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Easier said than done. I have personally experienced what happens when flying with a nonstandard electronic device in your carry on and it's not an experience I
by micheljansen 13y ago
Easier said than done. I have personally experienced what happens when flying with a nonstandard electronic device in your carry on and it's not an experience I would like to repeat. In my case, all I was carrying was a hardware prototype consisting of a standard Samsung touch panel + control module in a custom injection molded plastic enclosure. Basically a glorified iPad.
This resulted in me being detained for over an hour while they ran every possible test on it, inspected every single item in my carry on and even photographing every individual page in my notebook. I was then followed until I got on the plane and even had to confirm that I was on the plane before it was cleared to depart.
This was on a US domestic flight. I have flown with prototypes in Europe several times (international flights) and have never had any problems.
Either way: bringing nonstandard electronics, even things that are much less sophisticated than acceptable things like laptops etc. can cause you major headaches when the TSA is involved.
- saalweachter 13y agoJust out of curiosity, how were you carrying it? I'm picturing it stuffed in your bag like most people carry an iPad. I'm wondering if you'd be better off carrying prototypes in a separate, custom piece of luggage, like a Pelican case. Something that says 'this is expensive and important', rather than 'someone made this in a garage'.
- micheljansen 13y agoSorry for the late response. I carried it in a small carry-on suit case, along with my other stuff, so not in a separate custom luggage. I did take it out and put it through the scanner separately though, as one would with a laptop. It looked fairly expensive and on its own though, as it was professionally made, but if I ever have to do this again, I'll try packing it separately :)