Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: zxcvbob on February 22, 2015, 04:18:21 PM
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Is this a thing now? I packed a small pocket knife, my favorite safety razor (not my most valuable razor), and a package of DE razor blades in my wife's suitcase (I didn't check any bags.) When we got home, there was a note in her bag that they'd opened it for inspection. Guess what was missing?
I thought they only stole guns, cash, jewelry, and expensive electronics. :facepalm:
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Even in my checked bags, I take pains to hide things like knives. And I don't check anything of any value, other than my knives.
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Altogether the stuff was worth about $20. $25, tops. But I really liked that knife. And I really liked that razor.
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Baggage handlers steal stuff, too. I'm not trying to defend the TSA, but you don't know it was them. I had a pocket knife and some video game stuff stolen out of my bag once. Ir was years ago, before TSA existed.
If it's valuable, carry it with you. Or ship it UPS or FedEx with lots of insurance.
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I was not aware that there was any time period where they refrained from stealing?
TSA approved locks by definition have master keys that can open any TSA approved locks. There's a lot of them floating around. And they're not hard to copy, as a number aren't even keys but rather specifically shaped levers. Most TSA approved locks are little more complicated than children's toys, like the "lock" on a child's journal or piggy bank. They're not sturdy. Removing them by force is trivial. Flying with valuables is not recommended. Yes, they also steal routine items for official or personal use. Just write it off as part of cost of government.
Interestingly, there's only one way to prevent official TSA theft: check a gun. Buy something cheap. Could be a single shot .22 pistol. Declare it. You're allowed to use a hard case and a real lock. TSA employees can and will inspect it upon check in, it will then be tagged and then it's not to be opened until the airline returns it to you. TSA employees might still steal it off the clock, but it won't be by the book and likely would get them actually fired if they were caught.
So, short version, fly with a gun to stop that sort of thing. ;)
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I was not aware that there was any time period where they refrained from stealing?
TSA approved locks by definition have master keys that can open any TSA approved locks. There's a lot of them floating around. And they're not hard to copy, as a number aren't even keys but rather specifically shaped levers. Most TSA approved locks are little more complicated than children's toys, like the "lock" on a child's journal or piggy bank. They're not sturdy. Removing them by force is trivial. Flying with valuables is not recommended. Yes, they also steal routine items for official or personal use. Just write it off as part of cost of government.
Interestingly, there's only one way to prevent official TSA theft: check a gun. Buy something cheap. Could be a single shot .22 pistol. Declare it. You're allowed to use a hard case and a real lock. TSA employees can and will inspect it upon check in, it will then be tagged and then it's not to be opened until the airline returns it to you. TSA employees might still steal it off the clock, but it won't be by the book and likely would get them actually fired if they were caught.
So, short version, fly with a gun to stop that sort of thing. ;)
From what I've understood, it doesn't even have to be a real gun, correct? Airsoft or starter pistol would work to, correct?
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From what I've understood, it doesn't even have to be a real gun, correct? Airsoft or starter pistol would work to, correct?
It'd be legally safer to use a real firearm.
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Every time I've checked a gun, my bag has been one of the first ones showing up on the conveyer. I've actually never had a bag with a gun inspected by TSA. The ticket agent looks at the gun, I lock my bag, then most of the time they airline rep has me hang around the counter in case TSA needs my key. Usually they stick their heads through a door within that time, then come back and tell me I'm good to go.
On the OP, I specifically check bags even if I don't have a gun just so I can travel with a razor and a knife, Leatherman, etc. I've never had an issue. I haven't flown in over a year, so maybe something has changed?
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There was a presentation at Defcon a few years ago (that I'm not finding on YooToob right now), about using the presence of a checked and secured firearm to secure a lot more stuff.
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I lost my good gold colored Gillette safety razor on a trip to Denver last year. I can't prove that it was stolen from my bags but it's the only reasonable explanation.
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There was a presentation at Defcon a few years ago (that I'm not finding on YooToob right now), about using the presence of a checked and secured firearm to secure a lot more stuff.
Was it this guy?
I read his site extensively before I flew with a gun the first time:
http://deviating.net/firearms
Especially good are the traveler accounts:
http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/accounts.html
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Was it this guy?
I read his site extensively before I flew with a gun the first time:
http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/report.html
That's the presentation. Pretty good one too from what I remember, but I was pretty intoxicated... Want me to hunt down the slide show?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2VxXkED4Q (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2VxXkED4Q)
This is what I remember watching.
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Wife just found my little bag of stuff. She'd absentmindedly put it under a pile of her stuff when she unpacked and forgot about it even when I asked. (https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthefiringline.com%2Fforums%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Fredface.gif&hash=5a6cc3a5cf46a5e91c0aed3f938a1e0dac210641)
Ruined a good story, but I got my 1970's Schick Krona and my Buck Toothpick back.
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Well hell, there goes a good ole TSA bashing thread done the tubes. =| =D
bob
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Wife travels 4-5 times a year often with several rolls of jewelry in her bags and we've never had anything stolen.
