On Thursday, December 13, 2001, at 07:28 AM, Levente -Levi- Littvay wrote:
>> Why not get some lead bags? <snip> > > I am not sure it is sucha good idea. First of all NEVER use it in a > checked bag. They will just boost the x-ray. Second I am not sure it > works 100% but I might be wrong on this. Thirdly they might be able to > boost the xray on the carry on thingies. Levi is right -- DO NOT PUT A LEAD BAG IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE. DO NOT PUT ANY FILM AT ALL IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE, PACKED IN ANY WAY. The new automated scanners have an automated recognition system where they fire X-rays at your checked bags and determine what objects are inside. If an object seems suspicious to the scanner, it keeps firing X-rays at it until it determines the content. Unfortunately, metal film cassettes are suspicious, lead bags are more suspicious, and by the time the scanner determines "oh, those are just rolls of film", your film is all fogged. Once more for the cheap seats: NEVER PUT FILM IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE. EVER. NO MATTER WHAT. We do sell lead bags over here, because people are stupid and want them anyways. Seriously. Everyone who buys one has heard this speech from me, and every single person who has bought one has dismissed me as paranoid. These scanners, by the way, are not at every airport, but the FAA is not letting us in on which airports have them, for obvious security reasons. If I'm remembering right, the problem came to light when a BBC film crew returned from some far-flung photographic expedition and found all of their footage had been fogged by Heathrow. -Aaron - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
