TSA Courtesy Notice

[Manatee Diver]

They let a recently fired GSR positive gun on a plane!!??! /s

I honestly think they are mentally just 8yos and like playing with their Christmas chemistry sets.

I've literally left the range, and went straight to the airport. The only stops were gas and returning the rental car. The hand swab (since I alarm both the cancer scanner and the metal detector) didn't alarm.

 

[tursiops]

I was hunting in the UP of Michigan. My rifle went through TSA. They told me they had to check the gun for GSR. I told them the test would be positive because:

1. It is a gun;
2. It has been recently fired; and,
3. it has not been cleaned.

They insisted. The test came back positive. Nobody cared that they were handling a "dangerous" weapon in an airport.

More than several times during screening, my regulator bag has been inspected even though I have a KTN. Twice the inspector asked if I was a SCUBA diver. Umm, aahhh, yeah!

A note will not help you!

cheers,
m²V2

I suspect there is more to this story, since the weapon has to be handed off when one checks in. GSR is not prohibited.
The KTN does not mean you don't get screened. It just means you don't have to take your laptop out or take your shoes off.

 

[rsingler]

Ah, SB and hijacked threads...
Guess I'll actually have to find that old thread about TSA notices myself.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I would never let the minor annoyance of TSA stop me from flying, you are missing out on a lot...but I would hand carry anything breakable and only check stuff that is more durable.

I would include the owners manual, a picture of the unit assembled and on your back, maybe even one underwater, some extra zip ties to re-close the case if you use zip ties to close it originally, and your contact information.


Of course, your rebreather is insured, right? So the only concern is that you could impact a week of diving due to the broken parts?

 

[markmud]

Has anyone got a notice to TSA that they are particularly proud of?
I'm looking to tape something inside my Pelican case, so TSA doesn't kill my new JJ toy (even tho I'll be carrying the head separately). Actually, the same thing really applies to my carryon when it goes thru x- ray and they want to open it up.

Thanks!

I am sorry for my portion of this jacking.

I am a product of public edjumacation and I work for a public school district in fly-over country.

I did not realize that you were asking for help finding a previous thread that had examples for you to peruse.

Sorry Bud,
m²V2

 

[AfterDark]

Ah, SB and hijacked threads...
Guess I'll actually have to find that old thread about TSA notices myself.

Yeah that's the ticket! A notice! You'll be lucky if they don't cavity search you!
Courtesy and TSA just don't go together.

 

[Bigbella]

Has anyone got a notice to TSA that they are particularly proud of?

I have never attempted to travel abroad with any rebreather components, save for a CCR / OC computer that saw some brief scrutiny, in its suspicious Pelican case..

I did have a nice little heart-to-heart with TSA agents, flying out of SFO, to Seattle, some years ago, on an unrelated matter.

They apparently took issue with a number of syringes that I had had, fastened to a pH meter by rubber bands; and a few 5 ml vials of KCl in my field kit, along with a water-stained, mimeographed explanation as to its intended purpose. It had never posed an issue before.

They chatted with me for about twenty minutes, off to the side, while those lowland gorillas -- for those of you who recall the American Tourister ads of yesteryear -- rummaged through my gear. One fellow, with about the most impenetrable accent that I have ever heard, had thought that I had been mouthing off to him; and then seemed genuinely hurt, when I told him, that I could not understand a word of what he had said.

I did, however, enjoy the Hollis advice on traveling with rebreather components, especially "Tape over any reference to lithium ion battery packs" and "cover any oxygen labels on your tank with duct tape. Stick a plastic flower in your tank, then when they tell you tanks are prohibited, tell them it is a big steel flower vase."

Expect a high colonic . . .

 

[tursiops]

Has anyone got a notice to TSA that they are particularly proud of?
I'm looking to tape something inside my Pelican case, so TSA doesn't kill my new JJ CCR (even tho I'll be carrying the head separately). Actually, the same thing really applies to my carryon when it goes thru x- ray and they want to open it up.

Thanks!

TRAVELING ON AIRLINES WITH A REBREATHER - Hollis Rebreathers
So, you travel with a rebreather do you?

 

[txgoose]

I've literally left the range, and went straight to the airport. The only stops were gas and returning the rental car. The hand swab (since I alarm both the cancer scanner and the metal detector) didn't alarm.

In Vegas once I left a range after some extensive shooting and straight to the airport with a sniffer dog waiting. It walked around me a couple of times, nose to my clothes. I don't remember which agency, but the guard just told me to wait it out. He didn't really seem interested in the dog's interest. I assume he only cared about hits. Felt like a long time but was probably 30 seconds at most (but a lot longer than anyone else I saw it snif), dog moved on.

I would include the owners manual, a picture of the unit assembled and on your back, maybe even one underwater, some extra zip ties to re-close the case if you use zip ties to close it originally, and your contact information.

I strongly suspect that this is the best advice. Granted if I was TSA, I might also assume that you were leading us astray. I still think that an owners manual would be a good start. I cannot imagine any words that OP/rsingler could use to dissuade them yourself. They don't know you and the likelihood of any one of them knowing what a breather is, is pretty slim. Right or wrong, it is their job not to trust you.

 

[greeniguana]

I always carry on my regulators because I always get asked to open their cases.

I have done a good bit of traveling with ham radio gear to far flung places. Radio equipment always causes screeners to go bonkers. I put a copy of my FCC license along with copies of pages of user manuals (that have photos of gear) with radio gear that I check. It helps...... Maybe this approach would also work for a rebreather?