TSA ?: Bungee cords for carryon carseat.

NotUrsula

DIS Legend
Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Messages
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I was told by TSA last weekend that I could not carry on a 6' bungee cord, one with *plastic* end hooks, BTW. I was using it to strap a carseat to another carryon in order to roll it to the gate.

Anyone else have trouble with this? I know there are a lot of people who use bungees this way for carseats, and if TSA is really consistently not allowing them in the gate area, it would be good to get the word out.
 
No, I haven't taken a bungee cord. But I can see why the TSA wouldn't allow in on board. A bad person might take it & use it to tie someone up.

Thanks for the warning.
 
This is exactly how I travel with our car seat! Well, the bungee is only about 24" - 36" (I'd have to measure it). I have never had a problem. I take the car seat off the carry-on, fasten the bungee around the car seat and stick it on the Security belt. I've flown this way at least 4 times since 9 /11. I just checked the TSA's permitted /prohibited list, and it doesn't list bungee cords on there anywhere. I'd say try it, with a cheap 2 foot bungee from Walmart or something- if they take it away you are only out a dollar or 2.
 
That's just it, I *did* do it; it passed at MCO, but was told I couldn't take it at STL (well, actually, the guy at STL took pity on me and let me take it, but warned me rather sternly that he wasn't supposed to, and that I needed to check the bungee next time.)

I don't think that the length of the cord made a difference, as I had taken it off and put in the mesh seat pocket for the pass through the scanner; he didn't take it out of the pocket, so I don't think he could really tell how long it was. I had purposely gotten a cord that had plastic hooks instead of metal, as I suspected that the heavy metal hooks might have set off the scanner. This was the first time I tried to use the bungee method; normally we use a backpack satchel; but we were gate-checking a smaller seat this time. It was only a weekend trip, and we otherwise had only a carryon; we wanted to avoid the carousels if possible.

It seems to me that if you could tie someone up with a bungee cord, you could just as easily tie someone up with the belt from your pants, or with long shoelaces, in fact, those would work better, as a bungee would stretch. Using it as a strike weapon to hit someone would require being able to swing it round first, and I don't think there is room to accomplish that effectively on most aircraft; in any case, the plastic hooks are not heavy like the metal sort.

The folks at MCO didn't bat an eye at it, but then, they also let me walk through with a rather large stainless-steel keychain in my shirt pocket that wasn't noticed either. (DS had just bought it right before we left the last park, and asked me to hold it; I forgot that it was in my pocket instead of my bag.) The experience lead me to wonder whether the inspector at STL was just being overzealous, or if bungees were normally not being allowed.
 

I just came back from a trip to LAX-MCO with a carseat strapped to a rolling cart with bungee cords. I did not get stopped. In fact, I never thought it was a problem. Before going, I did look at the list of items not allowed in carryons, I don't think it was there. I found the link on my airline's website. Maybe double check to see if it is not allowed. It would be a huge pain to transport the carseat without the bungee cords! Yuck!

Good luck!
 
The experience lead me to wonder whether the inspector at STL was just being overzealous, or if bungees were normally not being allowed.

I think you hit the nail on the head, I see them all the time. If you have trouble ever again, ask for a supervisor.
 














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