Strangest checkin luggage?

[prozac]

You can buy them here from the Hartsuyker's Clog Barn in Ciffs Harbour.

I have an almost new pair now and nowhere to wear them. I need farm.
A good clog maker will fine tune the internal shape to suit your foot.

 

[juddles]

..... Sadly not many real clog makers left. A dying art.....

There are very good reasons for that...

 

[Jacksond]

Quite a few years ago we brought back a ceremonial club (apparently from Africa) that resided in my wife's aunt's house in England since colonial days. When asked by customs where the club came from, we had to quickly prevent my young son from saying it was from Africa. I quickly explained that it came from the family home in Surrey. Didn't want to spend hours explaining that was about a hundred years old and termite free!

 

[BCons]

A new, never used marine BBQ in its original packing from HBA via Mel and AUH to Athens - checked in OK in Hobart but then VA Mel cargo got involved, and I was paged back to checkin to discuss - no it hasn't been used, no there isn't a gas bottle, no there is no regulator, yes the burner knobs are open and there is no trace of gas. Despite several phone calls, each apparently satisfying the progressive list of questions, Mel finally said 'no' and thus it went air cargo for rather more than it cost in Aust. . Got worse when I later went thru Mel security - a brand new tub of lovely English shave soap was confiscated. If it had been a bar of Palmolive in my carry on then no wuckers, but in a jar .. nyet. Bloke didn't understand why I was seeing a bit red by this time.

 

[drewbles]

On any typical trip for me back from the LOTFAP my bag must get some very curious TSA agents considering what I check.

I tend to be a bit addicted to Altoids (small peppermints in a tin, that may look like other rather illicit substances). They're very cheap in the USA (carton of 12 tins is around $15USD) vs $4AUD per tin here, so I stock up and buy 2-3 cartons at a time. 36 tins with little pilll-looking things, must look great on x-ray.

Along with that are Tide laundry pods. Liquid pods in containers. Must set of alarm bells too.

Add that with the near industrial quantities of my favourite shampoo and conditioner ($20 for 1L vs $25 for 300ml here) and other assorted pantry/laundry items from Amazon/Walmart/CVS (don't get me started on melatonin and other tablets).

Amazingly, never been paged anywhere, but have had the TSA love note without fail every time (and often a closer inspection of Tide pods and Altoids).

 

[ozimax]

On any typical trip for me back from the LOTFAP my bag must get some very curious TSA agents considering what I check.

I tend to be a bit addicted to Altoids (small peppermints in a tin, that may look like other rather illicit substances). They're very cheap in the USA (carton of 12 tins is around $15USD) vs $4AUD per tin here, so I stock up and buy 2-3 cartons at a time. 36 tins with little pilll-looking things, must look great on x-ray.

Along with that are Tide laundry pods. Liquid pods in containers. Must set of alarm bells too.

Add that with the near industrial quantities of my favourite shampoo and conditioner ($20 for 1L vs $25 for 300ml here) and other assorted pantry/laundry items from Amazon/Walmart/CVS (don't get me started on melatonin and other tablets).

Amazingly, never been paged anywhere, but have had the TSA love note without fail every time (and often a closer inspection of Tide pods and Altoids).

i

I always buy underwear in USA, as well as Melatonin, socks, shaving foam etc etc. Prices here in oz are insane.

Might buy another chainsaw on the next trip...

 

[marki]

In late 2014 and early 2015 I was in the process of slowly moving from Darwin to Sydney - on my weekly Friday night QF redeye I checked in all manner of things - framed paintings (albeit in a bicycle box), a desk, a dining table, 5 dining chairs. All were wrapped in odd boxes and packing tape. Never had any trouble (but plenty of strange looks).

I had to laugh when the checkin agent said to me one Friday night 'there's a run on chairs obviously - some bloke checked in a chair last week' to which I responded 'ohhh no that was probably me'.

My crowing achievement was picking the desk up off the belt in Sydney (it was at least 6ft long), carrying it down to the train station, getting off at Wynyard, walking to the bus stop on York St and then negotiating with the bus driver to let me take it on the 610 bus down the M2.

Very creative and saves bags of money!!!!

 

[Denali]

I tend to be a bit addicted to Altoids .......

Guam to Cairns and my husband became addicted to these dried mangos (which I think where from the Philippines), so he bought about 100 packets to bring home.

We declared of course, he was instructed to open the bag and the agent said, "Wow... ok, why so many?". Hubby ripped open a bag and said these are the BEST dried mango I have ever tasted.... try it!, and he held out the bag to the agent. Agent refuses to eat, hubby grabs one and starts chewing, holds out bag again and says "Try it! They are THAT. GOOD! Try it!". Agent laughs and said, "Sir. Do I need to drug test these?" and lets us go.


