Can You Bring Hand Blenders on a Plane?
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It completely makes sense that airport security is super serious and it's understandable that there is an enormous list of stuff you can't take with you on a plane. But it's also kind of a huge pain in the neck, especially when you find yourself asking questions like can you bring hand blenders on a plane?
When you can't even get onto a flight with a bottle of soda in your hand, asking questions about whether or not you can bring hand blenders on a plane seems like a no-brainer. They barely let you bring anything on the plane, so obviously a mechanism with spinning blades that activates at the touch of a button is also against the rules...right?
Planes and Airport Security
Though it kind of feels like air travel has just been around for ever, it's important to remember that commercial air flight is a relatively new invention in the grand scheme of things. After all, humans rode around on horses for a cool ten thousand years, or more, before anybody ever came up with the idea for the automobile.
Commercial air travel wasn't even really a thing for regular people before the mid-1950s and then, they weren't exactly safe. American planes were hijacked by terrorists multiple times in the 1970s, and one famous case from this decade remains unsolved to this very day.
Airports learned some lessons and security measures were implemented through the decades. Identification became required, metal detectors were installed, and many other little changes were put in place that make air travel safer...if a bit more time-consuming.
But after September 11, 2001, rules became much more strict. Limitations were put on the items you can take with you when you travel, and some of the rules can get complicated enough that you feel almost as if you need a Ph.D. just to be able to travel.
Following the Rules
When you have a specific question about what you can take with you on your trip and what you can't, the TSA has a website where you can get an in-depth look at what's allowed, and not allowed, on the plane.
Some of the rules are broad, such as the amount of liquid of any kind you're allowed to bring onboard, but some rules are incredibly specific. So if you're wondering about blenders, don't expect a hard and fast answer.
Just because one type of electronic device is outlawed, it does not mean all similar items are outlawed.
What Is a Hand Blender?
A hand blender is a very handy device. It's classified as a small kitchen appliance.
Hand blenders are used to make all kinds of different drinks, including mixed drinks, milkshakes, and fancy coffee drinks. There may be a few reasons why you need it on a plane with you.
There's no need to explain why you need your hand blender with you on a plane. Well, unless a security agent or an official with the airport s ask you.
In that case, yes tell them but for the most part, it's your business what you want to take on a plane with you. The only trouble is, you can't always ring what you want to take with you on a plane.
Other small kitchen appliances include toasters, coffee makers, any lots of other items. But can you bring them on a plane?
Hand Blenders and Planes
Hand blenders are a special item, according to the various rules of the TSA. Standard-size and hand blenders are allowed in both checked bags and in carry-on bags, but only when certain conditions have been met.
The blade must be removed from the blender. That's the very unique-looking blender attachment that typically has a three-dimensional design that looks kind of like a metal framework for an elongated, small balloon.
You do not necessarily have to remove this blender attachment and place it in your checked bags in the underbelly of the plane. This would render the hand blender absolutely useless, right?
As long as potentially sharp, metal objects are thoroughly wrapped, they can stay in your checked bags. This goes for hand blenders as well.
These are the official rules of the TSA and a good overview of how to handle your hand blender when you're going to be traveling with it.
However, for this item and for any other item or situation that arises, the TSA agent on duty has the right and discretionary power to decide what you can and cannot have in your bag, so these rules are subject to change on a case-by-case basis.
The TSA always has the discretion to do this, so there is no set rulebook or guidebook because everything is subject to change.
The Danger of a Blender
Whether you travel frequently or rarely, the various rules and regulations about what you can and can't bring with you on a plane really are frustrating. There are so many banned items that truly seem extremely harmless.
After all, what can possibly be dangerous about a blender? But the truth is, most people do not think with the same twisted and desperate mind of a terrorist.
It is scary to think about and difficult to acknowledge, but all the safety measures put in place by authoritative bodies like the TSA exist not to frustrate travelers, but to keep them safe. Many of these measures were actually long overdue by the time they were finally put in place and if some of these standards seem a little too strict...well, good.
It is far preferable to be too safe and to have too many regulations in place than to find out, the hard way, that there are not enough measures in place to keep people safe. The U.S. learned this in 2001, when multiple planes were hijacked by terrorists who all boarded legally.
Every single person involved in the 2001 attacks walked onto commercial airplane flights just like every other passenger that day. They went through security checks and they were X-rayed like everyone else.
They walked onboard those planes carrying items that they were allowed to carry, items that no one thought (at the time) would be dangerous enough to steal an entire airplane with. The entire country, in fact the entire world, received a very rude wake-up call that day.
