Baggie Enforcement Slipping?
 

Last week when flying out of BNA (my home airport) I was in great hurry and forgot to take the freedom baggie out of my bag. The screeners never said a word and let me through. I realized it only when I was putting the laptop back in the bag and saw the baggie there.

This week I forgot about it again. To top it off, it turns out that I had a tube of hand cream loose in another carry on bag, which I discovered while on board. Again, not a word was said.

I'd like to think that the TSA agents are just using common sense. Or (dare I hope) are we seeing the begining of the end of the freedom baggie idiocy?

I think in the xray they saw that you indeed had liquids in a baggie so therefore you passed the IQ test. Since you passed the IQ test they didn't need to see what kinds of liquids were in the baggie.

Can you see a baggie on an xray? That seems unlikely. Maybe that the items are all jumbled together, oh, I mean "comfortably" fitting beside eachother implies a baggie?

The liquid harassment policy is another "honor system" directive that inconveniences honest passengers and bothers terrorists not a whit.

The contents of the bottles are largely unknown to the x-ray operator. Unless you are thoughtful enough to take along a bottle of mercury, chances are very good that nothing will get even a second glance. If you would like to fill up 10 3oz containers with absolute (200 proof) alcohol, go right ahead. The x-ray cannot distinguish that and most other liquids.

Bottles themselves aren't very dense and do not show up well under the x-ray. You might see a blob, you might not. Water bottles are larger and if there's a large enough bottle-like shape, the drone running the x-ray might shout "bag check" so that he/she and the other drones on that lane might get a fish for The Big Catch by stealing a water bottle from another soon-to-be-thirsty honest traveler.

I know someone who had 3 AA amenity kits in a carryon recently. Each kit contained 4 bottles of toiletries side-by-side. Not even a re-screen at two different airports, one in the UK and one in the US.

since nobody bothers to read my freedom baggie.. I stopped taking it out of my
backpack... atleast for the last 6-7 security scans.. I was not asked
to take em out. so I dont bother any more.
I carry my water with me too :)

I have yet to be asked to produce my freedom baggie, so it remains in my carry-on bag.

I have noticed how few pax have baggies (and how many still don't realize the requirement). I have watched the people in front and behind at checkpoints and very few pull out a baggie and I don't hear any shouts of "bag check" either. I find it difficult to believe that many women are not carrying some type of liquid/gel in their purse.

In addition, my "knife" and "lighter" have not triggered a bag check in several months. Before it was about every fifth time when one of them was seen. All in all it doesn't appear that these are rising to a high level of concern.

The difficulty is if TSO's are required to look for 100 different objects, they are much more likely to miss the 5 that really matter.

Heck, at EWR and IAH they are not even looking at my BP when I pass through the WTMD (even though they say to keep it out).

I've had a couple of trips where I've placed my large bag on the table and the TSA "bag-pusher/2nd time ID & BP checker" has pushed the bag though before I could remove my quart baggie. It's never caused the X-ray person to call for a bag check.

I would agree that either they are not seeing the small bottles or simple don't care.

I have noticed in certain airports, they are not writing anything on my BP after I "declare" my 4 ozs of medically-necessary eye drops. They just say keep it separate. I think the joke is starting to catch on.

However, in the UK and Ireland, they were extremely vigilant. Really ridiculous.

Last few trips I did not take the Ziploc bag out of my carry-on.
No problem(s).

(Shoe carnivals at CLE, STL, PDX, ORD.)

Comrade Hawley has mandated 100% Shoe Carnivals at all airports becuse he's so stupid that he thinks the x-ray detects explosives and that all would-be shoe bombers make their bombs as sloppily as Richard Reid did.

Not only is his Shoe Carnival policy insulting, it is also decreasing overall security because ETD and ETP, which actually do detect explosives, are now very seldom used.

Terrorists: put your ordnance in your underwear or in your butt, put your shoes on the belt, and come on through. In 3 minutes, you'll have your ordnance airside thanks to Kip Hawley, the lying little idiot with the shoe fetish.

