Sure, you don't have to do what he says. And he doesn't have to let you on the plane.
because they took my mom's sewing scissors away from her, they have blades that are about 1/2 an inch long and are used to cut thread. However, she is allowed to carry knitting needles! Why don't they just let people bring knives on with them? I just don't understand.
I mean, I flew, with my laptop, a week and a half after the Planes Hit, and didn't get any kind of ding from security. I've flown a bunch of times since then, and nothing. Four or five flights from Dulles in DC, and nothing at all like this.
The worst I had was in Denver, where I hadn't realized my ID card had expired two weeks before (hey, I thought they all expired at the end of the month), and they just had me go through a secondary search. At that point, they had me boot the computer (which was easy, as I'd had it on standby instead of having to power it up), and checked my shoes.
Since the TSA came in, I've been overall pleased with the situation - most of the people I've encountered have been pleasant, and the rest at least passable, and all of them have done their job with a minimum of stressing me out about it. While I'm not a big fan of 'add another federal agency', traveling by plane has actually gotten EASIER from Newark International since the TSA got up to speed, and I make sure to thank them for their help every time I go through.
Brazil has decided you're cute.
I had my laptop bluescreen once while navigating the terminal security gauntlet once. I tried explaining to the woman "Uh, it doesn't normally do that" but got a blank stare in return. Almost like a stare of... acceptance. Then I realized she had already been taken by MS.
The funniest encounter was when my chest set off the guy's wand when getting the body scan. He got this totally locked-up look as he tried to come up with some kind of reasonable explaination.
Guy: Uh, did you have... surgery or something... uh... pacemaker?
Me: No, that's my nipple ring.
Guy: (big grin, sign of relief) Oh, OK!
... Apparently one of the common methods is to use a shill to slip in before you so your laptop is sitting at the other end of the x-ray machine while you are still waiting to clear. Thief then takes off with it.
Last trip thru LAX, one of the "security" drones tried to get me to wait about 100 feet away from my work supplied laptop and other possessions, while he re-examined my shoes. Told him it wasn't gonna happen. He eventually agreed to me toting all my crap over, and then checking my shoes.
Honestly, this whole security thing wouldn't bother me too much if it was done with any common sense - and if it actually made me feel a little more secure.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Will airport scanners do any harm to CF/SD/Memory Stick cards?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Airport security was a joke before Sep 11, and remains a joke today. At my local airport we have the same minimum wage, minimum training, minimum testing, "security" guards that we had prior to 9/11. The only difference is that now they want to make you think you're more secure so they add all sorts of obvious and invasive procedures. Show a photo ID, sure that'll stop terrorists, I'm sure they've never heard of fake IDs...
Big surprise here: private, for profit, "security" corprations have the same priority that all private for profit corporations have. They want to make the most money by spending the least money as goal number 1. Actually providing security is, by definition, goal number 2 at the best. This isn't to say that private, for profit, corporations are bad. Its just a recognition of reality, the way corporate law works their prime goal must be making money, everything else is secondary. Real security might involve several things, but at the minimum it must involve removing the profit motive from security. Why? Because every dollar that goes into profit isn't going into *security*. I'd be happy if they started using real police officers as airport security.
So, by all means, let's get busy not doing anything real to improve airport security, instead let's harrass the geek crowd. Not that I'm bitter or anything...
"Mission Accomplished" -- George W. Bush May 1, 2003
Matches are allowed in hand luggage, though the ban on smoking means the only use you have for them is lighting the explosives in your shoes.
Mod parent up!
There'll not be an absolute hijacker-proof security policy in the US airports. Ever.
All that's being done right now is creating an illusion of safety, and gives people headaches.
What.....I can't bring my 1.5" swiss army knife on board? "Sir, please don't give me an attitude, or we'll have to step aside for a search" (actually happened).
Those who want to hijack a plane, can do so with things that CAN be brought onboard. Hell......I even think someone could simply grab a soda can from the stuardess (I don't care what they like to be called), rip it with their teeth, and voila....sharp instrument that can be put to someones' throat.
I think nowdays even if someone does have a knife on the plane and tries to take a person hostage, they'll be tackled by passengers. Everyone's seen what happens to them if they don't do anything.
