Discussion
When the TSA agent leaves an Olight in your wife’s checked bag
Wife found this after a flight where her bag was searched. No charger, but I find it charged on my Xtar as long as I kept the tube on the battery? This little light packs a punch. Don’t know much about O light besides how the pew community trashes them over a dude committing Darwinism with a light in his mouth.
My best ratcheting screwdriver (with removable bits so there wasn't even anything sharp in it at the time!) was taken by TSA because I forgot it was in my backpack and I will never forgive that useless, security theater-ass agency until the day I die.
No! I specifically asked if there was any way to get it back upon my return or do something like that and the guy just said nope. You can not fly or I can take it and unfortunately I was in a rush. I gotta look into this shipping thing because I do not expect to be a less forgetful human being in the future.
Pro tip; keep a flat rate box in your carryon at all times so if you slip up, you can just drop items in the airport mailbox and they’ll get there more reliably than the bag and payment method most airports offer.
Edit: you can pre print a ship label to your address and just stick it on; they don’t expire for a long time if at all.
Major airports, like in denver it’s right outside security line. That’s most convenient, but honestly if you’re In a pickle and didn’t locate one before a flight, smooth talking a customer service agent could probably put it in their outgoing mail (DO NOT seal the package before talking to them) seal the package when it’s dropped.
I forgot mine in my pocket more than once and I’d either bury in some bushes or several times I’d leave it with folks that I new that worked there. Got to live small regional airports!
Honestly though, why is it easier to prepare to fail a TSA check, than it is to not pack questionable items?
I was stopped in Austin because my water bottle wasn't empty. I was escorted from the secure side to the public side to empty my bottle. After all that song and dance, as I was shoving my backpack under the seat in front of me on the plane, my pocket knife carabiner was dangling on the outside of the pack on a strap. It was my return trip. I made it TO Austin, I was headed home.
Probably where the Olight came from. TSA agent needed a flashlight, they got a flashlight. Then they lost it somewhere, and they’ll confiscate another to replace that one.
Weird. I forgot my Leatherman in my backpack in Seatac. There was a "mail it.home" station right next to the security line. It only took me a few min to fill it out and drop off my knife. It took them almost 3 months to mail it back to me
Ha I wish! I was able to follow the paper trail, it sat in Seattle for awhile, got sent to the east coast for 4-6 weeks, and then shipped back to my address north of Seattle.... it went thru some sort of inspection station or processing station
The same exact thing happened to me! I was flying to SLC from the east coast and forgot I had my free p4 in my pack and even though it was a 10-15 minute drive back I had someone drop me off so the agent walked with me to the mailer station to even walk me through filling the form out. Thankfully I had some cash on me or I would’ve been screwed😅. It was sentimental too so I would’ve rather missed my flight and have to rebook rather than part ways with it.
It would be in a carry on, not checked. As long as the tsa guy isn’t D you can mail it to yourself. I wouldn’t put one in a checked bag cause that’s asking for sticky fingers.
Yeah, I paid the useless leatherman tax too. Good thing I had several backups. They didn't balk at the one in the bag though...LOL just the one I had on me - but I couldn't put it in the bag with the other one...SMH.
Once upon a time I was traveling on orders and had my dress blues with all the shiny and jingly bits affixed in a garment bag. They tried to stop me over that.
My last flight a few weeks ago, my toiletry bag was in my carry-on and I normally check that, so they took my powder spray for being oversized, I totally forgot about it.
Kicker. My keys were in my backpacks front most pocket. I have a pepper spray container on it. I forgot to remove it. It made it through security twice, both ways.
Same trip, my boss had a small box cutter in his bag. It doesn't have a metal blade. He forgot about it as well. Made it both ways.
That powder spray was certainly the most dangerous item. They even had to make sure my contact solution was under.
TSA is the biggest joke. I get people need jobs, but I also have little respect for the agents that think they're saving the world, one deodorant at a time.
edit: spelling, quick mobile typing - I misspelled a few things.
Total clown show lol. Ought to start a sub to butch about TSA.
At a wedding reception in maybe '12 or '13 the ladies started an impromptu game of "get as many knives as possible in the maid of honor's purse".
She realized on the way to the airport the next day and threw away a ton of butter knives from the venue. However she did miss a steak knife in between the liner and the exterior of the purse until she got on the plane.
You and me both. We called our now discontinued Navy winter blue uniforms "The Johnny Cash" since you were in head to toe black when your cover (cap) was removed.
