I once went through and my bag flagged up. I had a battery bank I’d forgotten about in a side pocket i didnt use. Must have flagged up as a big block.
The security guy went off when I couldn’t immediately find it “WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THE BAG? SHOW ME WHAT IT IS?” Right screaming.
Then went and (after I explained where the hidden pock was) found it and said “oh it’s just a battery charger I forgot I had in here.” It was like a flip switched and he was just cheery “oh ok. Move on”.
I was flying out of the US to join my fiancee. My bags were very strategically packed for weight limits. My carry-on got flagged. I had one of those Woodwick Boat candles. She really liked them. If you dont know what they are, they can look strange. They are football/boat shaped, and instead of a normal wick, there's a long chunk of wood to serve that purpose (which makes a pleasant crackling sound when lit)
TSA guy had no clue what it was and ttying to make sense of it.
"Its a candle."
He was not buying it. I ended uo having to go through a full patdown afterwards. I have no idea how having a candle in my bag requires that, but whatever.
I wasnt able to keep my mouth shut though and tried to joke with him, "You guys really take candles seriously, huh?"
Heard the same thing happen in an IceCreamSandwich video, where he was bringing a candle through TSA, but apparently people have hidden bombs or something in candles and that might be why
My dad likes to watch the airport security reality shows. One episode featured a (commercial) shipment of those glass prayer candles hollowed out with drugs. So it’s definitely on their radar.
Yup, i remember that one. Let your dad know about Contraband: Siezed at the border, its on a lot of platforms. That was my next rabbit hole after the airport security lol
The TSA doesn't really give a shit about drugs, and never really has unless you're caught flying with like a huge bag of unmarked white powder or something.
Can confirm, I’ve brought heaping servings of weed and mushrooms all across the country, but the day I had a container of baby powder left in my toiletry bag I almost missed my flight because they needed the advanced testing kit
TSA don't really look for drugs to tell the truth. Yeah they'll take em if they find em, but they aren't gonna go through the full process like a drug stop or a DEA search will. TSA is primarily focused on terrorism
It's because wax is a dense organic material and x-ray machines show densities. A dense organic that airport security are reeeaaallly looking for? Explosives. Explosives are typically formed into easy shapes like football lumps or tubes. Turns out they're also the same shapes wax is formed into usually for the same reason, it's easy. Add a wick and put it in a bag where it doesn't make sense to have a big blob of something with a similar density to plastic explosives and yeah, they're gonna want to have a look at it.
Im.gonna say, somebody claimed someone had hidden bombs in candles to justify the major sec industry that sprang up after 9/11 but that probably hasn't once found a legit threat.
I accidentally found that out after I tried to send a Yankee candle to my future MIL by sending it with my fiancé. He packed it in his carry on bag to keep it safe, but unfortunately had a layover in Amsterdam and was intensely questioned by airport security and had everything gone through when he tried to get on his flight to the UK 🤦♀️
For some reason this made the time TSA flagged a hockey puck in my carry on make sense - luckily the combo of hockey puck and a shirt with my hometown team on it lead to the agent who found it not needing me to elaborate that I had simply grabbed the puck as a souvenir as it was one of the first years that city had a team.
They're rolling those at at US airports too, but they don't always have the new scanners in every line at every airport yet, so it's a crapshoot whether you can have big containers of liquid in your bag or not.
Yeah, I mean, I get the confusion of it all. I think those candles are a little more well known now than at the time, but even still, I would get someone being a little confused by it.
For me it was just the general attitude that was exhibited the whole time. I was fully cooperative and trying to be good humored, and it got me absolutely no where.
Yep, unfortunately our airport security is kind of insane.
I dont even think this actually makes us safer to tell you the truth, but apparently Americans will give up almost any freedom or dignity to feel slightly safer from statisticslly negligible events.
Dealing with TSA in the US vs other countries really is a trip. I never fucking know if I'm supposed to take off my belt or shoes. It seems like whenever I think I have to, TSA yells at me to keep them on. When I don't take them off, TSA yells at me for not knowing better. And when I ask TSA before making a decision one way or another, they are very annoyed by my existence.
