CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

I was always deep scanned and hyper checked but I did expect it. My ticket was usually bought late the day before or that morning and it was one-way. Frequently I was traveling with handguns checked in luggage and the boarding pass usually had a bright red X marked near the bottom. I enjoyed the life for a few years but got tired of airports and flying to some new place in the US.

gwilliams6

Happens ALL the time when I fly with my professional gear. I keep my Think Tank bags unlocked until they get screened by security . Some foreign countries are the worst, try going through Frankford, Germany nowadays. Be sure to give yourself time for the extra screening, and just accept it as part of them being safe for you and others .

I have TSA Pre-Check, and I have Global Pass (which is a great time saver coming home to America from a foreign country, but does nothing for you traveling out from America).

Sometimes with TSA Pre-check I get by with just the machine scanning of my gear bags, but not always, so I am always prepared for further checks.

Hey DFW airport was trying out a new more powerful explosive residue sniffer machine, and my sunscreen and bug spray I had on my skin set it off. What followed in another room was a subsequent strip down search . I remained calm, courteous and cooperative at all times.

Interestingly I almost always wear a Domke camera vest/coat so i can carry more stuff beyond the luggage limits (A fishing jacket works well too, or a travel jacket) . TSA never seems to care too much what is in those pockets if it isn't liquids or a weapon.

FYI, if any of you have any kind of media credentials, most US airlines will allow you an extra carry-on bag for your gear onboard,so you can take more gear. I have had to politely inform some gate agents to this (as early as you can ) ,and when they checked, they found out I was correct and I get to board in the first groups, just after the disabled and folks with kids, and I get to that precious overhead bin space before the crowds.

Cheers and safe travels all.
https://www.facebook.com/GSWilliamsPhotography

profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA

I am 73 and bald. I have an artificial knee and both artificial hips. Ever since the first hip replacement more than 20 years ago, I know to expect to be scanned through the circular x-ray scanner plus usually with a hand scanner. It just is as it is. I try to take off all of the metal I can, and still this happens. I cannot understand how anyone can miss a flight because of TSA scanning unless one is essentially late for the gate already. Just my thoughts.

In the past 10 years w3e have travelled several times to and from Albania through various European connecting airports and to Belize one time. --Richard

Mr Bill 2011 Loc: southern Indiana

I used to enjoy flying, but that was in the 1980's; travel agent would deliver all my boarding passes to my office the day before I left, I would show up at the gate about 15 minutes before the plane left, and I'd usually have a row all to myself. No metal detectors, searches, etc. Those days are gone forever. Seems it's gotten worse every year since then. Today, it's just one hassle after another; no longer fun! By driving, all decisions are mine, where to go, where to stop [at least if I'm traveling alone].

billt1970 Loc: Gambrills, Maryland

Same here, and I AM a grandfather . . .

I carry on a older ThinkTank Airporter roller bag and MindShift Backlight backpack all the time, stuffed with a D750, Z5, DJI Air 2S drone, Sony AX100 camcorder and more. Only once that I can recall has TSA selected me for secondary screening. That was made easier by the fact that I usually open the top of the Airporter and backpack so that they can actually see what is inside as it passes through the x-ray machine.

Different experiences MAY have to do with the airports you fly from/to. I usually fly from BWI or IAD (Dulles) to and from DEN, LAX, SFO, HNL, and LIH.

As someone else said here, be thankful that TSA IS there screening for our safety. And I'm not worried about a little pen knife either.

Best Regards,

BT

Mustanger Loc: Grants Pass, Oregon USA

Bbarn Loc: Ohio

As long as people are happy with the false sense of security, the practices will continue,

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Yes...no biggie! Cheers...

Abo

I've never been stopped from getting on my flight.

Jphenney Loc: Ohio

I used to have the same issue with my camera bag when traveling. Have not had a issue for the last four years since I got TSA Precheck. No it just a simple scan and I'm through. Was traveling every week for work and always took camera gear with me.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Terminal personnel have a surprising number of ways to impact your quality of life. A numbef of years ago, I was in the St. Louis airport on a bad weather day after a long week of meetings and classes. My flight home was significantly delayed. A fellow passenger had been embarrassingly abusive to the gate agent for quite some time. He finally uttered a string of choice words and announced that he was going down the concourse to Continental (I think it was) and get them to get him home. As son as he was around the corner, she was on the phone to the Continental gates saying, "passenger 'x' is coming to your gate. That man is not to leave this airpirt on an airplane today." He did not. He was srill sitting in his chair when the aircraft door closed later that evening and the rest of us departed for DFW.

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Ditto!

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

I always try to be pleasant with the screeners and see if I can get a smile. I have a hip replacement, which means the X-ray scanner and a pat down. I sometimes ask for the female agent to do the pat down. Always gets a smile and a nice blush on the part of the female agent.
Coming back from South Africa last year, they scanned my camera bag three times, then asked me to take out all the items. They said they were looking for a knife like object. One of my camera bodies had a RRS plate that comes with the appropriate sized Allen wrench. They asked me what it was and I made the mistake of saying it was a tool. Uh Oh!! No tools allowed, so I lost my one inch long Allen wrench.
I have TSA pre-check which is fast and the screeners seem to be a bit more relaxed and friendly in most of the airports I’ve travelled through. I just always keep an eye on my camera backpack, though. It flies through the baggage scanner, but often the X-ray scanner that I go through is several lanes distant. If travelling with my wife, she will look after it.

Abo

:-)

The aviation industry is a very tight knit community.

Anyhoo, abusing a woman (who was just the messenger) who is protecting your life is, for want of a better word; obscene... Imho, the ratbag deserved to walk home and the "gate agent" did the right thing alerting the other airlines.

Billynikon2

I typically have a bag with two bodies, 2 or three lenses and a few other items. I carry a small camera in my vest. They take it all out every time. Amazing though, I leave from Atlanta and that is the TSA that misses more guns than any other. But they check those cameras.