We should still screen for bombs made deliberately, that have enough power to bring down an airplane. But please stop with the madness of searching everybody including little old ladies and 2yo kids.
I was traveling recently for a factory acceptance test for a peice of industrial equipment. We brought our own PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) with the power supply, CPU, and a couple of I/O cards. Because this is relatively expensive and fragile equipment, we took it carry on - BIG MISTAKE!!!
They made us unpack everything (hassle, but understandable), then they wanted us to try and turn it on and see what it did. When we tried to explain that it required a special power supply to hook into (it is 110, but not a normal plug) and even if we turned it on, without any I/O devices hooked up to the I/O cards, they would see nothing but a couple of LED lights flashing. That made them even more mad.
We tried to show them the manuals for the stuff, hoping that would ease some fears - hah, the techno babble irritated them more.
Fortunately, we were at the airport with lots of time to spare, so we jumped on the cell phone, called a co-worker who then rushed over and picked up the stuff. We had him run it over to a Fed-Ex station and ship it to us at the vendors. Luckily we only lost about 6 hrs of testing time and a bunch of $$$ for shiping costs, but the agrivation and irritation suffered was significant.
Maybe if the TSA hired people with a IQ over 50, things would run a little smoother.
"Murderer? Well, that's a harsh word. I prefer to think of myself as a Mortality Technician."
It's mainly random idiocy. I travel 120,000 miles a year and see the same.
- In Vancouver they want me to REMOVE batteries. In Toronto they want me to turn the equipement ON and leave the batteries connected.
- In Toronto every first passenger boarding is searched. How long till the terrorists realise they should board as passenger 2 instead?
- I carry at least one ham radio. Big trouble when they see it. Big antenna. So before travelling I tune the radio to a public FM broadcast station and when they ask "what is that" I say "a radio" and turn it on to that broadcast station.
- Don't start me on the shoes.
- No cellphones in the cabin on some flights; OK on others. Random again.
- No cell phones while flying, I can understand. But all our PDA's and laptops with 802.11b are always on, blasting 2.4 GHz signals all across the pacific, and no-one cares.
- The thing with the shoes.. in Orlando the security person recently told me "all those with laptop PC's must remove their shows". Huh??
It's all very very silly but if you look respectable and smile, all is OK. I;ve never had anyone take anything and I am mr gadget: over a dozen electronics bits in my briefcase every time I travel. Actually enjoying to see the security propls sweat trying to understand what the equipment is...
Mike
---
BDOS ERR ON A:>
i was told to go back to the counter and check in a handful of tools i was carrying in (pliers, a bike spanner, a half inch wrench, and a couple of seven-sixteenths wrenches). small stuff really, but apparently since they haven't specified exactly how large of a tool can or can't be brought onto a plane, no wrenches or metal tools can go on board.
We've not had any incidents with bombs in laptops, but we will never let our guard down.
I've never had an incident with a bomb in my morning coffee either, but I check it religiously every time!
Seriously... I wouldn't expect them to stop checking laptops.. but uh.. why focus on them if they've never actually been used as a weapon before? I'd think you could swing the thing around and hit people with it like a (crappy, unbalanced) mace. That seems like a more likely use of a laptop as a weapon than it carrying a bomb. Even putting in some sort of electronic jamming equipment, as unlikely as it is to actually work, seems more likely. I do not think the $7 Rent-a-cops have gotten the hang of this whole "security" thing, yet.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
I travel regularly on a large American airline. I sometimes get upgraded to First because I travel so much.
In first class they give me a plastic knife and fork. And then they hand me two _glass_ wine glasses. I've never tried smashing one, but I assume that they are not specially hardened and therefore would be breakable and usable as a weapon.
This seems like a bad idea.
John.
I've got sleep apnea, and so I travel with my CPAP machine. This is a device which keeps a constant air pressure flowing in my nose, which in turn keeps the tissues in my throat open while I sleep.
The machine looks like a very small bedside humidifier, only with an LCD screen, buttons and nobs. It also comes with a six-foot-long flex tube, a reservoir for heated water and a mask not unlike the one Dennis Hopper used in Blue Velvet.
It's become my 2nd carry-on bag, replacing my notebook computer, which now goes in my suitcase.
