Soft Weights Confiscated by Airline?

[TMHeimer]

[QUOTE=Nemrod;,
Why are you carrying weights on a dam--g airplane anyways?

You take them because you probably don't need more than 13 lbs. if going to the tropics, because you can still manage to keep your baggage(s) under 50 pounds (carry-on under 40 or whatever), and because you don't want to pay to rent weights every day for 5 or more days.

 

[devildoc5]

Like has been noted before, we as an American people have allowed our politicians to get out of hand. We have stood idly by while they have withered away what little writing was left on that "old yellowed piece of paper" (formerly known as The Constitution of the United States of America).

Our politicians have wiped away the 1st Amendment (can't offend anyone or else it's "hate speech" and you are both criminally and civilly responsible), the 2nd Amendment (dont wanna scare the little kids and the Diane Fienstiens of the world), the 4th Amendment (TSA screening = illegal search and seizure anyone?) and the 14th Amendment "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States" (everyone has the same rights unless you are a straight, White male nowadays, then you cant do anything without being called a racist, a sexist, or a homophobe, or anti-immigration, or any other such term that "they" decide to place on you).

The only question left to answer is "What are we as American citizens going to do about it?"

I'll tell you the answer: "Sit on our lazy butts and complain to our neighbors without actually doing anything cause were too scared or lazy."

 

[markmantei]

I had to check in the regulator bag rather than having it as a carry on in Hurghada airport in Egypt because it had an Allen key (Hex key) that I use to remove the INT (Yoke ) adapter from the tank for my DIN reg. I tried to explain to the guy that the tool does not have any sharp edges so it can't be used as a weapon but with no joy !!!!

I had a crescent wrench I brought to add/remove a drysuit hose, that had cleared security in Canada and the US, confiscated in New Zealand on my second transfer. I figured they didn't want me adjusting my seat to steal more leg room from the airline

 

[Frosty]

I had a crescent wrench I brought to add/remove a drysuit hose, that had cleared security in Canada and the US, confiscated in New Zealand on my second transfer. I figured they didn't want me adjusting my seat to steal more leg room from the airline

Nahh bro its cos here in unzud we can build and strip a whole 747 with a bit of number 8 wire and an adjusty.
(imagine the above with a kinda croc dundee accent)

(no I'm not being serious)

 

[DA Aquamaster]

From time to time I will fly with technical diving equipment and canister lights have resulted in a search on all but one trip. My 12 watt light monkey is most fun because the battery canister is sealed and not easy to inspect but so far swabbing has satisfied them. No one has suggested the garrote or mace uses for it yet.

The biggest problem has been a trimix analyzer - they scanned it several times and were gearing up to take it apart when I objected to the damage they were about to do to a really spendy piece of equipment. They scanned it a couple more times and decided it was good to go. The explanation was that something inside it looked like a leatherman. The thing is I've had it apart and there is nothing that could possibly look that way.

-------

We have in effect traded personal liberty - the same personal liberty that generations of Americans have fought and died to preserve - for the appearance of security. What we really have is passenger harrassment put in place to create the appearance that our politicians did something after 9-11.

If you look at countries like Israel you'll see how airport security should be done - with the focus on observation psychological assessment and then more in depth screening of people who look nervous fail the initial screening and fit a profile. But OMG people might get upside if we profiled people so instead we inconvenience everyone and add basically no increased safety.

 

[bigblue_hi]

I get so tired of people talking about how we should have "Israeli style airport security" without having a clue what that is. Israel is a very homogeneous society so profiling is much more practical and effective there. The US, while not perfectly integrated, is pretty darn heterogeneous. We have lots of races, ethnicities, cultures, religions... However you want to break it down. We (used to?) have a civil liberties tradition in this country (I think i saw something about equality on an old faded piece of paper at the National Archives but what do i know) that is incompatible with much of the Israeli profile system.

They only have one major airport - Ben Gurion. It handles about 12 million pax/year. LAX alone handles about 60 million a year. Humble little Honolulu International has them beat at 20 million. If you think scaling up profiling to a national level is practical think again.

Now, let me be clear i am not attacking the Israelis, they have a great system but please do not simply parrot what you've heard elsewhere about "how we should be like El Al".


.....

Back on topic, I don't understand why anyone would bother schlepping weights (snakes?) on a plane. Traveling with a rebreather and DSLR setup is much worse anyway.

 

[tyesai]

We have in effect traded personal liberty - the same personal liberty that generations of Americans have fought and died to preserve - for the appearance of security. What we really have is passenger harrassment put in place to create the appearance that our politicians did something after 9-11.

IMHO it is the conditioning of the American people to accept whatever some oompa loompa in a uniform tells us to do. I mean, if you'll let some pervert jam their hands in your 4 year olds pants and then blindly without research of your own let the proverbial "them" tell you that you need to inject something in your child's body (vaccines with thimerosal, formaldehyde, cells from aborted fetal tissue) without doing in research on what exactly it is, your about two steps away from letting the government talk you into tying your kid to a flagpole to be shot....

Get informed, get mad, and then make them answer to the term public servant. We've largely forgot as a country who works for who.

Oh yeah, why drag around weights anyway?

 

[RockRover]

Last year when I went through Belize International, I swear to you I couldn't have smuggled ANYTHING onto that DC-10 inbound to DFW. The bag check was more concerned with shells being in the luggage than anything else. The bags went through the hole in the wall to the nice guys with the luggage carriers, then from there onto the plane. Going through security the boys at the x-ray and metal detectors liked my Five-Finger "shoes" so much that they didn't even look at the x-ray as my back-pack ran through.

When we arrived at DFW, and went from international to domestic I witnessed business travelers having their wallets riffled through, and my kids were pulled out of line to be swiped. My laptop was pulled, and the TSA boyz and girlz were backing up every other carry-on five times through the x-ray. I was amazed at the difference in "perceived" security. Ahhhhhh....to be back in San Pedro right now.

 

[diver_doug]

I had some hard belt weights pulled once. I stuck a couple in my carry-on as the checked luggage was maxed out weight-wise. They told me that they could be used as a weapon. I guess the rest of the scuba gear in my checked luggage and my laptop could NOT be used as a weapon...

Good to see TSA is doing their job...and in fact they're becoming even more strict to keep us safe. For example, they've realized that a terrorist could threaten passengers with a headbutt so they're now requiring decapitation before boarding the plane. If you wish to avoid being decapitated by the TSA then you will need to have you severed head in your checked-luggage (BUT, in the interest of safety, no severed heads will be allowed in checked luggage if any of the teeth in said head contain porcelain/gold/silver fillings and/or crowns as these are considered dangerous bomb-making materials). It sucks to be decapitated, but you want to be safe right!?!

 

[Searcaigh]

I have never had to pay for weights on any of my overseas trips, they have always been free of charge (UK, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, S. Africa, Maldives, Jordan, Egypt)