Flying with diapers

[spark]

I thought we had another discussion with this topic, but I couldn't find it.

I just got back from an around the world trip, and felt I would explain my experiences in each place.   I had 8 flights, and each time I had to clear security.   My typical procedure is wear a Pull Up through security and put on a diaper in a stall once through security.  I did that in Oakland, Oslo, Danang, and Saigon (twice).   I never had a problem in any of those airports, but was dry when I went through.  Singapore has security right at the gate, and I diapered up before getting to the gate.   I was patted down, but the detector was pinging everybody.   He may have felt something, but never said anything.

I connected to flights in CDG (Paris) and Doha.    Both times I was wearing a slightly wet diaper, and pinged.   In Paris I was given a quick swab, and no issues.   In Doha I was patted down, and much more thoroughly (the guy owes should have paid me for the 'feel').   He felt the diaper and asked what it was.  I explained that it was diaper, and was taken to private room for a more thorough screening.    They swabbed the diaper, and patted me down with my pants (not sure if that was necessary, because I could dropped my pants below the diaper).   It very well could have been embarrassing, but wasn't that much of a hassle.  It probably took 3 extra minutes.   If I had to do it over, I would remove the damp diaper before security- clear security, and re-diaper.  But it wasn't a big deal.

There is a variety of reasons I prefer to travel in a diaper.   I'm selectively incontinent, and I start to feel more bladder pressure if my voiding is restricted.   I'm able to use a regular non-AB diaper for about 12 to 15 hours without too much issues- if I use the bathroom when I feel like it.  I like to sit in the window, and it's nice to just vege in my window seat.   It also helps with a little anxiety (that isn't strong).  I would say- don't feel uncomfortable wearing diapers on a plane.   Obviously, if you are incontinent go ahead and wear a diaper.   Understand that 'wet' will ping, and avoid or deal with it.   If you're like me and really uncomfortable with possible exposure (I'm not), than avoid.  Otherwise, treat it like you are wearing for need, because if you are wearing- you need it.

[ppdude]

In my limited flying experiences, diapers or diaper bag weren't an issue. Maybe they could tell I had one on as I wear rubber pants and tight jeans over the Dry 24/7 to help minimize noise. Pat downs and wanding was as bad as it got. I did have to take off the shoes once. They were much more interested in the blind man's cane I use (since I'm severely sight impaired).

[Mr. Sea Otter]

This topic, going through security in a diaper, does come up regularly and I always say the same thing - it is a total non issue unless you are wet. I do appreciate that the OP is giving info on non-USA airports though, so thank you for that, as I dont recall ever seeing much info related to international travel.

Speaking for domestic travel, I've gone through TSA in a diaper probably a hundred times or more and never had a major problem. I have had my bags checked and had diapers pulled out, been patted down etc but it was always handled professionally and quickly. A few times I've been asked where the baby was, which I always find hilarious.  

[DiaperedAllTheTime]

I have been through hundreds of TSA checkpoints while wearing diapers and even a chastity device.  Unless my diaper is excessively wet I normally am not flagged for additional screening.  I have been patted down at the xray machines a dozen or so times because my crotched was flagged.  This results almost always in the officer feeling my diaper and asking what I am wearing.  They always pull my shirt up and put their fingers in the waistband of my diaper.  If my diaper is riding exceptionally high this has exposed my diaper to other passengers but generally as soon as they see my diaper they reach under my shirt providing discretion.  On a few occassions I have been asked to proceed to a private room after a patdown.  The following describes the times I have been pulled aside for additional screening.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport-Fabine Orginal-Pulled aside and had a curtain wrapped 360 degrees around me.  I was made to pull down my pants to my ankles, diaper felt by screeners hands, and a specialized metal detector marked "For diapers" waved between my legs.  I was asked why I was wearing a diaper and both the outside of my diaper and my hands were swabbed for explosives.

Columbus, Ohio-Bambino Bianca-Taken to a private room and felt extensively through my pants.  I was asked what the bulge was in my crotch and I told the screeners a diaper.  It was left at that, my pants were not removed.

San Diego, California-Rearz Princess-Sent to private screening after a patdown at the machine.  Asked to pull down my pants to verify I was indeed wearing a diaper and then told almost immediately that it was okay to pull my pants back up.  The TSA screener asked how I had been screened in the past and was extremely professional.

Denver, Colorado-ABU Simple-Taken to private room.  Patted down and a sheet was wrapped around my body.  I was asked to pull down my pants to verify I was indeed wearing a diaper and then apologized to afterwards.

