Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - this seattube is a pipebomb

While out in california i bought a few parts to build the Circle A, namely a Chris King headset and Thomson seat post. Being that these parts were expensive, I planned on bringing them in my carry on as opposed to sticking them in Michele's bag that was going to be checked. I thought it might be a problem but hoped it wouldn't be.

Of course it was. I put my bag on the x-ray machine and it went through once. I saw it come out uneventfully and was stoked, but then the machine was thrown in reverse and it was quickly sucked back into the abyss. A superviser was called over to consult, and the bag came out. He asked whose bag it was and I said it was mine. He said he was going to run it through the machine again and I said ok. It went through again and came out, and was quickly grabbed up by an agent who told me to follow him. We went over to a table and he asked me if there was anything fragile or hazardous and I said no. My hands were in my pockets and he asked me to take them out and to not reach for anything while he examined my bag.

He wiped one of those clothes over it that picks up residue and ran it through a machine to see if any explosive residue was on my bag. The he started digging. I had an allen key set in one of the front pockets that I had forgotten to take out and he called someone over to consult. They decided that it was fine and kept digging. They dug through my whole bag but never even pulled out the seatpost, which was in a nifty little bag it came in, which i'm sure was the reason for suspicion in the first place. Test results came bag negitive so I'm sure that comforted them enough and they let me go on my way.

Did your film with the pictures of that nitto frame get erased?

While out in california i bought a few parts to build the Circle A, namely a Chris King headset and Thomson seat post. Being that these parts were expensive, I planned on bringing them in my carry on as opposed to sticking them in Michele's bag that was going to be checked. I thought it might be a problem but hoped it wouldn't be.

Of course it was. I put my bag on the x-ray machine and it went through once. I saw it come out uneventfully and was stoked, but then the machine was thrown in reverse and it was quickly sucked back into the abyss. A superviser was called over to consult, and the bag came out. He asked whose bag it was and I said it was mine. He said he was going to run it through the machine again and I said ok. It went through again and came out, and was quickly grabbed up by an agent who told me to follow him. We went over to a table and he asked me if there was anything fragile or hazardous and I said no. My hands were in my pockets and he asked me to take them out and to not reach for anything while he examined my bag.

He wiped one of those clothes over it that picks up residue and ran it through a machine to see if any explosive residue was on my bag. The he started digging. I had an allen key set in one of the front pockets that I had forgotten to take out and he called someone over to consult. They decided that it was fine and kept digging. They dug through my whole bag but never even pulled out the seatpost, which was in a nifty little bag it came in, which i'm sure was the reason for suspicion in the first place. Test results came bag negitive so I'm sure that comforted them enough and they let me go on my way.

ahhhh, the friendly skies. At least they didn't jack your Sh1t up.

wow. holy wow.

Oh, and on a related note, I've had a set of alan wrenches taken from me at the airport.
As if a blunt alan wrench is any more dangerous than my finger.

Welcome back

I was very afraid that the story was going to end with "And they had to cut my seatpost and headset in half, right in front of me."

I once flew with a bike light (heavy lead-acid battery and electronics), and a gps unit (more dense stuff with electronics). That got the red flag in Fargo pretty quick, but was also let through. In Philadelphia they didn't even bat an eye. :eek:

They did the whole "I'm going to have to run this through again", scanned my bag 4 times, then opened it and went through it. It contained a magazine, some fruit bars, and a book.

Last week I left a pocket knife and a multi tool in my chrome bag when I flew to Edmonton.
Sure enough, they took the knife, but left me the multitool.

I could do a lot more damage to the plane with a multitool, vs. a 1.5" blade.

Last week I left a pocket knife and a multi tool in my chrome bag when I flew to Edmonton.
Sure enough, they took the knife, but left me the multitool.

I could do a lot more damage to the plane with a multitool, vs. a 1.5" blade.