I've tried to convince her to do the checked firearm deal so she can lock it up.
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Well hell, there goes a good ole TSA bashing thread done the tubes. =| =D
bob
Why would we ever let that stop us? >:D =D
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TSA!! TSA!!! TSA!!
In the very early days at my local ink-blot sized airport the TSA guy was so old and frail he could barely move the luggage around or even move the dividers in the larger suitcases. The bag owners would have to do all of that while he cautiously poked around people's stuff with the eraser end of a pencil.
Later we got the full-crew of misanthropes and losers and the usual equipment to molest us and paw through our stuff.
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Well hell, there goes a good ole TSA bashing thread done the tubes. =| =D
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/tsa-screener-confession-102912.html#.VOshqS7ioUM
Most TSA employees would likely agree with everything said here.
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For what it's worth, Amazon has some decent double edge safety razors cheap. I think I paid around $6 for a twist-open one, and they might have had some screw-type ones even cheaper. It broke when it took a dive off the sink and hit the toilet and trash can on the way down, but I'd gotten around a year of use out of it, so still a lot cheaper than regular disposables.
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I worked the night shift at an airport security checkpoint when I was a senior in high school. I didn't work for the govt, I worked for the airline. (Employed by Wackenhut on contract to Eastern Airlines) We had to wear radiation dosimeters. I guess the TSA took them away because they implied that X-rays might be bad for you ;/
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When I fly, I usually pack in my checked bag a multi-tool of some kind, a locking blade Victorinox Swiss Army knife, and a locking folder, like the RAT-1. All relatively inexpensive, so I won't cry if they disappear. The SAK I put in my toiletries bag. The multi-tool goes in a shoe. The folder goes in another shoe. And I usually stick a pair of socks in the shoe after the knife is put in. My thought is that it's legal, but it's going to make the thief work harder to rip me off.
As for locks, interesting side note. My son was asking about TSA, so I Googled the term. (I couldn't remember if the "S" stood for Safety or Security). Anyways, I cam across an article from Philly talking about problems with TSA behind the scenes, and the large amounts of theft going on from luggage. What struck me is that there have been a tremendous number of complains across the country of TSA cutting off locks from luggage regardless of whether they are TSA compliant or not. Quoted one TSA employee that said it was just easier to cut the lock than unlock it. Nice.
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Baggage handlers steal stuff, too. I'm not trying to defend the TSA, but you don't know it was them. I had a pocket knife and some video game stuff stolen out of my bag once. Ir was years ago, before TSA existed.
If it's valuable, carry it with you. Or ship it UPS or FedEx with lots of insurance.
And that's how they get away with it, too - whoever's actually doing it. They (whoever "they" are) won't permit cameras to be installed in the areas where inspections are done and baggage handled, and since there's no chain-of-custody, Team Sexual Assault and the baggage handlers each get to say, "Nuh-UH, wasn't US! Anyways, you can't prove anything! Talk to the other guys!", and at best, you're looking at an enormously-long time to work through the system and maybe get whatever "they" think you might get back for your loss. Maybe the person(s) responsible gets written up (won't lose his or her job, though), probably not. You might, possibly, get back a quarter what the stolen item was worth, in a couple of years, barring some miracle.
Granted that TSA has been proven to DESERVE being monitored continuously while on the job (I'm reminded particularly of the guy who "lost" an Ipad going through the line, but had the find-me feature turned on; he got a news team to track it to the guy's house, and set off the alarm while they were talking to him on camera at the front door, denying everything. Dude had specially-made pockets to steal stuff like that sewn into his uniforms) - but so have many baggage handlers. Could be either; could even be both. And they'll NEVER permit such monitoring to be instituted.
And just saw the update - glad you didn't lose your stuff after all. I stand by my comments, regardless.
When I fly, I usually pack in my checked bag a multi-tool of some kind, a locking blade Victorinox Swiss Army knife, and a locking folder, like the RAT-1. All relatively inexpensive, so I won't cry if they disappear. The SAK I put in my toiletries bag. The multi-tool goes in a shoe. The folder goes in another shoe. And I usually stick a pair of socks in the shoe after the knife is put in. My thought is that it's legal, but it's going to make the thief work harder to rip me off.
As for locks, interesting side note. My son was asking about TSA, so I Googled the term. (I couldn't remember if the "S" stood for Safety or Security). Anyways, I cam across an article from Philly talking about problems with TSA behind the scenes, and the large amounts of theft going on from luggage. What struck me is that there have been a tremendous number of complains across the country of TSA cutting off locks from luggage regardless of whether they are TSA compliant or not. Quoted one TSA employee that said it was just easier to cut the lock than unlock it. Nice.
The S in TSA stands for neither one in fact, though they allege that it's for "security". And they'd RATHER cut your lock off than actually try to get hold of someone transporting an item in full compliance with the law and airline policies. As you said, it's easier for them, and I honestly think that as an organization, they're OPPOSED to actual security measures on the part of the customer (remember, you're PAYING THEM to assault you and steal your stuff!).
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Well, if you have a specific destination, you can always try Fedex.