The spy’s target is in sight. The plan was carefully concocted, to assassinate
the enemy agent undetected. But now, he has to get through security. The agents pat him down,
looking for any sign of a weapon. Then they wave him through.
Good thing they didn’t look too closely at...his umbrella?
Weapons come in all shapes and sizes. These are some of the craziest hidden weapons ever made.
Let’s start with the humble knife. Not exactly a high-tech weapon,
but it’ll do the trick in a pinch. Whether for defense or assassination,
you’ll be able to pull a blade in seconds without too much attention.
You’re a writer, working away on your newest manuscript. You’re old-school,
so no one looks too closely at the fact that you use an old-fashioned fancy pen to
write instead of a computer. Suddenly, you’re accosted in your seat - no doubt by agents of
a rival literary agency looking to spoil your latest book. But with a quick twist,
you’re no longer unarmed, and you’ve pulled a thin, sharp blade from the humble pen. Your enemies scatter,
you twist the pen back together,
and you’re back to writing - because the pen knife is fully functional both ways!
But what about those who want a more feminine touch to their weapons?
It’s not uncommon for a lady to carry some lipstick in her purse - sometimes
more than one color. Security doesn’t have time to investigate every lipstick tube,
so if they see that the metal rim is triggering the metal detector,
they’re likely to just wave her and her lipstick through. That might be a fatal mistake - because
the lipstick tube is hiding a pop-up knife that comes out when the top is twisted off But unlike the
pen, it’s important to keep this one away from the
mouth - the lipstick knife does not actually hold any lipstick.
Sometimes, the best disguise is in plain sight.
Jewelry comes in all shapes and sizes, and it usually has to come off to go through the metal
detector anyway. Security sees a lot of oddly shaped jewelry each day - which is what the
makers of the dagger necklace are counting on. It looks a little like a snake’s head holding
a silver piece of metal, but with the twist of a clasp, the metal comes loose - revealing a curved
dagger that can easily be used to slash at attackers. This clever piece is probably more
useful in a fight than an assassination plot - but it’s also one heck of a conversation piece.
But sometimes, you want something even more dramatic.
It’s a cold and rainy day outside, and no one is surprised to see people
walking around with an umbrella. But what happens if ninjas attack on a rainy day?
That’s when you’d be pretty glad to have the umbrella sword on hand. The device is
perfectly functional as an umbrella, but when the curved handle is detached from the body,
it comes with a long blade that’s perfect for giving you a little reach in a fight
When mom told you to take an umbrella with
you just in case, she probably wasn’t thinking about a duel to the death.
But what if Grandpa wants to relive his old sword-fighting days?
There are few things less threatening than an old man, hobbling along with a cane.
Some unscrupulous thieves might even think he makes an easy target for a robbery, but they’re
in for an unpleasant surprise. Much like the umbrella sword, the sword cane functions as a
simple balancing tool, but as soon as the sheath is removed from the bottom half of the cane,
it reveals a long and sharp blade that’s ideal for giving those no-goodniks the what-for
In fact, some enterprising
spies may be investing in old-man makeup as we speak.
But hidden weapons come in all shapes and sizes - and no one sees more of them than the TSA.
The TSA’s instagram page became famous for them posting pictures of the strangest
weapons they uncovered in their search, but one find was particularly messy. An enchilada
contained a lot of beans, cheese, sauce - and an eight-and-a-half-inch knife at the
Sonoma county airport. While any weapon in airport security is taken very seriously,
this wasn’t a nefarious plan to sneak a deadly weapon onto a plane. Rather,
the sheepish woman who was interrogated simply wanted a convenient knife to cut her enchilada!
Another traveler probably should have read the news.
Ever since the early 2000s and a failed bombing using booby-trapped shoes,
travelers in the United States have had to take off their shoes at airport security. Usually,
that just means security gets an up-close encounter with some stinky soles, but at
the Wichita airport a pair of shoes triggered some extra screening. After a close examination,
it was found that the traveler had stowed a pair of miniature knives in hidden compartments
in the soles of his shoes. That’s commitment - and probably made walking a bit uncomfortable.
And other travelers test their luck with some unusual self-defense devices.
What do a tube of lipstick and a pack of cigarettes have in common? Both are common
items to be taken through airport security, and both turned out to pack a hidden punch.
In St. Louis, a tube of pink lipstick triggered extra attention,
and at Orlando security knew cigarettes shouldn’t contain any metal. They looked a little
closer - and both contained an active stun gun Disguised stun guns aren’t uncommon and are legal
in many states, but those trying to transport them shouldn’t try to get one over on security.
Some people even tried to get more explosive cargo into security.
Chewing tobacco might not be sanitary, but it’s not considered a danger. But at Yuma International
Airport, an alarm went off on a checked bag. Nothing unusual was found, except for an oddly
light container of chewing tobacco. The owner was apprehended, the bomb squad was called in - and
the chewing tobacco was opened to reveal a half-ounce of C4 explosive, enough to cause
a significant explosion. Needless to say, the owner was delayed in Yuma - maybe for a few years.
These next guys took the story of the Trojan Horse a little too seriously.
