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Defending Your Knees
Charles Leocha · September 29, 2003

One thing that has always irked me about flying was having the person in front of me fully recline their seat into my lap. Boy does that piss me off.

Normally, I'll tap the person on the shoulder and ask them to leave me a bit of room. Normally, that works.

Sometimes, I only get a sneer as a response.

I have spoken with flight attendants who all tell me, "The person in front of me can recline their seat as much as they want." The normal mantra seems to continue, "There's nothing I can do about it; they paid for the seat." Or, the airline crewmember asks, "Why didn't you buy a ticket in first class?"

That kind of "help" and "empathy" only gets my blood boiling faster.

Heck, even with active lawsuits against the airlines regarding deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and their admission that there may be health ramifications, the airlines don't seem to get the message.

What's a country boy from New Hampshire to do?

Left without alternatives, I have pushed the offending seatback forward, I have pushed my knees into the back of the seat, I have drummed Iron Butterfly's Inna Gadda Da Vida repeatedly on the seatback. I have tried to keep up my energy to drum Wipe Out a dozen times.

Eventually, I provoke a confrontation.

Naturally, the other passengers all have differing points of view, depending on whether they are sitting behind a "full recliner" or not. At this point, the confrontation is a draw and the person in front of me normally will ease their seatback up an inch or two.

We have all been in this situation. When American Airlines announced More Room in Coach I rejoiced. When they decided to reverse their logical decision and announced Less Room in Coach, I protested.

I have written about transatlantic flights on packed Continental Airlines with miserable service and Virgin Atlantic with excellent service and entertainment, but always with cramped seats.

I have often dreamed of a solution.

Recently, my dreams came true.

An inventor and a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend sent me e-mail. He asked me test his new gizmo that would keep the person in front of you from reclining his seat.

Skeptically, I agreed. I received a small, white, plastic block in the mail. It is about 2-1/4 inches by 1-1/2 inches wide and 1-5/8 high. It has no moving parts.

It works like a charm. This small item when properly placed on the tray-table arm will keep any "full-recliner" in an upright position.

It is called the Knee Defender and you can buy one for yourself at its Web site. I recommend that every airline passenger who is fed up with "full-recliners" buy one. Their tag line says it all, "Standing up for the right of a tall guy to sit down."

This small block is cut so that it easily slips on and off the tray-table arm can be wedged into place to ensure that the seat in front of you doesn't recline at all, or you can use it to regulate the amount of recline the seat you will allow.

Now, the passenger in the seat behind is in control.

The same airline logic that has flight attendants claiming, "They bought the seat, so they can use it as they wish." is now replaced with the equally logical response, "I bought the tray table, so I can use it as I wish."

This is an issue of personal safety -- an issue of defending your knees.

Just last week, I tested the Knee Defender on a Boeing 737 surrounded by a dozen business flyers. There were oohs and aahs from the observers.

They all wanted one. The Web site has just become active. For your solution to inconsiderate passengers who recline into your lap and jam their seats against your knees, try the Knee Defender.

The Knee Defender costs $9.95 apiece plus $3.95 shipping and handling with additional volume discounts. For business travelers who need space for their knees or only to work on their laptop, this is a must-have.

Of course it won't work on every airline seat. However, it does work on almost every seat where the tray table pulls out from the seatback in front of you.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at leocha@aol.com or access his Web site.