kaukau, maybe you should let Bart answer TSA questions, as mine are directed toward him....I say this because all you have to do is check http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/special_needs_memo.pdf to discover that Bart is right, according to TSA.gov.

Bart- my apologies for not doing a comprehensive enough search before asking you to spend your valuable time answering my query. Once again, THANK YOU for answering my many questions! Your assistance is invaluable to me as a traveler!!! One more fantastic resource at FT!

GG

Deleted

Oh I'm totally with you, brah, no worries!

Bart is correct as that is what happens to me when i 'splain to the wtmd keeper that i have a medical condition and can't remove my shoes. after a quick q & a as to why and it's off to secondary but with the exception of sfo (my home aiport), it's simply been a shoe swab and go but sfo, it's the full massage so i just allow for the extra time. but again, Bart's correct so it s/b nothing to worry about

That is great, because a careful reading of the TSA regs today gave me the impression that no removal, no fly, period. I obviously misinterpreted that somehow, and take back the post in question! Sorry! Mahalo!

To answer the question re: refilling small toothpaste tubes... Yes, it is possible if the tube is plastic, but it is rather a pain to do, and fairly time consuming. I only bother to do it with the special toothpaste that my child uses, because it doesn't come in small tubes anymore. For normal toothpaste, I've always just sprung the $.89 for travel-size tubes at Target.

As to the how: with a pastry bag and a fine writing tip. Squeeze the toothpaste into the pastry bag, then squeeze it through the tip into the small tube. The tip needs to be small enough to let air escape past it through the mouth of the tube. You will end up wasting some it -- can't be helped.

I've been a refiller for years now, as I never liked traveling with full-size toiletries. I can usually find very sturdy small empty squeeze bottles at beauty supply stores for about $.70/ea.

Oh no it isn't.

Absolutely; positively.

This is all like a hospital gown. Cover the front, leave the a** hanging out the back.

For toothpaste, I give you several options to ponder:

One, since I just got back from Target to confirm, the standard travel sizes of Crest and Colgate are 0.79-0.85 oz and sell for under a buck. However, there are some Aquafresh travel sizes in 1.3 oz for under 99 cents as well. All are legal.

Two, I switched over to the Crest or Colgate liquid gel toothpaste a while back, simply because they lay flat in my shower kit. Unfortunately, the smallest size of those is 4.6 oz, so to big by a bit to not get noticed. However, you should be able to drain that kind of toothpaste into a smaller bottle to take with you. I do this with shampoo and hair gel.

By the way, if you don't lable your bottles, make sure you pick bottles of different size or liquids of different colors. Brushing your teeth with hair gel would really suck.

Three, put the toothpaste inside your bag and hope it isn't spotted.

Four, put the toothpaste in your pocket. I haven't heard of TSA agents asking people what is in their pockets or anything, but I don't recommend walking through with an 8-oz tube in your shorts, although that would be funny. "Is that an economy-sized tube of Crest Whitening in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"

Five, check it. It's funny when Comrade Hawley seems to still recommend checking all bags "so you can breeze through security". Yeah, I'll make you work a little bit at the checkpoint to save me the extra 15 minutes on departure and 15-45 minutes on arrival waiting on a bag.

In theory it is.

"theory" .... the stuff TSA depends on

Bart is yet again correct and this is from the tsa website (which i carry with me). scroll down and bolding is not mine but on the website: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...eds/index.shtm

People with disabilities, those with prosthetic devices, and those with medical conditions do not have to remove their shoes during this heightened security level nor has this been the case during routine travel times. Those who keep their shoes on will be subjected to additional screening that includes a visual or physical and explosive trace detection sampling of their footwear.

Bump.

The TSA site keeps calling those 3 ounce or under bottles "toiletries".

Does the definition of "toiletry" include what women normally call "makeup"? I need to know before I get in trouble.

I am tempted to put four 50 ml/1.5 ounce bottles of scotch and nothing else in "My Ziploc"�. If TSA asks what they are, I can honestly say "women's makeup." If they question this, I can try to say with a straight face " Because after four of those, the woman at the end of the bar looks a whole lot better."

That's a lot of effort to get a laugh out of Mr/Ms "Me check bag, you take off shoes!"

Me take'em off slippahs!

Hi, Spiff!!!