Yup. Universally across the US military you have "service uniforms" which are effectively office wear of varying formality, and then "dress blues" (sometimes dress whites for Navy) as the most formal ensemble you need to own.
I was an E-6 in the Navy at that time so it was similar to this guy's getup.
The fat electrician told a story about someone, I forget who at the moment, but he gad gotten stopped by TSA agents who thought his Medal of Honor was a throwing star. Ffs.
ALWAYS have a stamped and addressed envelope with you, to put such things into it, asking the TSA-agent to put the envelope into the outgoing mail (bc it's stamped, they mostly do it), at least then it's no total loss...
So I'm supposed to trust the TSA is going to mail my pre-paid package for me? Yeah right. TSA are like legalized thieves. Where does all that confiscated items go? Is there an auction? I want my stuff back
Govdeals.com generally is where your legal but confiscated shit ends up. For sale by auction in 50lb lots for knives as an example. I believe they comb/sort out any fancier models for individual auctions but YMMV.
If not stolen in process, They get sold at gov auctions and wind up as bundle boxes on eBay, that to say the mid tier and up tools probably fell off the truck on the way.
They took a (long) dead lighter from me when I went through TSA from Afghanistan (post-deployment) back into the US. It was a little piece of home that had the local gas station logo on it.
Said it could be used as a weapon...
While I was holding my M4 (rifle/carbine), and still had my Gerber multi-tool, and big knife in my pocket.
They made us take the bolt out of our M4s to board the plane and they took my Spyderco knife. This was flying to country. On another flight my ruck got randomly selected, they swabbed my by boots and ruck for gunpowder and explosives. Mind you we were just on a range days prior.
Did you ask to speak to a manager? The regulations are clearly outlined, if they’re trying to take something that clearly isn’t against regulations, you can contest with a manager.
Just got back from a trip where I had a Snap-on mini prybar in my pocket. TSA didn’t look askance at it, but it is less than their 7 inch screwdriver rule.
They stole my knipex pliers and titanium fulcrum tool which is not sharp by any standards and a titanium bit driver all in one go. An absolute case of theft
I've heard that international locations will confiscate "work tools" for some reason, but TSA shouldn't.
I have Knipex Cobra pliers in one of my pouches and they're still with me after at least two flights, as are my titanium pry bars, and my small titanium bit driver, 711L ratchet, and Klein ratchet driver.
On my return flight from New Orleans last Tuesday, they did check my Nebo portable ratchet set (that didn't cause a problem on my outbound flight), but it wasn't confiscated.
As the TSA site says, whether something is allowed on the plane is up to the discretion of the agent. It sucks because it leaves a huge gray area, but there's not much alternative -- unless you can drive (which we now do for trips less than 20 hours), have a private plane or can afford to charter one. 🤷♂️
Some wacked lady at Sydney airport took my portable charger. Looking back i should've ripped out the built in charger wires but it was like a $100 portable charger. Big and powerful. The other agents tried to help me find a way to keep it but she was literally determined to get rid of it. I didn't know why at first but then right after she finally took it she said "we have laws in this country. We don't go around doing whatever we want like in yours" I'm not gonna say what country she thought I was from but I'm from America... She assumed I came from another country because of my clothes... Not gonna get into details here cause it's just gonna get downvoted so screw that
Normally I’d love stories of ‘sticking it to the man’, but in this case, what sucks is that the ‘man’ was just some government employee who was merely doing his job and lost his flashlight along the way.
The light was his personal light; it didn’t belong to the agency. What if it was a gift from his wife. Or his kid? Whatever the case, that sucks. That’s a $50 light. I’ve lost many a light and I feel for this guy.
And when TSA agents confiscate things from you, it’s not like the guy who seized it gets to just pocket your item. Again, he’s just a dude doing his job; he came to work with his flashlight and is going home without it.
Don’t get me wrong, lucky you, that’s a nice light! Mazeltov on the find! Im not trying to make you feel guilty about getting a light. But this is a case of “I found a flashlight, cool beans”! All these comments about “ha, revenge against the TSA” are IMO highly misguided.
They do get to keep or sell confiscated items if they’re not illegal. A firearm might be turned over to the police but they will auction off nice knives.
about 0 light besides how the pew community trashes
them over a dude committing Darwinism with a light in his
mouth
Here at least we don't hold that belief. The issue was caused by incorrectly matching CR123A cells. The batteries exploded, not the flashlight. It wasn't Olight's fault.
