Utility Ring

Here's a high-end multi-purpose tool that's a fashion statement as well. The Titanium Utility Ring features a bottle opener, a straight blade, a serrated blade, a saw, and even a comb.

I wonder if the security theatre team at the airport would catch this. At $385 I'm afraid I won't be testing it out anytime soon. You can order your custom sized ring at Etsy.

AK-47 USB Drive

Last month we looked at a razor blade shaped bottle opener. Now here's something that is sure to get the hoplophobes worked up. The folks at Brando.com have a USB flash drive shaped like a AK-47 "assault rifle!"

Of course, to anyone with a modicum of common sense would realize this is not a weapon. In other words kids, don't take it to school with you.

A Razor! Or Not.

Over at Gadgets and Gear they're offering a uniquely shaped bottle opener. The 4 1/2" x 2 1/4" brushed stainless steel tool is designed to look like a double-edge safety razor blade. It's cool looking but what popped into my head was this; how do you think the TSA would react to this in a traveler's bag? The agency's list of prohibited items specifically indicates such a blade as forbidden in carry-on luggage.

But it's not a real razor blade you say. Surely the men and women in the police costumes can recognize that. Don't be so sure. These are the same people who detained a teenager because she had a gun-shaped pattern sewn on her purse.

When traveling I'll stick with my trusty, and obvious, Blue & Gray keychain bottle opener.

Tool or Weapon?

The Wright Brothers' First Flight

On this day in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. One-hundred and eight years later we have the Transportation Safety Authority standing between us and the plane we want to get on. Almost makes you wish those boys had stuck to bicycles.