What's a forgotten item a security has found in your bag?

[Quickstatus]

An Apple

Not the iApple but the apple that the beagle found

 

[ThePointyEnd]

In Kyrgyzstan we were travelling with avalanche airbags- these have a tiny bit of explosive along with compressed gas cylinders. Huge debacle getting on board with them, which resulted in us cutting it quite close and an escort to the plane through the airport, security etc.

Anyway, one of my mates turns out to have a full size screwdriver in his bag. But before we can tell them to just chuck it, the airport offical escorting us talks to the screeners and they chuck it back in the bag and let us through.

I assume the conversation was something like “these crazy foreigners are already flying with explosives and gas tanks, if they’re taking down the plane the screwdriver doesn’t matter”

 

[MollyJones]

Brain fart for me some years back.
We had travelled to Bali for a holiday and were stopping to visit friends in Singapore on the way home.
They love Ice Magic and I had taken a bottle with us for them.
Last minute repacking and I put it in the hand luggage.
DPS airline security confiscated it as it was a liquid. I was devastated and much to MrJones’ horror I began to try and convince them it was really a solid not a liquid.
All these years later, he still tells people the story (& I’m still sure they knew exactly what it was and were looking forward to their dessert that night).
Another time, one of my kids went on the Canberra trip common at the end of primary school. The teachers had told all the kids to put their pencil cases in their hand luggage so they could do worksheets etc on the first day.
Almost every kid had a pair of scissors in their pencil case

 

[tdimdad]

kids went on the Canberra trip common at the end of primary school. The teachers had told all the kids to put their pencil cases in their hand luggage so they could do worksheets etc on the first day.
Almost every kid had a pair of scissors in their pencil case

The teachers may not have been flying often themselves...

 

[BudgetFly]

Gatwick last year and had left my Swiss Army knife in my carry on. The guy was fantastic and I said if I get to Italy and can't open a bottle of wine because I don't have a corkscrew then you're in big trouble. He said it was only one of the knives the blade was too long so he offered to break it off for me which he did. I raised a glass to him when I got to Italy

I treasure my Swiss Army Knife which I bought many years ago with points but I'm too afraid to travel with it for fear of confiscation! At DMK recently I was pulled aside for a folding corkscrew thingy ($2 BKK Supermarket) and they measured the corkscrew length and allowed it!

 

[kerfuffle]

A slight tangent to the thread, but I forgot my whole bag after putting it on the conveyor……

I've done this too; gentleman queuing behind me had to find me at the packing away table to tell me I left it behind

Had scissors confiscated once on the way home from Singapore to Sydney (standard stationery scissors).

 

[tdimdad]

I treasure my Swiss Army Knife which I bought many years ago with points but I'm too afraid to travel with it for fear of confiscation! At DMK recently I was pulled aside for a folding corkscrew thingy ($2 BKK Supermarket) and they measured the corkscrew length and allowed it!

I lost a corkscrew in SIN last year. Didn't think twice when I bought it in the city and was travelling HLO. But yes, the Changi rules seem to say 'no corkscrews'...

I've also left a winter jacket behind in SYD T3 security. Luckily it was in the lost&found a few days later.

 

[jb747]

An item that security didn't find...

Rummaging through my luggage in Singapore, and I found a live 243 round. I have no idea how long it had been there, or how many times it had be X-rayed, but it was some months since that bag had been away on a shooting trip.

 

[Kazb61]

My now 30yo daughter still bemoans her. Kiddie safe plastic scissors being confiscated at the airport security 26 years ago! They could barely cut paper

 

[openseat]

A rather large drill bit that was found at T1 in Melbourne security. My bag had been through two other security points (SYD, BNE) up until that point.

 

[Seat0B]

My elastoplas spray on plaster canister.
Passed dom ADL, int MEL, int AKL, but pinged dom MEL!

It's this sort of inconsistency that drives me wild - it's either OK or it's not, and that should be the same everywhere, especially within a country.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I accidentlly left a 15cm knife and half a bottle of water in my bag recently when flying SYD to DFW. However these were NOT found by security!

 

[Seat0B]

I treasure my Swiss Army Knife which I bought many years ago with points but I'm too afraid to travel with it for fear of confiscation! At DMK recently I was pulled aside for a folding corkscrew thingy ($2 BKK Supermarket) and they measured the corkscrew length and allowed it!

I treasure my Swiss Army Knife which I bought many years ago

Back in 1982 when he was just the boyfriend, I bought Mr Seat 0A an extravagant and expensive Swiss Army Knife and paid extra to have his name engraved/embossed into the handle. It has come on every overseas trip we have done since.

