<html> <body> Geoff, Don't even bother trying to do carry on.  Even if they let you take some things, it isn't worth the hassle.  Checking your bag packed with your tools and personal effects makes life traveling much simpler. Unless your bag is lost, of course. . . . Bags are rarely lost, though.  Once in a while I have a bag get temporarily waylaid, and the airline has always gotten it to me later that day.  The odds of lost bags are pretty much nil if you don't change planes anywhere - if you are flying direct from LAX to KC you have another reason to not worry. I fly a lot, and in (sigh) 17 years of regular travel and close to a million flying miles with tools, I have only had things stolen out of my tool box one time.  Since then I pack the tool box into a large suitcase, and have had no trouble. Don Mannino At 07:44 PM 6/14/2007, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> I just got off the phone with both Midwest Airlines and The Travel Safety Administration regarding my need to take my tuning hammer and fork with me to the convention. Midwest said that security is totally in the hands of the TSA. The guy at TSA said that the ultimate decision on any carry-on item is at the whim of the person who checks you through security. In other words, if that person sees my hammer as a threat I have to put it in my checked in luggage. I was hoping to get away with carry-on luggage only but it appears I will have to submit to check-in. (sigh) What are the experiences of others having traveled with tools as carry-on? -- Geoff Sykes -- Assoc. Los Angeles</blockquote></body> </html>