12 Obscure Items TSA allows you to pack in your suitcase
TSA officer helping passenger at an airport security screening checkpoint
Image: Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
We’ve all been there – you’re at the airport and send your bag through the X-Ray scanner at the TSA security checkpoint. As your bag comes out you get pulled aside by a TSA Officer.
Uh oh! You forgot to remove something from your bag. Most of the time it’s probably a water bottle you forgot to empty. Other times you might have accidently forgotten to remove a common banned object from your bag, such as a pocket knife.
For all the items you can’t take (for good reason) on board an aircraft, here are 12 interesting items that TSA surprisingly allows in your carry-on bag.
Now, we’re not sure if there are any practical uses for these in an airport.
For most of these items, you’ll be more than likely carrying them as gifts for others, or you might just be the lucky recipient of one yourself. But strictly speaking from a rules standpoint, the following items are TSA-approved for taking through airport security. Did someone say fresh waffles, made to order, at your gate? Your fellow passengers will probably love you for that. Enjoy!
ADVERTISEMENT1) Blenders
Image: Pille R. Priske/Unsplash
For all you smoothie aficionados out there, don’t fret – your Ninja, Nutribullet, or Vitamix blender can come along with you. The bad news? Only if the blade is removed and properly packed away in your checked luggage. By properly, the TSA requires blender blades in checked luggage to be sheathed or wrapped to prevent injury. So while your beloved blender can stay with you by your side for the whole flight, you won’t actually be able to make a smoothie onboard.
2) Christmas and Holiday Lights
Image: Thalia Ruiz/Unsplash
In the festive spirit over the holidays? Or maybe you found a good holiday clearance deal on your way home from grandma’s house this year? Free to pack those string lights in your carry-on bag! Now for the bigger question, can you plug Christmas lights in on an airplane? Honestly, we’re not sure – we recommend you check with your airline or flight attendant once on board.
3) Duct Tape
With all the air rage incidents happening on planes lately, passengers might think about bringing their own duct tape on planes. Say what? You may be surprised to learn that duct tape is in fact allowed through airport security. We would highly recommend you leave the duct tape in your bag though. Let the flight attendants try and deescalate the situation if one should arise on your next flight.
4) Handcuffs
Image: Unsplash
Similar to duct tape, handcuffs are allowed by TSA to be in your carry-on. Once again though, we don’t recommend playing vigilante on the plane. Let the pros handle it.
5) Microwave Oven
Image: Erik Mclean/Unsplash
Hot Pockets? Top Ramen? You betcha! Microwave ovens are allowed to go through airport security. Whether your airline allows you to take one on their planes though, is a different story. The official TSA website states “Microwave is allowed through the checkpoint. Please check with your airline for their policy.” While common sense says you shouldn’t, and probably won’t be allowed to, plug it in on the plane (assuming an aircraft’s seat outlets even supply enough power to run a microwave) you could hypothetically find a wall outlet at the airport. Plug one in and warm up food you brought. You might get a lot of stares but, oh, the ways you’ll save money on a vacation!
6, 7, & 8) Tortilla Press, Waffle Iron, Bread Machine
Image: kae71463/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Similar to a microwave oven, you realistically can’t use these on the airplane. But since you can take these through TSA, if you’re really into cooking and baking at an airport and feel super ambitious, you could probably pull one of these out in the terminal as you wait for your plane and mix up some batter. By the way, dry ingredients and most kitchen utensils can also be brought through TSA – just saying! But as mentioned before, if you ever find yourself with a tortilla press, waffle iron, or bread machine at an airport, it’s probably a gift that’s staying in the box.
9) Television
Image: Possessed Photography/Unsplash
Don’t fret, many airlines offer on board entertainment – some have live TV and others have a vast library of popular TV shows that you can stream onto your phone, laptop, or tablet. So feel free to leave the TV set at home. But if you must travel with one, TSA will allow you to bring one in your carry-on. Just a word about size before you decide haul your 60” big screen TV with you – it still needs to fit in the overhead bin on the plane. But maybe you’ll want to bring a small TV for our next item on this list.
10) Xbox / Gaming Consoles
Image: Louis-Philippe Poitras/Unsplash
Okay, we’ll concede that this isn’t the most obscure item, but it’s a question that gets commonly asked. In case you are wondering – yes, your teenager can bring their favorite gaming console with them through TSA security. Just make sure they take it out of the bag so that it can be screened separately in its own bin, similar to a laptop or tablet.
11) Desktop computer
Image: Jan Kaláb/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
1999 called and wants its computer back. We’re not sure who uses a large desktop computer at home anymore, let alone anyone who carries one with them through an airport. But if you really need to do so, desktop computers are 100% TSA-approved, meaning you can bring these through security and onto an airplane. Similar to an Xbox or PlayStation though, you need to have it screened separately.
12) Printer
Image: Nenad Stojkovic/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
If you must, keep bringing those printers through TSA! Or you can just use email like the rest of us, so that you have room to pack things like, you know…a fresh set of clothes?... in your bag.
Conclusion
We hope you found this entertaining – please share and pass this along to your friends, family, and social media! Stay tuned for future articles on what you can take through airport security.
For a full list of approved or banned items, check out the “What Can I Bring?” section of TSA’s website.
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