whit1331

I have flown three times with my rig, in the US post-9/11. All the stuff posted here is very accurate, but there is one thing I would add: departing out of Reagan National Airport in Washington DC with your rig as a carry-on is difficult/impossible. I followed all the advise stated here - letter, AAD explanation (i.e. not "CO2 cartridge" activated), talk with airline ticket agent, etc. When being screened, the TSA Xray tech diverted me for secondary screening; after that, I then spoke with security check point supervisor. The supervisor then got the NORTHWEST airlines supervisor over, again an explanation. Finally (20+ minute), they agreed that the rig itself was "ok," except for the fact that the rig (Infinity container, AAD, Saber170) and the carry-on bag in which I was carrying the rig (the standard appropriately-sized, wheeled carry-on bag) weighed "42 pounds" when the limit for carry-on baggage was "40 pounds." That weight (and the metal three-ring connectors) "could allow me to use the rig as a weapon." If I had been thinking on my feet, I could have said that I would just take the rig itself and check the empty bag, but I did not think to try that approach at the time. I do want to emphasize that this is the only problem that I have had; in the DC area, no problems at DULLES. Returning home, no problems at Vegas or at Memphis, TN. National Airport has always been very strict (some could say anal) about security since it hosts a lot of VIP travel and the flight routes unavoidably travel over numerous potenntial targets. The security people were not rude (and neither was I) but the supervisor was not going to budge. Finally, as my flight was drawing near, the Northwestern supervisor took me to the front of their line and checked the bag with the rig. It got to Memphis fine, but as I explained to all the various people, I was uncomfortable with this idea due the cost of the rig. As a final not, this was only 2 months ago, so this can't be attributed to immediate post-9/11 spikes in security. For it is worth....