Problems Flying

[whitefox77]

I'm wondering if anyone has had problems with airport security due to having pyro as a hobby?

 

Has anyone been stopped because they tested positive for having nitrates or chlorates on their person or baggage?

 

Has anyone found that they are on "a list" because they ordered materials that could be used to make explosives from an internet retailer?

 

This is a serious question for me, as I some times have to fly out of town on short notice for work.

 

Sincerely

WhiteFox

[BPinthemorning]

I personaly don't fly frequently, but post 9/11 alot of airports randomly (or mabey acording to shipping lists) put flyers in an "air puffer" the air puffer spits air at you to dislodge any microscopic resedue of nitrates, or nitrate based explosives. I don't know how well you should wash yourself and your clothes, but I would scrub myself till I ran out of hot watter. Also, I would recommend cleaning around, and under your nails with a toothbrush and soap.

 

I don't know the consequences or the procedures that security fallows if they detect nitrates, but I would not want to find out. Bottom line, wash your cloths several times, and clean your self more than you ever would.

(if you can, wear new cloths, or ones that have never been near your supplies. And don't forget to clean things like your jackets or coats.)

 

P.S. I am only sure that this is a test in the US. I do not know if it has been implamented in other countries.

[rocket]

A bloke I know who does displays has been pulled up at the airport a couple of time for having trace amounts of explosives detected, he tolled em what he does and that he been stoped for it before. They checked him and his bag and couldn’t find anything and he was on his way.

 

He tolled me it was his pants that where the problem because he wore then to a display a few days before hand and didn’t have time to wash them. He just said that all you have to do is just wash ya clothes.

[asilentbob]

Those puffer things are weird. I was under the impression it was more for explosives that give distinct smells. Nitro explosives rather than nitrate salts. And of course peroxides and anything else like that. I wonder if gay guys have been pulled aside because of recent nitrite use... hmm... that stuffs supposed to be so volatile that I would think it would all dissipate in a few hours.

 

I think I would be more worried about shoes... as pyros our shops often have fine dusts of various compounds on the floor... and I don't imagine that many of us wash our shoes regularly lol.

[oskarchem]

Well, they have hese machines in Europe too, and wall I personnally have never been stopped and don't want to be, anyway, I have clothes for going into my lab, I have spare shoes, pants, and shitrs, etc...

[rocket]

Those puffer things are weird. I was under the impression it was more for explosives that give distinct smells. Nitro explosives rather than nitrate salts.

That’s the same impression I get ASB. I think they detect NO2 and have a hard time detecting nitro compounds the which are very stable and decompose very slowly. For pyro explosive it’s the swabs you gotta watch for as this is what will get the nitrates and other pyro related chems.

[pyrorico]

I have been tested a number of times, both here in Australia and also in USA and China...

 

Last time I was in the USA my carry on bag was the same one that i used to take to the manufacturing plant, it would have been caked in BP dust.. they swabed it and it come up with nothing. The lady showed me on the screen what it was testing for and it was all HE.

 

I worked on an excavation shot June this year, it was all hand loaded ANFO and 55mm Cartridges so by the end of the day i was just a little dirty, the following day i flew to Darwin and was tested here in Canberra and it did not pick anything up...

 

Those machines are not very acurate...

[Arthur]

All commercial HE has had tracer chemicals in for several years. These are chems of specific odour which we don't notice but dogs and machines DO big time. Most of the airport detectors detect organic nitrogen compounds.

 

In the end if you have a legit possibility of being picked up for smelling of explosive carry some documentary evidence. Even the pyro flares that rodk bands use contain some nitro cellulose so carry your possession permits.

[oskarchem]

Hey, guys I'm going to be flying out to Venezuela in Febuary, and, I just hope that I will not get caught at the airport...But I'm pretty confident

[50AE]

I want to ask too.

 

I've already took a plane from France to Bulgaria. I had 400g of KNO3, 150g Al powder, and 100g KMnO4. I hadn't problems. Was I just lucky, or these materials can't be detected ?

[asilentbob]

I would say you were lucky.

 

Trying to bring those onto a plane is just stupid.

[bombboy218]

I would say your lucky manowar because if they found that they would arrest you because i was getting on a plane and a guy had a pack of the booby trap pull string things in his carry on bag and they would not let him on the plane till they searched him very well and with dogs.

[pyrorico]

I think you were just lucky...

 

The fact that these machines are not very good does not by any means, make it ok to fly with chemicals or compositions that are not supposed to be on airplanes.

 

Every time that I fly, I double check my baggage to make sure that there is no pyro in any of the pockets that I may have missed. As pyro’s you should know better and set an example for others.

[50AE]

Oh you really scared me .

 

Well, I took them beacause I thought that the normal baggages are not checked, and only hand baggs are (those that you take with you while flying). So I put them in the normal baggages.

 

Thank you for letting me know.

[TheSidewinder]

The way you said it made me think you had those things in your carry-on bag.

 

If it was in your checked bag, and not carry-on luggage, that may actually *HAVE* been no big deal.

