Rig sets off detector at airport- hand cream?

[dbattman 0]

Well, I had a close one coming home this morning from VA. Since I bought a ticket Sunday for Monday morning travel (one-way) I get flagged. No biggie it happens all the time. Pass through security and they initially told me I couldn't take my rig through here. I explained it has not been a problem so far and asked for the supervisor. The screener pulls down her sweater and eposes her name tag that says 'Screening Supervisor.' I then asked her to refer to her procedure manual, which she does. They swipe the rig according to the manual and the dang thing gets a positive.

Uh oh. That hasn't happened before. They wanted to open everything up but I managed to get by with just taking the main bag out so they could squeeze it. They did ask me what is potentially hazardous and I explained there is nothing in there- just nylon and a little metal (I conveniently forgot to mention the AAD).

Now, they did tell me that the category of positive reading they received can be set off by glycerine in hand cream. I use that stuff in the winter to keep my face from drying out and I happened to have the bottle with me, which I showed them and let them read the ingredients. So, if you are planning on taking the rig with you it might not be a bad idea to wipe it with a wet rag first, particularly if you use moisturisers.

[mr2mk1g 10]

A high profile miscarriage of justice in the UK was based on the fact that the convicted individuals had trace elements of explosives on their hands. It turned out that those trace elements could have come from the coating on the playing cards they used on the train that evening.

Trace chemicals are tricky things to deal with - you get a lot of false positives. Not saying wiping down the rig isn't a good idea - just that the whole thing's a bit of a crap shoot no matter what you do. Good ideas help us load the dice a little.

A couple of years ago I gave some friends a flea in the ear when they wanted to carry empty shell cases through US customs with them as momentoes of their day at the gun range... I think having those kinds of chemicals round your gear when a customs guy is about is just asking for trouble.

[FrogNog 1]

A friend of mine dusted his bags regularly with smokeless gunpowder (i.e. the regular modern kind) to see if they would detect it. (He flies dozens of times per year.) He reported that when they swabbed his gear, they didn't do anything.

From this, he deduced that they didn't care about nitrocellulose. So, no telling what they are looking for - it is as likely hand cream as anything else.

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Pull.

[kallend 2,106]

Quote

A friend of mine dusted his bags regularly with smokeless gunpowder (i.e. the regular modern kind) to see if they would detect it. (He flies dozens of times per year.) He reported that when they swabbed his gear, they didn't do anything.

From this, he deduced that they didn't care about nitrocellulose. So, no telling what they are looking for - it is as likely hand cream as anything else.

That's neat. Nitrocellulose can be made into fibers and woven into fabric. So a bomber could make a bomb out of her dress. Or a sleeping bag. Or a canopy. Or billiard balls.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[tdog 0]

A plastic starbucks cup was all it took for my hands to transfer explosive-like trace chemicals to a carry on once...

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Well Battman is the quiet type,kind of keeps to his self some times.Hmmmmm.

[Merkur 1]

If they use fertilizer on your DZ landing area it might be as well this.
I recently detected that taking a lead belly with you in your carry on luggage it gets the most attention and lets your rig become kind of uninteresting as it looks like an explosive belt on their screener

vSCR No.94
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