Screeners' reaction to this device has been mixed, to say the least. Some have said, "Oh yeah, that's a breathing machine. We see these those all the time." Others have asked me to assemble it and power it up, and don't appear to understand what it's for even after 3 or 4 attempts at explanation.
It's a real hassle, however, since not traveling it and using it could result in heart attack, stroke and/or death, I put up with it.
C'mon, baby, kiss The King.
Talking of the randomness of all this:
The sign I saw a couple years ago at New Delhi airport said it was forbidden to carry on the usual supsects (weapons, bomb, poison) plus "cricketballs" and "other round objects".
Go figure.
---
BDOS ERR ON A:>
They'll be sure to swaddle it in cotton wool as they put it in the plane's hold.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
Occasionally(!?!) you meet the geek who is SO happy to decribe his devices, that when asked, he offers WAY more information than necessary.
Depends on what you mean by confirmation. I have personally tested RMI/RFI on airplane electronics, and have seen noticeable interference from a running cd player in a computer. I have also seen deliberatly introduced less than random noise in a system and seen a rudder go hard over. The issue is really where the acceptable risk is. If a control surface fails due to interference at 30,000 feet, the pilot will in all likelyhood be able to compensate. If it happens while you are at 500 feet, you may end up with a controlled flight into terrain.
If at first you don't succeed, redefine 'success'
... even when it is pointless. It would be tempting to blame the President and administration, which many love to hate, but they simply reflect the opinions of the electorate: "Do something!"
So they do. Confiscating box-cutters is pointless now -- they only worked once, because for years the "paradigm" for dealing with hijacking was: "obey all orders of the hijackers until landing". Now that we know, there may be no landing, the paradigm is different and the boxcutters (and scissors, and small knives) are useless to terrorists, as they will not help against the dozens of passengers with NOTHING TO LOSE.
The scumbags knew that -- all four attacks were timed to coincide, because such trick will only work once. Still, there are indications, the last attack failed, because the passengers have learned what they are facing.
But allowing to bring boxcutters on-board is politicly impossible with today's electorate and hence -- praise democracy -- the elected.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Are you a baggage handler by any chance? ;) According to the new rules, you are not supposed to lock your check-in baggage, and if you do, the screeners are allowed to break the lock. I've had enough friends and family members finding that this way things were stolen from their baggage, especially when they flew overseas. As a result, the only think I'm still comfortable with putting into my luggage is my underwear.
I created a homemade external battery pack for my iPaq a few years back. Pulled out the soldering iron and parted it together to run off a collection of rechargeable 'd' cell batteries. Apparently, someone in the security line freaked when they saw it - but only had minimal delays.
I occasionally go to a firing range and do a little pistol shooting. I was using a tradeshow laptop bag to hold my weapons and expended brass. My main bag broke, so I emptied the pistol bag (being very careful to not accidentally pack any ammunition) and ran to the airport. Missed the flight because my bag lit up when they swabbed it. No trouble other than talking to a bunch of people... but still, what a pain.
One of the things that seems to trip up the security folks - especially in EMEA - is how long I keep a laptop and how many people have access to it. I usually get to trade up laptops every quarter (and schlep off the older, but now fully configured box to one of the other Sales folks). Since these laptops are really mobile dev servers (IMHO), when I respond, "do you mean physical access to the laptop, or from a remote access standpoint?" Always gets them...
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
In the past three months, I've been through Kennedy four times, La Guardia 2x, Newark 4x, times, Detroit, Chicago O'Hare, LAX, Tokyo Narita 4x, Singapore 2x... and never have I been asked to turn on my laptop. They never bothered me about my PDA. They checked my shoes a few times, my flip-flops a few times as well, deep searched my backpack a few times. Maybe since I was travelling business class they didn't give me as hard a time as others.
And yet, my daypack has four steel stays that make up the frame... pretty easily removed. Surprised they let me on with it. Aluminum uprights in pullman could also be used as weapons, broken duty free bottles of whiskey... I think the "security" measures are just to give travellers the warm fuzzys, I feel they're kinda worthless considering what you can bring on the flight..
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Yes, screen for obvious threats like firearms and bombs with tools like x-ray machines, dogs, and chemical sniffers. But quit harrassing everyone by trying to find every nail file, screwdriver, pocket knife, etc.