So if the safety measures are a little too strong, that's actually a good thing. And if you can't figure out how to use a blender to steal an airplane, that's also a good thing because that means you don't have the desperate mindset it takes to actually figure out how to hijack a plane.
While it's not always easy to tell exactly how you can make a tube of toothpaste or a handheld drink mixing device into a deadly tool, there are people who do know how to do these things and you don't want those people to get ahold of something deadly while you're on the same plane with them.
According to the current rules and regulations, you should be fine with a handheld blender as long as you follow the special packing requirements for this item. But if for some reason you are not allowed to bring your gadget on board the plane, that's okay.
You can always get another handheld blender, even if you're on vacation. What you can never buy is another life once it's lost.
So while the rules can seem frustrating and silly and like they're even designed just to be a pain, they are actually important. All of these rules are designed for your own safety and protection...and no matter how silly, you want every single one of those rules to be enforced all the time to keep you as safe as possible.
Liquids on a Plane
If you think the rules surrounding blenders and small kitchen appliances are strict, you don't know about the many regulations regarding liquids on a plane. Because while you can usually bring your hand blender if you really want to, you can hardly bring any liquids to go with the blender.
You are allowed to have a single quart-sized bag of various liquids on your carry-on luggage. This includes all gels, creams, pastes, lotions, aerosols, and liquids.
Also, you cannot bring anything larger than a standard travel size of any one of these liquids and liquid-adjacent materials. That means containers that are no bigger than 3.4 ounces.
This all means you have very little liquids to work with, if you want to blend anything using your hand blender.
Can You Bring Hand Blenders on a Plane?
You can bring a hand blender or many other small kitchen appliances on a plane. However, you cannot bring much of anything to drink on the plane so you will have no occasion to use your hand blender.
Make sure you know the rules about what you can and can't bring when you're going to travel. And if you've just got to have a hand blender with you, make sure you're following those rules about transporting it with you.
If you have any doubt about what you can and can't bring, err on the side of safety and just don't bring that thing. You can always get another one, or wait until you get back home.
Hand Blenders on a Plane FAQ
Can you take small kitchen appliances on a plane?
Many small kitchen appliances can be taken on a plane as long as they can fit in an overhead bin. This includes toasters, crockpots, waffle makers, sandwich makers, and more.
Just remember that electronic devices must be charged. If a TSA agent asks you to turn on an electrical device to ensure that it works, you must be able to do this.
Uncharged electronic devices are a security risk, so if your small appliance cannot be powered on then you may be asked to place it inside your checked luggage.
What is considered a small kitchen appliance?
Kitchen appliances are not just the big items, like the refrigerator and the dishwasher, but these are not items you would take on a plane. A small kitchen appliance is any item that can be easily moved and carried.
This includes everything from coffee makers to hotplates to any other carryable kitchen gadget.
Can you take unopened drinks on a plane?
You can only bring liquids through airport security inside a one-quart bag, and all liquids must be in a container holding 3.4 ounces or less. Alcoholic beverages that are 140 proof and above are not allowed in any amount.
However, you can purchase a drink from any number of snack stalls or restaurants after you get past security. As long as the drink is unopened, you can take it onto the plane with you (provided it does not exceed 140 proof alcohol).
This means that if you find the right items to buy after security and bring them with you through security, you can use your hand blender to mix up drinks while you're on the plane if you like.
What not to drink on a plane?
According to flight attendants and regular travelers, there are some liquids you should avoid drinking from the plane's beverage cart. Don't drink the tap water and don't drink coffee or tea made from the water on the plane.
You can bring your own unopened liquids onto the plane if they were purchased after you got through security, so you can bring your own bottled water with you for the flight.
Why is water not allowed on a plane?
Water and other liquids seem totally harmless and it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense that you can't bring bottles of water or cans of soda, even the unopened ones, through airport security.
However, there are chemical explosives in the world and chemical formulas that can create explosions. These chemicals can look as harmless as water.
Even someone with a small amount of scientific knowledge can learn how to obtain these chemicals and perform dangerous actions with them. And even though you may have no such intention in your head when you walk through security with your water bottle, the person behind you may have darker thoughts in their head and for the safety of everyone, no one can be allowed on a plane with liquids when this is a possibility.
It is better to have a safe flight and perhaps be a little bit thirsty.
Further Reading
A Complete List of Blender Parts
Difference Between a Blender and a Smoothie Maker
Electric Blender: Will It Mix Dough?
How to Make a Smoothie without a Blender
How to Remove Food Blender Odors
How to Replace Blades on Kitchen Blenders
How to Repair a Jammed Blade Shaft in a Hand Blender
How to Use a Blender to Grind Coffee
