CliffordK

You can look up the MSDS sheet on the product you're wanting to carry.

As far as I can tell, at least some of the loctite products will burn under certain conditions, but aren't considered "flammable", and thus shouldn't be restricted for flammability (other than not having enough to make a bomb).

kingston 

The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General carries out “Red Team” tests periodically to check the competence of the TSA’s ability to detect and stop fake weapons from getting through airport security. The results of the tests in 2017 showed that the TSA screeners FAILED to detect weapons, drugs, and explosives 80% the time. The same test in 2015 revealed a 95% failure rate. The TSA no longer releases test results to the public.

Tourist in MSN

Then it is a good thing I brought the mayo in one of those little individual packets so they did not confiscate my entire sandwich.

I think the next tour I take will be on Amtrak.

veganbikes

This is one of the many reasons I hate flying. Seriously we are having to argue over a tiny bottle of vulcanizing glue! Thanks to the U.S. government bowing to other foreign terrorists and taking away freedom, this is our lives. Having to lose any sense of privacy and being harassed over the silliest of things to go places more quickly is so silly. Foreign terrorists don't need to waste their time hijacking planes and blowing stuff up over here they ruined everyones life who has to or chooses to fly anywhere from the U.S. or to the U.S. probably for the next 100+ years.

Though I will say my last flight the TSA checkpoint while extremely degrading and fascistic didn't take as long as I thought it might take and on the way back they didn't bother me about my partially full water bottle. Still absolutely ridiculous and everything said above still applies but I did think it would be much worse.

Back in the day we would have just complained about airline fees, dagnabit.

tomtomtom123

Food items depends on whether there are regulations on invasive species. The couple of times I traveled to Australia and New Zealand, I saw a lot of people fined several hundred dollars for carrying nuts and fruits. They were warned before boarding the flight and during the flight but chose to try sneaking them through.

I think banning of anything labeled flammable makes sense for safely because a small amount of fuel can potentially start a large fire. It doesn't matter if the risk is low or incidents are infrequent. Incidents do happen, whether from damage from improper baggage handling, chemical reactions to other material from other baggage, or being near a heat source in the plane. The point is to not put the other passengers at risk for self convenience.

I remember seeing articles and videos in the past about how designers of the baggage containers that the larger airplanes use tried to fireproof the containers in case the baggage ignite. The containers could not always keep the fire from spreading.

djb

We aren't
One person is. (Not you, in case you take it that way)

CliffordK

I'm still not clear on the mechanism for self-igniting bicycle patch glue.

Electronics in the suitcase with the glue?

One of the issues is concentrations. One must look at LEL and UEL (Lower Explosive Limit, and Upper Explosive Limit).

Ok, so looking at the REMA Vulcanizing Fluid MSDS (as an example, each fluid could be different).

https://www.rematiptop.com/assets/tec...0071515AOM.pdf

The volatile component is Trichloroethylene.

Now looking at the LEL/UEL
https://www.mathesongas.com/pdfs/pro...ve-Limits-.pdf

Trichloroethylene is moderately less "explosive" than other solvents.

Out of your suitcase, It doesn't seem likely to reach 12% concentration. Although, there would be a slight risk of reaching high concentrations inside of the suitcase, and very close to the source.

Spontaneous combustion is typically an issue with certain organics, and not an issue here.

So, that leaves us needing an ignition source. Electronics inside of the luggage?

CliffordK

Electronics, in fact, would seem to be a bigger risk than your patch glue.

https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets...m?newsId=23054

I've actually had issues with accidental activation of certain bicycle headlights. One brand I have used would turn itself on to high beam, and would drain the battery quickly, and get fairly warm, especially if enclosed.

Most bike lights are difficult to remove the batteries.

I do like the CREE style bike lgihts with external 8.4V battery packs, but even those aren't without issues.

It isn't the tiny vulcanizing fluid tubes that will bring down the next plane.

Possibly an accidental battery burn. But, I could imagine a small device specifically designed to activate itself and spit flames.

tomtomtom123

https://www.parktool.com/assets/doc/...t/VP-1_SDS.pdf

Parktool vp-1 is naphtha, heptane, and octane. They have very low LEL.

Ignition source can be various things. It doesn't have to be only the things in your own baggage. It could be from the baggage from other passengers who decide to bring hazardous materials, or if your stuff gets opened and mixed with other baggage, or sources from the plane itself. A fire could also start nearby and spread to your baggage.

Why bring the risk of flammable materials onto the plane anyway if there are alternatives that are easily available?

It's also written on the FAA website that flammable adhesives are not allowed for passengers to carry onboard.

CliffordK

You can smell solvents at a much lower concentration than the LEL. I'm not convinced the tube would impact anything outside of your own luggage, but it may depend a bit on how it was packed, and where the tube was in your luggage. Just not high enough concentration of vapors.

Also, if there is a fire severe enough to burn through your suitcase coveringt, and all your clothes to get to that tiny tube, then there are issues larger than a small poof of flames when they reach the tube.

tomtomtom123

But the attitude that a small amount of my material is harmless even though it's not allowed, so I should try to bring it, if every passenger decided to sneak onboard their own bit of hazardous material, it would be problematic.

