Packing for Defcon:Not wanting the TSA to give me a colonoscopy.

[jackadaniel at gmail.com (Jack Daniel)]

I have found that telling the TSA folks you have a pile of electronics
and other goodies *before* it hits the belt helps- as does telling
them you have plenty of time if they need to do secondary inspection.
When I carry electronics in my carry-on, I keep them in a separate bag
and run it separate from the carry-on, then stuff it in my carry-on
once I'm through. (The last two Shmoocon bags are good, they lay flat
on the belt and have a padded pocket).  I also stuff power bricks and
cables in gallon freezer bags before packing them, even in my laptop
backpack, it makes it easier to keep track of things if they pull your
gear out.

If you carry conventional microphones, especially ones without a big
metal ball/screen, make sure you tell them before they look at your
bag.  TSA and metal cylinders with electronic bits inside, bad mix.

Non-TSA tip, grab coozies when you are at cons and other
schwag-gathering events, they are great for protecting small things
like cameras, lenses, recorders, etc.

Happy trails
Jack