A couple of years ago, he forgot that it was in his back pack and was pinged for it in Japan. Being a WP at the time and thus having baggage allowance to burn, he exited the security line, and at their suggestion took it back to check in. They wrapped it in bubble wrap, and put the whole thing in a cardboard box about the size of a wine bottle box, and sent it as checked baggage with the advice that it would be at oversized baggage in SYD .

We were a bit anxious about it, but no real alternative. Anyway, out it came, all present and accounted for in SYD. He has not repeated this mistake.

 

[Seat0B]

An item that security didn't find...

Rummaging through my luggage in Singapore, and I found a live 243 round. I have no idea how long it had been there, or how many times it had be X-rayed, but it was some months since that bag had been away on a shooting trip.

these were NOT found by security!

Some years ago when Seat Son was 15 and stupid with it, we did a trip to the USA. Seat Son was born there while we were on a military posting, so travelled on a US passport, whilst the other three of us were on Australian passports. That caused a LOT of trouble at immigration points on this trip, plus we flew in to JFK and then worked our way back to LAX using a combo of road trip and one way airfares. So all up we were not that surprised when we scored the dreaded SSSS on the BP at Denver.

We were subjected to extremely thorough searching - all our bags put through a scanner, some twice, all bags opened and rummaged through by the TSA staff, personal pat downs for all (very personal indeed), a very long and arduous process, made worse by stress about missing our flight because of the extended time taken (almost a full hour to search the 4 of us) and the extreme heat in the airport compared to outside (it was February and we had been skiing) as we were wearing a lot of layers to keep warm and also to fit within the inflexible baggage limit. Lathered with sweat, all of us emerged from this ordeal gagging for a drink. I started to take orders, when Seat Son said "no thanks mum, I'll just drink my coke" and pulled out a 12 oz can of coke from his back pack - yes the one that had been scanned 3 times (once in regular security and twice in SSSS) and searched by the TSA with no one apparently noticing the can!!!

 

[tdimdad]

It's this sort of inconsistency that drives me wild - it's either OK or it's not, and that should be the same everywhere, especially within a country.

Agreed.

What threw me off was an operator in LHR who insisted that I have too much liquids (my cosmetics). I had travelled with pretty much the same setup many times without a hitch. On that very same trip, the collection of tubes and little bottles had already passed SYD and SIN checks but was stopped by a keen Englishman. That's OK, I had plenty. But the LHR provided ziplock bag he offered and forced me to use was clearly smaller than 1L. That bugged me!

Since then I've purchased ziplocks with have the size labelled on the surface. E.g. IKEA bags have '1L / 34oz' printed on them. If an operator in the future questions my load, I try my luck by referring to the label.

 

[Himeno]

It's this sort of inconsistency that drives me wild - it's either OK or it's not, and that should be the same everywhere, especially within a country.

In the old CBR terminal, QF and VA each had different checkpoints.
The QF checkpoint said no umbrella's in carry on. The VA checkpoint didn't care.

 

[Pushka]

And remember that umbrellas are particularly deadly at Adelaide Airport security.

 

[love_the_life]

I have had a couple of odd things. Once at CBR the scanner picked up something - bag sent back and they were having a very good look. I said to the woman (of a certain age as well) at security, the only thing I could think of was a pair of tweezers. She laughed and sent me on my way.
I once forgot a paper knife at MEL but as it was only cheap, happy to lose it.
I did once alert security at CBR I had a toaster in my HLO but that the box didn't fit. It was a gift I was taking to my mother!

 

[BudgetFly]

I was in the Thai Airways J fast lane at BKK 2 weeks ago and my carry on was pulled aside. The lady went straight
to my tobacco and removed my lighter she then operated the lighter to make sure it worked and put it back! I kid you not!
Maybe it's a new TG J service to make sure our lighters are working so we don't get stuck for a smoke...

 

[RooFlyer]

At the time I was doing peak Aus-Canada travelling ( and therefore keenly aware of rules) , I bought half a litre of very expensive maple syrup from the Townships in Quebec and carefully wrapped it in some shirts and placed it carefully in my carry on. It was like liquid gold.

As soon as my carry on hit the x-ray belt, I remembered to my horror what was about to happen and sure enough I got pulled aside and the bottle of syrup produced. Before the guy could tell me why I couldn’t get it back I just to be told him yeah I know, I’m leaving it, enjoy.