# This bears repeating: DO NOT CARRY LIQUIDS ON A PLANE! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 17, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148 "2006-08-17T22:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/21 "2006-08-18T00:38:22Z")
[QUOTE=JRDelirious] Alcoholic beverages and perfumes bought at the duty free airport shop are allowed as long as they are unopened and delivered directly from the duty-free shop, by their personnel, to the gate of the aircraft – that is, they must not be in the passenger’s control. [/quote] Wow. That doesn’t seem very secure at all. Are there guards protecting the deliveries of alcohol to the airport? What’s stopping me from fixing myself up a nice bomb disguised in a six-pack of lager and switching it for a real one at some point during the delivery/unpacking? It’s not like I, hypothetical terrorist, care which flight I blow up. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/22 "2006-08-18T00:38:50Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] And for god’s sake, don’t even _think_ about carrying [Liquid Snake](http://actionfiguresbygofigure.com/product4136.html) on a plane! [/QUOTE] OK, but what about [Solid Snake](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product4135.html), or [Solidus Snake](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product282.html)? I guess Naked Snake and Old Snake don’t pose any real threat? [Raiden](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product280.html) on the other hand, make that fucker walk! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/23 "2006-08-18T00:39:58Z")
Well, they _did_ have some intense negotiations here at SJU to hammer that out, I think we were among if not the first to adopt that system – you can imagine the Rum Lobby is mighty around here… ---
**Author:** ![the\_PC\_apeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/24 "2006-08-18T00:42:01Z")
[QUOTE=Spiny Norman] Whut ? We flew out of Brussels a week ago, when the brouhaha was at its highest - as in, one see-through plastic bag per passenger as carry-on - and for all the tubes of face-lotion-of-doom being confiscated, I did not notice any _panic_ anywhere. The main _inconvenience_ was the marvellous combination of customs/immigrations documents and confiscated pens. There’s liquid. The security agents ask you to check it or throw it away. You do so, then you board. Panic ? Severe inconvenience ? Humbug, says I. This was only an incident because the bomb-sniffing dogs found nitrate traces on the outside of the bottles. And because there appears to be a hair trigger on the panic button in West Virginia. [/QUOTE] Well I may be biased (being from WV and all. Hi y’all) but I think the hair trigger wasn’t in WV. As far as I can tell, the federal TSA employees did exactly as their Washington DC bosses would have them do when their federally mandated sniffer machine set off an alarm, presumably as it was designed to do. Now it looks likely that the whole thing is just an unfortunate set of circumstances but the hair trigger wasn’t exactly a bunch of local Deputy Fifes in a anti-“feriner” hair trigger panic mode. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/25 "2006-08-18T00:46:53Z")
[QUOTE=Speaker for the Dead] It’s been the case since some fairly well-organised British terrorists planned to mix innocuous liquids on plans into explosives, but were caught. [/QUOTE] Given that there’s no evidence that any of those arrested had airline reservations, or passports, or had tried to prepare such an explosive combination from “innocuous liquids” themselves, how well-organised could they have possibly been? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/26 "2006-08-18T00:52:55Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] OK, but what about [Solid Snake](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product4135.html), or [Solidus Snake](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product282.html)? I guess Naked Snake and Old Snake don’t pose any real threat? [Raiden](http://gofigureactionfigures.com/product280.html) on the other hand, make that fucker walk! fnord! [/QUOTE] How about the snake from [Badger Badger Badger](http://weebls-stuff.com/toons/badgers/), cunningly concealed in your laptop’s hard drive? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/27 "2006-08-18T00:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] What’s stopping me from fixing myself up a nice bomb disguised in a six-pack of lager and switching it for a real one at some point during the delivery/unpacking? [/QUOTE] Same thing that stopped them from disguising it as a carton of Marlboros for the last decade. Allegedly (I haven’t had the pleasure to use the airport this week) SJU is putting the duty-free goods through secondary inspection for delivery. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/28 "2006-08-18T01:01:06Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Given that there’s no evidence that any of those arrested had airline reservations, or passports, or had tried to prepare such an explosive combination from “innocuous liquids” themselves, how well-organised could they have possibly been? [/QUOTE] The story is still evolving: [link](http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1852892,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1). And the vast majority of Brits hold passports, and a flight can be booked at any time (or the name changed at the last minute, if you want to keep it under a pseudonym). ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/29 "2006-08-18T01:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=JRDelirious] Same thing that stopped them from disguising it as a carton of Marlboros for the last decade. Allegedly (I haven’t had the pleasure to use the airport this week) SJU is putting the duty-free goods through secondary inspection for delivery. [/QUOTE] Ah, good. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/30 "2006-08-18T03:08:05Z")
