So, what's the strangest/silliest thing TSA has taken from you?

[Corwin]

Not TSA but years ago I was flying out of the main airport in Frankfurt, Germany. I checked my bags and was getting ready to go through security when two security officers came over to me to question me about something that showed up on the x-ray for my bag that I had just checked. They were both very heavily armed which made me a little nervous. Anyway I was brought over to the x-ray and they pointed at it and demanded to know what something was. The "something" looked exactly like two five-round clips of high-caliber rifle ammunition.

I told them I had no idea what it was or how it ended up in my luggage when I realized that I had two unopened, shrink-wrapped packs of blank cassette tapes. (Remember those?) They were the fancy metal cassette tapes and they apparently produced a very strange image on the x-ray. I ended up having to open up my luggage and open the shrink wrap of one of the packs to prove they were innocuous.

 

[TreeFalls]

that color of hair that isn't a color (don't call it mousey, or dishwater!), .

My hair is that color, too. Thank you for the perfect language to describe it!

 

[VAfamily1998]

They didn't "take" it (keep it), but about a week ago TSA removed and "swabbed" a box of girl scout cookies.

Thin mints

 

[mickeyfan100]

I was pulled aside by a TSA agent and asked if I had a sharp weapon in my bag. I told her no. She said the x-ray of my bag showed that I did. As my daughter and I stared at the x-ray, my daughter realized exactly what it was... her tiny stud earring had lost its back, so she threw the earring in the pocket of my purse. Apparently earrings can be dangerous weapons.

 

[jec6613]

They didn't "take" it (keep it), but about a week ago TSA removed and "swabbed" a box of girl scout cookies.

Thin mints

Beinget mix always flags as explosives as well, the folks at MSY are well aware of it. Baked goods in general flag much more often than you'd think.

Nothing confiscated, but leaving JFK heading to SIN we went through security and my personal item showed as basically a solid brick of wires and flagged as unscannable so it had to be hand searched and swabbed. So in a small bag no larger than some purses, he started pulling things out while my mother and sister just kept laughing at how much I had gotten into it:

Two gripped DSLR bodies with a shoulder bag, 6 lenses, 1 flashgun, 1 P&S camera, 2 Surface tablets with cases, keyboards and mice, 9 batteries, three battery banks to charge things on the flight, Bose QC25 headphones, a ruggedized portable hard drive, a dozen SD cards, my shaving kit and toothbrush, spare underwear and socks, writing implements and a notepad, a spare cell phone, earbuds, the A/C chargers for all of the above, my outlet adapters, and a small power strip.

About half way through and the TSA agent and my family can't stop laughing at how much I had gotten into it, apparently in all his time he'd never seen a bag so tightly packed. The TARDIS blue color helped I'm sure.

 

[DisNerdSocal]

I wonder if my son's rosin for his cello flagged as something resembling an explosive. I could see it, but you'd think they'd say something about it not just take it.

 

[pahoben]

I wonder if my son's rosin for his cello flagged as something resembling an explosive. I could see it, but you'd think they'd say something about it not just take it.

Many years ago I had an unmarked plastic bag of maybe half a pound of Vitamin C in my carry on and got pulled by security in Amsterdam. I told them it was Vitamin C and they could taste it if any doubt. They wouldn’t taste it and told me to stand there and wait. I waited for maybe ten minutes and they must have gotten tired of my standing there and told me to put it back in my carry on and board the flight.

Another time I was boarding a flight in the US with my wife (poor English skills) and in line when I realized I had a tactical folding pocket knife in my pocket. My wife was first and was sent to secondary screening because she kept her ticket in her hand as she went through scanning. I put my pocket knife in my shoe along with my wallet and nothing was said-I went through with no problem.

I still thought we might miss the flight since my wife tends to strong emotions and wouldn’t take secondary screening well but there was no problem.

 

[AnnaS]

A small scissor - forgot to put it in my luggage

A steak knife - I took a soft collapsable cooler with us to my mother-in-law's condo many years ago. She wanted us to bring some frozen meat - sausage, etc. Well this cooler has been used many times for taking some sort of lunch/fruit for parks, beach, etc. I had no idea it was left behind on the bottom at the last cleaning........boys was I shocked when she pulled out the knife......

 

[anonymousegirl]

It wasn't TSA, but the UK version of it at London City airport a few years ago. The agent insisted that our solid deodorant had to be in the 3-1-1 bag. When we pointed out that it was a solid, he said that it could be melted into a liquid ! I said so could the chocolate in my husband's carry-on bag. But as much as I wanted to smart mouth him, or insist to bring it 'unmelted" I know that he could have made our lives miserable by causing us to miss our flight, or even worse. So we dumped out the Downey Wrinkle Release and added the deodorant.

 

[Bullseye]

On one trip I had about ten bags of the resort room coffee confiscated in checked luggage.

