Airport Security liquids Bag
 

As a relatively regular business traveller and sufferer at the hands of airport security (!) can anyone suggest where I can purchase a security compliant bag to carry my toiletries in?

Am getting a bit fed up with my tatty and ripped sandwich bag!!!!

Many thanks in advance. :ok:

YUP....

M&S do a cool little zip up see through bags with black trim. You have to buy the pack of 3 sizes and the middle sized one is the security approved one (it will have a little yellow sticker on it saying "suitable for airport security" or something to the effect on it) and I think costs about £10 or less!!!

It has saved my life as crew!

So do Boots

Thanks guys for the info - I will take a look at the Boots one. Interestingly enough, I have tried the M&S bag but it was rejected at security in Glasgow as they deemed it 'non-compliant' :ugh:

Has anyone got an answer as to why it has to be a re-sealable bag? After all, once through security, you can open it again.

Two questions spring to mind.

If you've had a colostomy, do you have to carry the bag in your hand?

What happens if the contents are over 100ml?

I also had my M&S bag declined at Glasgow security - was told that it had a volume of greater than 1 litre???

I have since been using www.securitywashbag.com

and have not had a problem at any airport so far, but don't hold me to that - you just never can tell with the muppet show who run airport security in the UK............. :O

Silly PPruner, it's the rule FOLLOW IT, or I'll get out my rubber gloves :=

Actually this is a very good question - I'm guessing they want it sealed so stuff doesn't fall out in the scanner.

I actually now use two 1L resealable bags as my travel 'washbag'. One with toothpaste, deodorant etc. and the other with my other 'bathroom' stuff. Much less bulky than a traditional washbag and I always have a spare bag (such as when my wife forgets).

The best bag I have found is sold by Muji. It is compliant, very strong and holds more than any other bag I have used. Just £3.95 (and available online).

http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?...ub=79&PID=3402

Any bag that complies with the following, dated 2006 but lifted today from the EU Commission website, complies with the "EU regulations", in spite of what a moron with a little petty power might say. Whether or not you argue the toss is up to you!

Helpfully, other sources suggest that a bag of 20X20cm would have 1 litre capacity as it would with a uniform depth of 2.5cm, which sounds about right. But there is no regulation specifying those dimensions; all that's needed is is a re-sealable bag of up to 1 litre capacity, regardless of its other dimensions, within reason of course.

Many UK airports have a scam of forcing passengers to buy grossly over-priced "compliant" bags to replace ones which are perfectly compliant. To their credit, BAA does not join in this fraud and gives away bags to the needy, or they did when I was last there (LGW? Can't remember.) In the UK, the racket should be reported to the local Trading Standards office whenever and wherever encountered.

The securitywashbag seems to work very well because it has very similar characteristics to the sandwich bags that UK security seem to hold in such high esteem! I have never had any of the Gestapo from security even give it a second look!

I also like the safety clasp on the zip which means nothing's gonna leak out in my hand luggage with all that cabin pressure change! :D

Thread drift but an amusing moment (I hope) talk of pressure change ...

Last August I went from CPT to JNB and the cabin pressure was fine but JNB is at some 5,000ft. When I unscrewed the cap of my roll-on deodorant I met a new problem. The unit was almost empty and so the air inside the container was at sea level, which was applying pressure to the roller ball which was suffused with the liquid deodorant. As the cap came off, the ball was ejected several inches and the remaining liquid followed - all of which landed inside my still part filled suitcase.

You will readily understand the similarities of having a large ball ejected, with a long trail of white goo, which covers much of your clothing and leaves you with messy fingers ...:* :sad: :( :ouch: :eek:

Nice story PAXboy - sounds like a "Something About Mary" moment.......... :p

I have never had any grief from using the right size supermarket "Press to Seal" storage bags - box of 25 - 18cm by 20cm. My experience is that sandwich bags, which seal with a flap, like an envelope, are much thinner plastic and are probably intended for a one way trip somewhere, the contents eaten and the bag binned.

The clear sealable bag I used during my Xmas / New Year trip - going through Calgary, Edmonton, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Memmingen airports at various stages - was issued sometime in the past at a Canadian Airport, as it has the Canadian Govt logo on it and refers to the 100ml restrictions etc. Therefore it would appear to be be some sort of "officially sanctioned" bag?

However when going through security at Edinburgh airport, a member of staff there was very concerned about it as it was "non compliant" as it is a rectangular shape (fairly small in size, don't have it to hand right now), and she handed me a square-shaped bag and asked me to use it in future.

No other airport from the list above queried my rectangular bag - not quite sure what the issue was at Edinburgh?

Mind you, another member of staff at Edinburgh was insistent that my hooded sweatshirt had to be taken off, as it was a "jacket"?!

They are well known within my airline for being a bunch of jobsworth eejits at EDI security. That experience is completely typical.

The fact that it has to be in a bag at all is a complete nonsense, in my opinion. I just throw my stuff in the end pocket of my carry-on, transparent-bag-be-damned, and have not yet had any problems at all.

One way in which I minimise the problem is to take non-liquid products, particularly after the problem described above! Solid stick shaving soap and solid stick deodorant, then it's down to mini-tube of toothpaste but you can still get tooth powder and for the really frequent traveller, that might be a good idea. Just don't take any liquids at all.

Ahh but the stick deodourant and the solid shaving soap can be 'melted down in to a liquid and are not allowed' according to some of the jobsworths. I kid you not this sort of nonsense has come out of the mouths of our friends in 'security'. As for toothpowder I don't live in Victorian England and would like to keep my teeth when I retire.:}

I have avoided all these problems by [a] using whatever the airline gives me as a freebie, and [b] using the shops at my destination and thus supporting the local economy. ;)

The KISS principle works so far! And US "personal care" products are cheap.