I went through Detroit (Smith Terminal) on a secondary inspection (I forgot my license at home -- see my other posts in this forum) and they didn't make me put all my electronics in separate trays. I have a Sony Micro Notebook as does my wife and on our way back through Midway (fedexed Passport in hand), we put our matching notebooks in the same tray and there was no problem.

The problem is that the spot checks are driving people crazy. While no one should be able to smuggle a simulated bomb through, someone screaming: "you're sanctioned because there was an iPOD nano in the same tray as the person's HTC Shift notebook (e.g. the one the size of a paperback" is causing people to lose all common sense.

I think some of this stuff is also the "rule de jour" problem that many government agencies seem to suffer from.

More of a "rule du heure" which really decreases the validity of the TSA rule. But I'm always happy to discuss that with any TSA screener.

at PHL, those barkers always said all electronics out, well, I have
zune
Nintendo ds lite
oral b elite
cellphone
d300 & couple of lenses & battery
chargers
Laptop
portable hard drive

All of these are in one bag and I only took out the laptop and portable harddrive. The reason I took out my portable hard drive, the first time I heard barker yelling for electronics out, I got my portable hard drive on another bag containing my clothes. I took out my laptop only, they ignore the bag which contain my electronics but they do take out the portable harddrives from my other bag and run them again separately.

I have never encountered the requirement of every electrionic item out and in separate bins. The TSA rules require the following to be out , and in bins
- Laptops
- Video cameras that use video cassettes
- Full-size video game consoles
- Full-size DVD players
- CPAP breathing machines

I often travel with between 30+ items in my carry on for work. 2 to 4 digital camera bodies. 6 to 8 lenses with internal electronics. 2 to 4 flash units , 3 to 5 remote flash transmitters, laptop,PSP,iPod, 3 to 4 camera battery chargers, 1 to 4 "AA" battery chargers, laptop, PSP, noise canceling headsets, portable hard drive, 2 1gb thumb drives, 14-16 CF cards, 6+ camera batteries, mobile phone, blackberry , pager (used as an alarm clock), other random crap I need for my job.

I flew through DTW a few weeks back, took my laptop out, nothing else, no one said a word. No secondary screening, nothing.....no problems.

Last year, I actually had a TSO at DCA, IIRC, complain that I hadn't removed my "video camera" from my bag. (It was a DSLR body, no lens mounted.) I tried to explain it wasn't a video camera, and he actually tried to argue: "But all those cameras take video, too, so it's a video camera and has to come out." (And no, very few DSLRs take video--the sensor is only exposed when the mirror flips up and the shutter opens, unlike consumer point-and-shoot cameras.) Another screener stepped over and told him to "leave it alone."

I just checked the TSA website and it does, indeed, require removing "camcorders that take tape cassettes." The distinction is stupid and I'm not going to do it. When I travel with my video camera, I have a ton-and-a-half of other electronics with me and always get a bag check. That's good enough.

I haven't encountered this "rule" lately in my travels. Every once and awhile a rouge screener wants all electronics out, but the only thing I remove on a regular basis is my laptop. While the laptop goes through separate, I still keep it inside a padded casing to keep it protected.

I haven't had the need to clear security at DTW or MKE lately. LAS is always a disaster, regardless of the rule de jour.

Given the vast majority of my travel has been international lately, I've been clearing security at SDF (home airport), ORD, MIA, and DFW lately (plus a few other domestics like TPA, LAS, LAX, etc for the few domestic trips).

My electronics haven't been an issue at airports abroad. Usually laptop just comes out (plus liquid baggie).

Last, with the TSA .. when the rouge screener says all electronics must come out, I just take my laptop out and no one ever says anything when they screen the bag (I usually keep a router, cat5 patch cables, mobile phone, photography equipment, voltage converters, an array of outlet adapters, and other gadgets in there). I do get a bag check on occasion, usually they're trying to ID something non electronic ... my keys and keychain were the reason for the most recent bag check because the way they were positioned.

