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Passenger using the Knee Defender hands seatmate an unbelievable note

IT’S a battle that rages on in our skies as airline seats continue to shrink, but has this airline passenger taken things too far with this unbelievable note?

Kate Schneider and TRAVEL EDITOR
2 min read
June 4, 2014 - 11:05AM
Getting the most comfy seat on a plane

IT’S a battle that rages on in our skies, continuing to get more heated as airline seats shrink, leaving less legroom for tall passengers.

But could the eternal seat reclining debate be about to become really awkward?

If the use of the “Knee Defender”, a gadget that lets travellers lock the seat in front so it cannot recline, grows in popularity then the answer is a resounding yes.

A traveller has reignited debate over the use of the controversial product after posting a photo of a note he claims a fellow passenger handed him on a flight last month.

The bemused traveller, who goes by the Reddit username As-Uswag, said: “(The) guy sitting behind me on the plane handed me this as I was finding my seat before take off (my seat was up).”

“I had no idea what to say.”

The knee defender looks like. Picture: GadgetDuck
The knee defender looks like. Picture: GadgetDuck

The note is available on the Gadget Duck site for consumers to print out, fill in and give to the passenger in front.

Optional information can be included on the note, such as “my legs are so long that if you recline your seat at all it would immediately bang into my knees”.

It acknowledges the use of the product “may be an inconvenience” but shifts blame to the airline.

Here’s the full note:

The note in full. Picture: Gadget Duck
The note in full. Picture: Gadget Duck

Reclining seats are always a sore point for travellers, especially for taller passengers who often end up with their knees crammed in to the seat in front — So it’s little wonder that products such as the Knee Defender exist.

Please don’t put your seat back ...
Please don’t put your seat back ...

The device, which was invented by Ira Golman, a 190 centimetre-tall US resident, is essentially an adjustable plastic clamp that clips on to the top of the tray table’s arm.

According to the company’s site: “Knee Defenders are specifically designed to be used with your tray table lowered, while your tray table must be up and locked ’during taxiing, takeoffs or landings’. So, as long as Knee Defenders are being used as they are designed to be used in flight, their use does not violate any US aviation law, rule, or regulation.”

However, while there are no specific rules barring its use by aviation regulators around the world, individual airlines have the right to forbid its use in-flight.

Social media users are divided on the controversial device.

So what do you think, is it useful or plane ridiculous? Tell us below.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/passenger-using-the-knee-defender-hands-seatmate-an-unbelievable-note/news-story/412131d4550ec106332ffe182cf5f23a