If you can’t carry all your camera equipment on board, and are afraid of theives going through your unlocked luggage, then put a starter pistol in your lockable camera case when checking it in. All weapons (starter pistol included) have to travel in a locked case. A brilliant idea. Here’s the original comment from Matt Brandon’s blog that started it all:
“One note on using TSA rules to your advantage.
Weapons that travel MUST be in a hard case, must be declared upon check-in, and MUST BE LOCKED by a TSA official.
A “weapons” is defined as a rifle, shotgun, pistol, airgun, and STARTER PISTOL. Yes, starter pistols - those little guns that fire blanks at track and swim meets - are considered weapons…and do NOT have to be registered in any state in the United States.
I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare…I’m given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me.
That’s the procedure. The case is extra-tracked…TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero.
It’s a great way to travel with camera gear…I’ve been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.”
Also mentioned by Bruce Schneier, security guru, here.
Definitely, the TSA needs some system that would allow airline passengers to travel with expensive equipment (cameras, laptops) safely, in locked bags. We used to be able to lock our luggage to protect valuables, but now we can’t because the TSA may want to search through them, and that leaves valuables overly exposed to theft.
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