I recently bought a new laptop and a neoprene sleeve to cushion my laptop from the usual bumps and scratches that go with travel.

Not even thinking about it, I just placed the neoprene clad laptop in the tub and started to put it through the machine. The TSA guy working told me to remove the sleeve. I did without arguing or rolling my eyes at the policies for the first time in a long time. Walked through the WTMD and was then told by the TSA guy who told me about the sleeve to take my shoes off. I was already through and was then told to take my shoes off...hmmm...

Anyway, my question is this, if the X-ray machine can see through the aluminum skin and other metal insides of my laptop, would that tricky neoprene have blocked the X rays?

Also do the baggage X-rays we shove our stuff through only have X-ray capability or do they have some sort of sniffer capability to look for explosives? I ask because after I was through the WTMD and then was told to remove my shoes, I must have had a puzzled expression on my face because the TSA guy told me they weren't just looking for metal. So if they are looking for explosives in shoes, I can only surmise that the X-ray machines have built-in sniffers...if they don't then you have to wonder...

Hi snapperhead,

An x-ray machine could have seen through your neoprene sleeve with no trouble. However, the TSA hasn't made sleeves an exception to its rule that computers must travel through the x-ray machine in a plastic bucket with nothing underneath them to pad the bumps along the conveyor belt. This is how people get their computers broken.

The current rule is that you can put items next to a computer, but not on top of it or underneath it, so that rules out your padded sleeve. Black-and-white regulations with no accomodation for reasonable variance are what you should expect from any government bureaucracy, not just the TSA.

The x-ray machine has no explosives detection ability. Supposedly, the x-raying of shoes is so they can detect hollow compartments inside the shoe that might be filled with explosives. Of course, as Spiff has argued thousands of times, the same volume of material could easily go into your rectum, and no one's checking that. So there is exactly zero security value to x-raying shoes, but remember - the TSA is about creating the appearance of security. Security theater is expensive and diverts resources from effective measures, but hey, enjoy the entertainment for what it is.

Ah, now she's an expert.

Did she say anything that was incorrect? (I am not talking about opinions, but rather factual items.)

The easy fix there is to stand right at the top of the conveyor belt, and snag it as soon as it emerges. I've had screeners ask me to move forward a bit, and I just explain I'm waiting for my laptop, and I don't want it out of my sight. They've always let me continue to wait there.

Pretty much what Gladgirl said is true. The policy reads laptops by itself with nothing on top or below it. Some airports may be different about it because some laptops come attached to protective cases now and can't be removed easily at all.

Yes she did.

No it is not. The procedure is no items above and below. It doesn't state items can be put next to the laptop.

I have posted in other threads. We will be piloting a new bin which will secure the laptop in a better way. Can't say anymore, not because it is SSI, the manufacturer requested.

But it doesn't say it either, which is great. At that point, my airport management left it up to the supervisors who all agreed to let us place items next to the laptops so a person doesn't use two bins just to run items and leave on the other side.

Give MDW a try--in three of four trips through security one day last May (long delay, copping a square), my laptop happily passed nestled in my carry-on, through different lines. On the fourth pass, I was instead rudely insulted for attempting the impossible.