Wrap it in plastic.
Now wrap that in metal foil, then finally wrapped it in brown shipping paper.
Place it into a snug-fitting box with a cover.
Duct tape the box closed.
Place the box onto a folded heavy cotton sweatshirt or sweater and cover it with a pair of blue jeans.
Now put it all on a shelf in your closet and leave it there when you go to the airport.
Just kidding, don’t mind, please keep reading…
Hiding things from Airport scanners is not a piece of cake and we do not encourage this practice but we may discuss what people have been doing with such a mindset.
The airport is one of the busiest transportation hubs and security is ever-tightening which means hiding illegal or prohibited things at Airport won’t be a pleasant experience for smugglers. TSA agents deployed at security checkpoints ensure nothing threatening or harmful gets onboard the jet or aircraft like firearms, explosives, or even drugs.
How to Hide Things from Airport Scanners?
There have been people who always trying to attempt to hide things from Airport scanners like things concealed under clothes, on the body, or even inside the body ( drugs hidden in the stomach or bum with medical help ).
In this advanced era, there are no ways to get around Airport security so thinking about bringing illegal items on board is not even imaginable. Just imagine that your 4-ounce bottle of lotion will be confiscated and you are talking about fooling the metal detector by hiding banned stuff in ceramics, porcelain, composite materials, or in aluminum or lead.
Why Airport Scanner Set off on You?
Airport scanners can set off not because you have something illegal on you like a firearm or explosives so be relaxed as the detector is super sensitive and it can pick up even the smallest of things like body jewelry, piercings, hat, artificial limbs, surgical screws/wires/plates, shrapnel, clothes with rivets or zipper, underwires, metal snaps/buttons, and sometimes you may be carrying items which are not allowed like vapes/cigarettes.
Can you Hide Thinks With TSA Pre-check?
Don’t even think about it as TSA Pre-check doesn’t give you a green card to walk freely while others are standing in line for inspection and screening. Although TSA pre-check helps you get through quickly but be mindful that you still be in the line going through the scanners and security checks you will be the one not taking off your shoes, belt, hats, jewelry, liquids, electronics, or anything in your pockets.
Do know that TSA pre-check is a detailed examination procedure of a passenger in which a government background check, fingerprint check, and interview are performed to assign you the TSA pre-check feature and this surely gets you onboard smoothly on an air carrier compared with others who have usually pulled aside due to false triggers.
Working of Airport Scanners:
Airport scanners use ionized and non-ionized radiofrequency waves to scan your body and your luggage contents and the baggage scanner helps the agents to get a visual look of the inside contents while the body scanners help scanners detect items on you without having to see you naked or getting you to undress or even making a physical content.
Brief History of Body Scanners:
Dr. Steven W Smith introduced the first ultra-low-dose backscatter X-ray scanner and Millimeter Wave technology scanner and sold the device and patents to Rapiscan systems ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapiscan_Systems ) which were later assessed by Food and Drug Administration, National Council of Radiation Protection and Measurements, and other independent sources to regulate the use of these scanners for commercial properties.
These scanners were advanced enough to penetrate inside the human body to detect implanted explosives and illegal items hidden inside the body and would show shin bones but not ribs or internal organs but still, these scanners were invasive.
Then in 2000, Dr. Vladimir V. Linev patented a system for full body scanning which use X-rays and was known as the CONPASS body scanner.
Things took a turn when in 2009, a Nigerian citizen tried to explode a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight he was successful to take the explosive materials on a plane hiding in his underwear but the attempt remained unsuccessful and that guy is now serving a full life sentence ( https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/underwear-bomber-umar-farouk-abdulmutallab-sentenced-life ).
In 2010, TSA took things seriously and ordered 500 whole-body scanners and deployed those scanners all across the US. These scanners were able to scan human bodies so deeply that agents could see human organs and genitals clearly and few of them would take photos of those nude photos of passengers and share them with others. Soon passengers realized that and started protesting against these scanners and started calling these scanners “nudie scanners” because these scanners were invading their privacy and health.
