I seem to remember making similar comments about glass bottles shortly after the security overkill started in the wake of 9/11. Trouble is that the people masterminding it are civil servants whose top level qualifications are double first class degrees in Latin & Greek at either Oxford or Cambridge university. As my ex-RAF first officer pointed out at the time, these people have unlimited access to experts who really know what security is about, and they decline to use them - their own armed forces!
What amused me not so long ago was passing with my wife as a passenger through the local airport to go on holiday. The security man stentoriously ordered my wife to expose the contents of her handbag. In it he found a hairclip (which was a long pointy object) which he declared was not allowed and therefore had to be thrown in the bin. Naturally my wife was a bit miffed. On inspecting the air side shops we found an identical hairclip for sale - at three times the price my wife paid for in the local shopping centre! Clearly another technique used by BAA to enhance their profits.
P.P.