After this candle encounter, I landed in Japan. I don't speak the language. Terrified, and approaching their own version of TSA I hesitantly asked for directions on how to get somewhere in the airport. She was the nicest woman I've encountered and was super helpful, lol. And this isn't meant to be a "Japan is so awesome!" type post. I feel like that's been my experience in most other countries I've since flown in and out of.
I think the difference is partly because our TSA is under the Department of Homeland Security, which is more of an intelligence agency and paramilitary organization and was created in direct response to 9/11.
TSA is also paid very badly and understaffed, and doesn't get paid during government shutdowns but still has to work.
You are basically dealing with people trained to have the mindset of counterintelligence officers and military police but paid McDonalds wages and pulling lawyer hours.
I think this is an extremely stupid and paranoid way for us to set up airport security. It all came out of the wave of madness in the Bush era after 2001.
Yeah, it was the most recent shutdown that really put a huge strain on TSA, right? With the solution to backfill missing employees with the national reserve? And then creating even longer lines as a result somewhow?
I won't go too hard on the individual TSA members simply becasue of what you're pointing out with the wages. But yeah, surely there is a better way to go about that whole thing.
I, in an effort to be less wasteful use a solid metal safety razor for my shaving needs. I had forgotten it in a side pocket and it got flagged in the X-ray and it was like something out of a disaster movie. I got grilled so hard for it and I was like. Yes. I understand that the razor in my bag cannot be there in Carry on. Honest mistake. You guys can throw it out.
But they were not having it and I nearly missed my flight due to the "advanced security screening" they put me thru 💀
Candles get flagged every time for me. After I spent 30 min trying to gift wrap a candle for Christmas, I had to pull it out and watch the TSA agent unwrap the whole thing 😑
Can confirm, they take candles seriously. I was traveling with a very recognizable candle in a glass jar, think the stereotypical bed bath and beyond candle jar. They pulled me aside and swabbed it for explosives.
Went through customs in Denmark once while changing planes. They had to pull me aside for a random security check, and the guy asked me if I had ever been through this process before. Apparently jokingly answering "No sir, this is my first time being suspicious!" was the wrong answer. We still made our flight, but my wife was very mad.
I think it makes sense why he was concerned. A thick wax like you find in a candle can appear as a dense unidentifiable solid mass in a TSA scanner; Im not sure if the wick would be easily discernible for most candles, either
Once I forgot a Swiss army knife in my backpack and the agent couldn't find it for like 20 minutes. It was hidden in a secret pouch that wasn't visible unless you knew where to look.
I offered to show her where it was, but I got a very rude reply to stay back. So off she went searching, frantically flipping the bag over, sliding her hand in and out like she was a magician.
Thankfully this happened in Europe, so I didn't get tackled by TSA. And I got to keep the knife! Knives under a certain length are allowed.
Ironically, TSA is also notoriously inept. I accidentally took a large pocket knife through security in my purse. I forgot I had temporarily stuck it there with the intent to put it in my luggage later. Sure was a surprise when I saw it after I got home.
I had a voice over microphone in there for an Atlantic flight that I forgot about. Large metal cylinder hidden all the way down in the backpack - brilliant. I immediately figured that out obviously but any attempt to de escalate was met with very clear rudeness.
Its all complete theater. I used to work at an airport and we had to go through security gates too. I got gifted a creditcard knife that i promptly put in my wallet and immediately forgot about. Went with it through the security check multiple times a day for almost 3 months before someone finally noticed. We were regularly tested and it was considered good if we caught 60% of the test contraband
That's what I did, but she basically completely ignored me lol. Felt like I was talking to a brick wall. So I just stood there and waited, and waited...
They had a bomb squad on standby because a pair of shoes in my bag set something off in the machine.
I was a child about to fly on my own for the first time and I got dragged into a room by a bunch of panicking adults.
My older adult brother who had dropped me off at security also got chased and dragged off unbeknownst to me at the time.
I can only imagine we ticked every box to make them suspicious.
My brother who is 50% white and 50% native American somehow came out looking… perplexing to say the least.
I don’t think anyone could accurately place his ethnicity but unfortunately for a Midwest, post 9/11 airport he was suspiciously brown enough and he just dropped a lone child at security and left right before my bag flagged as potentially explosive material.
