I've carried empty RumRunners though with no issues. Yes, empty. Heading home and they served their purpose. www.rumrunnerflask.com

If anyone questions you about it, say it's a medically necessary colostomy bag. Then watch how fast they drop it.

OK, you asked for it... In just a 30 second search on Google, I found:

TSA Thief Red-Handed and Arrested
Investigation into TSA Thefts at JFK
Why go to the drug store for prescriptions when you can work for TSA and steal them instead?
TSA doesn't like catching its own stealing on video and having to show it to the public
Hey, is that a stolen gift card in your pocket, or are you just happy to frisk me?
TSOs have expensive camera habits, and now we know how they can "afford" them
TSOs are Newark need to learn how to better fence stolen laptops
An interesting ABC News article about how TSA is under fire for its screener thefts
TSA sued over Rolex stolen by one of its agents
Whoopsie! One TSO stole over $200K worth of stuff, and now he's caught
Pizza and a punch: TSOs steal and assault a clerk
Here's one who was suspended and charged with stealing cash

TSA screeners and those who work around them are thieves, most of whom are not very well educated.

Thank you for providing me with an opportunity to prove my point about how likely people are to have things stolen by TSA employees if they don't keep a close eye on them while transiting through checkpoints.

So now, I assume that you can point to news stories that show how TSOs have been summarily fired on the spot for taking a penny? Well? I hear the sound of crickets chirping...

I was going through security at Singapore with a nearly full bottle of water. I Just wasn't thinking.

The security man spotted it. He said hes sorry but i cant go through with it. But he emptied it out for me, gave the empty bottle back and pointed me in the direction of the water fountain.

http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/11/response...gulp-over.html

I think we all know that, there just seem to be some inconsistencies. (strange but true!)

Well, this could happen really anywhere though where there is hired servicing staff...NO?

I doubt that it could. Most places that hire staff to provide a service are concerned about their customers' experiences-- they want those to be pleasant, in the hopes of getting repeat business. TSA, on the other hand, has no such motivation... and that difference shows up in the actions of some of their employees and the majority of their employees' attitudes while on the job.

Also, I'm not sure about where anyone else works, but every place I've worked at had strict policies about breaking the law (i.e. stealing, etc.) and breaking any other workplace rules: they resulted in termination. With TSA, that doesn't seem to be the case all too often.

And how many other places have you heard of where employees steal $200,000 worth of items from their customers? Or go and rob convenience stores of their pizza after hours? Or steal gift cards and expensive cameras-- or Rolex watches?

TSA is an organization whose employees cannot be trusted, plane and simple...

I flew out of PWM on Monday, as I was putting my bag through the x-ray I noticed I still had a bit of iced tea in a bottle on my backpack, so I looked for a place to dump it. I couldn't find one, so I downed the rest, and put the bottle back on my bag, after the TSO said "Hold on to that, save yourself some money on water". After security, I did just that, filling up my bottle at the bathroom sink.

At the gate, there was a secondary screening. They waved most people through, but everyone with beverages was pulled aside. I thought it meant a bag search, but all they asked for was my drink. I handed the men in blue my bottle of tap water, only to be told "You have to open it for us." Then they waved a piece of paper over it, applied some chemical to the paper, and finding that I wasn't a terrorist, sent me on to the plane. Sigh. What's the point of this? (Clearly, I know there isn't one, but what does the TSA claim this does?)

Don't ask questions, Komrade, it's secret security stuff.

There is no point to it, of course, other than to harass you and make you think they're doing important work.

I had saved a small (250-ml) bottle from an Olympic Airlines flight from Toronto to Athens in order to fill it from a drinking fountain in Athens airport while waiting for a flight to Corfu. As there was a long delay it came in very handy in the overheated boarding lounge. But before we got on the flight to Corfu, security confiscated the empty bottle because it COULD, POTENTIALLY contain more than 100 ml. I asked if they would at least recycle it, but the security guard--tossing it gleefully into the trash--said, we never do that, we just throw them out. We were so teed off by their rudeness, we now travel to Corfu via Germany in order to avoid Athens airport.

The next time they ask to do this, just open the bottle and dump the water over the floor to spite them. That's what I would have considered doing.

Flying out of PHX this week, my other half's empty reusable metal water bottle was confiscated because "it could be used as a weapon"

That was theft, absolutely. I've traveled through PHX numerous times with empty Lexan or stainless steel water bottles, only once being asked(!) if the stainless 14oz bottle was empty.

Too late for your partner unfortunately, but you could have escalated to a supervisor, claimed availability of water to be a medical necessity for the bottle owner (as it is for all humans, broadly), or asked to "take it back to the car" and tried another checkpoint, if you had time.

PHX has always had its share of bad screeners, but the occasional decent supervisors I've dealt with in the past all seem to be gone. If they try to confiscate my unique, name-engraved "volunteer recognition" stainless bottle I might consider escalating the matter to the PPD, but given the subornation of perjury a PPD officer apparently committed to get PC for Yukari Mitamae's arrest, that might do more harm than good.

Very sorry to hear about your other half's experience. The item may be of low monetary value, but the implications are serious and horrifying.

Sounds like another one of our fine, upstanding TSOs was hiking up Camelback that weekend and forgot to buy a water bottle.

Here's a fun situation I've only seen happen once: TSOs doing a gate check confiscating water bottles. The guy sitting next to me on the flight had been stopped for a search before boarding, and when he got on the plane, he was fuming about his water bottle, that he had just filled up at the fountain after going through security with it empty, being confiscated. Apparently, it contained enough liquid to be a threat to the aircraft (what?!). Anyone else ever seen that happen?