Maybe it's not a shoe fetish, maybe he's "in" with toe fungus people or the blue bootie since the barefoot people did a good job of spreading foot fungus resulting in the now present blue booties at places like ORD.

hee hee, i guess because i don't take off my shoes (haven't since 9/11-orthotics) the system of x-raying everyone's shoes really works. :rolleyes: sheesh and btw, in case you haven't heard, the kipster IS an idiot (ok, i'll go to the penalty box now)

Another reason why I avoid the puffer line at DCA... if I have to take off my shoes, why waste time in the puffer AND have to go through the x-ray as well...

At SFO United terminal yesterday, there was a TSA person telling everybody to take liquids out of their carryone. He was making all sorts of funny jokes... a real comedian... I took my freedom baggie out of my carryon because I'd be kind of annoyed if one day they decided to follow the rules and tossed the baggie. I also saw an older man at the United check in counter. The ticket agent gave him a huge cardboard box, in which he put his toothpaste and deodorant. Then she checked the box for him. :rolleyes:

deleted

Honesty.

I like it! ^

At EWR earlier this week they weren't asking people to take out their Freedom Baggies -- so I didn't. My bag was pulled aside for inspection. They opened it, found the Freedom Baggie, gave it a cursory glance, put it back, and sent me on my way. Total IQ test delay: 10 seconds.

Frankly, I've stopped taking my baggie out of my carry on any more. I have only been asked about it once since I started doing this. I think they realize the whole liquid explosives plot was a lie.

MAD and LGW
 

Sunday evening, MAD -- freedom baggie (make that bolsita libertad, although culturally it just doesn't translate; we don't measure freedom here by the bagful) out and 120 ml (4 ounce) saline solution in hand luggage.

Screeners catch and ask to see saline solution. I take it out and explain what it is.

"Do you need it?"

"Yes, because by the time I get to London, all the pharmacies will be closed and I need the solution to store my contacts tonight. I could squirt a bit in my eyes to show you what it is."

"Go ahead."

(Squirt. Squirt.)

"That's enough. Its supposed to be 100 ml, but go ahead."

LGW Tuesday 6 pm. Freedom baggie ("ye olde freedome baggye") out, saline solution in hand luggage.

Screener stops the moving belt. Calls over another screener. "You see?" he says. "That one's more than three ounces."

Second screener: "Yeah, right."

Turns belt back on, hand luggage comes through and off I go.

Moral of the story: Send the TSA to Europe or Israel for training. They might even catch something dangerous.

This, like everything, varies by airport. :rolleyes:

My theory is that at busier checkpoints, they're more likely to let it slide if you don't take your freedom baggie (or an individual bottle of liquid/gel) out of your bag. Smaller airports don't have as much to do so they're more thorough.

I flew out of LGB recently---no one else in line at TSA---and had forgotten to put a hotel size bottle of lotion in my Ziploc. The screener dutifully did his job and called for a bag check when he saw the lotion. After another screener took it out of my duffel and made sure that it fit in my Ziploc, they let me go.

The idiocy in this whole thing is that a full 20-oz bottle of water in another pocket of my bag made it through the same X-ray and bag check untouched. :)

It was lax from day one. Some asked to rescreen the bag's, others just don't care. Maybe they know how STUPID it really is too. Show's someone is using their brain.

LGB seems to catch everything.

I went through LAS sunday and forgot a bottle of lens cleaner. They also didn't notice a box of liquid medicine--I told the first TSA guy about it but that's as far as the information went, the x-ray guy didn't know.

My approach to all this hooey is passive resistance. I use as many bins as I possibly can (apologies to any I hold up in line --I really do try to be as quick as possible), so I ALWAYS put a Freedom Baggie in a bin. But they likewise ALWAYS miss a few liquids in my bag that didn't make it into the Freedom Baggie.
Security Theater continues.

Try SEA.

A couple of months ago, a lady in front of me had a bottle of water in her purse. The size bottle they give you on a commuter flight.

When the TSAer found it, you'd have thought she found bin Laden herself.

It is tough to get people - even the oft-maligned TSOs - to continue doing something that is so obviously ridiculous.

That said, once in awhile I see a gung-ho TSO saving the world from toothpaste :rolleyes: .

Aside from the fact screeners are in place as part of the flawed "sterile area" concept, if I really wanted to reduce their effectiveness I would subject them to one ridiculous, pointless demand after another until it ground them down into gross indifference.

Is there a greater threat to the security of the air transport system than TSA management? No.