Not worth risking it with Cuban immigration - it can be a hairy experience at the best of times.

Can't say I've ever found it a hairy experience - grumpy and unsmiling staff, boring and time consuming for those of us in the queue, yes, but hairy in the sense of scary or intimidating? Never! As long as your documentation is all in order, that is, your visa and import/export forms are filled in correctly, you have your return air ticket (rather than an open ticket), your passport is in good condition and all available for them to examine then it's no worse than most other non EU immigration set-ups and certainly better than some.

As for the 'camo' gear, yes, leave it at home. Military matters are taken seriously in Cuba and that includes uniforms etc but it will also not only make you stand out as a tourist even more than usual but also mark you down as a bit of a freak as far as the locals are concerned! The fashion for wearing military style gear is not understood by Cubans who go out of their way to try and customise their clothing and be different from each other. 'Why one earth would anyone who doesn't have to wear a uniform actually choose to wear one?' seems to be their attitude. But then again, they seem to regard most male tourists as being scruffy dressers anyway! 'Dressing down' is not a Cuban concept if you can afford not to - I can remember being asked why so many British men on holiday in Cuba dressed like farm or manual workers when they clearly had to be in much better paid work or how else could they afford to holiday in Cuba in the first place?

For the same reason they don't get 'combats' either - why load yourself down with all your stuff in pockets if you can afford a bag to carry it round in? One of the most popular gifts I once took was the lightweight, giveaway conference brief cases leftover from one that I organise. Any academic here accumulates laods of them and thinks nothing of it. It made me realise what a throwaway society we are - here they would have ended up being thrown away with the rubbish after the conference was over if I hadn't rescued them - there I was being proudly shown them in use on my trip the following year.

SM

Not a hairy experience for me .... but when we went to Holguin a few years ago a particularly surly female official was searching random items of hand luggage in the immigration queues and if she wasn't happy was following the holidaymaker thru' and searching ALL their baggage - and it wasn't a nice, tidy search - she spread all the contents over a trestle table and then left them to repack!
I suppose in hindsight she wasn't actually immigration but some sort of Customs official - BUT IT CERTAINLY LED TO A FEW LATE COACHES THAT DAY!!

Almost certainly a Customs official which can be a different matter. I suspect that the searches weren't actually random at all but that they were targetted at people who looked as if they might be returning Cuban ex-nationals. But at one point they took a lot of interest in any appliances that could result in high electrical consumption - travel irons and kettles and the like. They also take an interest in anything that might find its way onto the black market or be of use for counter-revolutionary activities. Not being male, I've never experienced having one of the Customs sniffer dogs take its time nuzzling my crotch! They never seem to do it to women - must be something about the smells men who've sat crunched up in cattle class for hours and hours give off! Now I could imagine that would be hairy

SM

I like a few of the previous posts, received our tickets and read about the camouflage gear and it also mentioned not to carry electrical/electronic goods in hand luggage as this would be confiscated at the airport. I am now rather concerned, as I never travel anywhere without my Ipod, and would be gutted if it was taken from me on arrival. Can anyone comment on this?

Think there used to be a problem with DVD players (or lap tops with built in DVD drives). I've been 3 times and taken MP3 players, CD players & various video and digital cameras in my hand luggage without any issues, so can't see any prob. with an IPOD
There also was a ban on electrical items that consume a lot of instantaneous power eg toasters, kettles ... not sure if this still applies.

I have been last two years and back again in June there is no NO problems with electrical goods. have agreat time in this great country.