I don't travel very often by air, on average about once a month. Anyway, I've never encountered a problem if you are reasonable... Know the rules an follow them.

After running my bag through a couple of times it keep kicking out... until I realized the quart baggie of liquids I was supposed to send through separately was in my bag. I told the TSA guy I think I know what was triggering the re-scan, told him it was a external part of the bag that I forgot to place separately that contains liquids, and went through security with no problem. No problem, no hassle.

It does [censored] me off when I know this myself, but see it confirmed by the GSA that the screening done by TSA is crap only finds about 25% of the illegal materials.

Typically, the people I see getting hassled by TSA are people who are one stupid about traveling by air or are obnoxious.

From your home airport: Item one, allow time to get through security... this includes you being dumb an forgetting to take a really good knife out of your pocket. Give yourself at least one hour to get through security. Actually this applies to all airports, with some requiring more lead times.

Simply put, you never argue with a figure of authority in the field...This can be TSA, The local deputy, the park service, or the state police, You say, yes sir, no sir, when asked a question. Being nice to the officer can often get you off with a warning. If you want to argue, consult a lawyer later and sue them.

-Tommy