We had a fairly uneventful trip back, except for getting stopped at the TSA security checkpoint at the Philadelphia Airport for carrying a banned-in-a-carry-on item. What item we were carrying that caused the problem?  Was it …

1. A 7″ screwdriver
2. A sealed jar of peanut butter
3. 2 knitting needles
4. A standard cigarette lighter
5. A book of matches
6. A dSLR camera with a separate flash

If you picked #2, you are correct. All the other items are allowed in carry-on luggage according to the official TSA website, athough photographic equipment in a carry-on bag is technically subject to the discretion of the TSA agent.

Anyway, we were indeed stopped and our bag searched at security because we had a small jaf of Jif peanut butter in our carry-on bag. Peanut butter turns out to be a substance that is banned in larger than 3oz quantities in carry-on luggage. Who knew. We were bringing back a small jar of it by special request for someone here in Tübingen, but it got left with the TSA agent who confiscated it at the security checkpoint in Philadelphia. On previous trips we’d always had checked luggage on our return trip from the U.S., so we’d never run into this before, since I’m certain we carried back peanut butter as a gift item before. But since we didn’t check luggage this trip, all the gift items were of necessity in the carry-ons, including the illegal jar of Jif.

I should note for the record that the jar of Jif peanut butter in our luggaage apparently looked like a candle when viewed on the x-ray machine. The TSA agent said he wanted to open my carry-on bag because we had a candle in it (but we had no candle, only that jar of Jif). I therefore gather candles must also be banned, (although the only gel candles are listed on the TSA website.)

Anyway, you can check out a list of foods banned by the TSA here.  Who knew it covered so many things beyond the basic “gels and liquids” that I had previously known about. Heretofore, the main thing I paid attention to was that the liquid toiletries have to be in 3oz sized bottles in a quart-sized zip-lock bag, and that bottles of water need to be tossed and new ones purchased after going through security, where inevitably you need to pay $2.50 to replace the $1.00 bottle you’d bought before you got to the airport.

For the record, we did not notice a place after security to purchase a replacement jar peanut butter, at any price.

Anyway, the current complete list of prohibited/permitted items in carry-on bags actually surprised me, so if you’re traveling in the near future you might want to have a look at their list. Airline websites aren’t kept current on the latest changes, at least accordingly a quite unscientific survey I did today. For example, most airlines have not updated their lists to include peanut butter as a prohibited item in carry-on bags, even though it is listed on the official TSA website.

Two additional things I noticed when looking at the TSA site today. On that prohibited food list, you’ll see that pies can be transported on board, although they will be subject to unspecified “additional screening”.  I don’t know why, but that strikes me as funny.

Also, there’s a whole section on the site about the so-called “TSA Recognized Baggage Locks.” We invested in these when we moved to Italy years ago, since for that trip we had several large checked pieces of luggage, and checked luggage in the U.S. can not be shipped with any kind of lock on them, unless you used one of  these special TSA locks. The idea is that the TSA agents have a special master key that can unlock these locks if they want to inspect your bag. The locks are simple combination locks (a key is available only for TSA use), and the lock won’t close until the dial is twirled to conceal the combination.

I’ve continued to use those locks on our carry-on luggage, since our bags have zipper closures, and I’m always concerned that the zipper could get caught on something and pull open accidentally if there’s no lock keeping the zipper in place.

BTW, our checked luggage actually was searched on a trip years ago — they leave a note inside the bag noting that they did it — but the lock was left off that bag afterwards. I assumed at the time that it was just carelessness on the part of the agent who searched the bag and just forgot to put it back on.

But maybe the real story is that there is no master key for those locks, and they use bolt cutters to get into a checked bag (making the agents unable to put the lock back on the bag afterwards).

Here’s why this is my new theory. In Philadelphia, when the TSA agent asked to inspect the bag to look for the “candle,” the bag was locked. I offered to unlock it for him, but he curtly informed me that I wasn’t allowed to touch the bag. I then said, oh, right, it’s a TSA special lock and you guys have a master key to open it, don’t you.

His blank stare told me he’d never even heard of a TSA Recognized Baggage Lock. Needless to say, he had no master key with which to open it. I gave him the combination, but he hadn’t ever tried to use one of these locks at all, apparently. The numbers are displayed in 3 places, but only one of the places is used to line up the numbers to get the lock open. (Trust me, it’s simpler to use than describe). After a minute or so of fiddling with the lock, he wordlessly he pushed the bag toward me and indicated I should open the lock myself after all.

Now why didn’t I think of that.