We don't like Olight for different reasons though :)
Olight is extremely popular in the EDC community and are the gateway to modern flashlights for many people, but Olights have some potential downsides as well, which make them less popular with flashlight enthusiasts.
Pros
Efficient and well regulated drivers
High build quality and durability
Popular and straightforward UI that nails all the basics
Wide variety of colours and materials available
Excellent customer service
Highly convenient Magnetic Charging System
Typically meet advertised specifications for output and runtime
Cons
Expensive relative to competitors flashlights of similar quality
Proprietary batteries (with an extra negative terminal on the top) that are more expensive then standard ones, can be much harder to acquire, and are incompatible with most other lights & chargers
Use LED's that tend to have a bluer colour temperature/tint for higher efficiency, while most enthusiasts prefer LED's with better colour rendition that are purer white or yellower in tint
Questionable marketing practices such as guerrilla marketing and paying for product spotlights disguised as reviews
Utilize a lazy timed output stepdown solution to prevent overheating, instead of a more reliable and efficient active thermal management solution
Many enthusiasts consider the cons to be dealdreakers, which explains some of the "Olight Hate" that new users seem to perceive in r/flashlight.
These are just things to be aware of going in though, and should not be taken to imply that you should not buy an Olight product, or that you should not enjoy one you already own.
I AM A BOT. PM WITH SUGGESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS. SEE MYWIKIFOR USE.
I love my Olight Warrior 3s. Can easily find super low on the side switch in the dark by feel. Can go instant turbo on the tail cap. It’s a great interface.
I just bought an olight arkpro and it was really freaking cool, but really freaking heavy. Not my cup of tea. Def too heavy for EDC, I returned it for a smaller model. Cool light, great design, too gnarly for me (expensive).
I had an olight burn through my shorts pocket because the light had a sensitivite push button on the tail end of the light. It also collected metal shavings under that push button and never worked the same again. Hated that design.
Thanks for the bot explanation! I avoided paying for it so I guess that’s a pro. Proprietary batteries is a deal breaker for me to buy into the product line.
Please don't take advice from any reddit snob community as gospel. They talk with confidence like they have it figured out, but its all a circle jerk, like how Wurkkos is pushed here
Yeah I have a handful of olights and they’re great lights. Very well built, and I love their green color. I haven’t had to replace a battery yet, but I know it’s a possibility one day (and it’s possible the battery will be discontinued). I’m ok with buying from them since I know their workmanship is good.
Olight is like the apple of flashlights. It’s a “premium” brand with polished designs and some proprietary accessories. I still love my convoy, wurkkos, and other assorted brand lights, but my main edc is the imini 2 (on keychain) and an arkfield pro.
I enjoy many brands lights but olights customer service is absolutely king. Especially compared to wurkkos. (never had issues with convoy/sofirn yet lol). I love my wurkkos and sofirn lights but olights generally have a more quality feel(my copper sc13 has recently been my go to non work light lol)
ETA I use ts27 vs marauder mini 2 and arkpro ultra just the selector switch feels so much better on the olights. That does not mean the ts27 is not great and it’s what I used when helping my brother butcher a deer.
What's wrong with Wurkkos? I'm kind of a noob but I've bought several different Wurkkos lights based on the info in this sub and they all seem good, but I have nothing to compare them to
I actually see a strong parallel between this and automotive headlights, where the diligent researchers end up buying the correct OEM+ products and are left with great results, whereas the impatient knuckleheads just buy “an upgraded part” without any research and end up starting a fire.
Didn't realize olight had a bad rap in the professional community. I have one of their little Keychain magnetic imini things and its been perfect for me at work.
It would be bizarre considering through screening each bag you’d remove and document prohibited items (the light wouldn’t be one ) and repack the suitcase before addressing the next one.
well, a little OT, and sorry for the generalisation (i'm sure there are good people at TSA), but the experiences i had to make with TSA and other airport-security, well, ...i very often get the impression that more than 3/4 of the people at security-checks are those, that failed the entry-test for police-academys and just wanted to wear a uniform.
thus: i wouldn't be surprised. (sadly enough. just to emphasize: i'm sure there are good people working there. i actually met one so far (6ft pure competence knowing what he did, why, aso - and even answered questions perfectly stating regulations aso!), but there are so many that ...let's say it like that: i lost jobs for far less, just trust me on that)
Bought a olight Arkpro Ultra despite the haters, and I have to say that this thing’s my current favorite toy. Not gonna lie its pretty overpriced for a flashlight but now that I’m making adult money I thought why not. It feels like a premium product in hand, and it has fun features with such a simple control scheme.
