TSA locks
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mike_s
Contributor
Do a google search for them. They are made by Sentry. Search for TSA Lock Sentry and you'll find lots of hits.
(I didn't know you could buy them at Walmart now. .... I knew that Brookstone sold them, but they wanted $20 bucks for two fo them)
(I didn't know you could buy them at Walmart now. .... I knew that Brookstone sold them, but they wanted $20 bucks for two fo them)
mike_s:
no no no no! I got the same ones... expensive. I was at either TG or WM about two months ago and found four for $10. They weren't built as well but, hey, they are only supposed to be a deterant. Besides.. the brookstone ones stick out like a sore thumb... I would prefer the small black ones but I'm too cheap to spend the money.
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
evad,
It would depend on the size of the airport you're at and how many shops, what kind of shops, etc. If it's a large metropolitan airport, maybe so. But you might have already had to check your baggage at the ticket counter and go through security screening before you'll be at the part of the airport to get in to the shops that sell them. It's best to buy them before you go to the airport, or order them off the web.
I'm pretty hacked about our experience with the TSA locks. We started with 6 of the early, flimsier ones a year or more ago, but less than 2 years.
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/searchalert.htm
We have one and only one still operating and in our posession. One the hasp bent so bad during baggage handling, we barely got it unlocked when we got home, and then the hasp snapped just as I was getting it back to be straight again (the wife told me I'd break it when she saw me with the pliers, but hey, the Y chromosome's got to do what the Y chromosome's got to do - it was obviously defective and in need of replacement anyway).
The other 4 have all gone MIA AFTER we turn over our baggage to TSA. They evidently 'forget' to put them back on all the time! I'd buy some of the new sturdier TSA locks, but 80% were just plain MIA, only 20% broke of the 5 we've had that we no longer have. That doesn't indicate sturdier will help a whole lot.
So, I try Zip ties. If you're at an airport where the TSA is doing their thing right behind the ticket agent (like our local regional airport), you can hand the ticket attendant the Zip ties, which get passed to the TSA agent(s) , and I can watch the zip ties get installed after the TSA agent finishes asking me about CO2 cartridges for my BC (I don't use any with that model BC, sir), where's your 'shark knife' (I don't use one, ma'am), etc.
But, if I'm at a large metropolitan airport, they just tell me with my zip ties, well, I can put them on now when I check my bags, which are set in this huge pile of other unchecked luggage behind the ticket counter, but I'm told if TSA cuts them off to look inside, TSA won't replace them. I ask about putting extra Zip ties in the outer luggage pocket and a note, so they can put a new one on if they cut one off, they say good luck, no one's done that before, and you know, everyone is very busy with all the luggage to search.
On Roatan, we were there in April, they had the tables and inspectors for searching your baggage in the line ahead of the ticket counter, so that worked great, I could put on the Zip ties between luggage search and turning in the luggage at check-in.
Has anyone else had similar experience, or am I just at the wrong end of the statistical spectrum here with these things?
Why, oh why, did the TSA ever stop putting their own zip tie things on? Too much unfunded costs, too much time, someone said they don't have to, ???
It would depend on the size of the airport you're at and how many shops, what kind of shops, etc. If it's a large metropolitan airport, maybe so. But you might have already had to check your baggage at the ticket counter and go through security screening before you'll be at the part of the airport to get in to the shops that sell them. It's best to buy them before you go to the airport, or order them off the web.
I'm pretty hacked about our experience with the TSA locks. We started with 6 of the early, flimsier ones a year or more ago, but less than 2 years.
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/searchalert.htm
We have one and only one still operating and in our posession. One the hasp bent so bad during baggage handling, we barely got it unlocked when we got home, and then the hasp snapped just as I was getting it back to be straight again (the wife told me I'd break it when she saw me with the pliers, but hey, the Y chromosome's got to do what the Y chromosome's got to do - it was obviously defective and in need of replacement anyway).
The other 4 have all gone MIA AFTER we turn over our baggage to TSA. They evidently 'forget' to put them back on all the time! I'd buy some of the new sturdier TSA locks, but 80% were just plain MIA, only 20% broke of the 5 we've had that we no longer have. That doesn't indicate sturdier will help a whole lot.
So, I try Zip ties. If you're at an airport where the TSA is doing their thing right behind the ticket agent (like our local regional airport), you can hand the ticket attendant the Zip ties, which get passed to the TSA agent(s) , and I can watch the zip ties get installed after the TSA agent finishes asking me about CO2 cartridges for my BC (I don't use any with that model BC, sir), where's your 'shark knife' (I don't use one, ma'am), etc.
But, if I'm at a large metropolitan airport, they just tell me with my zip ties, well, I can put them on now when I check my bags, which are set in this huge pile of other unchecked luggage behind the ticket counter, but I'm told if TSA cuts them off to look inside, TSA won't replace them. I ask about putting extra Zip ties in the outer luggage pocket and a note, so they can put a new one on if they cut one off, they say good luck, no one's done that before, and you know, everyone is very busy with all the luggage to search.
On Roatan, we were there in April, they had the tables and inspectors for searching your baggage in the line ahead of the ticket counter, so that worked great, I could put on the Zip ties between luggage search and turning in the luggage at check-in.
Has anyone else had similar experience, or am I just at the wrong end of the statistical spectrum here with these things?
Why, oh why, did the TSA ever stop putting their own zip tie things on? Too much unfunded costs, too much time, someone said they don't have to, ???
We just bough 4 "SearchAlert" Prestolock TSA locks from www.tamperseal.com for $34, free shipping.
These ones let you know if your lock was opened while your bags were in transit!
J.
These ones let you know if your lock was opened while your bags were in transit!
J.
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So does the little card the TSA puts in your bag after it's been inspected.jedah:
I'm just glad if they get all my stuff back in the bag. Asking them to re-lock the bag seems beyond comprehension...
RICHinNC
Contributor
TSA stopped putting zip ties on due to costs. You can put your own on if you have a set up where you are standing there. But half the airports i go through my bags are searched in a diff area than where I am. I have put extra ties inside ...easily seen....and half the time TSA does not use them.
It must be nice for some to have a job where you can rifle through others belongings, not put them back in decent order, not have to secure the bag....and then not be responsible for any missing items. Sounds just like a gov job doesnt it???
It must be nice for some to have a job where you can rifle through others belongings, not put them back in decent order, not have to secure the bag....and then not be responsible for any missing items. Sounds just like a gov job doesnt it???
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