The advantage of these scanners was that they could detect concealed metal, plastics, ceramics, chemicals, and explosives but an incident in which 35,000 images were leaked of passengers forced TSA to shut down the program and remove all these scanners from the Airports.
Body Scanners and Their Types:
Gone are the days when agents would be looking at your naked body during the screening process. Times have changed and scanners are much safer regarding your health and privacy because, unlike in previous times, the screening images are not stored or retrieved anymore.
Many passengers are scared when they have medical conditions like pregnancy or anxiety even though the scanners are safe for cancer patients as well. On top of that, some advanced scanners are powerful enough to detect medical conditions like cancer in their early stages which can save lives.
TSA agents with the help of these scanners can now easily capture smugglers wearing or carrying illegal contents on or inside the body. Thankfully, now they can identify metallic ( like knives ) and non-metallic ( like explosives ) contents and other dangerous items like chemical powders to protect the lives of others.
The only problem that you can face during the screening procedure is that you may get flagged due to a false alarm.
Although you are asked to put aside your belongings like keys, chains, wallet, watches, rings, or even cash in a separate tray that goes in a mini scanner to scan those items and then you pass from a different body scanner that is safe but sometimes it triggers a false alarm.
The false alarm always some reason like it could be your hairpins, piercing, prosthetic limbs, thick clothes, medical devices like pacemakers or defibrillators, or even hair extensions can trigger the false alarm that can require the agent to take you to the side for further investigation and inspection. A few other things like zips, and hip or knee implants can also trigger the scanner but it happens rarely. You would be surprised to know that sweaty armpits and moisture on your body can also sometimes trigger the scanner which is strange to me.
can detect drugs and gold, hidden anywhere, sometimes cannot detect exact materials, provide visual cues, the material of the object, different colors, further investigation,
You should be careful with liquids because a loosely sealed cup of coffee, powder, aerosol, or even gels are set to be screened at the airport so always keep liquids in airtight containers to not end up opening those items at the airport.
There are two types of scanners; luggage scanners and body scanners and both types are explained below in great detail.
Luggage scanner:
Luggage scanners are an advanced type of scanners that use complex technology to scan luggage contents and use x-rays to determine the mass and density of items inside the briefcase and provide visual cues in form of different colors that help the agents to distinguish between the things inside the suitcase. Organic materials like food, paper, or cocaine are represented with orange color and if agents see anything suspicious, they can ask you to open your bag for further investigation.
Backscatter scanners:
Backscatter is the early-bird scanner that was used at Airports to penetrate inside the passenger’s body to make sure nothing is concealed under the clothes or even inside the body.
The backscatter scanner was based on X-rays which contained ionizing radiations although these radiations were low doses still there were several lawsuits against TSA for compromising the safety and health of passengers with these scanners.
Passengers knew that the images produced by the backscatter scanner were too intimate and explicit and that’s what forced TSA to sack this scanner forever except few Airports.
Millimeter wave AIT scanners:
Millimeter Wave Scanners are used in place of backscatter scanners because these scanners contain non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation which is completely safe for the human body and far less powerful than those utilized by cellular data transmitters.
To help you understand, the image below shows the spectrum of these waves to help you distinguish between both scanner types.
By the way, the backscatter scanner requires two images one from the front and the second from the back for scanning while the millimeter scanner would produce only one image scanning the entire body thoroughly being the safest one and emitting less energy.
Spectrum diagram:
Hand-held metal detector: Handheld metal detectors are used for searching an infant being held by a parent, followed by a pat-down search.
Transmission scanners:
Transmission scanners are the most powerful and slightly dangerous scanners because these scanners can get a deep look inside human body cavities to find things hidden inside the stomach or in the bum. A such special type of scanners would never get public acceptance due to health and safety concerns but these scanners are helpful when scanning a suspicious passenger.
Infra-red thermal conductivity scanners:
The final type of scanners are infra-red thermal conductivity scanners that do not use anything just temperature to detect heat or cool surfaces but these are less commonly used scanners than other types.