I don't know... the average person could do more damage to another average person with a knife than a multitool on an airplane. remember box cutters took down a couple planes and two towers. If you can do that with a multitool, make sure i'm never on a plane with you

That's pretty standard procedure and happens routinely. I had a couple packs of 9V batteries in my bag that resulted in the same treatment. It seems harsh, but it's just standard procudure for those guys/gals. They all take their jobs way too seriously, but that's a different story.

I actually got a box cutter through one time, it was a box cutter that looked like a pocket knife which must've been even worse. I didn't ever realize I had it in the bag in one of the smaller pocket till I got to my destination. One the return trip home I removed the razor blade part and sure enough, they opened my bag and looked at it till they saw that it didn't have a blade.

They did the whole "I'm going to have to run this through again", scanned my bag 4 times, then opened it and went through it. It contained a magazine, some fruit bars, and a book.

fruit bars probably looked like explosives.

high fiber fruit bars can be...

I don't know... the average person could do more damage to another average person with a knife than a multitool on an airplane. remember box cutters took down a couple planes and two towers. If you can do that with a multitool, make sure i'm never on a plane with you

My multitool has a 1.5" blade, screwdrivers enough to take apart almost anything, and a toothpick for stabbing out eyes.

once way back in a pre-9/11, but post-columbine age, i was coming home for xmas and i made a present for my friend back home out of a bunch of crap i found around the train tracks: a gauge of some sort, several uniform plastic sticks, all held together with a bunch of multicolored wires that were attached to the gauge and to the sticks in various important looking places, etc. and i carried it on.

when the security screener asked me what it was, i was like "it's a bomb...but it's not a REAL bomb," at which she smiled and told me to have a good day.

high fiber fruit bars can be...
Word....

They all take their jobs way too seriously

...right. I hope everyone in the airport is taking their job too seriously as opposed to not serious enough next time I fly.

^ what he said . and this post is not a pipebomb.

...right. I hope everyone in the airport is taking their job too seriously as opposed to not serious enough next time I fly.


It's mostly just a dog 'n' pony show so that we FEEL safer.

We aren't

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11863165/

i was once stopped and searched because i was wearing a belt buckle with an uzi engraved on it. A BELT BUCKLE.

It takes time and money. We'd be a lot less safe if there was less or no security. And a lot of that dog and pony show is what prevents people from attempting to smuggle stuff aboard an airplane. Just ask Richard Reid (ditched triggering mechanism inside airport so he wouldn't get caught).

I flew last week. I knew I'd be fixing a bike at my destination, so I considered bringing my allen key set, crank extractor, spoke wrench, etc.

But I decided against it. I'd hate to lose $50+ in tools because someone thinks I could, I dunno, stab somone with a hex key. Puh-leeze.

It takes time and money. We'd be a lot less safe if there was less or no security. And a lot of that dog and pony show is what prevents people from attempting to smuggle stuff aboard an airplane. Just ask Richard Reid (ditched triggering mechanism inside airport so he wouldn't get caught).
Time, money, AND a competent government
Did you even read the link?
What could be less safe than unsafe?
Do we even need to talk about our unprotected ports, or unsecured nuclear weapons in frmr Soviet Union?

http://entirely-adequate.com/thiscat.jpg

Take that, America!

i dont know if any of you knowthis or not, but any part of a bicycle is not adequate enough to build a pipe bomd. the most they should worry about is you hitting them with your ****.

ps: that cat is ubber cute

XVX

what if you cut off the downtube, built a pipe bomb, and welded it back on? of course, it wouldn't blow up in the welding, and of course no one would be dumb enough to think you'd try welding bike parts to make a bomb, right? right? especially if you were standing there, unmaimed and undeceased?

