Skip to content
Go to Home Page
News

The 5 Craziest Things Passengers Tried to Sneak By the TSA in September

Nick Ellis
Articles
Nick Ellis joined The Points Guy in 2016 as an intern and is now Reviews Editor, primarily responsible for arranging, writing (some of), editing and publishing reviews of hotels and airport lounges along with helping manage, write and edit travel content.
Sept. 30, 2016
•
3 min read
IMGTSAFeatured
The 5 Craziest Things Passengers Tried to Sneak By the TSA in September
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.

Every week, the TSA blogs about items (mostly weapons) that agents have confiscated at airports around the country, and the agency posts some of the crazier items on its Instagram page. Check out the 5 items that we at Team TPG think are the most ridiculous items that were confiscated this month. Once again, we're happy to see that the TSA has prevented these items from being smuggled on board aircraft with hundreds of other passengers!

1. Concealed Knife

We've seen plenty of passengers try to bring knives on board aircraft in carry-on bags, but this is another level of sneaky. One passenger flying from San Francisco (SFO) mistakenly thought they could trick the TSA by hiding a knife in a bottle of pills.

Knives of any kind aren't allowed to travel with you on board the aircraft.

2. "Designer" Knife Set

While these pink knives look the part, they're knives nonetheless and can't travel in carry-on bags. These knives can fly if they're securely stowed in checked luggage.

No matter how pretty they are, knives have to be packed in checked luggage.

3. Ninja Gear

While this set of ninja weapons looks like it could be in an action movie, they can't fly in the cabin with you. Remember to pack these in your checked bag if you want to travel with them.

This full set of ninja gear can't fly in a carry-on.

4. Cane Sword

The cane/sword combo weapon is definitely one of the more unique things we've seen people try to get by the TSA. Luckily, this weapon was no match for the X-ray machines at LGA and was confiscated before it was able to get on board an airplane.

Sign up for our daily newsletter
This cane sword was confiscated by TSA agents at LaGuardia airport in New York.

5. Trailer Hitch Hand Grenade

This is... interesting. It looks like someone made a DIY trailer hitch/hand grenade and then decided it was a good idea to pack it in a carry-on bag. Even if the grenade is not active, it absolutely can't fly, as there's no way to be certain it's inert without calling a team of professionals to examine it. The next time you have the urge to bring a grenade with you, just leave it at home.

This crazy grenade trailer hitch was confiscated at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport in California.

What's the strangest item you've seen at a TSA checkpoint?