 

[cassie58]

Sent DS back to college recently and they confiscated his jar of Nutella. His texted that he made it through security and to the gate, but they took his Nutella. I had packed lots of snacks for him to take back to the dorm, and divided between carry-on and checked bag for weight of checked bag. Of course I focused on no liquids in carry-on, but apparently they said something about it being a cream. He was bummed as it is one of his favorites, and I was not happy as it is not cheap! So found the tiny ones they had out at Christmas for stocking stuffers as a joke that they could go in carry-on in his liquids bag since under 3 oz.!

 

[twinsplusone]

They didn't like my mini M&M containers filled with quarters and pennies. We had to dig them out of everyone's carry-on and empty them so they could see that it was only coins.

 

[NotUrsula]

DD's ice skates always get her flagged. She has to practice several times weekly, so they go with her if she's going to be gone more than a couple of days. They don't flag the skates for the steel blades (figure skates are actually specifically listed on the TSA approved list), but because they always test positive for explosives. Her blade tech lubricates his sharpening equipment with Hoppes, which is more commonly used to oil guns. How they smell the Hoppes over the smell of sweaty skater feet is beyond me.

I do have two funny TSO stories, though in both cases I was eventually allowed to go through:

1. Back when the kiddoes were small I used to use a bungee cord to strap the carseat to a rolling bag. I made it a point to get one that contained no metal at all just for this reason. Sure enough, one day at DEN I got the 3rd degree because "You might use it to tie someone up". Um, a bungee cord? It stretches.

2. I'm a barefooter from childhood; I'll happily walk barefoot anywhere as long as there is nothing sharp on the ground. So, I got into the habit of taking my shoes off proactively, putting them into my carryon before I got into line. One day I had a TSO tell me that I needed to take my shoes out of the bag and put them into a separate bin because the scanner couldn't properly see them inside the bag. I ask if they need me to take out all 3 pairs that I have in the bag? Oh, no, only the ones that you wore to the airport. (Not an issue any more, I have TSA Pre.)

 

[Solfe]

On my son's first trip to Disney, he didn't take me seriously when I said not to put any liquids in his carry on. He was 13 and had learned that adults don't really say anything important. He had Axe body spray in his carry on, the convenient jug size that fits no where in the bathroom and shouldn't go in a carry on bag because it will leak all over. Which it did.

Queue up the comedy routine. Somehow, he skipped ahead in line and was confronted with two TSA people, all out of sight of us. We were looking behind us, not in front of us. Not only did he get past us, he got past security and picked up his bag before they could stop him. They were super nice to him, but that was a mistake. When questioned, hhe pulled out the bottle and spritzed them with it. They became significantly less nice when he did it a second time.

They took it off his hands... before anything else happened.

My son is one of those smooth, but not fast talking kids who you want to trust, even though they are not being entirely compliant with you.

 

[Disneypro1]

..It wasn't TSA but customs at Canaveral. After a cruise I stocked up on Cuban cigars. It a no no but if you are a cigar lover..we all smuggle those in. They said..these are dominican right? I said..well of course..lol I had like 50 of them.

 

[extreme8]

They took off his hands... before anything else happened.

I know the TSA can be tough but wow, that seems a bit extreme.

 

[Solfe]

I know the TSA can be tough but wow, that seems a bit extreme.

Oops. That would be extreme.

 

[leahgoogle]

Wow! Very old thread!

Last month my husband had his credit card screwdriver taken away. It's a square piece of metal, that is thin like a credit card, and the edges have different sized screwdriver heads on it. The TSA agent in Denver said "switch blade" to the other TSA agent and he then called us over. There is no blade on this item, but they confiscated it anyway. My husband was actually really upset despite the fact that it only cost me $10.
Two years ago in Zurich, Switzerland my daughter was trying to go through the TSA line with a rock in her backpack that she'd gotten from Germany. We had no idea that she'd taken a rock -- and everyone laughed about it, except her who was embarassed and in tears. By the way, they allowed her to keep it!

This reminds me of my youngest DD. She was 4-years old and we took her backless booster with us to put in the overhead compartment. We didn't know it, but she had put rocks in a little drawer on the side of the booster. The TSA agent paused and then said, "oh, looks like someone collects rocks". We had a good laugh and he let her keep them.

 

[cmwade77]

Honestly, I have never once had TSA take anything from me. Why? Because I don't pack anything in my carry on that could be considered objectionable in any way. If I am unsure if an item is allowed, I check using the MyTSA app and if I am still unclear, I use their Instagram/Facebook and ask, they respond fairly quickly, so why not?

 

[cmwade77]

Yen, an empty water bottle is allowed through security.

I understand sometimes it's not worth it, but if you're not in a rush when a TSA employee tries to confiscate an item which is allowed, you should ask to see a supervisor. It's also a good idea to check the rules at TSA.gov so you know what's allowed.

To the poster above, your screwdriver was okay. You should have protested if you wanted to keep it.

Actually, tools are not allowed in a carry on and this includes small screwdrivers like was mentioned.