i had a carry on bag for about 20 yrs. [ it finally got beyond repair]. it accumulated a lot of stuff during that time. 2 or 3 yrs ago , going thru heathrow to ireland from us, i spent about 15 minutes while the bag was searched . finally they found a tire guage which i didn't think of when i was asked if i had a pointer. [gauge was put in bag for car trips]. i'm starting over w/new bag w/o guage. heathrow & gatwick security has been a step or 2 tighter than other european airports imho, but the guage was caught only that 1 time. i'm not flying til 10/22 [dfw-lhr-cpt-cruise-lpa-mad-dfw] we will be very careful w/luggage. this probably doesn't apply to the topic, but i thought of it & figured i'd up my post count.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 09-30-2001).]