 

They let a lot of stuff into checked luggage that you can't take in carry-on.

 

Depending on how your chems were packaged, and assuming they bothered to search the bag in the first place, after x-raying it, they may have had no idea what they were. And as long as their explosives detectors didn't complain they wouldn't bother trying to find out.

 

But in the future, I'd avoid doing it again. If they discover the chemicals, regardless of packaging, they might just decide to further discover WHAT chems they really are.

 

And who knows what sort of Barney Fife will be working in the TSA screening room that day.

[50AE]

Well, I didn't even hide the chemicals with clothes or boxes. I put them in a rear pocket with my bathroom accessories. That's all.

[oskarchem]

Yeah, well good you didn't hide them, because if they were ever found, they could think you were trying to do somthing to the plane.

[they call me 9 fingers]

I just returned from Iraq, so you know I had all types of explosive residues on me, nothing they didnt even catch the pair of scissors i had in my bag whoopsy

[50AE]

I will go back to Bulgaria this summer, so I would like to take some chemicals with me in my checked bags. Can some quantities like 100g of KClO4, 20g of Al, MgAl, Mg, and 50g of Ba(NO3)2 and Sr(NO3)2 be a problem ? I really want to take some, but in same time I'm scared

 

Last time there was no problem with my half kilo of KNO3, some KMnO4 and Al, but I'm still not sure. I put them in small zip lock plastic bags.

[TheSidewinder]

If any of those are completely banned on flights, you could get in trouble yes.

 

Like I said, some items are prohibited from carry-on, but are allowed in checked baggage. That said, if it's a small amount and just bagged up I doubt anyone would notice it even if they X-rayed it.

 

In any case, if you do, use good ziplock bags like you did before. Seal each chemical individually with all the air pressed out of the bag before zipping it shut, then put that in another ziplock, press air out of it, and seal. Put that inside 2 or 3 socks or a very small cardboard box. Pack the fuels and metals seperately. I'd put the biggest items in with a bag of toilet articles.

 

Back in the days before those damn nosy dogs all over the place, it's where the hippies carried their stash.

 

Or so I've been told. I mean, not that I have personal knowledge or anything like that.

[oskarchem]

Alright, so just so evry one knows who is planning on going to the US or from the US somwhere. At the airport you go and stand into a machine that sprays air at you and then analises the particles. So just wash your clothes well before flying

[justanotherpyro]

I was selected for random testing in the tiny Kauai airport. I chatted with the gal who was administering the test and learned a lot about the machine they were using( she was suspicious until I explained to her that I'm a chemistry major). Its read out looked surprisingly like an NMR spectrum.

Anyways, It was able to detect very trace amounts of organic peroxides and that was the main focus of this particular machine. She swabbed my shoes, pants, and shirt.

 

The pat down was a joke. I could have hidden an anvil in pants and passed through.

[50AE]

Socks, that's a good idea , thanks . Well, the last time I've put my KNO3 in a zip bag, the KMnO4 what in a small pharmacic plastic bottle from medicine alcohol, and the Al was in a similair bottle from medicine H2O2. I put them with my toilet things too.

 

Edit : Also, I've been flying with some old electronic hardware (LED displays, motors, power supplies, metal boxes full with small pieces) and because some of the devices were heavy wirered, i though that the airport security will take them as a bomb, but it was fine and I flew without problem.

[whitefox77]

Made it through just fine. Last weekend I traveled on a 1 way ticket to Chicago with nothing but a carry on bag (which I'm told would have been considered very suspicious). The precautions I took were not too extravagant. For my bag I use a large note-book computer bag that was basically designed for travelers (it can hold a lot more than just a computer). It had been in storage since before my pyro-hobby really got going, and to the best of my knowledge had never been expose to any of the chemicals. I double washed my cloths, and wore a pair of shoes I normally keep at work (my "meeting the client" shoes), again I'm not sure the shoes had ever been directly exposed to any of the chemicals I use. I also took a very long shower (which was really rather enjoyable).

 

I DID get spot checked. Apparently the small metal camera tripod in my bag looked suspicious on the X-ray machine. I didn't get put into any kind of machine that puffed air at me, but they did swab down my bag, shoes, shirt, pants, and jacket. The test came up negative and I was on my way. Being a very paranoid person I allowed 1.5 hours for possible security problems or other delays. I got my boarding pass and was through security in 20 minutes. That left me an hour to chat up the cute red-head in the lounge that also arrived to her flight an hour early.

 

The week prior to flying I had been making smoke bombs with SkyLighter smoke mix and chlorate. I had also been making both aluminum and charcoal stars using potassium-nitrate.

[Frozentech]

I fly on a regular basis, every two weeks for work. I've gone through the day after shooting commercial shows, wearing the same coat and boots I hand-fired in the night before. Have had my backpack wiped, and opened, a few times, but never a problem with powder residue so far. I used to worry, since I could still smell it on my coat, but if you don't actually have any material on you, what can they say ? I do have a state license in case they really tried to harass me.