I routinely get patted down at airports (I'm a trans man, my chest binder flags as an explosive vest a lot, or so TSA has told me 4 times now) so I get to stand off to the side and witness the TSA line for a bit while they figure out who pats me down. Funniest thing I ever saw was a TSA agent so fed up of people not listening that he started singing his instructions. Other TSA agents joined in. So did the passengers. I think the TSA area is basically where insanity rules. All the weird stuff happens there.
Edit: I left out the best part, like an idiot. He was singing to the tune of "sweet caroline". "Sweeeeeet Caroline, DUN DUN DUN, take your electronics out for me pleaaaaaase".
I got flagged once too for my binder before I got top surgery and after getting pulled and patted down the TSA agent seemed confused. He pointed towards the scanner and asked, “What is that?”. Told him it was a binder to flatten my tits and this guy leaped back with his hands up and started going off about if I would like a female agent.
I think I was suppose to stay but I started cracking up and told him I just wanted to catch my flight. He just stood there frozen and it just made me laugh more so I just took my stuff and carried on.
For my first time flying I think this was the best scenario besides nothing happening at all.
I love when the dude is the one patting you down and they realize you have tits. They're so worried about upsetting us and it's just like... bro, we manhandle these things more than you 🤣 Honestly it's always great when we have a positive end to TSA. I'd rather we have jokes than bad encounters.
Fellow trans person, my binder also set off the alarm. At least the agent understood my explanation of what a binder is. Even with that I was frisked and almost strip searched.
Yes! I once got so fed up I straight up lifted it and let a tit kinda flop out. In my defense I was already in a sheltered corner. I've not had issues at that airport since, though it's a small regional one, so I imagine that story got around fast.
Friend of my parents got flagged for a glass turtle he bought on vacation. Turns out it was leaded glass which on the x ray looked remarkably similar to a claymore
It was JFK and he had taken it to the side but was rummaging through it and couldn’t find the pocket. He wasn’t that far away, it was just a metal table by the scanner. I was still a couple of steps away from him at most.
every third time I go through airport security my camera bag gets flagged, a lot of those agents don't know what a digital camera that's built into a phone looks like and will want to swab the sensor. Then after that, they want to take apart sometimes upwards of $3000 worth of lenses (used price was half that what i spent, but the market for them now has appreciated) right then and there because 'they contain metal', no shit they do, usually play interference for a minute or two for another agent to walk up and let me go
I had "give me the knife" repeatedly while I insisted there wasnt one in there.
They then showed me the image and I pointed out it was clearly part of my glasses...
It's such security theatre. Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, sure. Step over here, old man, and let's do a cavity search because you might be a threat. Oh, and everyone take off their shoes and belts.
I went once in the USA and it was hell. The border control, the security, they all like they are god on earth asking you tons of questions to your underwear color.
I'm happy I don't live there and will probably never go again as a tourist.
Every agency in law enforcement has been specifically trained to escalate every situation. They believe shouting makes people compliant, not angry and confused.
Coming back from Japan, conecting flight, my wife had bought some BL manga and we were taking it home on a carry on
Outside the carry on we had clipped a foam neck support to go through the x-ray
The neck support thing had a vibrating function and a battery
Only after seeing the cover of several kinky manga did the TSA agent look up and ask "do you have any batteries in here?"
TSA is basically the lowest of the low of our law enforcement agencies. Barely trained, low pay, long hours, and absolutley no respect. They fail their penetration audits all the time too.
I had similar experience but with a Nintendo game chip. The console went through ok, but the game chip was in my coin purse. It was in Egypt, the dude looked at me as if I disrespected his family after I showed him the chip and he sent my bag to be tested for explosives and drugs.
They can be so scary 😭😭😭 it was after bag check and it was the first time I’ve ever done it so I was a bit confused on when I could grab my stuff. No on was around so I went around the conveyor thingy to ask the agent a question so I was like “um excuse me?” And she starts yelling “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE BACK HERE MOVE BACK RIGHT NOW!!!” I almost burst into tears lmao
I once got flagged for my bag but they wouldn't tell me why. They drug tested my bag and told me it came up positive for amphetamines. I didn't do drugs and didn't know anyone who did drugs. I told them that, and mentioned the bag was a gift from someone who bought it used from another person, so maybe that person did drugs, but I sure as shit wouldn't have anything.
