Zip locking (clear) laptop for airport x-ray security scan

[ylim]

Hi there,

Sorry if this post is rather stupid. I am traveling to Melbourne this weekend.

I just bought a new laptop and is well able that laptops should be taken out of laptop bags for security scanning. I was wondering if it is possible for me to use a clear zip lock bag to protect the laptop's exterior against scratches when it is placed on the provided plastic boxes.

[ambientscape]

Hi there,

Sorry if this post is rather stupid. I am traveling to Melbourne this weekend.

I just bought a new laptop and is well able that laptops should be taken out of laptop bags for security scanning. I was wondering if it is possible for me to use a clear zip lock bag to protect the laptop's exterior against scratches when it is placed on the provided plastic boxes.

I don't see any problems with that. Will they remove your laptop from your bag for scanning? Is that necessary?

[Stargate199]

Given on how airport security is now these days, possibly. All I ever had to do at the airport was put my bag the scanner and take my shoes off. I even had a blanket in my bag that should to blocked some of scanning, but they never open it up.

[ronbo613]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.
Most of the time they make you take it out of the carrying case, so I just put the laptop on top of the case in the tray to run through the scanning device.

[tfflivemb2]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.

I had to do that at O'Hare, with my work laptop.

[DarkMark]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.

That happened to me once, years ago somwhere in England (can't quite remember where though, could have been Birmingham) way before flight security became strict. All he wanted to see was if it worked.
Kind of confused me then as I was only a kid.

I just don't think you can generaly say how a security check will go, since it depends on the Airport and staff.

[al7kz]

I wouldn't try that. The reason they want it out of the case is to do other checks on it besides scanning. The last time I flew out of Juneau they dusted my T20 for nitrates then opened it up. Just put it on the soft case in the plastic tub. Bon voyage!

[jruschme]

I wouldn't try that. The reason they want it out of the case is to do other checks on it besides scanning. The last time I flew out of Juneau they dusted my T20 for nitrates then opened it up. Just put it on the soft case in the plastic tub. Bon voyage!

I'm inclined to agree. Depending on the dilligence of the TSA screener, the ZipLoc might be seen as an attempt to mask nitrate residue.

Also, maybe it's me, but it seems like the smaller airports are actually harder on checking laptops than the bigger ones.

[sugo]

Same experience here. Smaller airports are less crowded. The officers have more time to do a through inspection.

[ambientscape]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.

Just fire up or check the serial number of the OS as well? I wonder if they go through your files in it.

[ronbo613]

Just fire up or check the serial number of the OS as well? I wonder if they go through your files in it.

I don't think they have the time or the authority to do that. They just want to make sure the laptop is full of computer hardware instead of explosives.

[crashnburn]

Shouldn't we have some kind of 'clear plastic' protector kind of thing for laptops to prevent scratches? Just like we have for PDA screens?

[al7kz]

Oops, I was wrong on that. The laptop goes in its own tub, with no other luggage. From TSA's site:

"Take your computer and video cameras with cassettes OUT of their carrying case and place it in one of the bins provided."

Of course, it might be different in Singapore. Cheers

[NS]

I have travelled with my laptops with me many times and no one has ever asked me to take my laptop out from my bag for him to check. Just need to put my laptop bag through the scanner and it will do... Maybe i look like a lunatic more than a terrorist... But they asked me to take off my boots and jacket... ??

[BlueDevilTide]

I've found that smaller airports can sometimes be more diligent since they're less busy....but more often, staffed with even less interested workers who frankly don't give a [censored] about anything they do. I'd feel safer with a bit more inspection, but being Muslim and having a last name like mine (plus being well-dressed, clean shaven, and in my 20s...), I'll avoid hassle anytime I can!

I got a lot of stares, some in envy, some in puzzlement, when I put two laptops into the x-ray when I brought both the T and the X with me home for a school break. The security people also made me boot them up to prove that they were, in fact, both real.

[ambientscape]

The only time when I got checked and been asked to remove my laptop from the bag is when I was in Singapore. The [censored] scanner couldn't identify my AC adaptor.....and asked to remove all the things from my bag for checking. Basically my AC adaptor just look like a piece of BLACK brick from the scanner monitor....and was curious what was it.

[crashnburn]

We were talking about the Paranoid TSA. .

Anyone use any kind of clear case for their laptop? Or some kind of Clear FILM (larger but the kind people use on their PDA screens)

[kensplace]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.

I had to do that at O'Hare, with my work laptop.

Always scares me when they do that.
Why do they think that just because something works there could not be a explosive device inside it?

Without going into any details, dont want to give any idiots any idea's
I can think of many ways things could be concealed, and still let a device operate as normal. Obviously they have other security procedures, but if they are relying on 'switching it on' to see if it works, then those other procedures are not working that well.

[SaberX]

I've seen airport security make a guy fire up his laptop to make sure it was legit.

Just fire up or check the serial number of the OS as well? I wonder if they go through your files in it.

