Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

A TSA news release regarding laptops and laptop bags.

Source: http://www.tsa.gov/press/happe...ing_laptop_bag_procedures.shtm




Starting Aug. 16, TSA will allow laptops to remain in bags meeting new 'checkpoint friendly' guidelines. Not all laptop bags are 'checkpoint friendly'
(see images below).

Click here to learn more about the industry process and guidelines for laptop bag.
Click here to read the press release on "TSA Ready for 'checkpoint friendly' Laptop Bags".

To help streamline the security process and better protect laptops TSA has recently encouraged manufacturers to design bags that will produce a clear and unobstructed image of the laptop when undergoing X-ray screening. A design that meets this objective will enable TSA to allow laptops to remain in bags for screening.

Industry enthusiastically met the call and more than 60 manufacturers responded, 40 of them submitting prototypes for testing. TSA opened three airports for manufacturers to perform live testing of these prototypes with Transportation Security Officers (TSO) so the manufacturers can gain feedback on what works and what doesnâ??t with various bag designs.














TSA screens laptops to see if the electronics have been tampered with. TSOs know what the inside of a computer should look like, and can recognize irregularities. This is why they need an unobstructed view as the item moves through the X-ray machine.

Purchasing one of these bags will not guarantee that you can leave your laptop in your bag for screening. If a TSO finds that the bag does not present a clear and distinct image of the laptop separate from the rest of the bag, the laptop will have to be screened separately.

There are laptop bag styles currently on the market, such as laptop-only sleeves, that have the potential to present a clear X-ray image of the laptop if they are correctly packed. However, most current laptop bags will not present a clear X-ray image and should not be sent through the X-ray with the laptop inside.

What does this mean for passengers?

If you intend to use a 'checkpoint friendly' laptop bag once they are on the market, make sure to check that:

[list:28462fe387]
[*:28462fe387] Your laptop bag has a designated laptop-only section that can lay flat on the X-ray belt
[*:28462fe387] There are no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on-top of the laptop-only section
[*:28462fe387] There are no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
[*:28462fe387] There is nothing in the laptop compartment other than the laptop
[*:28462fe387] You have completely unfolded your bag so that there is nothing above or below the laptop-only section, allowing the bag to lay flat on the X-ray belt
[/list:u:28462fe387]

Remember, a well designed 'checkpoint friendly' bag must be packed appropriately if you intend to leave your laptop in your bag for screening.

TSA is not approving or endorsing any bag design or manufacturer and will only allow laptops to stay in bags through screening if they provide a clear and unobstructed
X-ray image of the laptop.

Disclaimer:
Given TSAâ??s use of random screening protocols, TSA reserves the right to re-screen any bag or laptop regardless of the design of the bag.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Interesting. But the thing that makes checkpoints slow is not me and my laptop bag, it's the idiots in front of me who don't know they have to take their shoes off or remove their jackets or take keys out of their pockets.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

well is it really that or you have no place to put all your stuff in advance? Here is the idiotic stuff TSA requires.

1. Have your ticket out. (ID too?)
2. Empty your pockets
3. Take off your shoes
4. Take off your jacket
5. Take out your laptop
6. Take out your camcorder

You have to have those things done and wait for enough space to line up enough trays to put everything in them as the TSA demands. Is the problem the people not doing this in advance or is the problem TSA and their unreasonable demands? In the fall and winter many people have to do a minimum of 5 things for the TSA.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

And DVD players have to be out, just like laptops. And in some cases you'll have to take off your belt, if it sets off the metal detector.

I speed myself up, though. Before I even go over to security, I take off my watch and blackberry, take the keys and change out of my pocket, and take anything else in my pockets and put it all into my carryon bag. I get only my first boarding pass and my ID/passport out. THEN I go up to the security line. I always wear slip-on shoes to the airport as well. As I approach the screening line, I take off my jacket, unzip my laptop bag, and generally get ready. Then I put jacket and shoes in one bin, laptop in another, and follow it with my laptop bag (sans laptop of course) and wait until the belt is clear to push it all through. And then I step through the metal detector and go on my way.