taking laser on plane - different situation this time

If anyone is wondering, the "Spyder I Pro" looks like this:



Disassembled, it looks like this:



I know I could avoid all my troubles by bringing a cheaper (but less powerful) laser, or no laser at all. However, I will be visiting places with a lot of great views, and I definitely couldn't pass up that opportunity!

Another thing I might do is to e-mail the TSA and print out the e-mail, if it's a favorable reply.

Anyways, I'm thinking of writing an FAQ on flying with lasers when I get back. This could help a lot of fellow "laserists."

ixfd64 said:

If anyone is wondering, the "Spyder I Pro" looks like this:



Disassembled, it looks like this:



I know I could avoid all my troubles by bringing a cheaper (but less powerful) laser, or no laser at all. However, I will be visiting places with a lot of great views, and I definitely couldn't pass up that opportunity!

Another thing I might do is to e-mail the TSA and print out the e-mail, if it's a favorable reply.

Anyways, I'm thinking of writing an FAQ on flying with lasers when I get back. This could help a lot of fellow "laserists."

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Trust me you're making way more out of this than it really is. If you really want I can take a picture of what the laser would look like inside of an x-ray....though that may lead to trouble so I might not do that. Just make sure you don't draw attention to the bag that you're going to pack your laser in. By not drawing attention I mean make sure there's nothing check worthy in your back such as a shart object, a big electronic item such as a laptop or dvd player, x-box etc. Trust me you'll be fine. I even brought mine to Hawaii with me when I went this opast July (Although I did bring my Govt. ID with me just incase)

@TJ - I'm a screener for the TSA. I do this stuff every day. One of the things I also did was training my fellow co-workers with the Modular Bomb Set (MBS) kit. So basically I used to build fake bombs in order to help my co-workers build their image recognition skills. Trust me guys a laser looks nothing like an IED.

I have always wondered the asnwer to your question so i will be looking for your answer when you get back

make it look like a dildo so they wont want to ask any questions
hehehe
just messing:]

if your laser has an security key bag that to your luggage and put laser to suitcase wich goes there down so if they search laser they cant power it

Dang, the Flight 253 incident is making me a bit nervous.

However, I think the new restrictions affect mainly international travelers coming into the United States. I could be wrong, though.

ixfd64 said:

Dang, the Flight 253 incident is making me a bit nervous.

However, I think the new restrictions affect mainly international travelers coming into the United States. I could be wrong, though.

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As I've already stated it's not a prohibited item so don't worry. I mean you have someone that works for TSA telling you not to worry about it so I don't know what else to tell you.

hey mfo, why dont you give him your number, this way if there is a complication he can call you, and you can explain to the scanner person.

I know it's not a prohibited item; in fact, I think the TSA is going to focus more on liquids and powders and put less attention onto other things. The thing is that I tend to be nervous when trying certain new things, though.

Anyways, I will still bring my laser unless my parents strong object; it's actually already in my backpack! If you guys don't see anything along the lines of "Man brings futuristic laser weapon to airport" on CNN, it means I made it through.

Mhh... i'd leave it home if I were you. Every piece of luggage will be thoroughly searched for a while, and if I were a customs agent, anything that looks like a torch laser would raise a red flag real fast!
- Robert

silvercookie said:

hey mfo, why dont you give him your number, this way if there is a complication he can call you, and you can explain to the scanner person.

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Well as long as you're going to put it that way, maybe I should keep my mouth shut and not try to help out any more.

Just take it, its not that big of a deal. This question has been asked a few times before and I have never herd of anyone coming back ever having ANY trouble. And to top it off mfo just told you that it SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM and he TRAINS THE TSA-I trust him!


I have flown with all of my lasers and never even had them ask what they were, and I carried them on the plane.

mfo said:

I'm a screener for the TSA. I do this stuff every day. One of the things I also did was training my fellow co-workers with the Modular Bomb Set (MBS) kit. So basically I used to build fake bombs in order to help my co-workers build their image recognition skills. Trust me guys a laser looks nothing like an IED.

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Just wondering (and no offenses intended and no jokes about your work, my question is serious) ..... if i want, i (and any other with my knowledges about chemical and electronics, that are nothing special) can easily build a bomb that have almost no metallic parts, molding the explosive part in shape of the plastic plates as reinforcement for a suitcase, or similars, and using conductive inks and plastics instead wires, and put the detonator inside something innocuous like an mp3 reader, an acoustic helper apparate, or something similar (or also just use a piezoceramic sparkler molded in the handheld of the same suitcase) ..... hell, i can also just sew inside one of my clot a little glass sealed tube filled of nerve gas, if i want to do a kamikaze idiocy ..... how can be these things revealed, from normal check-in controls ? ..... i mean, i don't see a safe way for prevent really any possibility, against idiotic kamikaze terrorists ..... also just constrain all the flyers to go on the plane totally naked, cannot work, for certain destructive solutions .....

The question may seem a bit "weird", but i'm sorta of paranoic, about safety .....

Just to let you know, I got through! However, I did happen to be the lucky recipient of a TSA pat down, although I don't think it had anything to do with the laser. I guess I won't be on CNN after all.

Thanks to everyone who helped, especially mfo.

ixfd64 said:

Just to let you know, I got through! However, I did happen to be the lucky recipient of a TSA pat down, although I don't think it had anything to do with the laser. I guess I won't be on CNN after all.

Thanks to everyone who helped, especially mfo.

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Yeah you can thank that dumb ass muslim who tried blowing up a plane on Christmas for that.

mfo said:

Yeah you can thank that dumb ass muslim who tried blowing up a plane on Christmas for that.

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Not all muslims are terrorist.