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The 5 Most Ridiculous Items Passengers Tried to Carry on Board in August

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.
Aug. 31, 2017
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9 min read
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The 5 Most Ridiculous Items Passengers Tried to Carry on Board in August
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Every week, the Transportation Security Administration blogs about items (mostly weapons) that agents have confiscated at airports around the country, and the agency posts some of the crazier ones on its Instagram page. To help inform travelers, TSA has created an "Ask TSA" Twitter account where curious travelers can ask if they're allowed to carry on certain items. Below are the five most ridiculous questions asked this month — at least according to us at Team TPG.

As always, we're grateful that the TSA remains diligent in preventing passengers from boarding aircraft with such dangerous weapons — or in some cases, cans of chili.

1. Shock Ring

Thank goodness the TSA caught this weapon before it made it on a commercial flight or there would have been a lot of surprised passengers. Shocking as it may be, powerful shock rings such as this aren't allowed in carry-on bags — although they are permitted if they're packed safely in a checked bag.

2. The Most Literal Nunchuks Ever

Rejoice! These nunchuks (literally, nun-chuks) look like they're trusty travel companions and they can come on board the plane in a carry-on bag.


These are fine to pack in your carry-on. I imagine not traveling with your “Nun” chucks would be a hard habit to break. . This is a screenshot of a tweet sent to the AskTSA account on Twitter. Have you ever wondered whether or not you can pack a certain item? Fret no more! Now you can simply snap a picture and tweet it to AskTSA or send it via Facebook Messenger and our team will get back to you promptly with an answer. . If you're a regular follower of this account, I'm sure you can think of many situations where it would have behooved somebody to send us a picture first. And that's not all. Contact us about any TSA related issue or question you might have. We can even help you if you don’t see TSA Pre✓® on your boarding pass. . We look forward to answering your questions, 8am-10pm ET weekdays; 9am-7pm weekends/holidays. #AskTSA #TSATravelTips

A post shared by TSA (@tsa) on

3. Aluminum Sculptures
Ready for a long, strange trip? These Grateful Dead fan art pieces are free to fly with you in a carry-on bag.

It occurred to me… if you’re traveling, it might as well be a long and strange trip. These are fine to be packed in your carry-on or checked bag. . This is a screenshot of a tweet sent to the AskTSA account on Twitter. Have you ever wondered whether or not you can pack a certain item? Fret no more! Now you can simply snap a picture and tweet it to AskTSA or send it via Facebook Messenger and our team will get back to you promptly with an answer. . If you're a regular follower of this account, I'm sure you can think of many situations where it would have behooved somebody to send us a picture first. And that's not all. Contact us about any TSA related issue or question you might have. We can even help you if you don’t see TSA Pre✓® on your boarding pass. . We look forward to answering your questions, 8am-10pm ET weekdays; 9am-7pm weekends/holidays. #AskTSA #TSATravelTips

A post shared by TSA (@tsa) on

4. A ...Dinosaur

While most of us believe that dinosaurs have been extinct for about 65 million years now, we may be wrong. Case in point: This dino has places to be and reached out to the TSA to inquire about how it could fly. Unfortunately, service dinosaurs aren't really a thing (yet), so this one had to travel in the cargo hold. Brr...

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Jurassic’n me what? Your dinosaur would have to be placed in the cargo hold because well, he’s a dinosaur… But also because he wouldn’t be able to raise his arms in the body scanner. . This is a screenshot of a tweet sent to the AskTSA account on Twitter. We realize this inquiry was a joke, but have you ever wondered whether or not you can pack a certain item? Fret no more! Now you can simply snap a picture and tweet it to AskTSA or send it via Facebook Messenger and our team will get back to you promptly with an answer. . If you're a regular follower of this account, I'm sure you can think of many situations where it would have behooved somebody to send us a picture first. And that's not all. Contact us about any TSA related issue or question you might have. We can even help you if you don’t see TSA Pre✓® on your boarding pass. . We look forward to answering your questions, 8am-10pm ET weekdays; 9am-7pm weekends/holidays. #AskTSA #TSATravelTips

A post shared by TSA (@tsa) on

5. "Loaded" Coffee Mug

A coffee mug's a coffee mug, Right? Wrong. If your mug resembles a firearm (or any other weapon for that matter), it's not allowed on board. Anything that looks like a weapon — no matter how harmless it may actually be — needs to be packed safely in your checked luggage.

Happiness is a warm coffee cup gun… Tell your sister to get a grip (on her mug) and safely pack it in her checked bags.  Replicas of weapons or anything resembling a weapon are not allowed in the cabin of the aircraft. . This is a screenshot of a tweet sent to the AskTSA account on Twitter. Have you ever wondered whether or not you can pack a certain item? Fret no more! Now you can simply snap a picture and tweet it to AskTSA or send it via Facebook Messenger and our team will get back to you promptly with an answer. . If you're a regular follower of this account, I'm sure you can think of many situations where it would have behooved somebody to send us a picture first. And that's not all. Contact us about any TSA related issue or question you might have. We can even help you if you don’t see TSA Pre✓® on your boarding pass. . We look forward to answering your questions, 8am-10pm ET weekdays; 9am-7pm weekends/holidays. #AskTSA #TSATravelTips

A post shared by TSA (@tsa) on

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