CHANGE OF PACE

Not directed at anyone here at all, but I read the Martin Amis story in the New Yorker (on a plane) today, called "The Last Days of Muhammed Atta" (which was very good), and this thread came up, and so then:

I have this argument with my dad every time we fly together. He gets upset because security takes longer, he doesn't like taking off his shoes, all of it. I don't get even a little upset at it. And it's not because I feel safer, because I felt safe before, taking comfort in simple probability. But: Egypt (yesterday), London, Madrid, Bali, New York; so what if only one of them involved planes? One part of me doesn't get mad because- cliched as it has become- there's a real threat. The other part of me doesn't get mad out of compassion for all the people who've died in terrorist attacks, like 9/11.
NM

I think the amazing part is that the inspector didn't even find the seatpost in the bag. Hell, it could have been a pipe bomb and they would have let it through!

I have accidentally brought a lighter through on several occasions, they never noticed, but I guess it was one of those plastic ones so it didn't look like much on the x-ray.

The most annoying time was when I walked through the metal detector with a cell phone in my back pocket, and of course the detector went off. The lady running it asked me if I had anything in my pockets, but I wasn't thinking (i was running late..) and I said "no", and checked the front ones anyway. She let me go through a second time, and as soon as I set the detector off I remembered about my cell phone. I tried to explain this to her, but she wouldn't listen and said, "you are only allowed two attempts". Then I had to stand off to the side and wait for another guy to come over and frisk me. Before he did it, he gave this long drawn out disclaimer spech that I had to verbally agree to, basically saying that he was going to touch me with the handheld metal detector, and if it went off, he would have to inspect further. Blah blah blah. They all are such bureaucratic machines, and exemplify how ****ed up and non-functional our system is.

what if you cut off the downtube, built a pipe bomb, and welded it back on? of course, it wouldn't blow up in the welding, and of course no one would be dumb enough to think you'd try welding bike parts to make a bomb, right? right? especially if you were standing there, unmaimed and undeceased?
theres not enough space for explosives and shrapnel to make an effective explosive. i wish i could find the article of the guy who tried building one, but alas my search goes on.

and to anyone talking about the 911 terrorsit ****, why does security have to go up for this one instance, but all the other terrorist hijacks and downed planes didnt even get a bat of the eye?

XVX

and to anyone talking about the 911 terrorsit ****, why does security have to go up for this one instance, but all the other terrorist hijacks and downed planes didnt even get a bat of the eye?


just perhaps because the other ones didn't use knives to hijack planes and then fly them into large buildings full of people...

just perhaps because the other ones didn't use knives to hijack planes and then fly them into large buildings full of people...

i think the anecdotes in this thread demonstrate that even though it looks like security has visually been stepped up, that **** could still happen anyways. nothing has changed -- except now normal people get harassed more.

I had an allen key set in one of the front pockets that I had forgotten to take out and he called someone over to consult. They decided that it was fine and kept digging. They dug through my whole bag but never even pulled out the seatpost, which was in a nifty little bag it came in, which i'm sure was the reason for suspicion in the first place. Test results came bag negitive so I'm sure that comforted them enough and they let me go on my way.
It definitely was the seatpost. I found out the hard way, at Hartsfield coming back home from Bama this easter, what the rule is. Nothing metal over 7".

I left bike crap in my shoulder bag by accident; it had all my tire-fixing stuff (small pump, socket wrench, tire levers, etc.). When I flew out of BWI my bag got inspected. I thought it was because they didn't recognize my minipump on the x-ray, due to the fact that the inspector took the pump out, asked what it was, then showed it to the guy who was looking at the xray.

Coming back, I took the pump out and put it in a bin with my shoes. The bag still looked suspicious on the x-ray, and they took it out to be inspected and swabbed. The inspector pulled out the socket wrench, asked what it was, and said I couldn't carry it on because it was more than seven inches long. I was kind of flummoxed (and didn't want to leave my wrench), so she checked it against a ruler (it was 7 1/2" long) and asked her supervisor if it was okay. Nope. Anything metal over 7" is no good for carry-on. I'd never heard about that before.

