So I'm going through the security checkpoint with my rollaboard carryon that contains a small canvas toiletry bag.  Nestled together inside that bag there is a 3 oz. can of shave cream, a 1.5 oz. tube of toothpaste, and a 3 oz. bottle of cologne.  My bag goes through the XRAY and I get asked to search my bag.  No problem I think to myself.

So the guy pulls out the toiletry bag, removes the 3 items I mentioned above, and tells me I can't take them b/c they're not in a ziplock bag.  I asked him if they had a ziplock bag I can put them in and he said no.  I'm running a little late for my flight so I just decide to write it off.  He tosses my stuff in a garbage can.

Just past the security screening is a gift shop where I quickly am able to obtain a ziplock bag.  I run back to security and ask if they can retrieve my items from the trash and put them in the bag.  The guy says that it's not possible b/c I've already forfeited the items.  As I mentioned previously, I'm already running late and out of patience so I just write it off and procede to my flight.  End of story.

What sort of safety measures does a 1 quart ziplock bag provide that a similar sized canvas bag will not?  

Apparently, having a ziplock bag would have been sufficient to allow me to pass through without inspection.  What if those items had contained explosive materials?  Would a ziplock bag have kept them from exploding?

Can someone please explain the ziplock rule to me and why it's effective?

Fucking zipperbag lobby...

It means they want you to rebuy your stuff(and the much needed ziplock back) from the Airport gift shop.

It's all a money making scam, much like not allowing liquids on the planes a while back but non-banned airport bottled water was fine.

Draw down.

It doesn't have to make sense.  It's TSA.  The day the Government starts making sense, is the day that the Government is destroyed and rebuilt in another image.  The FAA is just as bad.  C-D student PolySci fuckups building their bureaucratic empire.  

You didn't forfeit the items, he confiscated them.  

I don't think they are the same thing.

Quoted: You didn't forfeit the items, he confiscated them.   I don't think they are the same thing.

If they're confiscated, you'll be going to court as a defendant against criminal charges.

If they're forfeited, you'll never hear about the incident again.

Kharn

That is the craziest thing I've heard about TSA all day.

If the items leak from their original containers under the lower pressure of high altitude flight, the leakage will be contained within the ziplock bag, both preventing a mess in your luggage and preventing TSA employees from having to search a sodden bag that may contain suspicious materials.

It's still a bit stupid, but not as dumb as it sounds.  I always pack my shaving cream, toothpaste, shampoo, soap etc. in ziplocks anyhow, just for my own convenience.  Nothing like arriving at your desitnation to find your toiletries leaked into your underwear.

that is the biggest bunch of worthless assholes on the planet. Spending billions of dollars and not making anyone an iota safer

I flew from Detroit to Miami on Monday.  Before the check point in Detroit, a TSA guy was giving out baggies.

Quoted: If the items leak from their original containers under the lower pressure of high altitude flight, the leakage will be contained within the ziplock bag, both preventing a mess in your luggage and preventing TSA employees from having to search a sodden bag that may contain suspicious materials. It's still a bit stupid, but not as dumb as it sounds.  I always pack my shaving cream, toothpaste, shampoo, soap etc. in ziplocks anyhow, just for my own convenience.  Nothing like arriving at your desitnation to find your toiletries leaked into your underwear.

Lower pressure?  Seriously.   We are talking, at most, 6psi difference, more like 2psi difference.  The only way things leak out is if the container is compromised in the first place or the cap isn't screwed on.  Even in space, all the containers you fly with would be fine.  

I would love a hands off program.  Fly at your own risk.  Take whatever the hell you want.  Just instate a NO Bull Shit policy.  You know what is reasonable, we know whats reasonable, don't be a fuckup.  Back to the 50s and 60s style security.  No gas cans, no burning torches or severed body parts that drip blood.   No mean drunks, no shirt, no shoes, no service.  Hell, SMOKE if you want too, I don't care!  Faires would go down too, because you wouldn't have to pay the stupid security fees that run over $70 per ticket.  

Those TSA weenies aren't doing a DAMN thing anyway.  They aren't making the skys safer, they are only pissing travellers off, and hurting the airline industry.  If somebody is really serious about a bombing an Airliner, it will happen.  No amount of security, short of x rays, anal probes, and hospital gowns is going to stop a few planes from crashing now and again.