They searched my stuff very thoroughly and thankfully let me go. Even helped me pack my things back up. The agent was nice about it all, at least.
Once i was flying with my 2 month old baby. I had a collapsible stroller with me and they had me fold it up and ran it thru a separate scanner thing and me and baby walked thru. I get to the other side and an agent asks me, "Can you tell me why your stroller is flagging as radioactive?" Um sir...I just bought it at Target, I got nothing...they run it back thru and they have multiple agents looking it over now. Finally they just shrug at me, hand it over and wave me off. Huh.
My favorite moment going through security was getting flagged for a can of Spam (canned meat product) while leaving Hawaii (they have sooo many flavors). I love telling people I got flagged for Spam at the airport. lol.
I had a TSA agent throw one of my battery banks away. It wasn’t over the MwH limit. He told me that I was going to get flagged with it every time because it was a weird shape. It was literally just a circle. It was a swag gift thing from Shell Energy, had their branding all over it. So I then had no battery bank for a cross country flight. I have no idea why he was so tripped up over it.
My brother unfortunately in his past spent time in jail for drugs (he's been clean and living a great live for the past decade now). But the first time he flew he said it brought him right back to the time he spent in jail. Dealing with assholes on a power trip who were all kinda stupid.
Something minor like you not hearing a direction? Screamed at
Something on you that you innocently forgot about? 5 agents and everyone is breathing down your neck and berating you and then when you act nervous they start in on you "acting suspicious".
I still wonder how I made it to Taiwan while accidentally smuggling fireworks in my luggage from Toronto to San Francisco to Taipei. How the fuck did I not get caught.
It was a total accident. I’d been to Cedar Point a few months earlier, a friend bought fireworks at a local depot and gave me some. I put them in my luggage and promptly forgot.
While unpacking my bags at my new apartment in Taiwan I found them and nearly shit bricks.
I don't envy inexperienced TSA agents. Being trained to believe that at any minute you could be blown to pieces and then you see a mysterious object that may or may not be a plastic explosive.
I play a lot card games and boardgames. I like to travel with some options to pass the time. Turns out that a box full of cards looks real suspicious to TSA as big block of medium density material without any space in it. I started just taking out the boxes with the electronics and getting a funny look rather than getting pulled aside again and going through the whole bag opening and grilling stage.
Also sometimes the body scanner flags my crotch if I'm wearing tight briefs and I need to get a pat down? First time it was like, "that was weird" but the second and third time was starting to feel targeted. Not like I'm freakishly well endowed or anything like that, but I just wear boxers and make sure it's hanging loose, now. Lol.
I moved abroad and so I brought a lot of my valuables and important things in my backpack, packed up the fucking max
This included a shit ton of jewelry, various medications, and also my recently new graphics card that I wrapped up kinda janky
Yeah that got flagged lmao. Apparently they just couldn't really see into it very well with all the things. Then he pulled out the weirdly wrapped graphics cards. I was just explaining that I was moving, and he just had a face on that said, "why are you the way that you are" lmao
I got stopped at security once because sleeved magic decks look like plastic explosive and I'd thrown my charger and headphones in the same pocket so when they ran my bag through it looked like I had about 3 pounds of explosives wired up and ready to go.
The guy was clearly shook but just turned the screen to me, pointed and was said "I'm gonna need to see exactly what this is."
I was in Chicago and there was one TSA agent yelling at the entire crowd at like 7 in the morning about what we all were expected to do and also he's ex military and therefore no one better try anything. He never stopped barking orders the entire time I made my way through security. As a Canadian that rarely travels through the US, it was definitely an experience.
Weirdly TSA went smooth for me, even though I had spent casings (holiday souvenirs) and was wearing clothes with GSR, I went to a range 2 days prior and hadn’t paid any thought to being covered in gun shot residue and flying
I got flagged because I have a deck holder full of magic cards. I was going across country to hang out with my girlfriend at her college and brought 4 magic decks in a larger box with me. I guess it looked like a huge black box that you couldn't poroperly see through with x-ray.