The simple answer is: nightsticks. Issue every adult passenger a nightstick. Anybody tries something funny, there's a hundred people with hard, heavy sticks ready to pound his ass. I also expect that it should improve the service from the stewardesses. The airline could even put their logo on it, and let the passengers keep them as souveniers. It'd be good marketing!
It's an amature astronomers dream come true(too much equipment to carry around besides the scope).
I don't think so, considering that in order to reach the sensitivity of a well-trained human eye with current astronomy cameras, you need both long exposures and ideally electrically-cooled imaging chips.
If you think you can hold your eye rock-steady for 30+ seconds per exposure, while the peltier cooler in your eye is dumping several watts of heat into your bloodstream trying to cool the imaging chip to reduce the thermal noise, then go ahead.
I've listened to/read several interviews with people who have received the latest prosthetics. While many of them are happy with them, I've not heard one of them say it was a good trade; they'd all rather have their original equipment.
My magic 8 ball went throught X-Ray 3 times...
Why???
Maybe it's because it has a classic round shape bomb look...
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
"If you could just step behind this curtain, sir? Pants around your ankles please. And bend over this table. This'll only take a few minutes."
Point being, there are limits on what friggin' Mr. Security is allowed to ask you to do.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Stuff almost everything in a small carry-on bag. A professional-looking backpack is the best (the backpack part for ergonomic, not security reasons).
Wear as little metal as possible. That includes shoes with metal inserts in the soles (a lot of plain-looking walking or dress shoes have those). Get a coin purse and stuff your change in the purse and that in your carry-on.
When going thru security, do not rush, follow instructions even inane ones ("yes, I will turn on that Palm V for you sir"). Do not tell them that you got a flight to catch or attract their attention in any other way. Since you're not carrying anything dangerous (right?) it will be far faster for you to go with the flaw and accept the default process rather than try to explain your reasons for short-circuiting it.
It's because guns kill people!
Especially unattended guns locked in relatively secure containers that only the gun-owner is allowed a key to...
Very dangerous...
Why, I saw in the Weekly World News just last week a story about a gun going wonky on a flight in argentina... It just broke the lock on its container somehow, loaded itself and shot a hole right through the floor and out the ceiling of the aircraft...instantly depressurizing the cabin...the plan exploded with the force of the air exiting and 30,000 people were killed as the plane, all of its passengers and its fuel load plummeted right down into the Christmas parade in Buenos Aires
Yes, my friend, guns are dangerous
Most people here are talking about PC equipment and consumer technology. But I still remember years ago in the mid '70's when my father (an oceanographer) would travel on commercial aircraft with current meters (meters for measuring ocean data). At the time, these where a hardened metal cylinder about 10 inches in diameter and 18 inches long with some probes and a handle on top, the lid was held on with large metal clips. They still had a lot of mechanical components (for example the tape cartridge storage device that recorded the data), and occasionally would make ticking sounds. He would carry these onboard because even back in the '70's, they cost around $100,000. These days, the are yellow plastic balls full of solid state... I can not imagine being able to show TSA that these things where not bombs. I wonder about other non-consumer, non-PC electronic equipment...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
In the old world, in old times, citizens were not only protected from liability if trying to save lives, but they also had the citizen's duty of always doing so, even if it meant risking one's own life. Especially at sea (which is pretty analogous to today's flying), NOT intervening when lives were at stake, or hiding behind fear of one's own life was a criminal inaction, punishable by law.
Today, people cowering in fear and refusing to do their citizen's duty get posthumous medals and are called "heroes".
While people who DO what they can to be good citizens get harassed in the name of security, because they happen to look like someone who blew themselves up.
Regards,
--
*Art
Except for the more intensive laptop examinations, and the longer lines, I've not noticed any real changes at the checkpoints.
The biggest issues I had were...
--Coming through Seatac to meet my wife as she returned from Florida. Had my Motorola portable radio (an MT2000) with me, as I was keeping in touch with some (amateur radio) friends of ours while I waited for the flight. By odd chance, it happens that the security screeners also use MT2000's, but not the VHF model that I had. Red flag! I got asked twice if it could work on "their" frequency, and told them (twice) "No, it's not even in the same band as yours." I know this to be true, because the security guys work on the Port of Seattle's 800MHz trunked system. They let me through, but I could tell that you could whack them over the head with the facts, and they still wouldn't "get it."
