Flying Kilted and the TSA as of November 2011

[Jewish Highlander]

Greetings all,

I had a wonderful time recently flying from Indianapolis, Indiana in my new "Ancient MacBeth" 8 yrd wool kilt to Gainesville, Florida via Atlanta, Georgia to attend a seminar on Qigong from Grandmaster Wong. I admit that I was a little nervous since I have not flown at all since 9-11 and had heard all sorts of horror stories associated with TSA especially the hassle that they might give a kilt wearer. Everyone was told to take off their shoes, loose outer clothing, empty all their pockets, take off their belt, remove their hats (I kept my bonnet on since it was my kippah!) and place their belongings in trays provided. Opting out of the main scanner and just the metal detector I set it off with my kilt buckles and was asked if I wanted to be examined in the open area or a private area. I said that the public area was okay and then was searched in and around my body and kilt by hand and with a metal detector. No hands were up the kilt and they were very professional about explaining ahead of time how they would pat me down being careful of any medical or painful areas. Although the whole procedure took a little more time than I wanted to spend, overall it was worth being able to wear a kilt and feel safe about the whole matter.

Special note: the TSA apparently also do some sort of chemical detection and I was kind of worried about that since I had recently attended the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Tippecanoe and I was wondering if there might be some gun powder residue on my kilt and outfit. All I had done was just airing out my kilt outside on a clothesline to get rid of all the smoke smell (which it did).

Happy kilting!

[Jewish Highlander]

More thoughts about traveling kilted:

Since I was traveling light with just a back pack, I went ahead and took a day or a Laird's plaid with me to bundle up when the weather if the weather was cold while traveling. I did not anticipate needing it in Gainesville, Florida but it was very cold there and indispensable in keeping the chill off and even using it as a blanket to lay on and read a book in a park. I thought that a great kilt would have been too much to fly with and since I was going south, I did not think that I would need it.

Lots of looks, stares, good comments, questions and even some people wanted to take their picture with me! LOL! Fun practicing Tai Chi in a kilt also.

[davidg]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun

[Chas]

I am glad that it was a relatively positive experience. We have heard so many scare and horror stories in the last few years. I have wondered if tourist numbers are down.

Regards

Chas

[cessna152towser]

Its not been a problem for me, I have passed through Los Angeles Airport kilted in 2009 and Boston Airport kilted in 2010. At LAX my kilt buckle did trigger the metal detector and I had to go to a private room to be searched but I have since learned that if you turn slightly (or turn the kilt slightly) so that the buckles go through the metal detector arch one at a time, you are unlikely to trigger the detector.

[Geoff Withnell]

Its not been a problem for me, I have passed through Los Angeles Airport kilted in 2009 and Boston Airport kilted in 2010. At LAX my kilt buckle did trigger the metal detector and I had to go to a private room to be searched but I have since learned that if you turn slightly (or turn the kilt slightly) so that the buckles go through the metal detector arch one at a time, you are unlikely to trigger the detector.

I have found that one of USAK casuals is perfect for flying. Take off the sporran and strap, and you have no metal at all!

[Dale Seago]

Glad to hear of your experience -- it pretty much parallels mine flying kilted from San Francisco to Denver and back in August.

I'm going to Japan in a couple of weeks for further martial-arts training and, while I plan to take two kilts (one for dress-up at my teacher's 80th- birthday party), I don't currently plan to fly kilted. Though that could change, as it would be a third kilt that wouldn't have to be packed. . .

[Jewish Highlander]

One good thing about my ancient MacBeth kilt is the variety of colors I can wear with it especially shirt. It has lovat blue, black, red, green, yellow and white. For a three day trip I only needed my modern MacBeth 16 oz. 8yard kilt, a pair of good shoes, a day/Laird's plaid, a leather vest, a wool bonnet, a sporran, a belt (optional), 3- dress shirts, 2- pair of hose, 1- set of kilt garters, 3- T-shirts and 3- pairs of underwear (optional ). So I was either wearing it or had it packed in one regular backpack with a few toiletries, a couple of books, a big bag of trail mix, and a water bottle. It was not too heavy and fit in the overhead compartment easily. No checked luggage. So in reality I wore most of it at all times and packed the rest of it easily. The day/Laird's plaid was my blanket, jacket, and a picnic blanket and allowed me to adjust to all sort of weather conditions. I plan on getting one that might be a bit heavier wool that would match my kilt in the future.

[Dale Seago]

Glad to hear of your experience -- it pretty much parallels mine flying kilted from San Francisco to Denver and back in August.

I didn't wear a kilt on the flight here to Japan, but I've been kilted most of the time outside my martial-art training activities. Strongly thinking of wearing one on the return flight from Japan to San Francisco this coming Saturday. . .

[ForresterModern]

Defintely rethink the idea of flying with a great kilt as you will have to remove the belt and, well, I think you know what happens next. Unless you want to carry a hank of rope just for that purpose.