Had a pedal spanner confiscated, I’d borrowed it from a colleague to fix my bike and put it in my laptop bag so I wouldn’t forget it, but sent on a trip before I went back to the office. I bought him the nicest spanner I could find to replace it.
I had a blender bottle from which I had drank all the liquid, which still had ice in it. Because the ice was above the 100ml line (the limit for LIQUIDS), they took it and threw it away. They wouldn’t even just dump the ice, but tossed the whole bottle. Being that I was running short on time for my flight and I got my work to pay for a new one, I didn’t fight it (also just because I’m correct doesn’t mean the argument is going to go my way in a situation like this) but I’m still flabbergasted that ice was a liquid according to the pair of TSA seat fillers checking my bag.
I almost had a multimeter confiscated on a different occasion when they couldn’t figure out what it was. That one I put my foot down until a supervisor thankful instantly waved me through when he showed up.
Trying to explain a multimeter to a couple people who didn’t make it past fifth grade science class sounds like a surefire way to miss a flight. (And states of matter, for that, uh, matter.)
This one time I was in Berlin with my girlfriend and the guy is taking a long time looking at the xray of my bag. Finally, he asks me, “do you have a flashlight in your bag?” and I told him no. He looked puzzled and he asks me “what is the device in your bag that is shaped like a flashlight?” and I told him I really had no idea but I was sure I don’t have a flashlight in my bag. Then he tells me he needs to search the bag. Of course I agree.
He opens the bag, chuckles, and closes it back up and says “its ok have a nice flight!” and I’m so confused. Right then my gf comes from the line and grabs my hand and drags me to the gate.
We get a little bit away and she starts laughing her ass off “it’s my vibrator!” because of course she stuck it in my bag without telling me but no he did not confiscate it.
Love that “my girlfriend’s vibrator” is your answer to “what is something useless”
It’s ok, the vibrator says the same thing about them.
yahahaha!
“Have a VERY nice flight”
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.
Not airport security, but at a venue in NY they confiscated a small silicone plunger I use to take out my contact lenses. It’s literally a medical device, and I can’t take them out without it (glass sclerals)
Not confiscated, but i had a bag full of trail mix in my carryon once and security said it looked scary on the xray scanner.
A very small closed (with the plastic still around it and intact) water bottle. Did not blame the security people though, they are just doing their jobs. But kind of useless to take it away, it was unopened and bought at a store within the airport (even had the receipt).
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 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
In the army fully kitted out with gear. This means we have full plate and a M4 strapped to our chests, all mags were empty though. My friend had to give them his nail clippers out of his shit kit.
Should have attached it to the M4 rail and claimed it’s a standard issue anti-drone optical wire clipper.
Edit: The larger ones are effective against TOW missiles. That’s why they call them TOW clippers.
That is insane
Toothpaste
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.
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.
A salt-shaker sized container of MSG
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.
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.
My sister knows I like knives. She went to Switzerland with her husband and bought a Victorinox for me. I think it was at the airport so she didn’t had the chance to check in with her luggage. TSA equivalent at her layover in India confiscated it. She was livid.
