New TSA rule starting Dec 31: no locked baggages

[DamedEscrime]

I was wondering about this myself.. Thinking about my armoury equipment. Sure would hate to lose anything.

[drayke]

Guidelines (totally unofficial but good rules of thumb) for dealing with the new TSA at American airports:

1. Allow an additional period of time ahead of your flight check-in to allow for lots of bags being hand checked.
2. If you own a firearm, don't touch your firearm and then pack your bag and certainly don't go target shooting before you pack.
3. Use zip lock bags and put your undies and other things you don't want the tsa guy pawing through. into the bags and when you seal the bag, press all the air out so it vaccum seals.
4. Ask nicely for the TSA guy to wear gloves.
5. Anything you deem valuable, take its picture and keep an inventory of all such packed in your bag. Currently, there are no rules, regulations or procedures for how the TSA will handle complaints of lost, missing, stolen items from bags that have been searched. For that matter, inventory everything. Keep a copy, and might want to post conspiciously (geesh I can't spell) a copy of the inventory so the TSA agent will perhaps make the connection that anything missing will be quickly noticed.
6. If they are going to search your bag, don't go on to your gate, WATCH what they are doing with your bag. They do the searches in plain view so you should be able to watch from a small distance away.
7. If packing breakables, tell the TSA agent that takes your bag there are valuable breakables and ask that when the bag is repacked care is taken to pack the items in the same manner. Watch and if need be, before they close up the bag when done with the search, ask the agent near you to remind the searching agent to pack the breakables with care.
8. Don't pack picture frames, they will alert the guy looking at the xray and cause your bag to go to that wonderful, special attention of the TSA.
9. As already posted, chocolate and cheese also can cause an alert.
10. Don't lock your bag, they will break the lock.
11. Ask them to lock the bag after they are done, and as a backup, provide cable ties and ask them to put them on as well.
12. Don't attempt to touch your bag after the TSA takes control of it and especially after it has been searched.
13. Be nice. Don't assume the TSA agents are low life, lack intelligence, or are dishonest. They are just trying to do a job, nothing is personal and while it may not be a job YOU would do, it is a job that pays their bills, shelters their families and puts food on the table AND contributes taxes rather than draws on social benefits paid for by taxes.
14. Like all front line customer service jobs, people yell and abuse these guys, so, make their day, be extra nice.
15. Worth repeating - photograph your valuables, use ziplock bags to store you stuff in the bag, keep an inventory of all inside the bag and don't lock your bag.

As for me, I now fly as little as possible.

[DHCJr]

Yes, right now in some airports, they are checking the bags out in the lobby area, but that is only because they weren't able to set up the secure areas in back in time. What the plan is, they would put them on the conveyor, which takes it to the back, where it goes through the machine, all automatic. I wish they would hand check it in front of me. I would be willing to take the extra time in line. I have a number of tools, that were not expensive when I bought them, but they are irreplaceable since they are not made any more.

I like the rest of the suggestions, except about the talking to the TSA agents, because of the above.

[edew]

The problem isn't now, of course. It's two or five years down the line. At the moment, everyone working for the TSA is doing it with the additional adrenalin rush of being noble and protecting the safety of Americans. Five or so years later when nothing of note has occurred, those same folks are dead tired of doing the same of routine, having their 0.5% yearly raises (or maybe even a salary drop), searching through people's underwear and stuff. One day, some schmuck of a TSA agent will figure how to make his life a little easier by taking advantage of his position and that no one has complained about lost items. First, it's a panty here, a hairbrush there. Then, it's a CD or mini-disc. Then, going through bags such as ours with cool tools, a plier here or a screwdriver there.

I feel the first thing a government agency should do when attempting to implement some program is to determine how to abuses can occur and how to prevent it. Heck, right now, as NorCal division officer, that's really my main task: how to create a division level governance that can prevent or make difficult fraud, abuses, and other crimes. I'm sitting atop of $XX-K in division money. It's there for my taking if I wish to do so. I can do it boldly and be sure to be caught. Or I can do it sneakily and launder the money through various enterprises and kickbacks, Enron-style (thanks, Ken Lay). I won't, and I'm working on updating our procedures and checks to see to it that it can't happen no matter who's in this office.