--On a change-of-planes at Atlanta, while traveling from Seattle to Orlando. I had already been thoroughly screened, and there was no additional X-ray type security checkpoint when simply changing gates to get to the next flight. Despite this, and for reasons still unknown to me, I got all but strip-searched by the morons at a specially set-up secondary checkpoint at the gate. I was wearing open-type sandals (the all-terrain type) with no socks, and I still got asked to take 'em off. Go figure.
I would agree with another poster: Dress well, keep a cool head, and be prepared to explain anything you're carrying, electronics-wise, in full.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
"But all your emitter and collector are belong to me!"
n the old world, in old times, citizens were not only protected from liability if trying to save lives, but they also had the citizen's duty of always doing so, even if it meant risking one's own life.
While true, in "old times," citizenship was severely limited to those who could provide some useful service to the local feudal lord. This service typically was typically military in nature.
Given that your average medieval town had a small number of citizens hanging around with military skills, it is no surprise that they were tasked with the town's defense.
Now, fast forward to 2003:
(1) You experience some chest pain, would you like some random person to break your ribs while attempting some misguided chest thumping maneuver?
(2) You are on an airplane, terrorists attack. Should you whip out your fully automatic hand gun and start blasting at them? Recall that airplanes are made of aluminum which is almost as soft as butter, and ignites at only a slightly higher temperature.
(3) Your linux laptop crashes. Before you can react, the guy sitting next to you declares that he is an MCSE and can fix the problem right away. Before you can do anything, he has WinXP installed and all your data has turned into a nice empty NTFS partition.
Just saunter up to the screening station almost butt naked.
Last time I flew, I put *everything* in the plastic bucket and was wearing nothing but my Teva sandals, some sweatshorts, and a really cruddy wife-beater tank top. I looked like I was nearly homeless.
They barely gave me a second look. Fortunately, I had packed *nice* clothes in my carry-on and changed as soon as I could.
Several years ago (pre-War On Terror[TM]), one of the wires supplying battery power in my PDA (Psion Series3) came loose while I was travelling. I was waiting at the gate in O'Hare for a flight to London when it happened, and I would have been quite lost on my trip without the data in the device. The button cell that maintains memory when the main battery is dead had a limited life, and wouldn't last the flight. And what if someone demanded that I turn it on for them? So I spent my layover attempting repairs using my Swiss Army knife and a travel sewing kit from an airport newsstand... all the while thinking of the scene in a then-recent movie in which the bad guy uses a Psion Series3 as the detonator for a bomb on the plane. I half-expected to be hustled away by airport security (heck, I would've detained me, if I were them), but no one questioned me, and I managed to restore power to my PDA before they announced boarding for my flight.
I'm looking forward to when Via comes out with a new CPU, and I can get a laptop that uses it.
I'll put a big sticker on it that says "C4 Inside!!!"
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I think if the guy wanted to see secure files, it was a misunderstanding.. they are not allowed to ask to look at confidential documents. They ARE allowed to make you prove to their satisfaction the computer is real. That's their job.
Now, yeah, they aren't geeks, how could they be qualified to determine if i'ts real? We could fake one easily? True enough.. but the fact remains: if they think it's not real, it's your problem to prove otherwise. Being calm, and explaining the situation rather than saying "you are trying to look at my confidential documents!" is likely to get you where you need to go.. often they may not realize the implications of what they are asking.
Second... the best advice I have for travelling is pack light. EIther put most of your stuff in your checked bags, or if it's a short trip and you just have carryon, don't bring every toy you have. Look as normal as possible when travelling, not like some geek freak. A laptop and an mp3 player is normal enough, and not likely to cause you problems.
Pack light, don't be that guy in line who holds up the plane, and don't be that guy who gets on the aircraft and makes everyone wait behind him as he tries to stuff his overpacked bags into the overhead bins.
But how many of them are able to use this theoretical nightstick? There's children, senior citizens, etc. onboard.
You've obviously never had to deal with a 5 year-old on a sugar high, armed with a whiffleball bat. Trust me, with a nightstick, they'd be deadly. And as for the senior citizens, my Grandma could beat a man to death with her handbag. Armed with a nightstick, she'd be like a ninja with a walker and a beehive hairdo.