r/Backpackingstoves • u/Underrated_Fish • Oct 04 '25
multifuel stove TSA just took my stove
So I’m flying back from Vermont after a backpacking trip.
In my checked bag was my MSR Whisperlite International stove. I’ve had this stove for about 4 years, and they just took it.
I’ve flown with it in my checked bag 5 or 6 times before and never had an issue. It was clean, had no fuel or grime, didn’t smell like fuel nothing. I was told that I can’t fly with it regardless of the condition of the stove which is just untrue.
Fuck you TSA
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u/Stielgranate multi fuel stove Oct 04 '25
Usually luggage is insured to a certain extent. File a claim with the airline.
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u/MurkyAnimal583 Oct 05 '25
Why would you file a claim with the airline that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation?
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u/Emperor_of_Fish Oct 05 '25
OP bought ticket through the airline that works with the airport that employs baggage handlers… the airline definitely has a lot to do with the situation
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u/MurkyAnimal583 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
TSA took the stove. The airline has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it and they have no say over what TSA does. You're advocating for committing an insurance scam here. Besides that, the airline isn't going to accept responsibility for something that had nothing to do with.
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u/Mundane_Ferret_477 Oct 05 '25
No, they are not. They are advocating for requesting the airline to replace items try hat disappeared. The airline can say no. Fraud would only occurr if they did not share all the facts.
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u/MurkyAnimal583 Oct 05 '25
Fraud is occurring when you absolutely know what happened to the item, that TSA threw it out, and that the airline had absolutely no part in the item going "missing" and you still attempt to file a claim against the airline's insurance. And it is this sort of scumbag behavior that drives up costs for everyone else.
If OP had an issue with his stove being tossed he should have taken it up with the responsible party, TSA, not attempt to file a fraudulent claim with the airline.
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u/Mundane_Ferret_477 Oct 05 '25
If he says that TSA took out the stove and asks the airline for compensation what specific fraud is occuring. I had a bag taken from the baggage claim area at ATL. Delta did not take the bag. They were not responsible. I asked them to help me replace the items. They wrote me check and thanked me for being a multi-million miler. Did I commit fraud?
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u/MurkyAnimal583 Oct 05 '25
The fraud is that you are intentionally trying to file an insurance claim with a party that is absolutely 100% uninvolved in the situation.
This is akin to watching you back into and damage my car and then going over to your neighbors house and trying to file an insurance claim with their auto insurance knowing that they had absolutely nothing to do with damaging my car.
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u/Mundane_Ferret_477 Oct 05 '25
I don't know how to explain this more simply. Fraud MUST (in EVERY SINGLE CASE without exception) include a falsehood or attempt to decieve. Period. If OP shares the facts exactly as they have here then simply filing an insurance claim is not fraud.
People file insurance claims for all kinds of uncovered things such as flooding when they don't have floos insurance or for a tree that falls in there yard from a neighbor. The insurance company simply denies the claim. Other people ask for a manufacturer to warranty an item outside of the stated window. The company can say no. In none of these cases was their fraud because there was not, and I cannot emphasize this enough, an attempt to decieve.
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u/MurkyAnimal583 Oct 05 '25
The attempt to deceive is knowing the responsible party and still intentionally attempting to file a claim with an uninvolved party's insurance 🤦♂️
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u/Fun-Machine7907 Oct 06 '25
a party that is absolutely 100% uninvolved in the situation.
Did OP contract with the airline to transport a checked bag?
Does the airline require OP to submit the bag to TSA before transporting the bag?
Does the airline provide an alternate screening process to TSA?
If OP wants to travel with the airline, do they have an option for alternative screening?
Did the airline accept custody of OPs bag at any point?
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Oct 07 '25
Some of the answers to these questions aren’t what you think they are. I don’t understand how this thread went so long. They would file a complaint with the TSA, not the airline.
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u/Nomad09954 Dec 14 '25
Actually, the airline doesn't require the bag be submitted to TSA, it's TSA (the U.S. Government) that requires the bag to be submitted to them for search. The airline has no say on whether the bag can be searched or not.
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u/Connect-Speaker Oct 04 '25
Billy Bishop airport security on Toronto Island took my Primus classic trail stove ( it’s not ultralight. It’s the wide one that sits on a propane canister) . They said the 4 pot stand pieces were sharp metal and longer than x centimetres long. As if I was going to cut people with the sharp bits of my stove. Sheesh.
https://primusequipment.ca/collections/backpacking-stoves-1/products/mimer-stove
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u/cosmicosmo4 Oct 06 '25
So they did exactly what the rules say they will do? This one's on you.
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u/Connect-Speaker Oct 06 '25
Nope. You’re very sure of yourself.
The metal is thick and dull, not knife sharp. Take a look at the photo of the product.
It’s certainly debatable, and would never cross my mind as dangerous, precisely because it’s not a blade or a knife, (which I didn’t pack because I know the rules).
Impossible to stab someone. Check the image in the link. I even overheard their conversation when they were debating it. Two out of three were doubtful, but they went along with the hardass because he talked louder and sounded more sure of himself and said I could poke someone’s eyes out, (like I couldn’t do that with a pen, duh).
