Security - what's the most senseless confiscation?

[Poisson]

Some little while ago I had a security guy at Perth snap the nail file off a pair of nail clippers I had forgotten were in my carry-on. The "blade" was about 30mm long (if that) with no point or sharp edges.

And just recently I had an allen key confiscated from my camera bag in Broome. I have carried the same allen key around the world on several occasions and nobody had ever objected. Anyhow, I handed it over with a smile and only realised when I got home that there were in fact two such keys in my bag. I could have done untold damage with that second key.

Regards
Paul

 

[Ansett]

I once worked in the Aviation Industry and had to travel alot between Melb and Sydney Jet Bases and carried a 1/4"" socket on occasions Just the socket on its own and had it converscated on one occasion as it was felt that I could disassemble the aircraft mid flight what the ?

 

[drron]

It really is the inconsistency.On our last trip mrsdrron had a pair of tweezers confiscated at HKG.it had been in her carryon on at least the last 5 trips OS.Probably had gone through at least 10 US airports and through HKG at least twice before.
BNE has to be amongst the least consistent though.Kindles out or in,umbrellas,tops of aerosols.Always different set of rues for the same items.Early on had a tube of vegemite confiscated yet jam can go through.

 

[richie9x]

I use to have two screwdrivers in my laptop bag one was a small phillips head 00 and the other a big phillips head 2. I use to go through security with them no worries. Then one day in Melbourne I got caught out at the x-ray. The 00 head screw driver was fine, however the phillips head 2 screwdriver was not allowed. Which seemed bizarre as to me the 00 head would be a lot easier to use as a weapon.

 

[jhamill]

last week security confiscated my small can of shaving creme. reason being: it didn't have a cap!

 

[moa999]

I had a 120ml toothpaste tube (about 1/4 full) confiscated at NRT transit.
Had successfully gone through SYD, LAX, LAS (twice) and SJU in the week before

 

[toowongman]

Halfwits at BNE domestic wanted to confiscate a can of red bull a few years ago. I stood there at the xray and drank it in front of them, handed them the can, belched and walked on through. Dimwits thought they could get a free drink out of me.

 

[harvyk]

Something which sticks in my mind a few years ago my bag handle fell apart in the Syd QP. Now when it fell apart out comes this nice long sharp piece of metal which was part of the handle locking mechanism.

Lets just put it this way, if I had to pick a weapon of choice on an aircraft, I'd have chosen this nice long sharp piece of metal, over a pair of tweezers. Hell I'd probably chose it as a weapon over a pocket knife given the range, and yet of course, no one battered an eye at the x-ray screaning where the bag prob went through 70 or 80 times previous because it was a built in part of the bag.

 

[jetlagger]

Agree with drron, it is the inconsistency that baffles me.. Nail cutter confiscated in Cebu, shaving foam in Guangzhou, sometimes lighters & liquids Manila, shoes off, shoes on syndromes.. Frustrating at the very least..

 

[ozmille]

Cigar cutter in CDG on the way LAX via to CVG had to check it in in a small box, picked it up for rescreening in CVG and the security guy says what is in the box, I say cigar cutter and he gets it out of the box and hands it to make to take on the plane :shock:

 

[Boris spatsky]

Peanut butter jars x2 at Syd international. Wife went through 5 minutes before me with the kids, then when i went through they pulled them out. Apparently they are a banned 'paste' unless travelling with kids. I told them my kids were already through security. No good, the confiscated them. 2 weeks without peanut butter was a killer with my two!!

 

[TonyHancock]

I had a Swisscard confiscated a couple of years back. I had traveled with it for three years. I guess I can't complain because it didn't meet the requirements for hand luggage, but I do struggle to see how I will hold up an aircraft with one.

 

[Sprucegoose]

last week security confiscated my small can of shaving creme. reason being: it didn't have a cap!

That's fairly consistent these days


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[Sprucegoose]

There's the explosive guy in HBA who spends a minute taking swabs of everything you almost have and all over your body. Talk about an obsessive underachiever!!


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[jamesatfish]

Security at CBR tried to confiscate a small mylar balloon (perhaps 10cm diamater) from my 2 yr old daughter last year - we were there to meet her cousin from the UK and had the small balloon as a welcome gift. Apparently the balloon presented a threat to the safety of an aircraft because it could explode during flight and damage the aircraft cabin. I can only imagine the lives we saved by keeping the balloon ground-side that day.