For Japan, we checked in a huge bag full of about 17 different types of Kit Kats and Hello Kitty gift bags to hand out to friends and coworkers. Agent at declare, "Wow. You must really like your Kit Kats... and Hello Kitty". Hate to add up how much those Kit Kats cost us, there was a lot.

 

[medhead]

Would the wire show up anything unusual in the x-ray machine?

No, i think. It basically had no radioactive in it. But I was interested in decay products for the analysis - when the design radioisotope decays into another radioactive material. I assume that the baggage x-ray detector is windowed onto the specific energy of x-rays used. The energies of the original radiation from the wire was a bit higher than typical x-ray energy.

I guess, in theory, if the object was radioactive it may appear to be less dark on the screen. Image quality should decrease slightly. But probably not noticeable.

Now that you mention it the linear accelerator target might have shown up a bit different, hence the questioning. But then I was only questioned once and I travelled with it twice.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Now that you mention it the linear accelerator target might have shown up a bit different,

I'll see your linear accelerator target and raise it a bow and arrow from PNG........do you reckon I can get in some target practice?

 

[prozac]

I'll see your linear accelerator target and raise it a bow and arrow from PNG........do you reckon I can get in some target practice?

Down the aisle in J or whY?

 

[medhead]

I'll see your linear accelerator target and raise it a bow and arrow from PNG........do you reckon I can get in some target practice?

Down the aisle in J or whY?

Probably in J, the target is about the size of a 50 cent piece.

 

[RooFlyer]

Many years ago I was checking in in Cairo for an Egyptair domestic flight shock: I know, but it was work). The queue was a bit of a shambles and in front of me was a family group of 6 or 8 with heaps of luggage, mostly those multi coloured woven plastic carry-all things, bound up with duct tape, plus appliance cartons of various sizes. At least 15 pieces between them; I settled down for a long wait.

However when they reached the front of the queue, it transpired that it was only moma and papa flying and all the bags were theirs. I could just see the check-in agent saying "Its just the 15 pieces to check-in today is it sir?"

I recall that they all were checked in.

The good old days!

 

[get me outta here]

About 10 years ago, I was in an expensive hotel in Washington DC and decided I had to have a lovely padded mattress topper like the one on my bed. A number of times I called housekeeping to buy one with no answer, but I left a few polite messages. Just as I couldn’t put off check out any longer without hearing back, I got the call.

The Housekeeping manager was so apologetic that he offered to give me one at no cost and I thanked him profusely. I said I’d meet them in the lobby as I was checking out. I had of course envisaged a bound up package that could be checked in. Downstairs, 2 staff members walked up on either side of and dragging a huge cardboard box containing a liberated not bound up mattress cover. I was terribly disappointed, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, my next stop was the DC Australian Embassy. I took it in the box and in a little room just before the security entry a few of us endeavoured to wrangle this thing into a somewhat large but manageable parcel. We had to use a lot of force and one burly guy’s fist pulling hard on the rope shot off and I copped the one and only time in my life I have been punched. I got a very forceful hit in the cheek bone fortunately not breaking anything.

Finally at the airport later that day, I had to explain what was in the now very trussed up package. Not wanting to say a mattress topper, I thought it would be easier to say, a doona and got a blank look; an eiderdown, another blank look; so I tried, 'bedspread' and that was understood and no problem, off it went to get x –rayed for the next 3 flights home.

All the way I thought best case scenario is that this thing is going to come down the luggage chute all unwrapped and filthy, but it made it home still wrapped and clean. I was so happy.

 

[PumaPilot]

I flew fromSydney to London a few years ago and man was carrying a jar of frozen Bull cough. It was stored in liquid nitrogen, as you can imagine, the crew wanted nothing to do with it. It was carried in the over head lockers.

We used to bring the rig workers back from a Danish Rig back to main land and on one rig, every Friday, the rig workers would bring boxes of frozen fish they caught all week. After a hours flight, the smell in the boot of the helicopter was something else.

The strangest thing I flew was 2 tones of plastic explosives to a Norwegian rig in shaped charges.

 

[straitman]

We used to bring the rig workers back from a Danish Rig back to main land and on one rig, every Friday, the rig workers would bring boxes of frozen fish they caught all week. After a hours flight, the smell in the boot of the helicopter was something else.

I brought in a whole Tuna one day. Wrapped in Glad Wrap and then heavy plastic. It only just fitted diagonally across the boot of an S76 with other bags packed around it. (No leakage thankfully)

 

[JessicaTam]

I realise that I have travelled with some unusual luggage (back when I checked luggage).

My sister was living in SEA and she wanted a particular persian rug. So that went into the suitcase for the trip over.

Now at the time the first of the robot vacuum cleaners had come out in the States, and my mother wanted one. So that went into the suitcase for the trip back.

Now my family knows I don't do checked luggage anymore those transport requests have dried up.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

(No leakage thankfully)

Here I was think fish oil is great as a rust inhibitor! If it did leak the boot would be pristine forever..........unusable, but pristine!