Not a laptop but a cell phone.
I had problems in the Canadain Toronto airport.I was going through security and the guy wanted to see my cell phone.It was a Moto Time port flip phone.(about 4 years ago) My problem was the battery was dead.Would not turn on.Not even for a few sec's.They wanted to see the phone turn on and make a call befor they would let me go.The plane was boarding and i had about 10 mins to find someone who had another cell phone that i could use their battery for a min.
Time came to eather leave the cell phone behind or miss the plane.My home charger was in the checked on bags so i could not get that.
I said to the guy i cant miss my plane so i'll have to leave my cell phone behind.I than took the phone and destroyed it.I'm a big guy so it was nothing to take the cell and break it in a few peices.I said if i cant bring it with me no one is getting it.
I was getting a new cell anyway when i got back home.The security guy just made it happen a few weeks sooner.

[tomh009]

Without going into any details, dont want to give any idiots any ideas I can think of many ways things could be concealed, and still let a device operate as normal.

It's all about giving people the perception of security. The current airport security procedures have holes you could drive freight trains through -- all they can do is catch the stupid terrorists, and inconvenience the legit passengers.

[brainpicker]

I made the mistake once of just observing my father reloading for an upcoming hunt during a trip home. I don't believe I touched much of anything on his bench, ...but boy are those airport scanners sensitive! Of course even before that adventure I was always the one pulled out of line for the extra search prior to boarding (or to have the handles of all my bags wiped and tested, and my laptops powered on), but now it's become commonplace for me to be directed to the line with the GE "puffer" scanner before every flight. Not my wife, just me.

It was from all this that I learned the hard way to ALWAYS make sure the battery of your laptop has a charge remaining (for those "sir, can you boot up your laptop" requests)! I would never do anything out of the ordinary like placing my laptop in a plastic bag. Be as much like others as you can to avoid trouble. Remember that the rest of the world isn't like most of us here when it comes to their "stuff'. Most people don't take extra care to be sure a laptop lasts more than the length of their 90-day to (maybe) one year warranty as they buy the throw-away stuff (or if they are a kid they don't WANT it to last long as mom and/or dad won't buy them another soon enough!). And on every flight you are sure to see a laptop keyboard that looks like a placemat after a 7 course meal, and at least one filthy greasy screen being wiped off with a shirt sleeve or drink napkin (not a microfiber cloth slightly damp with a 50/50 mix of alcohol and distilled water). A pristine laptop sealed in a zip-lock plastic bag will surely scare most any TSA worker (unless he/she is a member here)! Remember, WE are the "freaks" as we are not the norm.

- Yak

[wackydan]

I travel every week via air.

Place your laptop bottom down in the bin provided... You don't need a bag to protect it. My ThinkPads ove rthe years have suffered no damage from airport screening.

[mpcook]

I travel every week via air.

Place your laptop bottom down in the bin provided... You don't need a bag to protect it. My ThinkPads ove rthe years have suffered no damage from airport screening.

I also travel almost every week by air. I agree, just carefully place it by itself bottom side down in the bin. You will have no problems. The bag should go on the belt, not in the bin with the laptop. Just because I am paranoid, I always put the laptop through last, that way it's not sitting at the other end before I can get to it.

Mike

[spuddog]

I can sympathize with Brainpicker. A couple years ago I went on vacation, and the carry-on bag I took was the one I hauled a pistol and ammo for my weekly shooting matches with friends. Talk about a warm reception!

Scott

[wearetheborg]

I can sympathize with Brainpicker. A couple years ago I went on vacation, and the carry-on bag I took was the one I hauled a pistol and ammo for my weekly shooting matches with friends. Talk about a warm reception!

Scott

Do describe it in detail

Yak - what is your ethnicity ?

[mattbiernat]

I can sympathize with Brainpicker. A couple years ago I went on vacation, and the carry-on bag I took was the one I hauled a pistol and ammo for my weekly shooting matches with friends. Talk about a warm reception!

Scott

did they make you fire them off to make sure everything works properly ? personally i would offer to demonstrate!

[brainpicker]

Do describe it in detail

Yak - what is your ethnicity ?

No. I'm your average old, bald, fat, ugly white guy, born in the USA and I blend in well with all the other average folks. I've been known to piss off one or two people in my life (OK, maybe a bit more often), and possibly my name got put on a list somewhere? Or maybe it was the can of pepper spray I got caught with boarding a plane during our travels through Hawaii back in 96'? I also learned hiding stacks of cash in your parka for safety is good, but even if you are under the legal limit it looks suspicious to airline security. And once I thought the 3 bottle of liquor limit was more like 30 bottles but that was an innocent mistake. Who knows why they pick on me? But when you travel with your wife and YOU are the one who always gets pulled aside you begin to wonder.

- Yak

[mattbiernat]

But when you travel with your wife and YOU are the one who always gets pulled aside you begin to wonder.

- Yak

heheh there is probably a thousand page report on you somewhere in homeland security HQ...

[bill bolton]

The current airport security procedures have holes you could drive freight trains through

Maybe..... or maybe not.

What you don't perceive is happening at a security check point can be just as significant as what you do perceive is happening! Effective security "systems" almost always have parts which are designed to be largely "very visible" and parts which are designed to be largely "invisible".

Cheers,

Bill B.

[tomh009]

Neh. Think about what the liquid ban does or doesn't do just for a moment. Think about how secure boarding passes printed online are. Think about whether knitting needles (allowed) are really more safe than a Swiss army knife (not allowed). And those are just a few things.

Real security may not be feasible while still making travel practical, but what we have today ... it's just show.