Does the TSA freak out over Incase hard shells?

November 3, 2008 11:02 PM

Anyone know if TSA agents would require you to remove a laptop from a hard shell case during the x-ray screening process? Or are they just concerned about clutter in bags obscuring their view? I have the Incase linked above and do not want to have to try and go through the pain of removing the thing in line... or at all for that matter :) Thanks!
posted by vitrum to law & government (8 answers total)

I can only speculate as to TSA's reaction, but from what I've seen they just want an unobstructed view of the laptop. Since the xray will see through the case, and it matches the lines of the original machine, it would just look like an extra thick case on a laptop.

Granted, TSA didn't know what to do with the MacBook Air when it first passed through their scanners.

Indirectly- I have spent more time removing those incase shells (or an earlier incarnation) from users machines in the past, and magically fixing "random crashes and freezes" as they tended to act more like insulators than anything else.
posted by mrzarquon at 11:18 PM on November 3, 2008

They'll make you stick in the shitty (unpadded, ugh) plastic bin by itself while it ROCKETS DOWN THE CONVEYOR ROLLERS AT NINETY MILES PER FUCKING HOUR, but they probably won't make you remove your shell. If you encounter a less-than-savvy agent (or a power-tripper), you might have to turn it on. That'd be my guess.
posted by Mikey-San at 12:07 AM on November 4, 2008

I fly weekly and place my laptop, housed in a Pelican Hardback 1080, into the bin, and I've never been asked to open the case.

So I can't imagine that they would make you remove the Incase shell.
posted by seymour.skinner at 12:09 AM on November 4, 2008

Granted, TSA didn't know what to do with the MacBook Air when it first passed through their scanners.

My got quite a wow from the screeners at CVG. Nobody in line -- and they were like "There's nothing in that!"

I fly weekly and place my laptop, housed in a Pelican Hardback 1080, into the bin, and I've never been asked to open the case.

Certain cases are fine. The trick is that the only thing that should be there is Case and Notebook. If you've got a bunch of cords in there, they'll probably ask you to pull it out.

I put my MBAir, in a sleeve, into the bin all the time, never get called on it, and I fly all the time. Today will be segments 87 and 88 for the year.
posted by eriko at 2:38 AM on November 4, 2008

The main reason they ask you to pull the laptop out of a standard case/bag is that it obscures the rest of the case from the scanner (the hdd especially), and they want to make sure you're not hiding sharp objects underneath. I leave my laptop in it's neoprene sleeve every time (snug fit to the laptop) flying between france and the UK and back, and it's not been a problem. As long as the hard case is a snug fit with no extra cables, I don't think they will ask it to be removed.
posted by ArkhanJG at 2:55 AM on November 4, 2008

Does your bag meet their new standards? They are pretty explicit now about what types of bags need to be unpacked and which do not. (The old standard was that all had to be unpacked.)
posted by smackfu at 6:16 AM on November 4, 2008

I have a MacBookPro that lives in a hard translucent shell from Speck Products. I travel about once a month and TSA *cough*Security Theater*cough* has never made me remove the shell.
posted by browse at 7:13 AM on November 4, 2008

I have a MacBook that's in one of those hard cases and I have never had to remove it. My case is clear. I have to put it in the bin (usually in its neoprene sleeve, which I also do not have to remove) and nary a TSA goon has batted an eyelash at it. I've gone through airport security checkpoints about 30 times so far this year with it.
posted by bedhead at 7:37 AM on November 4, 2008