I had to run out to the post office, mail the wrench home, and go through security again. They let my wife hang out with our bags in the inspection area. We almost missed our flight.

It's kind of infuriating how we have to find out some of these rules through trial and error. So, got that, y'all? NO METAL OBJECTS MORE THAN 7" LONG IN YOUR CARRYON.

that said, all the TSA people I came in contact with were nice, for a change.


Keep your hands out of your pockets.
WTF? You already went through security--how could you have anything hidden on you?

So much for my 9inch titanium ***** going to cancun with me.

ps: that cat is ubber cute




It's that kind of lax attitude that permits terrorism. Just think, that could be your last thought as you pick up the kitty pipebomb that kills you. I hope you're not teaching your kids this stuff...

So much for my 9inch titanium ***** going to cancun with me.
Head somewhere populated by rich robots and cruise...

It's that kind of lax attitude that permits terrorism. Just think, that could be your last thought as you pick up the kitty pipebomb that kills you. I hope you're not teaching your kids this stuff...

well if a cat kills me, then i think i deserved it. and dont worry about my kids, they are, and will be non exsistant(YAY VESECTOMY)

XVX

just perhaps because the other ones didn't use knives to hijack planes and then fly them into large buildings full of people...

i remember hearing about pilots getting held at gun point(hence why they were allowed to carry guns in the first place)

XVX

Commercial pilots in the US aren't allowed to carry guns. That was an idea that was floated after 9-11, but I'm pretty sure it didn't go anywhere.

i dont know if any of you knowthis or not, but any part of a bicycle is not adequate enough to build a pipe bomd.


This is crap, u can make 3 bombs of any bike, melt your plastic or tnt, and fill any tube u whant, u can also add some nails and stuff to the seat tube one.
The not buted steel pipes are better ;)

I forgot about the bars... lots of place for explosives.

Commercial pilots in the US aren't allowed to carry guns. That was an idea that was floated after 9-11, but I'm pretty sure it didn't go anywhere.

yes it did (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2960277.stm)


i think the anecdotes in this thread demonstrate that even though it looks like security has visually been stepped up, that **** could still happen anyways. nothing has changed -- except now normal people get harassed more.

normal people get harassed more - and people with arabic or muslim names get harassed WAY WAY more.

also, law-abiding people aren't allowed to carry weapons which they could use to stab hijackers.

I once tossed a revolver shaped lighter into my friends carry on bag once during an overseas trip. We forgot it was there and as it passed through the x-ray the inspector kept on looking up at the screen, then at my frinend, then back to the screen with an expression that just screamed "are you fu$&(#$ kidding me?"

This is crap, u can make 3 bombs of any bike, melt your plastic or tnt, and fill any tube u whant, u can also add some nails and stuff to the seat tube one.
The not buted steel pipes are better ;)

I forgot about the bars... lots of place for explosives.

do it

XVX

At least they didn't try and 'confiscate' any of your stuff. My brother (when he still smoked), had a couple of lighters in his carry-on once, a plastic one and a nice stainless Zippo-type thing. Apparently, the metal one was a lot more dangerous and had to be confiscated, but the plastic one was fine. Luckily my brother's got smarts and said 'I'd like to see your superviser'. The security guy did a hasty backpedal and let him, and both his lighters, go.

hey all are such bureaucratic machines, and exemplify how ****ed up and non-functional our system is.
Yeah, **** the ****ing system! **** the ****ing system! It's ****ed up!

ps - if they didn't have a well-scripted process, the process would get abused, grow up.

...and a toothpick for stabbing out eyes.


toothpick justice!!!!

normal people get harassed more - and people with arabic or muslim names get harassed WAY WAY more.

i have a lebanese last name--and big holes in my ears--and always travel with weird homemade electronics that are hard to explain and i have oodles of passport stamps from all sorts of countries.

but i travel with a cute 6' tall blonde, so no one ever bats an eye.