TSA at LAX wanted to confiscate a box of business cards from my carry-on earlier this year because it showed up densely on the X-Ray and they couldn't see through the cards to confirm that there were no dangerous objects inside. It took some convincing for them to actually take the cards out of the box and rescan to confirm they were indeed just small pieces of 240 GSM paper.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

One thing I've noticed going through security points is sometimes the deodorant aerosol cans that don't have lids but a 'slider' instead which is a locking device will be confiscated because they have no lid. It appears some security folk treat these in the same fashion as they would if it was a can that originally had a lid which had come off since.

I had to relinquish a deodorant spray can when I flew out of BNE Intl recently. I'd checked the can bright and early at 0400 when I got up to pack & though it said "50ml". Turns out it was 150ml but the Nivea can was black & white & only the 50 was obvious as it was white lettering on black background but the "1" was invisible because it was on the white background of the can.

Even though the can said 100g & queried the security guy & said "isn't a 100g can okay?" he said only it it didn't have the 150ml on it. So there lies the inconsistency - had the exact same can just said 100g it would have been fine!

Halfwits at BNE domestic wanted to confiscate a can of red bull a few years ago. I stood there at the xray and drank it in front of them, handed them the can, belched and walked on through. Dimwits thought they could get a free drink out of me.

I don't think they allow any drink through the screening point that is unsealed. Had you not opened the Red Bull and walked through with an unopened can I don't think you would have had a problem. You might have had better luck walking through the middle screening point at JQ as I've taken a Merlo coffee through that screening point many a time and they just 'wand' the coffee down. Same coffee at the QF screening point in the same terminal at BNE is a no-go & yes the security company (ISS) is the same at both points.

 

[toowongman]

One thing I've noticed going through security points is sometimes the deodorant aerosol cans that don't have lids but a 'slider' instead which is a locking device will be confiscated because they have no lid. It appears some security folk treat these in the same fashion as they would if it was a can that originally had a lid which had come off since.

I had to relinquish a deodorant spray can when I flew out of BNE Intl recently. I'd checked the can bright and early at 0400 when I got up to pack & though it said "50ml". Turns out it was 150ml but the Nivea can was black & white & only the 50 was obvious as it was white lettering on black background but the "1" was invisible because it was on the white background of the can.

Even though the can said 100g & queried the security guy & said "isn't a 100g can okay?" he said only it it didn't have the 150ml on it. So there lies the inconsistency - had the exact same can just said 100g it would have been fine!



I don't think they allow any drink through the screening point that is unsealed. Had you not opened the Red Bull and walked through with an unopened can I don't think you would have had a problem. You might have had better luck walking through the middle screening point at JQ as I've taken a Merlo coffee through that screening point many a time and they just 'wand' the coffee down. Same coffee at the QF screening point in the same terminal at BNE is a no-go & yes the security company (ISS) is the same at both points.

The can was sealed, sometimes I keep one handy to drink before landing if a long evening is ahead of me. From the look on his face when I opened it - the staff wanted a free (my) drink.
I like the solution they had at NTL a few months ago - a wooden frame that holds drinks for their trip through the XRay.

 

[Blackadder]

Shoes off seems to be a US thing or Aus (Intl) from my experiences, domestically never been asked.

 

[horseman]

My girlfriend had a small set of keys she was always losing, so I put a 1/2" ring spanner on them as a key ring that would really stand out, no sharp edges at all, everything was rounded off and soft, tool was about 5 inches long, though this couldn't be taken through security wasn't an issue though

 

[harvyk]

I had to relinquish a deodorant spray can when I flew out of BNE Intl recently. I'd checked the can bright and early at 0400 when I got up to pack & though it said "50ml". Turns out it was 150ml but the Nivea can was black & white & only the 50 was obvious as it was white lettering on black background but the "1" was invisible because it was on the white background of the can.

I bet the "150mls" only started to be printed on the side at the same time the company released their "travel sized" cans.
Lynx did a similar thing. The can's of deodorant said 100g for as long as I remember. They then released some 20g cans (for the same price as the full sized can) and started printing "100g / 155ml" on the side of the larger can.

Was most unimpressed.

Unfortunately the deodorant I now use I have yet to find a travel sized can. (It's 120g in size from memory, just too big)