Originally Posted by
jccaclimber
.... TSA always opened it, and tended to less than generously repack it. I started using more padding and zip ties to keep things in place. At some point someone suggested that I stop including the water bottles. Might be coincidence, but they didn't search the box on my next few flights, or at least didn't unpack anything or leave a note.
....
When I brought a bike on the plane, always in an S&S case, I used clear water bottles and shoved them into the case loose. And I left the lids off so you could see they were empty. One liter size Smart Water and one liter Life WTF bottles fit in bike cages but some bike frames do not handle the length of those bottles. They weigh nothing, so I use those bottles for bike touring. They are sold as disposable water bottles, but I keep using them.