🔧 Crowbar

A crowbar will be confiscated at the checkpoint unless you can arrange to check it before boarding. Screeners will give you the option to take it back to the check-in counter if time allows, but if you're already at the gate you'll lose it. Crowbars are blunt instruments that are explicitly prohibited in the cabin under TSA rules.

The ban on crowbars in the cabin is essentially universal — no major aviation authority permits them as carry-on items. Every airport security authority treats them as a potential blunt weapon, so checked baggage is the only option regardless of where you're flying.

There is no discretion here — a crowbar will always be pulled from carry-on baggage at the checkpoint. Unlike items in grey areas, a crowbar is an explicitly prohibited blunt instrument and screeners are required to remove it. If you explain it's for work, they may still offer you time to check it, but they cannot let it through.

Pack your crowbar in checked baggage before you leave for the airport — it cannot come through the security checkpoint at all. Make sure it's wrapped or sheathed to protect baggage handlers and the rest of your bag, and declare it if asked at check-in.