ever had monopod taken from carry-on by tsa?

If you have included your monopod or tripod in your carry-on bag with cameras

and lenses, has the TSA ever threatened to take your monopod/tripod or required

you to check it?

 

Have you ever had your gear singled out for special scrutiny when carrying lots

of equipment in carry-on luggage such as a thinktankphoto.com brand "airport

security" or similar professional camera equipment bag?

Each airport seems to have "rules" for that specific airport. The goal is to keep anything that "may be" a weapon from getting on the aircraft. Life in the current Century is not going to get back to the way it was in the last Century. Best suggestion is to send some of your gear as baggage under the aircraft (x-rays won't harm your monopod...) or by way of the post office or UPS.

I've never had any problems bringing a tripod onto a plane in a carry-on bag (in the US at least, never tried it anywhere else). I've even asked several TSA agents about it and they said tripods were fine. I've only tried this with relatively small tripods, though, maybe 18-20 inches with the head removed. I imagine you might have problems with the aircrew if the tripod exceeds the normal carry-on size limits.

"Have you ever had your gear singled out for special scrutiny"

 

One of the last times through security they checked my camera bag over quite thoroughly, using some sort of swabs that were then put in some aparatus.

 

Just out of curiosity, whey do you want to carry-on a monopod? Is it an expensive one, and you're concerned about it being lost?

 

Of all the photographic equipment I can think of, a monopod seems to have the most potential to be used as a weapon. Why push it?

Speaking for myself (not the original poster), I prefer to carry on everything I possibly can. With air travel the way it is these days, the chance that your luggage will not arrive when you do is just too high. On my last business trip, I flew out on Saturday, with Sunday free to explore and photograph, before starting work on Monday. Against my better judgment, I checked my bag (too much liquid for carry-on), and threw the tripod in that bag. I figured, "Well, the odds are that they won't lose it on this particular flight". Naturally, they lost it for two days, which meant I did not have my tripod on the only day I needed it. Last summer I was working in Hawaii and one of my coworkers went without her luggage for over a week. It's just safer to carry on everything you might possibly need for the first few days.

The Chicago brand of TSA seems quite reasonable. I carry a lot of gear - sometimes it gets a close look, other times not. The last trip, the X-ray operator looked at me, shook his head and smiled - and never opened the bag.

 

I pack the legs in my checked baggage and the head in carry-on. It's not worth taking it back to the counter, retrieving my checked bag and standing in security line all over again. If I lose the bag, I can always find a useable set of legs where I travel - the head would take some time to replace.

If you read the TSA rules on what you can carry on a plane, you will find that tools over 7 inches are excluded and anything that could be a weapon is excluded. Tripods and monopods come under both categories, per TSA agents, and can only be put in checked baggage.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm#7

 

How some photographers get away with taking them onto planes is beyond me. I have seen photographers' ballheads confiscated from carryon luggage at the Houston and Phoenix airports. Why? Possible weapon. I never carryon my ballhead any more. At the Houston airport, my camera bag is routinely checked by hand after it passses thru the scanner. I just have to wait while they empty most everything out, examine the tele lenses, and they repack it.

 

My tripod and ballhead goes into my checked luggage with a note to the TSA agents as to what photo equipment is in the bag. I was told to do this by a TSA agent. It might prevent them looking for the tripod and ballhead when they open up the bag and disturbing all of the contents. Joe Smith

I agree with Joseph. Your tripod and monopod could be refused at any point. I think it less likely to happen in the United States, but quite likely in other countries. Limit your potential hassles with security to the expensive/delicate gear.

 

As for the camera bag, no airport in any of the 5 countries I visited last year asked any questions at all, except in Ecuador and India, where every carry-on of every passenger was searched by hand. Even then, though, the questons were routine and things went smoothly.

 

Good luck.

Has anyone tried renting a tripod from a camera shop at the destination? If that's possible, it might seem a better solution than gambling on either the checked baggage system or the whim of the TSA screener. And it's something you might have to do if you check your tripod and the airline loses it.

I would plan on buying one if mine did not show up in my baggage. If I did not need it I would just sell it on Ebay once I got home. Joe Smith

I had no trouble with my camera gear on a recent trip. The smallish tripod went checked. Tripods and monopods are conspicuously left unmentioned in discussing carry-on and TSA goes into detail on other photo gear.

 

I'm also kind of surprised that they haven't clarified the issues by denying them as carry-on - the similarity to other check only items is pretty clear. Also the ease with which the particular model can be disassembled (hiding space) or the nature of any pointed tips, etc., could change things. However, very few reports come along of people having trouble carrying them on either.

 

One thing to consider that a certain randomness to criteria makes it harder to work around securty precautions and what flies today may not tomorrow.

An earlier poster commented that he wouldn't place a monopod or a tripod into checked luggage because it may get lost.

I've had luggage 'lost' on several occasions, once with my tripod in it.

I've alway gotten the luggage back, with in a couple of days, with everything in it.

Better having a tripod show up late than have to leave it behind at the airport counter.

Well, I'm putting my Gitzo tripod in one of my check in bags next month when we go to Maui.

I just can't see doing 10 days in Maui without it, and buying one there is just silly. I'll put the

head in there too, and everything else will go in my Lowepro as a carry on.

Two weeks ago I flew from LA to Boston. As I was clearing security in LA, I overheard a conversation between a couple of TSA agents who disagreed on what should be done about tripods. One believed that they could be used as clubs and should be excluded, while the other believed they were OK.

 

The point is that the rules are open to interpretation, and different agents will interpret them in different ways.

 

My practice has always been to check the tripod, either wrapped in underwear in a large suitcase, or in a dedicated tripod bag. In theory, the former should be safer, but I've had my tripod damaged twice while in the larger bag, but never while in the dedicated bag.

 

Of course, with the airlines charging for the extra bag, there is an attraction to putting everything in one container. But that sets the stage for the airline to claim the bag is too heavy and charge an overweight fee.

The TSA agent can make their own judgment call and your only recourse is to surrender the item or check it in and possibly miss your flight.

Technically any "tool" that is over 7 inches in length is forbidden as a carry on item. I have had a 8" x 1" x 1/8" metal bracket plate confiscated at the gate.

 

Umbrellas and walking canes are permitted as carry on items so you might take a walking stick with the camera adapter such as those sold by REI and others. Pool cues are not permitted and monopods could easily be categorized as well as a prohibited item. You have no control over the whims of the TSA agent on duty when you pass through their area of control.

 

If I do have items that might trigger an inspection I put them in one carry on bag so only that bag gets the extra scrutiny. It makes for much faster inspections if one item's X-ray profile does initiate a hand check.

I just finished a four month trip where I was flying pretty much every week. I had a cheap tripod that I carried on every flight, cheap enough that I wouldn't mind if it was taken away. I never had any trouble.

 

This was an international trip, so while I'm not saying you won't ever have it confiscated I do think you have as much chance getting away with at least a tripod overseas as in the states. My impression is that you're actually less likely to be hassled in other countries than here in North America.