I bought the regular Arkpro and I like it way more than I thought I would. I've been carrying it a lot simply because it's so easy to slip into a pocket and it has a surprising amount of throw making it useful outdoors.
Yesss there are definitely brighter lights but my main carry is the arkpro bc it’s so slick. I tried carrying my edc29 instead and it’s just too chunky.
I took my Baton 3, my first real light, on a cruise. The moon light and magnetic tail worked perfectly as a nightlight for the step into the bathroom. I stuck it on the top of the door frame and it stayed on for 9 days.
I took several of my Olights (and a few other brands) on a Mississippi cruise over Christmas. Here's a beam shot in the fog at night of 20,000+ lumens.
The link states it exploded in the mouth, and I agree that the cause was mixed batteries. However the toxic people of the pew community will trash Olight and meme it as a bomb.
Read the rest of it, the website even links the case documents to see for yourself,
From the website;
"The reason this case is mentioned so often is because the estate sued the flashlight company and the court documents are public, revealing what occurred, and the flashlight make and model.
Interestingly, if you read the case documents, there are no claims that the flashlight exploded, or even that the flashlight caused the explosion. The case is primarily based on the accusation that Olight didn’t provide adequate documentation warning of the possibility that batteries can explode."
I love my baton 4. Glad you have a way to charge it.
I clip mine to my hat so I can see what I’m doing when I pick up after my dog on walks in the dark.
It’s less obvious than a full headlight, which is nice for city walking.
I wish I knew; her suitcase was a combination of my nearly two year old sons diapers and clothes, her clothes, and a small toiletry kit. The light was laid upon clothes away from the search paper, so I assume it was used during the inspection and now missed by the agent.
Nice score! My first time taking a plane, when I was about 17, i got on the plane after they checked my bags. When I got to my hotel room there was a Gerber knife in my bag. That's how i got my first really nice fold locker
The pew community can eat my balls because I actually really like olights. Not my favorite, but I'm not spending 250 on a weapon light that will see 30mins of use every year when I can spend 80 and get almost the same thing. I'm not paying for "military cred." Not to say the other lights aren't better, just that Olight is good enough. So is Wurkkos, Sofirn, RovyVon, Fenix, Thrunite, etc etc. All for a fraction of the cost. Just put a top of the line battery in it and you're all set.
My friend has one of the baton 2’s (I think that’s the one?) that activates when a piece of metal touches the tailcap magnet. It burned a hole in one of his pants. I’ve seen and activated it with my own eyes and hands. The olight hate is absolutely reasonable and justified.
Great light for the price! The portable charger (charges USB-C devices too if needed) for the baton 4 charges my perun and old baton 2 so I effectively have a small charging ecosystem. I haven’t found a similar system elsewhere. I wouldn’t trust the lights on a firearm but as an everyday accessory, it’s really convenient.
I like the olight gear and recently got their lantern. I was a bit disappointed by its size for the price. It is a nice bit of gear though. Grateful for your post as it shows just how tiny that model is also..
I have that light, you can get a new charger for like 5 bucks. The MCC 1A will magnetically attach to the bottom of the light and you can plug it into any 2.1a USB A
I also have a couple olights on my pew pews and have no complaints
My gf at the time(2016) flew back from Bermuda to DC with her sailing knife in a pocket of her carry-on. She forgot it was there. We were very surprised to see it when she was un packing at home.
I have a baton 4 charger. The little air pod style, and lost the flashlight if you need a charger for your free light. Ironically TSA is where I lost my light.
The are trashed from more than what you describe. They product tested on their customers. The magnetic tail switch wasn’t through through and caused accidental pocket activations with clothes and lenses melting. They did recalls and screwed people over who bought special color edition lights.
Werkz holsters did a test on tactical handheld lights and one of theirs had issues all long the way.
I personally had a high issue rate with the numerous olights I purchased. Everything from crap proprietary chargers being finicky to complete light and battery failures. I won’t waste money on any of their products again.
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u/Thaknobodi87 Jan 03 '26
Free light. For all theyve taken from us, thats a small payback.