Four times out of hundreds of flights is not so bad in my opinion.  A couple things of note I have noticed.

First, international travel is generally far less invasive than domestic travel.  Most of the time I generally do not even go through an xray machine and a diaper will definitely never be detected by a metal detector.

Also, when going through TSA after clearing customs my diaper has literally been leaking at times, I mean completely full.  Generally they do not have restrooms between the gate and the TSA checkpoints so it is what it is.  Despite this, I have absolutely never been pulled aside for additional screening.  The only thing I can figure is they are used to seeing wet diapers after long international flights.

My bag has been screened often times.  One time I even left a used diaper in my bag on accident.  TSA has always been very professional when going through my bag.

[spark]

1 hour ago, Mr. Sea Otter said:

This topic, going through security in a diaper, does come up regularly and I always say the same thing - it is a total non issue unless you are wet. I do appreciate that the OP is giving info on non-USA airports though, so thank you for that, as I dont recall ever seeing much info related to international travel.

Speaking for domestic travel, I've gone through TSA in a diaper probably a hundred times or more and never had a major problem. I have had my bags checked and had diapers pulled out, been patted down etc but it was always handled professionally and quickly. A few times I've been asked where the baby was, which I always find hilarious.  

That was my main purpose, because based on what I had read in previous postings, it appeared European screenings were stronger than what we get in the USA.  We have the body scanners, but I never go through those because I'm TSA-Pre.    I know European airport security is a lot more sensitive about liquids than what I find in the USA.   In Europe you have to take out the liquids and put them in a bag.  That's the rule in the USA, but I've never once been flagged when my drops were still in my shaving kit.  I've learned that every country and continent is slightly different on their procedures.

As far as the detectors not detecting a diaper- I'm not sure, except to not every single time I went through in a diaper- I pinged.  Every single time I went through in a pull up- I walked through.   I'm pretty careful about how I pack my bags when I fly, so my bags are almost never checked.   The last time it happened was a domestic flight in Norway when I forgot to remove the eye drops from my shaving kit.  I'm sure the guy looking at the x-ray can see the folded up diaper, but who cares about that.

At least for me- every single airport I landed at (CDG, OSL, DOH, SGN, SIN) had a bathroom between the gate and passport control.   Singapore was the only airport I visited that didn't have a bathroom after I passed security, so I always could change out of a wet diaper if I chose.  They also had facilities prior to security, although sometimes not that easy to find.   For me, I choose to travel in an Abena diaper, which was little less flamboyant.   

Personally I think the guard in Doha was more embarrassed and uncomfortable than I was, although he sure got handsy with the pat down.   I'm wondering if he was a newer screener, and hadn't seen many adults wearing a diaper.  He asked what it was when it was pretty obvious that it was an adult diaper, and needed guidance to complete the check.  While the screener in Paris was a lady close to my age, and may have noticed the bulk.   She figured 49-year-old white guy traveling from Paris to Oslo is not a serious threat, and it's 99% certain I'm wearing a diaper.   She checked me for explosive residue, and on my way.   Everybody was pinging in Singapore, so the check was less thorough.

No matter what the situation is, I don't see a purpose in clearing airport security in a saturated diaper.   Assuming that you only clear security prior to flying, you're going to have at least 90 minutes before you off the airplane at the destination. I would probably dispose of the wet diaper in the bathroom garbage can, because I don't want to carry a used diaper with me on long flight.

[DiaperedAllTheTime]

1 hour ago, spark said:

That was my main purpose, because based on what I had read in previous postings, it appeared European screenings were stronger than what we get in the USA.  We have the body scanners, but I never go through those because I'm TSA-Pre.    I know European airport security is a lot more sensitive about liquids than what I find in the USA.   In Europe you have to take out the liquids and put them in a bag.  That's the rule in the USA, but I've never once been flagged when my drops were still in my shaving kit.  I've learned that every country and continent is slightly different on their procedures.

As far as the detectors not detecting a diaper- I'm not sure, except to not every single time I went through in a diaper- I pinged.  Every single time I went through in a pull up- I walked through.   I'm pretty careful about how I pack my bags when I fly, so my bags are almost never checked.   The last time it happened was a domestic flight in Norway when I forgot to remove the eye drops from my shaving kit.  I'm sure the guy looking at the x-ray can see the folded up diaper, but who cares about that.

At least for me- every single airport I landed at (CDG, OSL, DOH, SGN, SIN) had a bathroom between the gate and passport control.   Singapore was the only airport I visited that didn't have a bathroom after I passed security, so I always could change out of a wet diaper if I chose.  They also had facilities prior to security, although sometimes not that easy to find.   For me, I choose to travel in an Abena diaper, which was little less flamboyant.   

