See, that paragraph says it so eloquently. But I think you have to fail a test to become a regulations writer for the government!

Charger as a "Device"
 

I hope this is not getting here to late. but here goes.

A "Device" has to be powered by the battery.

Okay this article seems to confirm our take that you get as many "under 8gm" batteries in your carry on as you like. It's also a well written review of the new regs.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/62899

I am a little late here but..
When the DOT says "device" they mean like a laptop battery is installed.
A charger does not qualify. Nor and A/B or Sony battery on a camera.

Ex: A Dionic-90 or BP-L40 on a Sony DSR-250 is an "out board" battery and is not considered installed.

A battery is a PD-150 the same.

Scott Keyworth
Anton/Bauer

Despite how DOT defines "device," it's going to come down to how individual TSA representatives interpret these rules in practice, and most likely the experience is going to vary widely from one airport to another.

What they're going to be looking for is exposed battery contacts, and batteries carried attached on a charger will not have exposed contacts and therefore most likely will pass TSA inspection in at least some locations. Point being that I would not expect any consistency as to how these rules are enforced.

It doesn't matter if TSA's interpretation of the DOT rules is right or wrong -- what matters is that they have immediate authority to determine what will or will not pass at the security check point.

Chris is right, and what the thread has really been dealing with, is a 'guestimation' on how TSA employees will 'rule at the gate'. And it really is just a guestimation at this point. One wonders if it is worth printing out 'the rules' and 'interpretations' to take with, in order to better convince a confused TSA screener... but then you have to choose between the two old adages...

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease" - By arguing, you'll get by.

OR

"The squawking goose gets the axe." - Arguing will just get you screwed.

Just completed my first trip out under the new rules. I was travelling with an HDCam and 4 IDX E80 bricks. I hung two bricks on the camera, and dutifully encased the two spares in individual Ziplock bags.

The battery-laden camera and spares went into the Portabrace bag, and zipped right through security in the San Francisco and Portland airports without a hitch.

No one even opened the exterior pouch to check on the spares.

I'll still carry the letter from IDX detailing the lithium grams for my set of batteries, and the DOT guidelines detailing "as many as you want" spare batteries under 8 grams details for the foreseeable future, though.

The only impact: that camera bag is a LOT heavier with four batteries in it!

Did you have to do anything as far as labeling them dangerous goods?

If so, what?

Thanks Bill! SFO is my airport of origin, so that's good to hear. It'd be nice to hear from anyone else who flies 'battery laden' (leaden?) over the next few weeks.

I just flew out of and back into SFO twice during the past week. No one ever asked to see my camera or batteries. I was traveling with a Sony EX1.

I think that it will be up to the local TSA people to enforce the rule as they see it which is very scary. I usually find the smaller the airport the worse they are about the rules. Also they tend to not have a full grasp of the rules as well.

Daniel Weber

Daniel, how did you tote the EX1?
Cheers.

I use a Portbrace Runbag, medium size.

It looks like a blue duffle bag and no one know that it has a camera in side unless you open it up. I travel a lot internationally and more and more I am finding that you want to hide your equipment when you pass through borders and customs. For the past 3 years this has served me well, first traveling with my Z1 and now with the EX1.

Dan

No, I didn't, and I don't think I'd want to! That's just asking for trouble...plus all my batteries are under the 8 gram rule, so I don't really consider them as "dangerous".

Except to my poor discs...

Just to show that fires can also happen on the ground.

http://www.reelchicago.com/story.cfm?StoryID=1794

That would be like placing a sticker on your bag saying that "I'm carrying a loaded gun!"

In the real world of checking in flight baggage, it depends less on the latest national or international 'baggage rules" but more on the temperament and knowledge of the actual person sitting behind the desk that checks in your baggage. The same rules apply to X-Ray machine scanning.