I can't recall what exactly happened on the UPS cargo plane crash, but I was under the impression that a fire started somewhere inside the plane and spread to the batteries that someone falsely declared as something else. I could be wrong about this detail though. The smoke was what eventually incapacitated the pilots and lead to the crash. I think one of the pilots passed out early in the emergency, and the second pilot either ran out of oxygen or forgot to open the valve, or he could no longer see the instrument panel or see outside the window.

indyfabz

I flew from Bismarck, ND, to Philly the day after the attempted shoe bombing. It was the first day all liquids and gels were banned. Heard about it on the news the night before and decided, for the hell of it, to pick up a couple of packs of mayo with my grocery store sandwich I bought for the flight. Sure enough, the TSA confiscated my sealed, branded mayo packs. At least they let me keep the cheese.

CliffordK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Ai...#Investigation

Not just a single tube of bicycle vulcanizing fluid.

ThermionicScott 

Yeah, if they were going to ban anything that might spontaneously combust, they should not allow any lithium-ion batteries on board.

That's something that has been documented to happen more than once, as opposed to freaking patch glue.

Tourist in MSN

I landed at Detroit for a connecting flight on the day of the shoe bomber, everyone was looking out the windows trying to figure out why that plane was out there and why all the other vehicles were out there. Nobody was explaining anything, but everybody was nervous. Fortunately, since I had arrived on a plane I did not have to go through security there when everyone was really nervous.

I worked for several years at a Federal Agency doing fire protection research, from that I can say that a lot of the discussion on this thread is a bit tooooooo paranoid. I remember once at one of our monthly safety meetings, we needed to practice using portable fire extinguishers. It was a cool day, they had a lot of trouble lighting the pan of fuel for us to practice. It is hard to practice putting out a fire when you have trouble getting one lit.

veganbikes

I know we aren't actually really arguing but the fact we need to discuss it because TSA believes it is the next weapon! Allezu Akbar or Going is the greatest or the Specialized aluminum (or if you are old school steel) road bike is the greatest.

CliffordK

Fires really depend on the fuels and materials. If you've ever tried soldering pipes, you'll be amazed at how much flame from a torch that a board can take.

Yet, one gets far too many runaway house fires.

You were trying to light a fuel? Diesel? I could imagine it would be a pain to light a tub of it. Yet, dip a rag in diesel, and you can easily light it.

Gasoline on the other hand... WHOOF!!! practice with care!!!

And, I think that is the problem. The vapors from glue would be bad, if you had enough of them. But, I'm not convinced that you would have enough of them, unless you smashed the tube into a laptop that had an active short. Even so, ,most solid state electronics don't spark (other than the famous flaming batteries).

djb

That's fair enough to discuss stuff, but I don't believe that "the tsa believes it is the next weapon!"
The % of people flying with a teeny tiny tube of patch glue is probably in the .00000 something percentage of flyers.

In any case, if security rules deem that you can't bring x or y on plane, I'll just follow the rules.

veganbikes

I was slightly kidding on that. They do believe that all these rules and regulations that anger most people some how make us free and safe.

As Ammon Hennacy said "Oh judge! Your damn laws! The good people don't need them, and the bad people don't obey them." Terrorists aren't going to look at the list and say "hey James, looks like we can't bring our tiki torches and bucket of gravy" "Well darn, Timothy we could have terrorized that plane" and normal passengers aren't like "I can use these ski poles and snow globes to attack the pilot" The whole TSA is really just a theatre with really bad actors that accomplishes nothing. If a terrorist wants to take down a plane they can easily do it without 4oz of liquid and nail clippers. I don't feel safe while being violated for attempting to go from one place to another with some speed while in the sky. I have not done wrong yet am treated as if I have done wrong.

Anywho this is getting off topic and for that I apologize. Though I do need to find my spare Tip-Top fluids so I can build out all of my saddle bags and EDC stuff.

3speed

TSA? lol How the hell have people forgotten the Decades where you could take all of the tubes glue you wanted onto a plane and it never magically started the plane on fire? It’s sad how easily... Never-mind. It’s a bike forum. Just take your tire glue and don’t worry about it. If they find it, they’ll throw it away. No big deal beyond the general frustration of the whole pile of BS. I’ve had one thing confiscated by TSA. A lighter, which is blatantly on the OK list. Upon politely questioning her, the lady Immediately jumped to not letting me fly if I questioned her again. A friend of mine forgot his camp knife (~5” fixed blade) in his camping backpack which he used for a carry-on. He flew with no problems and only realized when he was unpacking at his destination. It’s all a ruse. Just take your glue and maybe you’ll have to buy more if a grumpy agent is having a bad day that day. You would have had to buy some anyway if you didn’t take it.

I wish I were surprised. The TSA isn’t there to find weapons and drugs. They’re there to make money and maintain an illusion based on fear.
Just ignore the man behind the curtain...

djb

too much hyperbole here for me folks.
Enjoy the rest of your flight.