Personally I think the guard in Doha was more embarrassed and uncomfortable than I was, although he sure got handsy with the pat down.   I'm wondering if he was a newer screener, and hadn't seen many adults wearing a diaper.  He asked what it was when it was pretty obvious that it was an adult diaper, and needed guidance to complete the check.  While the screener in Paris was a lady close to my age, and may have noticed the bulk.   She figured 49-year-old white guy traveling from Paris to Oslo is not a serious threat, and it's 99% certain I'm wearing a diaper.   She checked me for explosive residue, and on my way.   Everybody was pinging in Singapore, so the check was less thorough.

No matter what the situation is, I don't see a purpose in clearing airport security in a saturated diaper.   Assuming that you only clear security prior to flying, you're going to have at least 90 minutes before you off the airplane at the destination. I would probably dispose of the wet diaper in the bathroom garbage can, because I don't want to carry a used diaper with me on long flight.

Usually for morning flights I am fairly dry as I change out of my night time diaper before I leave for the airport.  At most one wetting but mostly just dribbles.  Afternoon flights can be another story.  I could be rushing from a customer's site driving from far distances and I simply want to make it through security before I change.  Even in this situation I am almost never flagged.  I have been told it is not so much the wetness of the diaper but the distortion of your crotch area from the diaper sagging that causes the screener to flag you.  I am not sure if that is accurate but I do know I have never been flagged when wearing fixing panties regardless of the use of my diaper.  I do not always wear them when flying simply because they are restrictive and can get uncomfortable when sitting for an extended period of time.  

In Europe there are restrooms before passport control but not in America.  I have always wondered if this is because there is concern of someone throwing away contraband before clearing customs.  Eitherway, never have been flagged after passport control security checkpoint.

I know in Amsterdam I was flagged because they actually had an Xray scanner at the gate.  That is something you just do not see ever in America and I was not used to.  Only random people were sent through it.

The easiest security by far I have found is in Japan.  Simple metal detector and they seem to care less about liquids. 

[Mr. Sea Otter]

We got flagged in London because we had liquid baby formula. For our baby, not for me just so that's clear. They wanted to open it, which means it's no good in a few hours. Wife said no way. As a result they went through every inch of all bags. They were polite about it at least, just took forever. They didnt blink at my diapers, and I didnt get flagged for anything.

[spark]

1 hour ago, MarkSmith said:

In Europe there are restrooms before passport control but not in America.  I have always wondered if this is because there is concern of someone throwing away contraband before clearing customs.

They do in San Francisco, which is the only airport I've ever cleared customs.  I find US customs to be fairly decent, assuming you don't have anything to declare.   It's passport control that is a PITA, which has nothing to do with diapers.  They don't care about that, but you better be kosher with your documents.   I got through passport control fairly easily in San Francisco, which was easier than either Vietnam or Singapore.   It didn't seem that bad for non-citizens either, because most of them were at the baggage claim before our bags.

I don't know what demon in hell designed passport control in terminal 1 at CDG, but he is a cruel sadistic person.   It's very French.   Germans and Scandinavians would have nice lines that moved appropriately.  The English would que no matter what, but the Paris was a complete miss.  It was a big wide line with no organization and only two agents clearing passports.   It took about 45 minutes to reach the passport control, but once there it was just the standard scan/stamp.

Interesting I cleared US customs last year on the train from Montreal to New York, and that almost as pleasant as a double root canal.?.  The agents came aboard like they were robbing the train, although I think train robbers are nicer (at least based on the movies I've watched).

[spark]

1 hour ago, Mr. Sea Otter said:

We got flagged in London because we had liquid baby formula. For our baby, not for me just so that's clear. They wanted to open it, which means it's no good in a few hours. Wife said no way. As a result they went through every inch of all bags. They were polite about it at least, just took forever. They didnt blink at my diapers, and I didnt get flagged for anything.

That's a little surprising, because I would think infant formula to be a fairly common liquid, and they would know that opening it would ruin it.  Depending on the age of the infant, that's just not an option.  Norwegian TSA checked my carry on fairly thoroughly when I forgot to take my eye drops out of my shaving kit, but as long as I take everything that could flag out- I have had no issues.

Generally I've found TSA agents to be the typical working stiffs.   They see thousands of passengers each day, and while we get to escape the chaos- they live it all day long.   I'd say it's best to just keep your head down and scuttle through.  Follow their directions (within reason), and assume positive intent.   As far as diapers on adults- that's not even a blip on the WTF file.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/569337/strange-items-tsa-found-2018 , here is list of strange items (most of which are just stupid) found by TSA.   No where does it mention diapers, although I might need one after seeing the python in the hard drive.