Temptation to do the malicious is very strong, even for noble folks like the TSA crew.

[135711]

okay a couple of things:
1. has anyone here been near a plane crash? i was and it was horrible, actually 2. one in new york, i was asleep and the plane came down right over the bay, next morning we had a complete disaster. it was in my opinion sabotage, and security at that time was pretty lax. eveyone died, the school that i worked in was berserk, the firedepartment right nextdoor to me was nuts, i talked with the guys from the fire department about the possibility of sabotage, and they were horrified but they agree.
since security has tightened up folks, there hasn't been one crash. do we get it now? the second crash was while i was in guam, and that was a total disaster. the govenor was out there picking up bodies, do you want that? it was a korean flight and they lost over 200 people.

fencers will need to be inconvenienced and that includes me. we need to grow up, and get used to a few things and it may have a positive impact on other people as well.

maybe fencers could send their equipment ahead in a van and someone could pick it up later on, while fencers just make sure they show up.

another idea would be for host salles to have masks and electrical equipment on the premises, and fencers just show up to fence, but that's really far into the future.

[Catal]

Originally posted by 135711
okay a couple of things:
1. has anyone here been near a plane crash? i was and it was horrible, actually 2. one in new york, i was asleep and the plane came down right over the bay, next morning we had a complete disaster. it was in my opinion sabotage, and security at that time was pretty lax. eveyone died, the school that i worked in was berserk, the firedepartment right nextdoor to me was nuts, i talked with the guys from the fire department about the possibility of sabotage, and they were horrified but they agree.
since security has tightened up folks, there hasn't been one crash. do we get it now? the second crash was while i was in guam, and that was a total disaster. the govenor was out there picking up bodies, do you want that? it was a korean flight and they lost over 200 people.

fencers will need to be inconvenienced and that includes me. we need to grow up, and get used to a few things and it may have a positive impact on other people as well.

maybe fencers could send their equipment ahead in a van and someone could pick it up later on, while fencers just make sure they show up.

another idea would be for host salles to have masks and electrical equipment on the premises, and fencers just show up to fence, but that's really far into the future.

I understand where you're going with the analysis, but if the crashes occured as a result of suspected sabotage, it's still only conjecture; you can't decisively say security would have prevented the tragedies, when the cause is not fully understood.

Why should fencers be particularly inconvenienced, especially if we fly United, given that they are one of our sponsors, and as professionals, any federal security guard is expected to know such things as special programs. There's no excuse for being ignorant as to the details of your job.

[Inquartata]

Uh...there was a crash just last week, actually. A commuter plane, I think there were about 2 dozen killed. There have also been several larger crashes overseas, where security has long been tighter than ours.

However, even if the basic premise were true---no domestic crashes since 9-11----the conclusion still may be completely false, as correlation does not prove causation.

But hey, just think how much our "security" would be augmented if we were all required to leave our homes and cars unlocked from now on, just in case the police need to search them while we aren't around....acceptable sacrifice, right?

[veeco]

When I went from San Jose to San Diego, last week-end, at the bagage claim in San Diego, I noticed someone had put tape on my bag, with the inscription TSA on it. The bag had been closed very well, nothing was missing.

When I opened it, I found a leaflet in it from the TSA that said that they had opened my bag to check for it's contents, yadda yadda...

It was well written and it did say that they were opening only some checked in luggage and not all of them. I guess mine was singled out because it was odd and because I had checked in early, so they had time to look at it.

However, when I left from San Diego, they had set up tables in front of every checkin counter and guys were opening all checked in bags and searching them.

The guy asked me what was in the bag, and I was tempted to tell him, "Well, aren't you here to figure out?" (I had been waiting in line for a while because of this). But I figured that I'd rather not miss my flight for some stupid remark, so I told him it was fencing equipment and he noted with a spark of intelligence in his eyes that the image on the side of the bag should have tipped him off.

