Returning from St. Louis this weekend I aroused the curiosity of a trio of TSAs -- airport security cops. As an older dude with gray hair I’m sure they’d profiled me as an Arab terrorist.

The source of their curiosity was my Kubaton, a 5.25" by 5/8" diameter ribbed, nearly unbreakable, stick-like thingy used mostly for holding a ring of keys.

I’ve had mine for more than 30 years and have always used it to carry keys with the stick part tucked under my belt with keys dangling outside. Passing by dozens of TSA since 9-11, my set of keys had never before attracted attention.

Suppliers call the Kubaton a "hand-held personal defense weapon with keyring holder -- comes in all colors." With the Kubaton in hand, swinging a set of keys at an aggressor, each key has razor blade capability to inflict serious damage to the bad guy’s face.

I first learned about the Kubaton from a night nurse at a downtown Columbia hospital. She went off duty at midnight and was walking to her car when a predator hiding under her car grabbed her ankle.

The nurse, with her "pink" Kubaton in hand, began striking the guy’s face as he climbed out from under the car. By the time the cops arrived, the nurse was standing over the whimpering mugger threatening him with more strikes with her pink-handled Kubaton.

Back to my challenge from TSAs at Lambert Airport in St. Louis. My suitcase was screened and everything seemed okay. But a trio of TSAs had my Kubaton in hand and were wondering, "what sort of thing is this?"

Finally, a lady TSA walked over to me asking, "Exactly what is this?" I told her it’s called a Kubaton which I use to hold my keys. I could tell she wasn’t really satisfied but I chose not to go into detail about the potential use of this tiny martial arts stick. The TSA handed it back to me with a smile. "Have a pleasant trip," she said.

The Kubaton was first developed by the Monadnock Company, the same folks who invented the PR-24, the two-foot side-saddle police night stick.