It’s not unusual to transport statues through airport security - although getting them home
in one piece through turbulence may be a little tricky. But something was odd about the ceramic
horse statue being taken through security in the Helena Regional Airport. It was setting off
security and seemed to have something inside. When it was opened, it was found to be holding a pack
of eight illegal fireworks. While it’s unlikely they would have been ignited in the plane,
airport security chalked up another blow against the illegal fireworks market.
Of course, some weapons being snuck through airport security
have had a lot more effort put into them.
It’s one of the most common items making its way through airport security - an iPhone, usually in
a colorful case. But at Boston International Airport, one agent noticed something a little
odd - what were all these extra slots on the iPhone case? When they looked a little closer
at it, they found one sharp knife blade coming out of the top - followed by three more which
turned the iPhone into a swiss army knife. It was a clever way to disguise four different blades,
but the sneaky survivalist still lost his phone and likely faced charges.
But no one puts more effort into hiding weapons than gun smugglers.
The TSA sees a lot of complicated electronic equipment when they go through checked baggage,
but one soundboard seemed much heavier than it should be.
They dismantled the case - and found that the circuit board was hiding not just a handgun,
but a full pack of fifty bullets. It was the latest gun smuggling operation to hit airplanes,
likely with the intention of getting the gun to its new home via the cargo hold,
rather than anything more nefarious. But neither it nor the soundboard reached its destination.
Law enforcement is used to seeing some unusual tricks when it comes to guns.
The United Kingdom has strict gun control laws, which means criminals have had to get creative.
When police in Hull began a crackdown on illegal guns, they let the locals turn theirs
in voluntarily with no risk of arrest - and they were shocked by what they found. Criminals had
been getting around the gun ban by hiding the weapons in bizarre ways. A gun was hidden in a
walking cane, and one could even be attached to a car wheel disguised as a steering lock.
In total, almost a hundred and twenty guns were turned in - but not all of them looked like guns.
And surprisingly, a lot of hidden weapons are still legal - in most places.
A look online at weapons websites reveals just how many ordinary objects can be transformed
into weapons. A fidget spinner can open up into a pocket knife. A handy plastic comb can split
into two and reveal a sharp blade. A ring worn on the finger can pack a stun gun in its tiny head,
turning a punch into an electric shock. Even belts or credit cards can hide secret blades.
And if you’re feeling lucky, you can even find throwing cards online made out of steel.
Someone with a keen sense of aim can throw the sharp-edged cards
like throwing stars - and they come in either Blackjack or Poker styles!
But no hidden weapon ever packed the same punch as one from the Cold War.
It was the 1970s, and the world was in turmoil. Ruthless paramilitary
and terrorist groups around the world were seeking to force countries into concessions,
and one of their favorite tactics was kidnapping prominent citizens around Europe.
Whether you were kidnapped by Communist organizations from Greece or Germany,
or the Basque separatist group from Spain, your odds were grim if you wound up in
their hands - and so these high-profile targets started hiring elite bodyguards to shadow them.
And an elite bodyguard needs elite weapons.
The problem was, bodyguards need to be secretive. Walking into a place carrying a submachine gun
will usually send people fleeing, and many would be stopped at security checkpoints.
These bodyguards needed to be able to go anywhere, any time - even into the most
secure locations in the world where their boss is needed. And that’s where Heckler and Koch,
a German weapons manufacturer stepped into the brief - and created the most cleverly hidden
gun of all time, hidden in something that passes by hundreds of security checkpoints every day.
After all, who would suspect a briefcase?
It was based on previous guns made by Heckler and Koch, the G3 battle rifle and the MP5,
both submachine guns that were far more portable than your usual model. The MP5 had been adapted
to fit a nine-millimeter pistol cartridge, making it an ideal fast-firing gun that could fit easily
in compact quarters. It was commonly used by both the US Navy Seals and the British SAS,
but with a few twists, it would become the ideal weapon for bodyguards on a top-secret mission.
But how do you transform a gun into a briefcase?
First, you start with the smallest version of the MP5, which only weighs five pounds. The gun
is intact, but is hooked up to the inside of a standard briefcase. At only thirteen inches long,
the gun’s size doesn’t attract any attention. On the outside, it looks like a standard briefcase,
and the only giveaways are small things on the outside. The trigger is hidden in the briefcase’s
handle, triggering the hail of bullets that comes through a hole in the side of the case.
The high-powered gun can release a barrage of thirty bullets in seconds without needing
to reload. In total, this killer briefcase can fire a shocking 900 bullets a minute.
So why is the briefcase gun not standard-issue for bodyguards everywhere?
Simple - it’s not that easy to use. Aiming a briefcase is tricky, and the barrel needs
to be pointed in exactly the right direction, which might be tricky if you’re in a crowd when
attacked. And then there’s reloading. If you need to reload after thirty bullets, you’re in trouble
- because reloading a standard gun might only take seconds, but reloading the briefcase gun means
it has to be opened and reloaded in the middle of the fight, then closed securely and aligned again.
But that hasn’t stopped the suitcase gun from making its way around the world - it can still
be bought as an accessory on the Heckler and Koch website, and one was even found in Iraq in 2003.
It might be time to give those sharp-dressed business travelers a slightly closer look…
Check out “Weirdest World War 2 Weapons You Never Heard of Before”
for other weapons in disguise, or watch this video instead!