I bought shoes with metal in them!

Old Jan 3, 2006, 8:40 am
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I bought shoes with metal in them!

I have 4 great pairs of Allen-Edmonds that have give me no problem in non-shoe carnival airports. They're comfortable, look good, easy to polish and hold up great. Best of all, no metal shanks to set off the WTMD!

I bought a new pair of Docker's dress shoes over the holidays. They look nice, are comfortable, but this morning when passing though the TSA at MKE they set off the WTMD

How could I be so stupid?
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Old Jan 3, 2006, 8:42 am
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Only terrorists have shoes with metal in them. Immediately report yourself to Michael Chertoff.
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Old Jan 3, 2006, 9:02 am
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Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
Only terrorists have shoes with metal in them. Immediately report yourself to Michael Chertoff.


I'm confused - I thought that only terrorists had shoes with soles/heels exceeding one inch in thickness?!?
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Old Jan 3, 2006, 9:55 pm
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Originally Posted by FWAAA


I'm confused - I thought that only terrorists had shoes with soles/heels exceeding one inch in thickness?!?
That plus you cant forget the ACME fuse sticking out of the sole.
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Old Jan 3, 2006, 9:59 pm
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Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
Only terrorists have shoes with metal in them. Immediately report yourself to Michael Chertoff.
How can he report himself to Michael Chertoff? Michael Chertoff has been suspended for a few days.
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Old Jan 8, 2006, 11:13 pm
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Here's a little infor, maybe this will help everyone with the whole shoe thing. We (a few of us dumb screeners), have found that taking a stud finder with you when buying shoes for traveling helps. It will pick up any metal in the sole. Just a FYI.
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Old Jan 8, 2006, 11:23 pm
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Originally Posted by MKEbound
I have 4 great pairs of Allen-Edmonds that have give me no problem in non-shoe carnival airports.
There are non-shoe carnival airports?
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Old Jan 9, 2006, 8:32 am
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Originally Posted by mcrt
There are non-shoe carnival airports?
Until the time noted in my OP, I have never removed my shoes at MKE.

I'm one of those "weird" Flyertalkers who feel that since the SOP clearly states that you don't need to remove your shoes, lines would flow a lot faster if you didn't!

YMMV, but I would estimate that 40% of airports don't have the shoe carnival. Out of the 60% who do, about half will just do the shoe swab (happend to me in LAN on Friday) and about half will do a full SSSS for not taking off you shoes.
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Old Jan 9, 2006, 8:52 am
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Originally Posted by bambi47
Here's a little infor, maybe this will help everyone with the whole shoe thing. We (a few of us dumb screeners), have found that taking a stud finder with you when buying shoes for traveling helps. It will pick up any metal in the sole. Just a FYI.
Gives me a new idea. If you give enough money you can get to be the Official Widget Vendor of the Olympics. Enough bucks can buy your name in front of a Bowl Game. OTOH, cash strapped governments sell advertising on bus sides to make a little extra income.

TSA should get on the Shoe Wagon. Just like we have Registerred Travellers and TSA approved locks, why not TSA Approved Shoes? The Trusted Shoe program.

Sell the right to label metal free footware. Heck why not a clothing line too?

"This Shoe is TSA Approved Footware. Guaranteed to not alarm the WTMD 99% of the time. (The other 1% of the time you're going to be SSSSed anyway, we gotcha when we want to, we're TSA). TSA, your Trusted Shoe Authority."
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Old Jan 9, 2006, 9:28 pm
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Originally Posted by Flaflyer
Gives me a new idea. If you give enough money you can get to be the Official Widget Vendor of the Olympics. Enough bucks can buy your name in front of a Bowl Game. OTOH, cash strapped governments sell advertising on bus sides to make a little extra income.

TSA should get on the Shoe Wagon. Just like we have Registerred Travellers and TSA approved locks, why not TSA Approved Shoes? The Trusted Shoe program.

Sell the right to label metal free footware. Heck why not a clothing line too?