I got in a line at MCO where the baggage scanner operator had obviously gotten in trouble for missing something because the idiot was flagging literally every bag that went through the scanner with more than a laptop in it.
Woman in front of me had 10 vacuum packed packages of coffee beans. Smurfs sniffed each and every one of them separately with the chemical sampler. I had gotten flagged for "something sharp" and it took the smurf doing bag checks ten minutes to be convinced that there was no knife hidden between the layers of the backpack's pockets. Guy behind me had a similar scan and had his entire bag of carefully packed clothes unpacked and then stuffed back in haphazardly so that it'd all wrinkle. Jerks are out of control.
Many moons ago I was flying from MSP to DEN to visit family. I didnt have a laptop or anything so I disassembled my PC and put it into my carry on. Family certainly gave me some looks but whatever.
The thing is, the power supply is just a big metal box with a bunch of wires and circuitry inside... The poor lady running the xray machine nearly had a heart attack but amazingly, no extra screening other than having to open the bag.
Meanwhile my 7 year old sister got the full on bomb residue swabbing treatment cause she tried to bring a mtn dew past security.
You also gotta love it when the tell you not to take your shoes off, only to yell at you to take your shoes off, and then yell at you again asking why your shoes are on the conveyor belt.
Wow it must be such a range. I’ve had the completely opposite interaction with them when I accidentally forgot a knife in my backpack.
They were very understanding and I explained myself. I took the item out for them to check out. They even tried to get me through a loophole since it was a multitool and told me if there wasn’t a blade I could take it through.
To be fair it’s the one time I’ve had a guy go off for real. Although not been back to the US since so can’t really say if it’s common enough. Probably just one guy on a power trip.
This happened to me when I was going to visit a FWB I've known since college. It was a power bank I forgot about in a front pocket. The TSA agent decided to empty out the entire bag. Including about 4 rainbow colored glass and silicone sex toys of various lengths, shapes, and girths. 😂
I guess they thought I would be embarrassed when they asked what I had in my bag as they did. I wasn't. Literally told them with a straight face that there's condoms, clothes, a book, sketch pad, pencils, and dcks. I guess they weren't expecting a short, cute, unassuming guy in a fashionably comfortable sweater and hand hemmed pants to be so open about having more toys than orifices in his carry on. They seemed a *lot quieter when I asked if they were done admiring my collection.
I still go to visit with that friend and TSA always has some equally funny reaction when they scan my overhead bag. Lol.
My friend packed my backpack to go home, and I had a bunch of rocks and souvenirs. They flagged it when it went through the X-ray thing and pulled me aside. I was able to see what they saw, which looked like a hand gun in my bag. Anyways they pulled everything out, saw it was just rocks and souvenirs. I was horrified
A grumpy TSA agent got mad at me when I flew on Newark a few years ago. I had to put my hand on a fingerprint device, but I have naturally sweaty palms and this guy was SO annoyed that it took me a couple tries so he eventually sent me to another agent (thankfully the hall was near empty) and that agent was much friendlier and understanding. It also didn't take me even two times with him, so who knows, maybe the first agent's angry demeanor was making me so nervous I was sweating more than usual?
Fun fact. The TSA has prevented exactly zero terrorist attacks in the entirety of its existence. It's there to make you feel safe. It is never actually improved safety. Just stolen random shit from people and sexually assaulted them.
that’s crazy lol, i always get stopped with my deck boxes T-T but they just open them up curiously and usually have to ask for my help since one is plastic and opens at a disjointed slot. never had anyone scream at me for them (yet…)
I once replied casually to the question ‘are you here for business or pleasure?’ ‘A bit of both’ and got a gun brandished and shouted at “ARE YOU HERE FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE’ like you can’t have both. So weird!
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u/Narradisall 29d ago edited 29d ago
Airport security in the US can be intense.
I once went through and my bag flagged up. I had a battery bank I’d forgotten about in a side pocket i didnt use. Must have flagged up as a big block.
The security guy went off when I couldn’t immediately find it “WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THE BAG? SHOW ME WHAT IT IS?” Right screaming.
Then went and (after I explained where the hidden pock was) found it and said “oh it’s just a battery charger I forgot I had in here.” It was like a flip switched and he was just cheery “oh ok. Move on”.
Weirdest thing ever.