I got an opposite kinda thing. I picked up one of those credit card sized folding knives. Forgot it was in my wallet, and wasn’t even stopped at TSA. Didn’t even realize it until a couple days after I landed at my destination.
It’s ALL theatre.
The other day I went to a block party/rave type event and security confiscated my new and unopened pack of gum but didn’t check or confiscate my full sized pack of alcohol wet wipes… anything could have been in that package, they didn’t even look, but my sealed gum was a possible threat??
not really theatre, it’s impossible to scan everything after all…
And yet they do scan everything.
I’ve never had anything confiscated but, I did have an argument with security about whether my backpack was allowed to be used as a carry on or not. It contained a portable battery that strictly is not allowed to be in checked luggage by TSA guidelines and must be via a carry on. It took me having to pull up the TSA regulations on batteries in order for them to give me the backpack back.
I had a small piece of broken mystery metal tucked in my wallet on my way to a trade show. I knew a supplier who had X-ray fluorescence equipment on hand was going to be at the conference and I wanted them to ID the metal piece (there were like 50 sheets of it in the warehouse, and I figured it might be worth something).
Unfortunately this random piece of metal broken off a corner sheet happened to be shaped like a box cutter blade, lol. Sure, it was like 4mm thick and as dull as a Republican voter, but still shaped like a knife on the scanner, so away it went.
Never had an issue in the US. Coming back from Cozumel Mexico one of their security people was on a pair of micro wire cutters, had to empty most of a bag so she could “find” them. Then she took it to a supervisor who said it was fine so she gave them back and I wasted another 5 minutes repacking my bag wasting their space. I had flown down with them and passed through TSA again heading home without issue.
When I got to Cozumel they decided I needed extra screening because of all my cases. I was there to SCUBA dive. Woman in front of me lost like six cartons of cigarettes and had to pay a fine. Her husband passed through and was gone, she was pissed… Dude half ass checked my two cases, carry on bag, and personal item bag and sent me on my way.
Never confiscated, but apparently sleeved Magic the Gathering cards look like explosives to the TSA. I kept getting “randomly” searched and being late for flights until I finally asked the dude why I kept getting “randomly” flagged for additional screening and he told me. It was also frequently cold when I was traveling and my suitcase was often left in the trunk of a cold car all day while I was at work and that also makes them suspicious of my belongings.
I had a torx handle with a single screw driver bit attached, left over in my backpack. (So basically just a screwdriver)
Combined, it barely exceeded the maximum safety length. If I’d stored it separated, it would have been fine.
I offered to separate it, that wasn’t going to work. I needed to leave one of them behind. …as the rest of the socket set (at home) needed the torx handle, I left them with the screw driver bit.
I traveled to a manufacturing expo last year. I had so much stuff to bring back that I needed extra room in my carry-on. So I loaded it up with these: box of drill bits and some endmills (very sharp), set of dial calipers, set of metal files, small containers of superglue, a couple books of sandpaper, set of precision pins for measuring holes (basically looks like a bed of nails in a box). Also I had a bottle of water. Yep the bottle was confiscated but they didn’t care about all the other crap even if it looked like MacGuiver was planning to hijack a plane.
Toothpaste
I had a full sized tube of toothpaste that had maybe one squirt left in it, and the TSA agent made me throw it away because the labeled size was bigger than 3oz.
I once bought a small tube of toothpaste for travel. I didn’t really check what was allowed by the airport, I just bought what looked small enough. I arrived at the airport, went through security, traveled to my destination and used the toothpaste during the week I was away.
When I was set to return my toothpaste was flagged at the airport. It was “too big”. I of course argued with the TSA agent that I had flown into this exact airport a week before with MORE toothpaste in the container than it had in it now. Of course there is no logic. Into the bin my mostly new toothpaste went.
How about not confiscated?
Was in New Orleans for the Jazz Festival.
My wife gets headaches, so we brought an ice bag like this one:
In the morning we fill it with ice in our hotel, and toss it in a backpack. We empty the water at the end of the day.
On the last day, we gather our luggage and gear and head to the airport.
When we got home I realized that my backpack went through the airport scanners with the ice bag full of water. Probably about a quart.
I think that might be above what’s allowed.
Some scanners are modern enough to be able to differentiate between water and non-permitted liquids.
I was able to bring a 1L (33floz) on a plane from FRA.
It just needed to go through the scanner. Same with carry-on.
A salt-shaker sized container of MSG
I had a flight safe multitool, one that specifically had no blade, nor anything sharp. It only had tools for my camera. I also had a fisher space pen which they said looked too much like a bullet.
Both were confiscated, but they couldn’t figure out how to open the front flipper knife I had with me, so they let it through.
The TSA bullshit isn’t about keeping us safe.
Dude, I took a domestic flight recently and don’t have realid bullshit cause it’s not mandatory in my state and I renewed online during covid. Anyway, had to pay the $45 “security check” (only good for 10 days) to TSA to board. Husband got through with a box cutter, I got held up because I had money they wanted.
3 days later I’m verifying a Costco membership, their questions asked where I lived in 1988. It was harder to verify my identity at Costco than get a box cutter through TSA. It’s a fucking money grab joke. It didn’t even verify anything except my card had $45 they could charge me.
I had a bag of coffee taken. It was from a company called “Doomsday” and had a logo of a gas mask on the bag. It was very clearly labeled as whole bean coffee, but TSA deemed it too unsafe.
I took my bike, but they confiscated my entire tyre patch / repair kit because it had an allen key in it. Apparently I might try to disassemble the plane from the inside or something. Then I learnt it’s surprisingly hard to find a tyre repair kit in my destination. Hooray
There was a soda machine a few feet from the TSA line. I bought one and noticed the agent looking my way. I walked up to them within a minute (small airport) and they took my unopened Coke, that they watched me purchase, and threw it in the trash. It was a dollar more at the machine on the other side.
This was a while back when the TSA was a new concept. I had no idea you couldn’t carry a closed bottle of soda through the checkpoint and was very irritated at the lack of common sense.
Another item I didn’t have confiscated but did create a big stir with was a bullet on a keychain. It contains some of my dad’s ashes. I put my keys with the keychain in the basket and several agents were shaking it saying “there is something inside there” they took me aside and I explained it was my Dad and they dropped it like a hot rock and apologized. I was surprised by that reaction given my soda experience.
When moving internationally I had my cat’s ashes in its urn in my carry on because I didn’t trust it not being lost. They of course flag it and thr guy roughly opens my bag and pulls the box out, sees the cast pawprint on top, which now has a crack in it, and very gingerly swabs down the urn and carefully repacks the bag for me looking guilty as fuck.
Didn’t notice the crack until I got home.
That’s awful. I’d be really pissed off.
I had a plastic card that fit in a wallet: it had various conversion numbers and measurements and a ruler on the side. Decently handy pre-mobile internet days.
They took it because it was thin enough to be “dangerous”, I guess?
It was weird and I didn’t care enough to say anything about it.
They couldn’t take the chance if you were Nicholai Hel.
