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The TSA security checkpoint is considered to be the first line of defense when it comes to keeping the country’s airspace safe. They have equipment, technology and protocols to check each person before they go to the airside of any commercial airport in the country. And regardless of what some people think about them, the fact that TSA stops thousands of guns and other items from being carried on planes and potentially used as weapons every year, shows the good the program has done.

Some people have specific questions about going through the TSA security checkpoint.

Asking TSA (official channels)

The TSA maintains a list of items that are prohibited from being brought onto planes, either in the cabin, in the cargo area, or both. Although that exact list doesn’t appear to be online, a list of what can/can’t be brought is available to the public on this page of the TSA’s web site. Visitors to the site can either read the entire A-Z listing (good luck; it’s a long list) or search for specific items.

Passengers are also encouraged to “Ask TSA” regarding items that aren’t on the list. From TSA:

For items not listed here, our AskTSA team looks forward to answering your questions 365 days a year; live assistance is available from 8 am – 6 pm (ET).

• Twitter: @AskTSA
• Facebook Messenger: www.fb.com/AskTSA
• Apple Business Chat: AskTSA
• Text Message: Text “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872)

And the unofficial channel

There’s also what I guess you could call an “unofficial” voice of the TSA. Over on Reddit, there’s a subreddit called “TSA.” Its moderators describe it as:

Welcome to r/TSA. This is the place for passengers to asks their questions and get answers for an upcoming flight. This sub also serves as a forum for current TSOs. IF you’re in the application process for TSA, please go check out our new sub r/TSAApplicant! This is NOT an official TSA subreddit! None of the answers here should be considered an official response from TSA.

Like all subreddits, the group keeps people anonymous. However, it appears to be made up of people who identify as current/past/retired TSA officers, people who are considering applying to be one, and passengers.

The questions

Anyway, just as the description says, the questions posed are generally in two camps:

• Questions about being a TSA officer, either by people who are curious about TSA officers, or people who are or want to be TSAOs. (my favorite was the passenger who asked “Why are TSAOs so rude?” The answers were very interesting)
• Passengers with questions about getting through the TSA checkpoint.

The latter is usually a lot of “Can I bring #ITEM” through the TSA checkpoint?” types of questions. Recent questions of this ilk have included an urn with a loved one’s ashes, a suture kit, baby formula, vapes, etc.

Then there are people who have questions about what sort of things might set the scanners off. Metal plates in bones. IUDs. hair extensions. hoodies. Sex toys. Stuff like that. It was also how I learned why some people seemingly ALWAYS get chosen for pat downs at the checkpoint.

However, I was perusing the forum the other day and came across a question I had never read before:

Serious question about wearing chastity devices through security

Well, OK then.

The author starts out by saying theirs was not just another sex toy question and they were going to keep the question as “not weird” as they could. Apparently they were a moderator of another group and the discussion had come up about the wearing of male chastity devices (note: link is NSFW) through the TSA security checkpoint.

The author continued that they get a lot of questions about the topic and apparently both the mod team and the members of their community are split about the correct answer.

• Some think that not wearing it is better. “It’s easier, won’t generate a potential pat down or more invasive search, and keeps to the polite code about not exposing strangers to one’s private kinks.”
• Others think as long as it’s being seen in a carry-on bag anyway, it’s about the same as seeing it being worn on one’s person (some wearers are also apparently in relationship where they may not have access to a key to remove the device).

The author then said they were aware the devices are legal and don’t pose any threat (which was followed by a good-natured, “for those who were blissfully unaware of these devices but who have now been sucked into this question, they range from light plastic, to stainless steel or titanium”). They just wanted to know about the practicality of wearing one through the security checkpoint and the ethics involved in potentially needing a pat down or an inspection that’s more invasive.

The answers

I’ve got to say that generally speaking, the replies were serious and honest (the moderators of the group also did a great job of deleting the responses that were, as they called it, “unproductive”), albeit with a whole lot of “being human” within those serious answers. Here were some highlights from people who self-identified as TSAOs:

• DO NOT, for the love of god, wear them through security. Let me spell it out for you.
  They alarm. You will receive a pat down. The officer will feel that and even if you tell them it’s a chastity cage, we aren’t paid to take you at your word, because that’s kind of how security works lol. They will take you to a private screening area and have you remove it behind a privacy curtain so they can determine it is, in fact, a toy and not anything else.
  I know this happens because my supervisors tell stories like this and frankly, you can tell your mod group they’re being stupid if they think it’s okay to wear this stuff through security. Just put it in your bag 😂 good lord. We see it on x ray and know what it is, it’s fine. If we feel it on your person but can’t see it, you’ve just started a very long, uncomfortable process for everyone to clear that alarm. “There’s no difference” between seeing it on x ray and wearing it my left foot, it’s a HUGE difference and it requires just a bit of critical thinking to figure out why.
• Please stop wearing them through the checkpoint . Have seen this exact scenario before and it gets very uncomfortable in the private screening room for all parties involved . Take them off put them in your carry on. No one cares that it’s in your bag … on body causes issues for everyone.

There was one serious reply that got a very humorous response from the original poster:

• I would strongly advise anyone wishing to cage their member wait until after security to do so. It will, at the very least, delay your experience significantly. That said, if for some reason you do come through the checkpoint with the cage on, don’t pretend there’s nothing there like the guy at my old airport did. Like, you come through the scanner and it alarms on your groin, just tell the officer “I’ve got a chastity cage on, so we are going to need to go to private screening” or something like that. Don’t just stand there getting patted down and be like “nope, nothing there” when what we are feeling is very obviously not the normal equipment.
• (Reply to above): re: “That said, if for some reason you do come through the checkpoint with the cage on, don’t pretend there’s nothing there like the guy at my old airport did.” I’m having visions of a Monty Python-esque “Dead Parrot” conversation going on.
  “You’ve got a big hunk of metal on your twig and berries!”
  “No, I don’t.”

When someone asked why the thread hadn’t been locked quickly, one of the moderators (who self-identifies as a current TSAO) said it was because it was a legitimate question and most people who replied had been respectful. At that point, the original poster did clarify their question a few hours later:

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