Getting a hairbrush through TSA

Dan, I assume that you've looked on the TSA website, If you are checking baggage, then avoid the issue and put it in a checked bag. If not, then you can either leave it at home and not risk it. Or, you give it a try. The worst that can happen is that they'll say it's prohibited and you end up pitching it in order to continue through security or you retreat and check your bag and keep it. Just leave sufficient time if you want to try to check the bag. BTW I suspect you can purchase this type of brush in Europe or a similar one. ; ) Pam

I would say that if the brush is over four inches long and has a point on the end the chances of getting it through TSA inspection are slim. Not every TSA judgement on the same item is the same, which is part of the problem. In some airports you might get the brugh through, but not in others. It might be a good idea to find an alternative, or cut the point off as you have suggested. Your wife wouldn't want to have to give up the brush just because of the point.

I have not had experience trying to get a "dangerous" hairbrush through security, but I do fly out of Atlanta all of the time. I've found the TSA there to be very reasonable. They will likely see the brush for what it is and not consider it a weapon. There is a post office in the airport if for some reason it does not go though. You'd just have to mail it home and buy a brush at one of the stores past security in the airport or once you arrive in Venice. Good luck.

My guess is you'll have no problem whatsoever. The worst case is that they'll confiscate it, and you'll buy a new one when you land...no biggie. The chances of it actually being confiscated, however, are very slim IMO. Both in European airports and here, I haven't had any security personnel say anything to me about my 3-1-1 bag, which I leave in my carry-on and no longer remove for screening like I'm supposed to (although they have been good about catching the laptop). If they don't worry about the 3-1-1 bag, I'm pretty sure a hairbrush can get through. As for the TSA here, they miss an extraordinarily high percentage of weapons and bombs in their own tests. If they can miss dummy bombs, how would we ever expect them to catch a dangerous hairbrush? I wouldn't worry about it. But you could just leave it at home and buy a new one when you arrive...problem totally solved. Have a good trip!

Well, if we're allowed to carry-on a 4" blade on scissors...then you can carry-on your brush. Unless it's the longest brush ever on the market...I can't place what it would look like, and I've been using brushes for my entire life; is it something like this? Do be aware that international airport security has it's own idiosyncratic quirks...If you're checking a bag on the way home, you might consider checking the hair brush if you have any doubts... And for anyone who would suggest to 'just buy another one once you've arrived', you've never spent much time shopping for brushes (esp. wooden ones)...they can get pretty pricey...nor have you used them for styling - you get used to the weight, the feel of it. You wouldn't tell a NASCAR driver to just pick up a car once he/she got into town... Yes, I just compared a hair brush to a race car. And? ;-) And YEA! to ATL for having a way to mail items back home; if only more airports would make this service available...

You wouldn't tell a NASCAR driver to just pick up a car once he/she got into town... No? You might 88, but not 18! She? We're not talking Indycar here...

Eileen, that just about looks like it, but it's all wood. I think the best thing to do is buy another brush in Italy and put it in the checked luggage on the way home. We're not planning on checking any luggage on the way over, just coming home. Living 50 miles from Talladega's NASCAR track and driving past it every time we go to the see the grandkids, I don't know who No. 18 is. But I do know Junior is 88. BTW, I have driven a lap around that track in Talladega: Back in the 1970s, sponsors used to have a parade before the races and a friend who sold garbage trucks let me drive his demonstrator in the parade. At least it wasn't full of beer cans...

Dan, You've never heard of Kyle Busch? Keep an eye out, you will.

TSA can be pretty wierd but I've never heard of them confiscating a commercially available hairbrush. In the sense that anything's possible, I suppose this is too. It would be much lower on my concern list than my flight potentially being canceled by the airline. If it's confiscated, you can buy a new one as soon as you arrive.

Ah, the virtues of being bald. I don't need a huge bottle of shampoo nor a TSA prohibited hair brush. Believe it or not I was once hassled about the fact my liquids zip lock was smaller than the quart size, it was only sandwich size as all I had was a travel sized tube of toothpaste and deodorant. But a second agent pointed out that it is quart size or smaller so it is okay to have a smaller bag. As for the Nascar debate. I would never tell a professional car driver to just get any car. But *I have rented a car when on vacation, instead of bringing my own from home. (Even though I am more comfortable driving my own than some strange car with different controls) I would say that buying a hair brush when you get there is more similar to me renting a car than a Nascar driver. OTOH, if we were talking about a professional stylist who was flying to Europe for the purpose of preparing Kate's hair for the wedding then the Nascar example would be reasonable. For the average person who just needs to brush their hair it is not. I also prefer my own bed to most hotel beds. But I don't bring my own mattress with me. Vacation involves changes. Using a different hair brush, flat iron, or hair dryer should not be a big deal.

Again, as with the men with short hair telling the women to 'just leave the heavy hair dryer at home; you don't need it'... Most women use brushes and combs to style their hair, esp. while drying it. You don't just use any ol' brush...it takes practice, and some just aren't made for what you need them to do. I know, if you men merely comb through your hair a time or two during the day you have no idea what I'm talking about. It's similar to using chopsticks when you normally don't - dinner's gonna take a l-o-n-g time to eat tonight, it's gonna be cold by the time you're finished, and it's probably gonna be all over you, but it 'worked just fine'... Not. ;-) I vote for taking the brush, because I can't see even the TSA having a fit over it.

I am so happy that I go low maintenance with my hair. ; ) Of course, it could also be that I haven't had the patience to develop that skill with the hair brush!
Good luck to your wife, Dan. Pam

I'm with Pam - low maintenance is the way to go, especially when traveling. Mine is so short that I don't even use a brush, just my fingers if I use a blow dryer (and I often don't). I don't think there will be a problem with the brush, just stick it deep in your carryon and they may not even question it.

Knitting needles and crochet hooks are allowed on planes (IN THE US; my MIL is still mad that the Portuguese security took her crochet hooks away three years ago) so I really can't imagine a hairbrush causing a problem, no matter how pointy the tip. OTOH, after reading the story about a TSA agent complaining about 3-1-1 items being in a smaller-than-quart-size bag, anything is possible!

Pamela and Nancy - I'm reminded of an interview with Candice Bergen years ago after she cut her long hair very short while on "Murphy Brown"; she told the interviewer that she didn't even use a hair dryer anymore, and that she just arranged her hair with her fingers and let it air-dry. I've officially hated her ever since ;-) ...even though she grew her hair out years ago...

At first, I couldn't believe a hairbrush could generate so much flippin' discussion, but then I saw this very short video...maybe the TSA should confiscate your wife's dangerous hairbrush after all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxY0O7_ENeA

Eileen - Regarding your chopsticks example....Rick Steves just offers advice on Europe not Asia. But I bet if he did an "Asia 101" guide, it would NOT advice people to bring a fork and knife from home and whip it out at restaurants where everyone else is using chopsticks but instead learn to use chopsticks. My speculations is based on what is consistent with his other advice. Likewise his advice is if there is something that TSA might confiscate or require to you to check your bag -- learn to live without it. I have made do without my favorite trusty swiss army knife.

Ed, I know what you mean about the knife. I have a little Kershaw Ken Onion that's about the most useful thing to carry around ever, with the exception of a roll of 100-dollar bills. I'll be leaving it at home, but looking for something in the gift shops in Venice, our first stop. Maybe a pocket knife shaped like a gondola? Nahhh.