Bolt Action Pen and TSA

[Barron]

Just checking to see if anyone else has run into this. Flying home from New Mexico I created a slowdown by having a bolt action pen I had turned in my bag. It’s a Steampunk from Penn State. Before I could continue it was reviewed by at least three TSA staff, including the supervisor.  Eventually I was allowed to board with my pen. Then my sister was stopped in Seattle for a while why they checked out her Tech Pen, another one of Pen State’s bolt action pens. They wanted to try and take it apart, but she convinced them not to. I wasn’t upset, I prefer they err on the side of safety, but I do wonder if other pen turners have had similar experiences .

[wdwerker]

I can see them wanting to take it apart but getting the supervisor involved was a CYA move. Those guys don't have a sense of humor or common sense either.

[thatCharlieDude]

It looks like a "gun" so I'm not surprised. The bronze tube and wooden exterior would show up on x-ray and since they can't see into it I bet it would drive them crazy.  Thanks for the heads up I'll be sure not to travel with one. I'm sorry they gave you a hard time. 

[Barron]

I would not call it a hard time, just took a while to get moving. They have a tough job, so I don’t blame them at all. Just interested to see others experiences.  

[2nd floor]

I travel a lot for work, both internationally and domestically. I have a bolt action I take with (favorite writing pen) and have not had a challenge. I will definately rethink taking it as prefer to sail through.  I am thankful for the security teams and the job they perform and will do nothing to give them any reason to look at me any deeper.

thanks for the heads up.

Steve

[Coop]

But yet I travel with a cigar cutter, which is nothing more than two box cutters in one, and I get right thru. I agree, they do have a tough job and I feel safer due to them. 

[RichardA]

5 hours ago, wdwerker said:

 Those guys don't have a sense of humor or common sense either.

Neither is a requirement, and those that do are soundly rejected.

[wdwerker]

I had a TSA agent in Miami act like she had never seen scuba gear. Hundreds or possibly thousands of divers have to change planes in Miami every day to go diving in the Caribbean. We damn near missed our connecting flight. Next trip we intentionally booked tickets through Houston. 

[Bankstick]

Then there is the story of the little old lady who had her knitting needles confiscated because they looked dangerous.  My father and I were traveling to Los Angeles and had a gas infra red burner in a wood box.  The supervisor thought the venturi could be used as a weapon- small  metal tube.  When I mentioned it was a gas burner, the idiots were convinced that the burner had the gas in it!!!!!  I think some of them like to show that they have authority and just want to show it my making life miserable for travelers.  One thing I have heard over the years from people who travel internationally is that there is no consistency in the security measures.  What passes in one place is a no-no in another.  This holds true a lot in the USA.

[thatCharlieDude]

25 minutes ago, Bankstick said:

Then there is the story of the little old lady who had her knitting needles confiscated because they looked dangerous. 

My MiL had her needlepoint needles trashed at security before as well as a very small pair of folding scissors. 

[thatCharlieDude]

28 minutes ago, Bankstick said:

 One thing I have heard over the years from people who travel internationally is that there is no consistency in the security measures.

There no consistency between the same airports here in the States. We fly to VA, FL  and TX several times a year and the rules changes almost every flight about Surface tablets/laptops and other small devices (Even though the TSA guidelines say they're ok). One trip it's fine to leave the Surface in your bag the next trip it's a no-no. One agent told me if it's not an iPad I need to take it out because the agents are used to seeing iPad shapes so they know what those are and anything else is suspect. 

[wtnhighlander]

A friend of mine from work was searched by TSA, because he had a philips screwdriver tip mixed in with the pocket change he dumped in the examination tray. They confiscated the bit, because it "looked like a bullet".

I have flown only once since Sept. 11, 2001. After having to remove my shoes and belt, and having to un-fasten and turn down the top of my jeans (while still in the line) to prove the button wasn't an explosive device, I decided there is no place I want to go badly enough to put up with that kind of crap again. I can't imagine what my mother (late 70s) deals with, having a titanium hip.

[thatCharlieDude]

1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

I can't imagine what my mother (late 70s) deals with, having a titanium hip.

My wife has a metal knee and TSA is pretty cooperative. She tells a TSA agent and they usually direct her to another line where she's xrayed and then they wand her knee and pass her through. Most of the time she's through faster than me and I only have the laptop to worry about. 

[Don Z.]

After what they did to Joe Foss, I gave up all hope.

[wdwerker]

Anyone in security that can't recognize and respect the Medal of Honor isn't qualified to do the job. And a supervisor that can't respect it should be fired !

[Tpt life]

Germany wanted to look through my camera. I assume people must smuggle in lens bodies? The thing is, it was three lenses and one camera body. She only wanted to look through the camera and lens that was attached to it. 

[Immortan D]

9 minutes ago, C Shaffer said:

Germany wanted to look through my camera. I assume people must smuggle in lens bodies? The thing is, it was three lenses and one camera body. She only wanted to look through the camera and lens that was attached to it. 

There's a lot of empty space in a reflex camera body to allow the mirror to lift up. I guess that's the main reason some people do not like mirrorless cameras

[thatCharlieDude]

Lens cases make great pouches for misc gear. 

[wtnhighlander]

9 hours ago, Don Z. said:

After what they did to Joe Foss, I gave up all hope.

Business like that is evidence that the terrorists have won. 

[Marmotjr]

12 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

A friend of mine from work was searched by TSA, because he had a philips screwdriver tip mixed in with the pocket change he dumped in the examination tray. They confiscated the bit, because it "looked like a bullet".

 

 

[Bankstick]

Marmotjr, interesting.  99.9% of the people in the US don't know what an automatic weapon is.  Fully automatic weapons are strictly regulated by the BATFE.  One goes through a strict background check and required to pay a $200 fee for EACH one.  Fully automatic means it fires as long as the ammunition holds out.  It gripes me to see the media talk about automatic weapons when the are really semi-automatic, requiring the trigger to be pulled for each shot.  Look at the attached to see what I'm talking about.  Can ignorance be contagious?

 

[Immortan D]

32 minutes ago, Bankstick said:

He's right. No animals were harmed at the store. Or the soylent factories.

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Bankstick said:

really semi-automatic

Yeah but the confusion spreads negative emotion and negative emotion causes people to react way more than positive emotion and they rely on that reaction to make money and drive people to the polls to push their agenda. Though it doesn't matter the headline the news agency or the party involved the tactics are the same. There is a reason why news is called media and not information. Bah i'm terribly cynical when it comes to news agencies.