Noticed some minor updates here.

Of interest to our audience - on the "allowed" list:


Tools (seven inches or less in length)
Screwdrivers (seven inches or less in length)
Wrenches and Pliers (seven inches or less in length)
Scissors - metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than four inches
Eyeglass Repair Tools - including screwdrivers.

For what it's worth, my airport carry kit now features the following goodies, all of which make the cut, if you get my drift.

1 pair of shorty scissors (4" total, pointy)
1 Swisstool Mini-Tool Thingy
1 Pair of Medic Shears
1 Pair of nail clippers
1 6" crescent wrench

I carry an empty1 liter water bottle with me, and fill is past security.

Additional airport kit items you'll like having:

1. Burt's Bees Brand Bar Soap. It's a shampoo! It's a Shaving Creme! It's a Body Soap! - one bar of soap covers many bases - and it keeps the liquids in your kit to a minimum.

2. A small towel. The joke in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was "always have a towel" and it's actually great advice.

3. Money. Don't leave home without it.

That's all for now. I'm off to Chicago for a 1/2 hour meeting Thursday (really) and I'll let you all know how things are at the frontlines of the whole security process.

Tell me more about Burt Bee's Bar Soap. Which version is supposed to be shampoo/shaving cream/regular soap? This sounds like something that would be a good idea to keep in the BOB as a backup.

Craig.

Could someone decode this and tell me if it means I can bring a Leatherman? I'm assuming my CRKT 3" folding knife is still verboten. -Gary

Most Leatherman multi-tools have a knife that disqualifies them. For those that would like to carry a multi-tool, Leatherman has recently come up with the Knifeless Fuse.

Unless you've removed the knife blade & probably the wood saw blade the Leatherman needs to stay with the CRKT <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I figure we'll be able to buy one lightly used and only siezed once within a month of them hitting the street from the TSA auctions. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Remember, you are still at the mercy of people who got turned down by real law enforcement and (para)military agencies. .

Maybe I missed something - why not take what you want and check your luggage?

I've never used it myself, but I asked Mr. Google about it, and he said this about just one of Bert's soaps. You will find more to choose from on the website...

Airport employees were stealing stuff out of luggage prior to 9/11. Now you can't lock them out of it, I'm sure a lot more disappears. "PROVE IT, Sucker!"

And whether or not they 'go shopping' in your checked luggage, all they have to do is send it to Greenland, and you still don't have it with you.

Cynical Sue

Allowing pointed metal scissors comes as quite a surprise to me.