Ice Melt Pellets in carry-ons
Feb 9, 2019, 3:43 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,353
Ice Melt Pellets in carry-ons
back story: Seattle is digging out from 5-8” of snow today; Mrs767 informed me on Thurs that she had been unable to find ice melt (calcium chloride pellets), and Amazon was quoting delivery on Tue/Wed
I bought two 9.5-pound plastic jugs of the stuff at a Lowe’s in the DC area and packed them in my Tumi rollaboard for the DCA-JFK-SEA trip home on Fri ... missed the 45-min cutoff for bag check at DCA, but had already figured that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing as I'd have to pink-tag it on the CR9 anyway
needless to say, the TSA agent running the X-ray machine called for a bag check; a second agent took the jugs out, and asked what was in them before re-scanning the roller bag ... she walked over to an office and came back with a couple of guys wearing “Explosives Specialist” vests; one of them put a little hand-held scanner up against one jug for about three minutes, and it apparently did enough of an analysis to satisfy them that the pellets weren’t any sort of dangerous chemical substance (although the other said something that sounded like “the signature looks an awful lot like < unintelligible >“ — which I’d have to presume IS some sort of dangerous chemical substance) ... they went and spoke with a supervisor for a few seconds, then came back to thank me for my patience and sent me on my way
I bought two 9.5-pound plastic jugs of the stuff at a Lowe’s in the DC area and packed them in my Tumi rollaboard for the DCA-JFK-SEA trip home on Fri ... missed the 45-min cutoff for bag check at DCA, but had already figured that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing as I'd have to pink-tag it on the CR9 anyway
needless to say, the TSA agent running the X-ray machine called for a bag check; a second agent took the jugs out, and asked what was in them before re-scanning the roller bag ... she walked over to an office and came back with a couple of guys wearing “Explosives Specialist” vests; one of them put a little hand-held scanner up against one jug for about three minutes, and it apparently did enough of an analysis to satisfy them that the pellets weren’t any sort of dangerous chemical substance (although the other said something that sounded like “the signature looks an awful lot like < unintelligible >“ — which I’d have to presume IS some sort of dangerous chemical substance) ... they went and spoke with a supervisor for a few seconds, then came back to thank me for my patience and sent me on my way
Feb 9, 2019, 3:50 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Either at the shooting range or anywhere good beer can be found...
Posts: 51,027
back story: Seattle is digging out from 5-8” of snow today; Mrs767 informed me on Thurs that she had been unable to find ice melt (calcium chloride pellets), and Amazon was quoting delivery on Tue/Wed
I bought two 9.5-pound plastic jugs of the stuff at a Lowe’s in the DC area and packed them in my Tumi rollaboard for the DCA-JFK-SEA trip home on Fri ... missed the 45-min cutoff for bag check at DCA, but had already figured that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing as I'd have to pink-tag it on the CR9 anyway
needless to say, the TSA agent running the X-ray machine called for a bag check; a second agent took the jugs out, and asked what was in them before re-scanning the roller bag ... she walked over to an office and came back with a couple of guys wearing “Explosives Specialist” vests; one of them put a little hand-held scanner up against one jug for about three minutes, and it apparently did enough of an analysis to satisfy them that the pellets weren’t any sort of dangerous chemical substance (although the other said something that sounded like “the signature looks an awful lot like < unintelligible >“ — which I’d have to presume IS some sort of dangerous chemical substance) ... they went and spoke with a supervisor for a few seconds, then came back to thank me for my patience and sent me on my way
I bought two 9.5-pound plastic jugs of the stuff at a Lowe’s in the DC area and packed them in my Tumi rollaboard for the DCA-JFK-SEA trip home on Fri ... missed the 45-min cutoff for bag check at DCA, but had already figured that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing as I'd have to pink-tag it on the CR9 anyway
needless to say, the TSA agent running the X-ray machine called for a bag check; a second agent took the jugs out, and asked what was in them before re-scanning the roller bag ... she walked over to an office and came back with a couple of guys wearing “Explosives Specialist” vests; one of them put a little hand-held scanner up against one jug for about three minutes, and it apparently did enough of an analysis to satisfy them that the pellets weren’t any sort of dangerous chemical substance (although the other said something that sounded like “the signature looks an awful lot like < unintelligible >“ — which I’d have to presume IS some sort of dangerous chemical substance) ... they went and spoke with a supervisor for a few seconds, then came back to thank me for my patience and sent me on my way
Feb 9, 2019, 4:26 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,072
Interesting.
If I were to bet on the success rate of taking that stuff with you, I would have surely lost money this time.
Pretty sure you were lucky. LOL!
Temp is up to 35 on Sunday... so, stuff may melt anyways.
If I were to bet on the success rate of taking that stuff with you, I would have surely lost money this time.
Pretty sure you were lucky. LOL!
Temp is up to 35 on Sunday... so, stuff may melt anyways.
Feb 9, 2019, 4:31 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,353
I was fully expecting TSA to either confiscate it or make me check the bag ... and even if I’d made the 45-min cutoff, I have to wonder whether the bag would have been pulled for a more intensive inspection and not made the flight at all
Feb 9, 2019, 4:58 pm
#5
In memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PIT
Programs: DM life is over 2MM PM now & NW MillionAir Wyndham Rewards Plat -Hotels.com Silver -Accor Silver
Posts: 15,408
I'm trying to picture you dealing with the explosives specialist!
That said . . . as I posted somewhere else on here, I did see a guy at SEA a coupl'a weeks ago with a polo-type shirt with an official looking large logo that also said: Explosives Specialist. I'm glad to hear that someone actually gave them something to do!
Feb 26, 2019, 9:25 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: gggrrrovvveee (ORD)
Programs: UA Pt, Marriott Ti, Hertz PC
Posts: 6,091
Next time, just have them buy some water softener salt - the solar coarse type. Anywhere from 40-50lbs and each bag costs about $6-7, depending on where you are. Way cheaper than ice melt pellets, more volume (compared to 20lb rock salt bags or 10lb jugs), and more accessible. It's what I've been doing for years without issue. Just don't use too much too frequently and it shouldn't be too much to kill your grass/plants.