"This Shoe is TSA Approved Footware. Guaranteed to not alarm the WTMD 99% of the time. (The other 1% of the time you're going to be SSSSed anyway, we gotcha when we want to, we're TSA). TSA, your Trusted Shoe Authority."
Actually Buster Brown puts out a line of airport friendly shoes. As for sneakers, stay away from Rockports if your traveling. They have metal supports in the sole. I was trying to be helpful.
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Old Jan 9, 2006, 9:41 pm
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Originally Posted by bambi47
Actually Buster Brown puts out a line of airport friendly shoes.
There are some other brands too, including Florsheim, Nunn Bush (Chertoff must love that name), and Johnson & Murphy. I've seen some others in shoe stores, the tag has a little airplane on it and says airport friendly. There are also "airport friendly bras". (seriously!)

Originally Posted by bambi47
that taking a stud finder with you when buying shoes for traveling helps.
Where do we find a stud finder? Do we look in the GLBT or the in the Women Travellers forum?
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Old Jan 10, 2006, 11:29 am
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Originally Posted by bambi47
I was trying to be helpful.
And you are. I am going to run my stud finder over my normal travel clothes and carry on to find the Hot Spots.

I have some super comfortable New Balance shoes with no metal in them, never trips the WTMD. Unfortunately as best I can measure the heels are 1 and 1/16 inch off, 15/16 inch with my weight on them. Right at the 1 inch to be spotted by the Calibrated Eyeballs of Eagle Eyed TSAers. Some places let me wear them when I promise they will not trip the WTMD, some kinda imply they are over 1 inch and You Know What Will Happen if You Don't Take Them Off, even if they don't trip. If time is tight I'll take em off. If I have plenty of time, so what. Watching a Highly Trained Highly Paid Government Employee sniff my shoes is more amusing than watching Dr. Phil reruns in the Budweiser Brewhouse. Do I feel safer knowing that a Real Bad Guy might be sneaking thru while they sniff my non threatening shoes? No, but that's why it's called a Carnival.
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Old Jan 15, 2006, 11:03 am
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I've had Dexter shoes that were a couple of years old and never set off the WTMD but they finally wore out. I bought a new pair, similar style, and they were fine thru MLB but they set off the WTMD at BHM. The TSA agent at MLB said it was "close" whatever that means when I told him I had new shoes and wanted to see if they set off the alarm.

I've googled "Airport Friendly" shoes and I got back dozens of articles that say that there aren't too many airport friendly shoes for women. Can anyone recommend a good stylish shoe for women that are airport friendly? I like to wear a soft slip on shoe similar to this: http://www.shoeline.com/asp/dcpItem.asp?style=IT8400-5. (By the way, that's the shoe that won't go thru BHM). I don't have a stud finder and don't really want to go buy one just to buy shoes for my travels, but that might be cheaper than spending $60 to find out they have metal in them.
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Old Jan 15, 2006, 2:49 pm
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Originally Posted by bambi47
Actually Buster Brown puts out a line of airport friendly shoes. As for sneakers, stay away from Rockports if your traveling. They have metal supports in the sole. I was trying to be helpful.
There is no such thing as an airport friendly shoe at shoe carnival airports.
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Old Jan 15, 2006, 4:42 pm
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Originally Posted by MKEbound (Post #1)
I have 4 great pairs of Allen-Edmonds that have give me no problem in non-shoe carnival airports.
Originally Posted by bambi47 (Post #6)
[T]aking a stud finder with you when buying shoes for traveling helps. It will pick up any metal in the sole.
Good tip! This would seem to be a critical item for truly frequent flyers these days.
Originally Posted by bambi47 (Post #10)
Buster Brown puts out a line of airport friendly shoes. As for sneakers, stay away from Rockports if you['re] traveling. They have metal supports in the sole.
Originally Posted by Gargoyle (Post #11)
There are some other brands too, including Florsheim, Nunn Bush . . . , and Johnson & Murphy. I've seen some others in shoe stores, the tag has a little airplane on it and says airport friendly. There are also "airport friendly bras". (seriously!)
Someone should compile a list.

Does anyone have any insight into procuring airport-friendly belts?
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