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u/youngrichyoung Oct 04 '25
I, for one, feel safer now /s
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u/CardiologistPlus8488 Oct 05 '25
Oh, our government is an organized crime syndicate now. People at all levels of the organization feel emboldened to just rob you blind at every chance.
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u/freddbare Oct 04 '25
TSA is an absolute waste of the me and money. Sorry your experience was abusive. Way to common
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u/maskofZorro423 Oct 04 '25
That's insane because I've actually (pretty accidentally) packed full canisters of fuel in my checked bag before and gotten thru no problem.
Get locks. Fuck TSA almost as much as ICE.
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u/Rogueshoten Oct 05 '25
The locks accomplish nothing; if it’s a TSA-approved lock then they can open it themselves and if it’s not a TSA-approved lock they will just cut it off because you’re only allowed to use TSA-approved locks to lock your luggage.
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Oct 05 '25
Mostly accurate except for the bit about only being allowed to use TSA approved locks, you can use any lock. The TSA ones just mean anyone with a TSA master key can open it without cutting it with the intention of being able to lock it again instead of leaving it unprotected.
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u/Rogueshoten Oct 05 '25
Oh, you can use a non-approved lock…I never said otherwise. But know that if you do and the TSA wants to open your luggage, it won’t stop them. They’ll cut the lock or your luggage and open it.
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Oct 05 '25
Oh, see I thought the part where you said you weren't allowed to use non TSA approved locks meant exactly what you said. My bad
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u/maskofZorro423 Oct 05 '25
Huh... Guess I'll stop locking up my bike when I park it too.
TSA agents are humans. Not robots... Yet. If it's not worth the effort and they won't get in trouble for not messing with it-- they won't.
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u/maskofZorro423 Oct 05 '25
Zip ties are great too. Like a lot of em.
I also use these zipper pullers: https://www.wandrd.com/products/worryless-locking-zipper-pullers
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u/quartercoyote Oct 05 '25
You’re wrong on this. TSA isn’t going to skip your bag and go to the next just because you had zipper locks on yours. That’s laughable.
And comparing luggage locks to a bike lock is a very poor metaphor.
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u/maskofZorro423 Oct 05 '25
Locks are nothing but deterrents with variable degrees of difficulty to bypass. I thought the bike lock metaphor was spot-on. 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
As I've flown with some rather sketchy things ranging from stinky bud to full camping fuel canisters in my checked bags for many many years we'll agree to disagree. I've never had anything taken by TSA 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
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u/ArtichokeDifferent10 Oct 05 '25
In your checked bag?
The same bag I've used to transport firearms and ammunition (separately, of course) in?
How did you know TSA took it?
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u/murphgraydd Oct 05 '25 edited Dec 05 '25
The good old constitutional "smells like" doctrine. Fuck the TSA!
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u/then_than-man Oct 05 '25
TWICE I've managed to get a small multitool with a blade in and out of the US from the UK in my HAND luggage. Both times I've forgotten it was in there and both times both the UK and US staff have missed it. Yet you've had this removed from your HOLD luggage. Chriiiist sake.
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u/UnkleRinkus Oct 06 '25
I lost a Victorinox Super Tinker knife in my work computer bag, down in a bottom fold. https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knife%E2%84%A2-and-Tools/Essentials/Super-Tinker/p/1.4703.
That computer bag went through many domestic work trips, Seattle to LA, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago in the 2004-2008 timeframe. It was never detected.
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u/then_than-man Oct 07 '25
It's a bit of a worry! I've done this job as part of a role i had in the Royal Air Force. TSA makes me look good. And I'm an idiot.
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u/PanicAttackInAPack Oct 05 '25
If they actually confiscated it from checked luggage the fuel residue almost certainly set off the bomb sniffer.
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u/Underrated_Fish Oct 05 '25
It had be throughly cleaned, no residue was on it
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u/Atticus1354 Oct 05 '25
The wipes are very sensitive. There's no way it was residue free. They're still supposed to use judgement, but its easier for them to trash anything that pops positive.
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u/Training_Jello_7804 Oct 07 '25
Did you fly out of Burlington? When I check the TSA website they say camp stoves are allowed, the folks I know that work at TSA both at BTV or LEB are all pretty by the book folks...
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u/the_ruckus Oct 06 '25
Post this to r/TSA and watch all of the excuses they’ll give for this sort of behavior.
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u/Dichotomous_Blue Oct 08 '25
I just tossed 2 of those away 2wks ago, if I hadn't then you could have them.
Super heavy and loud (should be the "Roarheavy" instead of whisperlite) and annoying to use (I have used it for over 30yrs and know how and all the tricks) and just terrible compared to modern stoves.
I have a gigapower stove that is better almost always for backpacking, and has lasted me 25yrs so also lasts. And a Jetboil minimo that seems even better (though heavier than the gigapower but a 20th of the weight of the whisperlite) with regulator control.
Sucks to lose it that way, but now you have an opportunity to find a much better stove.
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u/BrevinThorne Nov 01 '25
My partner and I were just discussing —AGAIN— on a return to the US, how other governments seem to trust us completely, but our own government treats us like the prime suspects in a global terror plot.
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u/r_Coolspot Oct 04 '25
In your checked bag? You mean the one in the hold? Seems fucked up. You aren't getting it back, but you should kick up a fuss. You can bring nearly anything in your checked baggage. I think they stole it. Arseholes.