As a weekly air traveller I can say with some professional experience that there will never, ever come a time, no matter how long this ban on liquids holds, that every full flight will not have at least ten to twenty retards trying to bring liquids on board. People getting on planes cannot even seem to comprehend such basic instructions as “Have photo ID ready” or “We’re boarding rows 22 and higher.” ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/31 "2006-08-18T03:38:57Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Whenever I fly I sneak some liquids on the plane in my bladder. It’s my way of sticking it to the man. They haven’t caught me yet. [/QUOTE] Og forbid someone smuggles methyl ethyl ketone peroxide on board a plane in their bladder. Mandatory catheters for all passengers! ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/32 "2006-08-18T04:08:57Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] As a weekly air traveller I can say with some professional experience that there will never, ever come a time, no matter how long this ban on liquids holds, that every full flight will not have at least ten to twenty retards trying to bring liquids on board. People getting on planes cannot even seem to comprehend such basic instructions as “Have photo ID ready” or “We’re boarding rows 22 and higher.” [/QUOTE] “I _know_ we’re boarding rows 22 and higher. I’m not _stupid_. But I’m in row 19, which is really close. And I’ve been waiting in lines for the last two hours. So I ought to be able to go now. And my ID’s in my wallet. It’ll only take a second to get to it. And I’m taking my Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper on the plane with me. I’m not a terrorist, so why are they worried about my soft drink? Why don’t they check the terrorist’s drinks and let me drink in peace?” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/33 "2006-08-18T04:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Regardless, the point is that the word is out: don’t bring liquids, because they will be confiscated, you will be detained, and you will severely inconvenience and panic every passenger waiting for their flight. [/QUOTE] I agree with just about all of your rant. People who can’t fucking listen to simple instructions about flying annoy the fuck out of me. Just reading **RickJay** ’s post brings back memories of the dozens of morons who i’ve seen do similar stuff. But panic? If you (generic you) panic upon seeing a bottle of water or a tube of toothpaste confiscated at the security checkpoint, might i suggest you go home, seal up your windows with plastic wrap and duct tape, and sit in front of the TV until about, say, 2063. You’ll feel a lot better, and those of us who want to carry on actually living (rather than just existing) will be happier. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/34 "2006-08-18T06:19:26Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] If you (generic you) panic upon seeing a bottle of water or a tube of toothpaste confiscated at the security checkpoint, might i suggest you go home, seal up your windows with plastic wrap and duct tape, and sit in front of the TV until about, say, 2063. [/QUOTE] The TV? Are you fucking crazy? Do you know what subliminal messages are being broadcast, even when it is switched off? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/35 "2006-08-18T06:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=Speaker for the Dead] It’s been the case since some fairly well-organised British terrorists planned to mix innocuous liquids on plans into explosives, but were caught. [/QUOTE] Probably a good idea to throw a few “allegedly”'s in there. And don’t forget to [remain sceptical](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/). ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/36 "2006-08-18T06:25:04Z")
All right, I realise that the story hasn’t been proven, but the people who are enacting these rules are working on the assumption that the plot was real. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/37 "2006-08-18T07:18:50Z")
Not everyone stays glued to whatever bullshit gets dreamed up after a few Muslims get high, watch Die Hard 3 and then one of them gets captured and tortured until he pretends it’s a working reality. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/38 "2006-08-18T10:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > **Apos** said: > Not everyone stays glued to whatever bullshit gets dreamed up after a few Muslims get high, watch Die Hard 3 and then one of them gets captured and tortured until he pretends it’s a working reality. Let us hope that they do not watch Die Hard 2 and get ideas about being creative with airports. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/39 "2006-08-18T10:52:20Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] You’re only allowed needed medecine (like insulin) if you can show it’s actually that (i.e., you’ve got your proscription, it’s in a medical bottle) and milk for babies, which has to be tested. [/QUOTE] What about people who don’t have the prescription? In many countries (including in my experience Spain, France, Italy, Germany - me and my coworkers need to stop getting sick abroad) you hand your prescription to the pharmacist when you buy the medication. Oh wait. Are prescriptions by non-US doctors even accepted? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148/40 "2006-08-18T11:17:28Z")
The current UK regulations are that “Prescribed medicines in liquid form, eg diabetic medicines, under 50ml, must be verified by a pharmacist at any of the airport pharmacies.” So you don’t actually need the written prescription. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-bears-repeating-do-not-carry-liquids-on-a-plane/369148.md?page=3)