OT: Airport security question

[Another John]

We're going to Canada (with Air France (unions permitting)) in a couple of weeks.

My son asked me to bring him two solar powered sonic cat repellers that he's bought from Amazon (don't ask me why he couldn't order them from Canadian Amazon). These are small plastic boxes with various electronic parts.

I thought I'd put them in my hand baggage so that if the security people were suspicious of them, I could explain. My son thinks it would be simpler just to put them in the hold.

Any comments on this predicament? You can tell I'm not a Frequent Flyer.

John

[Tim+]

Yes. He should have read all of the reviews first. ;-)

Seriously, ultrasonic repellers have a lot in common with snake oil. Regarding transport, I don't think it matters much where you carry them. I would stick them in my hold luggage personally.

Tim

[Adrian]

Hold is going to be MUCH easier.

[newshound]

My feeling too. Lots of funny little boxes containing electronics and/or solar cells around these days. My guess is that the hold baggage screeners are looking / sniffing for potential explosives.

[Graham.]

I has a more serious dilema when my son bought this in Italy

OK it's just a novalty cigarette lighter, but still...

I dismantled it so it didn't have quite the same x-ray profile and put it in the hold baggage. The only dangerous part, the Bic lighter, I kept in my pocket which is the correct proceedure.

Nothing bad happened.

[Davey]

Agreed, on both counts. Anything on your person is a magnet for a search and question session.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Another John escribió:

I agree. Put them in hold baggage. Very frequent traveller here, including for work, and I had to carry many suspicious-looking parts and assemblies with bits and wires, chips and small motors around as part of my job.

If there was a large amount of parts in a box, I declared it at check-in and it was put through the special large object pre-screening belt. The check-in staff are quite used to it.

If you're still concerned I strongly suggest you call the airline before travelling.

[Another John]

OP here: thanks all of you for the replies -- hold luggage it is, I had visions of them holding back, or possibly blowing up, a case containing a suspicious package :-D

Re your remark about his reading the reviews Tim+ --- yes, a coincidence that at the very time my son was ordering his cat repellers, a thread opened up in the UK Sheds group asking about the efficacy of these things. I've copied the [useful] replies for my son to read (he has always been very IT-literate, but like all his generation he has missed out on the best discussion medium that there's ever been, namely Usenet!)

Thanks again, all John

[newshound]

I don't believe they blow stuff up very often, or we would hear about it. OTOH they might just *lose* it....

[Roger Mills]

No, the worst that will happen is that they will send for you to open your case and show them what's in it.

That happened to me in Quito (Ecuador). In my case (pardon the pun!) the offending object was a wooden walking stick which I cut in half many years ago and joined together with a couple of drain rod ends - enabling it to fit in a suitcase but be screwed together for use.

They looked very suspiciously at the female threaded bit in case it contained any 'substance', but when I screwed it together and walked round the room with it, they seemed to be satisfied.

[damduck-egg]

From about the age of 13 I was allowed to expore London with just a similary aged mate for company using Bus and Tibe Rover tickets.

On one trip one of those toy bombs that took a CAP similar to this one

fell from my pocket and ended up under a top deck seat. The first I was aware of this was then the Conductress asked loudly "Has any one dropped this Bomb ?" No reaction from any other passengers apart from a few chuckles. That was circa 1967 , I expect there would be a different reaction today.

G.Harman

[AnthonyL]

Several years back prior to USB charging and easy availablity of UK adapters in the Far East I put a 4-way adapter, then plugged in my chargers etc into it to keep it all tidy and put it in hold baggage which had a security lock. When I arrived at destination, via Dubai, the lock had been forced and all my belongings re-arranged but nothing missing. The next visit I put all that stuff in hand baggage but no-one was interested.

This year adapters etc in hold baggage and we returned with a slow cooker as well. No problem.

I don't know whether they've got cleverer, we were picked at random, we were just unlucky, or how any of it works.

A couple of years ago everyone was walking through security with their laptops switched on and working - this year no-one cared. 4 years ago shoes had to come off in Dubai - this year no-one cared.

[dennis]

They looked at my 90mm refractor very closely in chicargo airport. I put its box on the belt with my case and the machine stopped when they got to it, then they called another member of staff over who called another two over at around the same time two guards appeared in the area. Then another member of staff walked over looked at the X-ray and said who's telescope is this and they all went away to do whatever they were doing before.

[Davey]

Back in the days before 9/11, I often carried a large industrial calibrator onto American 'planes. It had lead-acid batteries, so was heavy, and was about a foot by 8 inches by 4 inches. When turned on, a series of red lights lit up in sequence as it did a self-check. I was often asked to repeat that, as it fascinated the security folk. Luckily, it had been replaced by smaller units by the time security got more intensive.

[Clive George]

Aren't batteries the exception to all this? Hand baggage so they can be looked at. Though the OPs device sounds like that's not relevant.

[Syd Rumpo]

Hold, but don't lock the bag as they may open it and won't hesitate to damage anything that tries to stop them.

Cheers

[Dave Liquorice]

Lithium batteries are exceptional, so exceptional that if you want to retain your sanity do not go looking for airline regulations and lithium batteries...

Sort of surprised that Davey got away with lead acid batteries even in a bit of kit. But I guess there was an over sight in mentioning the kits power source and they were gel cells rather than wet. Not that yer average security person would know the difference, if the list says nyet to "lead acid battery", nyet it is.

As for the OPs cat scarers, bung 'em your hold baggage.

[Davey]

I don't remember there being, then and there, any particular problem with batteries. And they were well sealed, and were certainly not obvious to the casual observer, as they were just part of the calibrator. All the security people were worried about was whether it was a bomb or not. Remember that this was before 9/11, you could happily carry penknives on board in your pocket then.

But I do remember well, back in about 1980 or so, being at the Quad City Airport, in a real backwater on the borders of Illinois and Iowa. I was waiting to embark, and a crowd of 20-ish-year-olds came along, a little worse for drink, and one of them made an offhand comment about a bomb to the check-in clerk, who told him not to do that. The lad made a similar comment, the clerk spoke into a walkie-talkie, and a door burst open and several gun-carrying security folk came running out, handcuffed him, and took him away. The clerk looked at the others, now very quiet, and said "I warned him."

[Vir Campestris]

Do they contain batteries? If so, put them in your hand luggage. They could be a fire risk. Case screener isn't going to be able to tell what sort of batteries.

Andy

[Graham.]

I havn't locked any hold bags for many years. If I did want to, I would just use a nylon cable tie.