Puffer and shoe removal
 

Since the question seems to have been overlooked in the designated thread, I'll bring up what I learned today from a three-striper.

Going through the Puffer no longer exempts you from shoe removal.

I have had this confirmed by TSA as well. To me this is nothing but lowering the security level several notches just to make it easier for the screeners. Now they don't have to be able to measure an inch anymore! :td:

I had that experience too. They said they had to x-ray them too. Why bother with the puffer at all? I don't get it.

So is the thinking that there might be plastic explosives that won't be picked up by the x-ray but will be caught by the puffer, but the x-ray will pick up the massive detonation device in my flip-flops which don't have explosives in them because I've been cleared by the puffer? Am I clear about this?

The puffer isnt just about your shoes. Its about detecting potential trace explosives that you could be carrying on your body. And since I have had the experience of the puffer working like it was designed to (I work for the DoD and work with C4 and other explosives daily during the summer months) I actually feel fairly confident in its ability to detect if you have even been around explosives.

I think what Brattflyer is saying is why use x-rays when there is a better detection machine out there, such as the puffer.

I'm all for using the puffer, it's the first thing put at the checkpoint that enhances security in a very long time (including the TSA).

If there are explosives in or on your shoes, the puffer will detect them.

Shoe removal is completely unnecessary for those who go through the puffer or are ETDed.

Comrade Hawley is a true un-American piece of garbage for making everyone take off their shoes. He's a small-minded little coward who couldn't secure a paper sack.

What happens if you fart while in the puffer machine? I usually hold my gas for the TSA agent when they bend down behind me to wand the back of my slacks, but if I'm in the puffer and let loose a silent but deadly, can I cause a security alarm?

Methane is probably not one of the items the puffer checks for. If you had enough methane gas to cause a real explosion, you'd need to keep it compressed and in a metal canister, which would have alarmed at the WTMD.

What absolute idiocy! :mad:

Do TSA staffers even know what this machine does? It was bad enough having to remove a coat walking through these before, but having to take off shoes renders the TSA's use of this equipment a total waste of money.

Wake the %$#!* up, you idiots!

The bright spot of my day!!!!!! :D ^