Originally Posted by
nonsense
A friend of mine was refused boarding in Saigon because of a packet of electric arc welding rods in his checked baggage. Apparently they're "explosive"...
He flew a couple of days later carrying the same welding rods without any problems.
Perhaps they mistaken them for TIG welding rods, some of them are mildly radioactive, harmless normally bur not good if they are abraded and you ingest the dust.