I use one of these combs and have often wondered if it would be removed at customs.
I always put a spare one in my case.

In transit at Madrid a couple of weeks ago, I had to have my handluggage scanned when going through to the gate for my connecting flight to London. I was asked to open my case and it turned out that it was my travel iron that was causing the fuss! It was gingerly removed by a man wearing gloves and taken to the customs police (or whoever they were!). He said something about not being sure if I could have this in my handluggage.

Fine - but I'd had no problem at Heathrow or Madrid on the outbound or at Dakar where I'd just come from. It was promptly returned and I was waved on. I suspect that at 5am and with practically no other passengers around they may just have been bored!

I think I must look suspicious as I have often been stopped at the airport. The last time was on my way to Morocco at gatwick airport when the scanner picked up on my tube of toothpaste in the sealed see-through bag. The woman said she was just going to take it for testing She squeezed some out on the desk in front of me, added something and then handed it back saying thank you

I was also pulled in at customs on the way back and questioned on whether I was carrying any cigarettes or tobacco. She was happy with my answer and didn't search my bag.

This happened years ago before all the liquid rules came in.

I had emptied my pockets onto the scanner and in said pocket was a small tub of vaseline.

When it came out the scanner the security officer took her finger right through it and made a big hole (she wasn't wearing gloves)

She handed it back to me and I swiftly put it in the bin giving her the bad eye.

Helen

A couple of years back, hubby & I flew back from Estonia into one of the London airports - can't remember which. There was nothing suspicious at all about us - just the one suitcase, as we'd only been away for 4 days. We were pulled over and taken into a large room where there were a couple of other people. The lady opened our case & asked us where we'd been & where we live. It turned out her family lived in the next county to us. They bred dogs which is one of hubbies hobbies. She just ran her fingers through the case & that was it - although hubby stood & chatted with her for 10 mins. Last week hubby was pulled over on our return from morocco. He was carrying 1000 fags but we were 6 passengers. After a brief chat we were sent on our way. Hubby sometimes beeps when he passes through the scanners as he has metal plats in his face - try explaining that when you're abroad

Going through security at out airport last year I panicked as my handbag went missing .
My jacket, flight bag and toiletries were there but my bag with our tickets.passports and money wasnt there.
I was nearly in tears when the lady customs officer pointed it out to me. ON MY ARM.

I often get pulled over by customs for some reason, I can't walk past nonchantly I think. Although when we went to France at the weekend, unsurprisingly, they pulled us over to look in the back of our van, looked in and saw it was empty and passed us on our way. Although when we footpassenged it last year with my Dad he set of the alarms with his tablets he has to take, and didn't realise they'd set it off And another time my friend and I went to France we both got pulled over too and we nearly got the gigles as I tend to get nervous even though I have nothing to hide!

Back in the day when we still had real borders in Europe we were returning from a holiday in France through Charles de Gaulle airport. We had stayed with friends and they had given my young son a model sailing yacht as a present. It had no box and so we had to pack it. We decided to carry it in our hand luggage. We removed the mast, sails and rigging and then we wrapped the hull (it was at least 3 feet long) in my wifes silk dressing gown and other nighttime garments and put it in my holdall. As the bag went through the Xray machine the alarm went off. I was called over to the desk and asked to unpack the bag. The yacht had a large lump of lead in it's keel and this was showing on the Xray as a big black lump! I tried to explain in my best French that it was 'un yacht' and the lump was 'plomb' but they insisted I unpacked. So I had to unwrap all the colourful female night attire from round the object so that they could put it through the machine separatly!

One thing amazes me about security and not allowing us through with sharp objects

what the one thing most people do when waiting in departures, I would think go get something to eat

straight away you have access to knives and forks, so what to stop you taking a knive, and using it

I (we) got pulled again at Doncaster Airport last night, I must have a guilty face these days because I've been pulled more times at Doncaster since the airport opened, than all the previous 30 odd years of going through EMA, Man, Birmingham, Humberside and LBA.
I was not amused, we haven't been abroad since last September, so I'm hardly doing a "cig run" and flitting over to Spain frequently for supplies.

