studentff

I'd love to see a passenger stand up to TSA on this charade someday. If TSA believes that the solution is an explosive (or weapon or incendiary), then they should refer the passenger to law enforcement for arrest, charges, and trial. If they do not, they should let the item pass.

There should be no middle ground of confiscate the item but let the passenger through. Period.

It would be great for a passenger to take a stand and say "either let it through or arrest me." Of course, depending on the level of power-trip in the cop, the passenger might end up arrested for disorderly conduct or "trespass" (accusing someone with a valid ticket of trespassing in the airport seems silly to me, but it's been done.)

7Continents

This is interesting. I use Clear Care at home, but when traveling I use disposable contacts instead of regular ones. I don't have to put them in a baggie, they are easy to carry and I throw them out at the end of the day. I then don't have the expense of using them year-round, but have the convenience for traveling or when they haven't soaked long enough and I'm ready to go!!

totmode

I am with 7Continents - use disposable ones when I travel both for convenience and not to have to deal with TSA at checkpoint.

RSSrsvp

I have just emailed Ciba Vision who manufacturers Clear Care about this issue we are encountering and asked what they are doing to correct this ridiculous action by the TSA. I recommend that everyone does the same so they can see that a real issue exists with their product.
http://www.cibavision.com/contact-us.shtml

lkkinetic

How about individual 100ml unmarked bottles of hydrogen peroxide? That's the ingredient that is the search trigger, although commercial hydrogen peroxide at 3% concentration is insufficient to be explosive (requires 20-30% concentration).

cordelli

There are people, like myself, who wear 30 day disposables and still use Clear Care every week or two I shouldn't have to change the protocol (and the additional added expense) my Doctor and I have arranged to get on an airplane with a totally harmless cleaning solution.

RSSrsvp

Well I emailed Ciba Vision and here is there reply where IMHO they are passing the buck instead of dealing with the issue:

Thank you for choosing CIBA VISION products and contacting us regarding Clear Care®. Consumer satisfaction with our products is very important, and we welcome the opportunity to assist with your questions.

Clear Care® contains hydrogen peroxide which is on the list of TSA banned solutions; however, contact lens solutions are exempt and should be allowed for carry-on. Unfortunately, some airports and agents are more strict than others, and will not allow the solution to be carried on the plane. And although our Clear Care® travel size is TSA compliant, it is at the discretion of the individual TSA agent to allow the product to pass.

The TSA states that travelers should always declare these items as medically necessary when traveling. Medical items in containers larger than 3.4 ounces must be placed in a bin with no other items and declared to the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) for additional screening. The TSA supervisor may or may not allow the item based on further screening of the traveler and the traveler's property. This information is available on the TSA website. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact the TSA directly.

We trust you find this information helpful and appreciate your support of CIBA VISION products.

Best Regards,
Tammi
Product Consultant
CIBA VISION North America

Affection

That would be ironic since H2O2 is an antiseptic and would make your hands more sterile.

--Jon

____________________________________
My lawsuit against the TSA:
http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/

meisterau

If your eye doc recommends it, get a prescription from him. Then go back and "smile" at the TSA



ps it is not the TSA I hate, just some of their agents

Boggie Dog

The issue with Clear Care is that while in high concentrations Hydrogen Peroxide is dangerous in solutions such as Clear Care there is simply no danger.

TSA testing is so inadequate that they cannot tell high concentration samples from those that pose no risk.

I see this as further evidence of TSA incompetence.

jiejie

There are many of us that have contacts prescriptions that necessitate daily wear lenses (every night removal, cleaning and disinfecting) due to no disposables manufactured for our particular situation. I'm fortunate in that I have done well using a non-peroxide alternative to Clear Care...but for some people, it's the only solution they can work with.

wtigerFF

This is definitely dependent on who you get. Last month, my liquids bag made it through xray just fine but they had questions about things in my carry on bags, hand searched them, and did the explosive check. Everything passed and I was putting all my stuff away when the agent saw my liquids bag with my approved travel size bottle of Clear Care. He insisted that he had to test it and then said I couldn't take it on the plane. I've only been carrying it on for 3 years but ok. So, I left and went to my gate.

A few minutes later, TSA found me at my gate and said I had to be escorted back to security. All my bags had to be rechecked and I had to have a patdown because of my Clear Care bottle. It appears that the hand search and explosives check can't be depended on. When I went back to security, I saw another agent, probably a supervisor, holding my Clear Care bottle. Anyway, everything was removed from my suitcase and they even unzipped the lining to make sure I hadn't hidden anything in there. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever experienced.

If that's what sets off a big search, they're never going to catch anyone who's actually purposely taking something banned on. They wouldn't leave it in the original container if they knew it was banned. After talking with other travelers, I believe that a significant number of other passengers that made it through security also had the same solution. So they managed to prevent 3oz of it from getting through. I guess they needed something to report on.

I was advised to use a different solution when traveling. Can I send them the bill when I get an eye infection? I decided to just wear glasses on my most recent trip.

7Continents

This thread and many others just proves that the idiots have the USA chasing their tails and are garnering the results they seek. We'll either be fighting each other over whether contact lens solution can travel with us, whether TSA agents are checking us or getting cheap thrills, whether a black shawl automatically makes a lady a possible terrorist...the list goes on.
Though not realistic, it would be great if we could all batten down the hatches and take it easy.

jampa

My eye doc was sorta like 'What do you mean they are TAKING solutions that are less than 3 oz?'. Anywho, he sent me some samples of other solutions that he thought might work for me, and advised me to try them for a few days before traveling to see if i had any reaction to them or not.

It sucks when one's prescribed contact solution use is subject to the whim of a blueshirt at an airport checkpoint.

And im pretty serious about trying to steam off the label and see if the unlabeled bottle makes it through in January....

ljwobker

I had my unopened bottle of clear care rejected this morning by TSA at RDU. The agent (who was quite polite) said that I was not allowed to carry on contact solution with "a red cap of any size". She said "the other kinds are OK".

To the extent that it matters:
* This bottle was still in the manufacturer's seal
* the bottle was larger than 3oz.
* the agent didn't run any kind of test on the contents, just rejected it based on appearance.
* I've carried on this exact bottle size/type a number of times before without it being noticed/rejected.
* I've carried smaller (3oz) bottles hundreds of times with no problem.

So my analysis here is:

* at least some TSA personnel have been briefed that "red caps" are a problem.
* screening procedures are wildly inconsistent (as if I needed to say that...)