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Liquid Container size: 3 Ounce. Why not 3.4 = 100ml?

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Liquid Container size: 3 Ounce. Why not 3.4 = 100ml?

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Old Nov 13, 2007, 4:55 pm
  #16  
 
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My favorite is that TSA doesn't seem to know the difference between weight / mass and volume. To be consistent with the rest of the world 3.4 fluid ounces is the restriction, not 3.4 ounces of weight. Toothpaste in the US is marked by weight while outside the US it's common to be marked in volume.

You might be surprised at how big a 100ml tube of toothpaste is.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 12:45 am
  #17  
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It's far from the TSA's fault that the United States is too stupid to enact the metric system. The 3 ounces thing came about as it's a good round number in the imperial world, but doesn't translate well into the nice metric world of imported French and Italian toiletries.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 6:09 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by xmlsoa
http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/..._guidance.shtm

I remember this lady pack a huge bunch of containers with all her lady like liquids in white plastic bottles some of which were MUCH larger than the more than half empty HUGO BOSS Dark Blue perfume bottle of mine that was thrown into the Trash by this ridiculously adamant TSA person because it was 3.4 ounces.

I was recently perfume shopping for gifts for a lot of people and I realized that most bottles are 50 ml or 100 ml (3.4 ounce).

As a male frequent flyer I typically do not need 10 small bottles of things in the 'Quart' bag that has to be part of my Carry-on luggage. I avoid CHECKING bags on anything less than a 7-10 day trip.

I might carry one perfume or aftershave bottle with me besides the other necessities. Typically, all these could be fit into their so called quart bag.

Why can't we have the TSA realize this 100ml / 3.4oz industry standard for liquids and make the upper limit for single bottles of the size as that?

We have enough members here on FT as well as the ears of some of the Directors of Customer Experience who frequent the boards.

We are not asking for a revamp of the system.. but something that goes with a 'Standard value' v/s an arbitrary 3.0 oz - A size that most good things are not available in.

Thoughts?
in most places the limit is 100ml
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 6:18 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by polonius
in most places the limit is 100ml
...which can be contained in a 1 litre bag. Language and measurements most of the world can understand.
--
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 6:48 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by thegeneral
It's far from the TSA's fault that the United States is too stupid to enact the metric system. The 3 ounces thing came about as it's a good round number in the imperial world, but doesn't translate well into the nice metric world of imported French and Italian toiletries.
A good round number? It's a meaningless number as it has no relationship to safety.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 6:51 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by xmlsoa
I remember this lady pack a huge bunch of containers with all her lady like liquids in white plastic bottles some of which were MUCH larger than the more than half empty HUGO BOSS Dark Blue perfume bottle of mine that was thrown into the Trash by this ridiculously adamant TSA person because it was 3.4 ounces.
The TSAer was wrong. The limit is 3.4oz or 100ml. This has been the limit for quite a while. Unfortunately, the thought of metric units or .4oz makes some TSA folks' heads spin. Next time, point to the size on the label and ask for a supervisor.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 8:30 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by cordata
My favorite is that TSA doesn't seem to know the difference between weight / mass and volume. To be consistent with the rest of the world 3.4 fluid ounces is the restriction, not 3.4 ounces of weight. Toothpaste in the US is marked by weight while outside the US it's common to be marked in volume.

You might be surprised at how big a 100ml tube of toothpaste is.
Tell me about it. I travel with hair product in a small round container. It's marked as weighing 3.5 oz. I'm just waiting for a screener to yell at me for exceeding the limit
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 8:43 am
  #23  
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It is 100 c.c. or ml in most of the world, which is about 3.4 fl. oz.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 8:57 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by auditd0rk
Tell me about it. I travel with hair product in a small round container. It's marked as weighing 3.5 oz. I'm just waiting for a screener to yell at me for exceeding the limit
Actually happened. I was talking to a guy while boarding a DL flight at BWI a few months back and he said his 3.5oz deodorant was confiscated for being over the limit.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 2:54 pm
  #25  
 
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I bought some plain plastic sqeeze bottles at a travel store. The packaging for these stated the 3 different sizes were 1, 2 and 3 oz. respectively, all TSA compliant. I put hair gel in the 3 oz bottle and traveled with it in my quart sized zip lock for many trips. One day, in DSM, an agent objected to this bottle because the volume was not shown anywhere on it. I was forced to forfeit it, even though I told him the whole story. He claimed that TSA required the container to be labeled as to it's volume. I have since found that this is not true. A person could label a container as anything.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 3:06 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by DESMOINESguy
I bought some plain plastic sqeeze bottles at a travel store. The packaging for these stated the 3 different sizes were 1, 2 and 3 oz. respectively, all TSA compliant. I put hair gel in the 3 oz bottle and traveled with it in my quart sized zip lock for many trips. One day, in DSM, an agent objected to this bottle because the volume was not shown anywhere on it. I was forced to forfeit it, even though I told him the whole story. He claimed that TSA required the container to be labeled as to it's volume. I have since found that this is not true. A person could label a container as anything.
You can also get a bottle that says one thing and put anything you like into it, including many harmful liquids. Since the x-ray does nothing to detect such harmful liquids, malevolent people have a vehicle to get such items airside, thanks to the TSA and their stupid policies.
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Old Nov 16, 2007, 12:07 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by Spiff
Math is hard.
And the metric system is a communist plot!
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Old Nov 16, 2007, 12:52 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by DESMOINESguy
He claimed that TSA required the container to be labeled as to it's volume. I have since found that this is not true. A person could label a container as anything.
It is not true. You were (as you now know) lied to. So was I.
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Old Nov 16, 2007, 1:14 pm
  #29  
 
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The stated limit here (a metric country) is 100ml...

I have had NO problem with screeners anywhere in the US with my UNlabelled 100ml containers.

I DID leave some sunscreen and a topical ointment in a pocket of my hand luggage once. They were detected and removed from the bag... I expected to lose them (fair enough.. my screw up - the rules may be dumb but they apply to us all equally) but the screener simply reminded me to put them in the baggie.. admittedly THEY were labelled...

Looks like experiences vary wildly... (as in most things where people are involved!!)
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Old Nov 16, 2007, 1:34 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by Jenbel
- hence the fact that TSA should be standardised to just about every other country in the world.
If they can't write the date chronologically [Day/Month/Year] like every other country in The World how can they be expected to know there is another wider used measurement system.
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