We should have flown home on Tuesday, so we have been stressed not knowing if we were returning home by coach/boat/coach or plane, and apart from being picked up outside the hotel at 1-15pm, we endured a longer flight from Alicante of 2 hours 55 mins to avoid some airspace in France and had some wonderful views of the Balearic Islands, we landed at 7-50 pm,then hanging around the airport waiting for the second suitcase to make an appearance on the belt, and finally when you think nothing else can hold you up getting into that waiting taxi and home at last......???????????
I know they have a job to do, but checking two OAP's and they knew that flight was bringing home those caught up in the volcano fiasco. well I didn't find it one bit funny.
I made the mistake of thinking aloud and said "oh for crying out loud" because I thought "what else can hold us up from getting home" and the officer heard me and gave me a lecture about how Her Majesty's Custom Officers have a right blah blah blah....yeh but even sheep are allowed to say "baa" now and then.

Sanji

Only suspicious, possibly terrorist, sheep!

Several years ago I got stopped at Harwich coming off the overnight ferry from Hoek of Holland because I didn't have much luggage. He starts asking what my itinery was, so I showed him the tickets - out on the night boat to Dieppe and onto Paris, ride on one of the last of the old style express trains to Brussels before they were replaced by TGV and then over to Hoek for the night boat home. At this point he starts getting excited about how suspicious it is to "spend that sort of money" on a day out (what, compared to going to a Premier league away game??) and without saying anything else shouted to his supervisor. I had to point out to him that if he calmed down and read the tickets in his hand he would see they were freebies!! Big red face and supervisor biting lip trying not to laugh!

When my student son worked in Jersey during his summer break, he had to come back to Scotland for a wedding for one night. My daughter was moving down to Jersey and had loads of stuff so my son volunteered to take a case for her as he had no luggage. Well, imagine the embarrassment at the airport when he was asked to open his case. Nothing in it but girl's clothes. Raised eyebrows all round!

Thought you might like to know of an experience we had just before Xmas last year,, went through Luton for flight to Sharm very early about 6 in the morning. Got through till the customs where you have to strip off etc hubby was having a full search as he has a metal hip and always sets everything off wherever we go through, I had put all the coats shoes and handbag and tickets in the tray and was waiting for hime to be finished, when I turned round and no ticket pack, brought this to the attention of several customs and security people you must have dropped it they said, I hadn't been anywhere could they have come dislodged in the machine? no then they called the big honcho we had better look at the cameras, time was getting on as flight was due to depart in 30 mins now, I was getting frantic and very bothered, this has never happened before they said are you sure you had them(tickets) how did i get through security I said someones abviously had them. Five minutes to spare litte old man said I think I picked your tickets up by mistake they are identical to mine and I thought the wife had put them in your tray, doh I will never again let any tickets out of my hand again for any reason.

WE went to Goa in March we went Heathrow to Doha and the same coming back there was a lady sitting in the lounge at Doah with knitting needles how did she ever get through with them BEATS ME .. colleen

joeseptuk wrote:

One thing amazes me about security and not allowing us through with sharp objects

what the one thing most people do when waiting in departures, I would think go get something to eat

straight away you have access to knives and forks, so what to stop you taking a knive, and using it

The restaurants which are airside basically count in the cutlery , when they collect your plates if any cutlery is missing then you will be held to account for it. Its a DfT requirement.

Colleen , knitting needles are allowed!! they used to be banned until a couple of years ago but perhaps surprisingly not any more, maybe its all those grannies knitting shreddies?

Sanji, when it comes to HM Excise Duty collection officers !!! well , its just a pity we don't have a team of officers who are as vigilant in the way taxpayers money is wasted!

Andy - they certainly don't count the cutlery at Manchester airport - the tables aren't cleared for ages - you need to clear the previous occupants plates yourself before you can eat your own meal. ..... infact the passengers are probably at their destination before the tables are cleared!

Denny

Andy wrote

Colleen , knitting needles are allowed!! they used to be banned until a couple of years ago but perhaps surprisingly not any more, maybe its all those grannies knitting shreddies?

this did make me burst out laughing Andy I can just see them now all the wee grannies ....colleen

I wish I'd known that I could take my knitting. The hours on the long haul flight would have flown by - not so sure if the people around me would have thought so, with the constant clicking

going through security at Birmingham last year, i had a Citronella Yankee candle (which comes in a glass jar). I had kept it in my hand luggage as i did not want it to get broken. so as my bags went through x-ray machine they all went crazy, i was asked to remove it from my bag and about 5 or 6 different security experts started poking it and muttering . Eventually (about 10 minutes later) they decided i could have it back, standing their all that time i felt like a master criminal and to top it all off my husband and son had walked off and left me alone looking very dodgy