Thanks, Global_Hi_Flyer! I fly out of LAX and IND a lot and I often encounter the 'poorly trained, hardline screeners,' and so I was quite concerned. It is my favorite pen, and I had heard about people losing certain types of pens before.

I guess that we will see how this goes.

It would be a sad day if the TSA started regularly confiscating the one thing that is mightier than the sword.

Edited to add: As I stepped outside after my post, I got a funny scenario in my head.

TSA: "You are going to have to surrender that pen."
Me: "It is a sad day when you are confiscating the one thing mighter than the sword."
TSA: "She said sword! Get her!" *officers tackle me*

Oh stop it, there is no chemical reaction. It is simple physics, as the dry ice sublimates in a confined space the pct of oxygen drops. Nothing is being 'removed' nor is there a reaction.

In a ventilated environment (an aircraft cabin) reasonable amounts of dry ice are a non issue.

OK, I stand corrected on "sublimation". I was hoping to avoid the details for the squeamish.
Quote from my linked article in previous post: (Substitute "passenger" for Patient, but we have to be "patient" to be passengers ) http://www.emedmag.com/html/pre/tox/0500.asp

"Patients exposed to high levels of CO2 in the environment, on the other hand, may experience immediate hypoxia or anoxia in response to the displacement of ambient oxygen. At any given temperature and pressure, a liter of air can contain only a certain number of particles. In this case, the sublimation of dry ice to CO2 gas displaced the other components of ambient air, the most important of which was oxygen.

The displacement of breathable oxygen by another gas produces asphyxiation, impaired pulmonary gas exchange culminating in hypoxemia. Asphyxiation may be caused by a physical mechanism, such as choking, or by the reduction of the oxygen content in breathable air. "

That really has nothing to do with it. You claim that CO2 'oxidizes' in the air and removes oxygen which is flat out incorrect. It doesn't matter how the CO2 gets in the atmosphere, you stated that it 'removed' oxygen via some sort of reaction kinetic. It is a simple 'dilution', not a reaction.

Fine. Wording replaced.

I am one of those nervous nellies and have questions that I have not seen addressed here. Maybe some of you have traveled the AMS-IAD-CVG route recently? I'd like to know what to expect as far as getting through security. How long does it take to re-check your bags and get through security?Do they follow one set of rules for AMS and another for IAD? Do they let you carry-on some things that IAD prohibits?
I am traveling with medication from NL and the contents are labeled in Dutch. I do have my name on everything, and a letter from my Dr. in English as well as a medication passport in Dutch from the pharmacy here. How do others deal with documentation from another country? It's not like I can re-print the original mfg label on the vial. I also have a small machine that tests my blood for thickness since I am on blood thinners. I have a letter for that and really need to carry that in my carry-on as well. Does anyone know if that will be a problem? I don't want others to be stuck behind me because I was not prepared and held everyone up. I will be in the states for 3 mo. and have enough medication to last that long. I don't want to pack it in my checked baggage for fear it would get stolen. Do I have to declare my medications to customs including what is in pill form being they are not a gel coated tablet? I haven't ever had to before but with rules changing, I want to make certain. I feel like I have multiple challenges ahead of me. Cremation remains and all my meds plus the blood machine in my carry-on. I can't afford to check any of them. I feel I won't have any probelms at AMS but I am pretty worried about IAD. I sure hope someone has flown this recently and can share their experiences with me. I also read a thread concerning check-in about going downstairs at IAD to because it is quicker. Can someone elaborate on this? Downstairs where exactly? Also a link to Bart's instruction list as to what to say/do in case you are questioned about your carry-on. I know this is long, but thanks in advance for addressing this.

I'm just back from a quick EWR-LAS trip with just a small carry on bag. I dutifully packed my 'liquids' in the required clear zip lock bag, and when I arrived at the security checkpoint in both LAS & EWR, I took the plastic bag out of my carry on and placed it in the available grey box along with my coat, shoes etc. Looking around, I noticed I was the only one on a very long line of people going thru security to do this??? While they kept making announcements of the necessity for placing the small containers of liquids into a plastic bag, I didn't see anyone else taking this bag out of their belongings. Was I supposed to just leave it in my packed bag--as the others clearly must have? My bag, nor others before & after me, were stopped and I had no problem getting thru security, but was wondering about this issue.

I've found that I move quicker if I do it than others when there is a question but agree there is ambiquity as to the requirement. At DFW, they were telling folks they "had" to put the bag separate (actually they said to use a container just for the baggie I know I didn't do that and the guy on the belt was contradicting the one out front and saying it wasn't necessary. The bs rolls on.

BluMing, I'll defer to Bart and others about the details of what is allowed, especially regarding cremains.

As a physician, I'll comment that the self-testing machine you describe for checking bloodthinning is not commonly used in the US (more common in the UK and apparently on the Continent) so theTSA may be unfamiliar with such equipment; your doctor's explanatory letter is a good idea to help with this. I think it would be best if you carried the machine and all your medications on-board with you; the machinery is delicate and could be damaged in baggage handling, while the medications may be slightly different from their US counterparts, so it is preferable to take your own supply. Particularly regarding blood thinning medications, a small change in the content of a pill - as might occur just by changing brand name or manufacturer - could have a big effect on whether your blood is properly thin.

Does anyone (Bart, anyone) know whether women travelling with a breast pump can carryon the empty, sterile/sealed containers to pump the milk into? The containers are 6oz size. They do not come in a 3oz or smaller size.

I'm a nursing mom with a 3 month old, travelling on business without the baby for 4-5 days. I will have to pump at least once during my overseas flight, probably twice. I need to carry on the containers. They are basically part of the pump apparatus. I must pump every 4 hours or risk mastitis - so for my own medical necessity, if stretched to explain.

I cannot find anything about carrying empty containers on the TSA site and my emails to TSA from a week ago are going unanswered.

(I've about given up on the idea of carrying my expressed milk on the plane, and will attempt to check it, frozen in a cooler, on the return flight. I've read and heard about many cases of moms having to dump expressed milk when going through security, I can't risk that.)

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Bart, an article in the Wall Street Journal quotes Hawley on the 3 oz container rule. "It's not the ounces. It's the container we're after." The reasoning he went on to say is that containers larger than 3 oz could pose a threat as a place to mix enough liquid explosives to create a bomb.

Let's say that Billy Bob, Abdul, and I have all put our liquids/gels in the appropriate containers/baggies and have cleared security. We now go to a shop inside the secure area and buy a 20 oz bottle of water which we then take on the plane with us. We are seated in 10A,B,and C. After the aircraft has reached altitude and the bottle of water has been consumed, we then busy ourselves with emptying all of our 3 oz containers into the empty bottle.
Now we have a 20 oz potentially lethal concoction.

My Question; if it really is the "container we're after" why are we letting any type of container larger than 3 oz on the aircraft?

Because it isn't the container. There is no good reason for this rule, so everyone gets to make one up. Doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't matter that it is costly and time wasting and distracts screeners from real potential threats.

That this pronouncement is totally asinine is merely par for the course these days.