Somebody at HQ has been watching True Lies way too much.

Or Mission Impossible.

I travel with all my small electronics in a single clear gallon-size ziploc, which I remove from my carry-on backpack and place in a bin, along with any other small items which fit in the same bin. My laptop goes in another bin of its own, and my size-13 shoes and jacket (if wearing) go in a 3rd bin. No problems, and (more importantly) no more secondary screenings of my backpack.

And the TSOs at MSP have on more than one occasion taken the time to thank me for using the gallon-size bag of small electronics.

Drat

So my guess is you don't carry 30+ electronic items that fill a 20" roll-aboard + most of a "personal item" backpack, eh?

At different time or another place, they will yell at you for using 3 bins instead of one bin.

Uh, yeah, that would be correct...not quite that much. It's still a fair amount of electro-stuff, though, just not to the same extent as you, obviously. (Oh, I love your blog, BTW.)
Yeah, how ironic indeed. However, I can report that at my usual airports of GPT and MSP my practice has been pretty much 100% accepted, and my recent trip to LGA was similarly OK.

Okay, I decided to read and remember the posts here and went through security at DTW again today, thinking I was all ready. I got my laptop out of my laptop bag and put it in one bin, alone. I didn't bring DVD b/c I wanted to lighten my load. I kept repeating my new mantra in my mind- "laptop in own bin with no other electronics." However, in my zeal to separate the Laptop and other electronics, I left my ziplock baggie of liquids and my IPOD and BB in my laptop bag. (Did I mention that I was on almost zero hours of sleep?)

So the laptop bag went through with the liquids and my IPOD and BB and the screener caught it right away. I thought I was doing so well having put the laptop in its own bin with nothing else that I forgot the liquids! As for the BB and IPOD, having read that people often leave these in their bags, maybe I subconsciously left them? Not sure. But I have often left my IPOD in my bag.

In any case, Laptop went through fine but my laptop bag had to go through again. They removed the baggie of liquids, sent it through, THEN asked what else I had in the bag. Can't they see what is in there? I'm NOT being facetious or rude, I just wonder if they can make out an IPOD and BB. I had forgotten completely about IPOD and said there was a BB. They then took the laptop bag back and asked me to remove "any electronics". I put the BB and IPOD in a new bin (together) and the baggie had already gone through alone, so my poor laptop bag made yet another trip.

Everyone was nice, this wasn't seen as a "big deal" and I got everything together again. But I am STILL wondering why I am suddenly (in recent weeks) asked to take out the IPOD. I have left this in my laptop case or my roll-on bag many times. Oddly, my camera was in my roll-on carry-on and THAT was never brought up. It stayed there through it all and didn't pose a problem this time.

I've come to the conclusion that every screener is different and I will do my best to separate large electronics (laptops and DVD Players) and always remember to take the baggie out. (This was the 1st time I ever forgot the baggie!)

I'm in CUN now so we'll see how it goes on the way back as I need to clear customs in IAH and go back through the security line. My big question NOW is, can I place my laptop on top of its protective sleeve in the bin? It's just a cloth cover that came with my laptop bag, and I always have put them together before, but today I didn't for fear they'd make me take it out. Plus, I was in the "Puff Puff" line which is what I call the machine that blows air at you as you stand still. There is one in the row of security lines and I usually go to it as for some reason, people avoid it. I can get through faster in that line and don't mind the bodyscan, or whatever it is called.

I SO wish that we had a frequent flyer line at DTW. I've heard that some airports have programs where they're prescreened as FFs and don't have to go through this so often. I don't know how it works but if we had one, I'd certainly sign up!

Drat

Thanks for checking out Flying With Fish
, I appreciate it.

As a result of the blog I'm actually headed to DCA on Thursday to film an on air segment for Good Morning America on passenger personal security in airports.....and how to quickly navigate the TSA screening process. It should air a few days after I film it.

The upside.........I also get to speak with the TSA's public affairs folks in person, which I have not in a while now.