Pixiq

I was with a photo group and after shooting all day, it was a rush to get to Alice Springs airport, so although I knew I had placed  a nail file and scissors in my checked baggage, there was no time to go through my photo pack. I was the last in our group to go through security where three alum keys and watchmakers screwdrivers were spotted in my pack.  They were about to be confiscated when I realized I needed them for the rest of the trip.

"I will check them in."

"They are too small to check."

"OK I will buy a bag to put them in."

The only snag was that the airport store just had small bags for sale.  Undaunted, I bought one and returned to the check-in counter, which was fortunately on the same level and not too far away. I requested one of those large plastic bags used to wrap strollers. Admittedly, it was a bit of overkill, but the woman at the check-in desk did not bat an eyelid when I placed it on the scales with my tiny bag visible inside before she tagged it.

I did wonder if it would reappear on a carousel, but it emerged before my main bag.  My only regret was I learnt on the 'plane that several others had meekly handed over their alum keys and had I known they could have travelled safely with mine.

On my way to Chile last month, Heathrow did not like the look of my macro focusing rail made by Really Right Stuff, because they scanned the bag it was in three times before I suggested I opened it for the officers to see the suspicious object, as you can below.

 The same thing happened on my return journey out of Santiago, but they were a bit quicker off the mark and requested me to open the bag after two scans. Why didn't I put the focusing rail in my checked baggage? Quite simply because I use it daily and I did not want to wait several days over the Christmas break before I could get another if my bag failed to turn up.

And another thing ..... How I wish airlines could agree on where they want us to stow batteries.  We all need to take a stack to keep portable flash units charged and out of the UK, all spare ones go in my checked baggage.  Yet, some years ago, I was called up over the tannoy system as we sat waiting to board the 'plane.  I was escorted out onto the tarmac to unlock my checked bag to reveal the sets of four AA batteries were simply lying in plastic Ziploc bags unconnected to anything.

 In the '80's I took a photo group round India and when we were going through security for an internal flight, all the batteries from our still and video cameras were confiscated - most of which we were unlikely to be replaced in remote parts of India, so I pleaded with the officials to let me put them all in my checked bag. By this time, it was on the runway about to be loaded onto our 'plane, so I had to be escorted by a military guard onto the airside.  

 Does anyone know the current battery situation in India, as it is a while since I was there?