They were basically taking a small piece of cloth and running it inside each pocket and then analyzing the piece of cloth I what seemed a very complex machine. They did not touch much in my bag.

They forgot to open one of the pockets of my bag. Luckily for them, it was the pocket where all my damp and stinky clothes were stored.

Anyway, I thought I would just relate what happened to me as far as this new thing is concerned.

I guess having seen both process, I'd much rather they open the bag not at the checkin counter but later, even if I am not there. I hate waiting in line.

[Catal]

I flew out of O'Hare using United. My bag was searched to and from San Diego, but there was no leaflet explaining that the bag had been opened. I knew that bag had been opened only because items had been clearly moved around, and the zipper on the bag had been left open. I had no problems at check-in, all I did was state what was in the bag and that was it.

[Peach]

I flew United from Philadelphia to San Diego via Chicago, and there was nothing done to the bag that I could see. On the way back, whoever was inspecting for United Express (to LA, then United to Philly) had put little plastic locking ties tying together all the zipper pairs on both my bags.

[drayke]

The little peice of cloth you see the TSA guys running across your bag and then placed in a machine are checking for indicators of explosives. The machine analyazes the cloth however if that indicates a hand search or a hand search would be done regardless after the external check, dunno. Do know this, if when xrayed, nothing looks like it could be an explosive (glass or picture frames will false-alert) then unless you are the random 'handcheck anyway' the xray will be all you have to deal with.

[Catal]

No, no, no. Clearly they were looking for dust mites. Have you people no inkling as to the danger of dust mites?!

[Inquartata]

Originally posted by veeco

They forgot to open one of the pockets of my bag. Luckily for them, it was the pocket where all my damp and stinky clothes were stored.

Aha! An idea dawneth!

Let us all place USFA decals and other such identifying features on our bags, and lots and lots of "damp and stinky" fencing clothes inside! The inspectors will soon learn not to open "those bags". Operant conditioning, what?

[Mergs]

Just flew from DC to New Orleans and back. I put zip ties on my bags to secure them. No problem going, but coming back, my fencing bag had different zip ties (I used black, two of the three were white and the other clipped) indicating that it was opened. No note from the TSA declaring it had been searched. Nothing missing, though. Raises concerns, though. Will have to see how the trip to Dallas goes in March.

[sallearmourer]

One of the armourers came up missing a soldering gun. And some of the others notice there stuff as been gone though as well. I had to repair Boris tool kit because it got rip when being checked


Tim

[Catal]

I wonder if these TSA guys duel each other with our stuff when no one is looking.

[Inquartata]

If salles across the country start to get a sudden influx of TSA inspectors in the next few months I guess we'll know...

[magma]

several things:


1. can salles sponsor competitions in their OWN salle, where a supply of arms equipment will be available for fencers, and then fencers won't have to haul as much? - very difficult i know, because we all want to use our own stuff...but

2. the stuff that blows up a plane won't fit into my lipstick case, so, they're sorta looking at the wrong stuff,

3. a locked bag isn't going to keep the thing from blowing up, because they usually check it into the storage stuff and it goes off either on decent or acent and the guy who sent it isn't on the plane with the rest of us.

solutions for fencers:
we have to give these guys time to adjust to a new system, they're just as nervous about checking bags as we are about them fishing around our stuff.

you have to put yourself in their position once in a while, what if you were opening up a bag and it has something it it that looked like it could blow up? you'd freak. I know this for a fact, I had to sit with people who delibertly brought stuff into my office deisgned to look like explosives and THANK YOU NUT, I also sat with guys who put while poweder onto stuff during the bio-scare. I had to sit with them and talk with them, and let them know, under the surface, hey-guy, I see the bag, I see your fake powder, now if you move one inch, I'll stand up and dive into your skull at 1600 micobauds and I don't care, was I a wreck ????
yes, but it's something we have to live with for now until this mess is sorta squared away.