[oznl]

This is a timely discussion for me.  At the end of next month it looks like I will have to duck up to Bangkok for a few days meetings.  By this time, I will have been 5 months 24/7 since April and 7.5 months 24/7 overall this year.  I'm still continent but urgency and frequency would be a thing.

I would vastly prefer to remain diapered for this trip anyway  I realise this is going to mean taking a large suitcase for a short trip along with my wife assuming that I don't love her any more and plan on getting myself arrested in South East Asia for illegal diaper usage, lose my job, appear on CNN, humiliate her and bankrupt our family (it's strictly business, she won't be travelling with me).

On 7/24/2019 at 2:07 AM, spark said:

My typical procedure is wear a Pull Up through security and put on a diaper in a stall once through security.  I did that in Oakland, Oslo, Danang, and Saigon (twice).   I never had a problem in any of those airports, but was dry when I went through.  Singapore has security right at the gate, and I diapered up before getting to the gate.   I was patted down, but the detector was pinging everybody.   He may have felt something, but never said anything.

Previous experience was that I got pinged for a pat-down in the "relevant area" whilst departing Brisbane International in a dry pull-up (millimeter wave technology).  Awkward.  It seemed "dry" was not enough.

This time I was thinking about wearing a pull-up to the airport, ditching it before security and changing into a BetterDry in the airline lounge.

The trouble is that I have a tight transit stop in Singapore to switch to the Bangkok flight:  only 60 minutes.  I'd be wet landing in Singapore and I don't know if I would have the time to change myself before heading to the next gate.  I'm familiar with Singapore Changi airport and their unusual habit of having security scanning happen at the gates but last time it was there, it was just metal detectors/x-ray.  Even if I *did* manage a quick change, there is precedent that millimeter wave scanners will get me anyway.  Sounds like Spark is telling me it's now the dreaded body scanners.  Correct?

No idea what the deal is at Bangkok.

Now I have a dilemma.  I have a colleague who has insisted on taking the same flight as me as well. 

 

[DiaperedAllTheTime]

1 hour ago, oznl said:

This is a timely discussion for me.  At the end of next month it looks like I will have to duck up to Bangkok for a few days meetings.  By this time, I will have been 5 months 24/7 since April and 7.5 months 24/7 overall this year.  I'm still continent but urgency and frequency would be a thing.

I would vastly prefer to remain diapered for this trip anyway  I realise this is going to mean taking a large suitcase for a short trip along with my wife assuming that I don't love her any more and plan on getting myself arrested in South East Asia for illegal diaper usage, lose my job, appear on CNN, humiliate her and bankrupt our family (it's strictly business, she won't be travelling with me).

Previous experience was that I got pinged for a pat-down in the "relevant area" whilst departing Brisbane International in a dry pull-up (millimeter wave technology).  Awkward.  It seemed "dry" was not enough.

This time I was thinking about wearing a pull-up to the airport, ditching it before security and changing into a BetterDry in the airline lounge.

The trouble is that I have a tight transit stop in Singapore to switch to the Bangkok flight:  only 60 minutes.  I'd be wet landing in Singapore and I don't know if I would have the time to change myself before heading to the next gate.  I'm familiar with Singapore Changi airport and their unusual habit of having security scanning happen at the gates but last time it was there, it was just metal detectors/x-ray.  Even if I *did* manage a quick change, there is precedent that millimeter wave scanners will get me anyway.  Sounds like Spark is telling me it's now the dreaded body scanners.  Correct?

No idea what the deal is at Bangkok.

Now I have a dilemma.  I have a colleague who has insisted on taking the same flight as me as well. 

 

You can always change on the plane.  It does suck as it is a tight fit but I have done it many times.

It is very surprising to me that a dry diaper has flagged you before as that has never happened to me despite wearing the thickest disposable diapers on the market and I travel all over the world.  I would honesty bieve that is the exception not the normal.

[oznl]

1 hour ago, MarkSmith said:

It is very surprising to me that a dry diaper has flagged you before as that has never happened to me despite wearing the thickest disposable diapers on the market and I travel all over the world.  I would honesty bieve that is the exception not the normal.

Yes.  I wasn't expecting that either.  All anecdotal evidence I had suggested otherwise.  It was the pull-up though.  I've been through enough body scanners to avoid the newbie mistakes.  There was *nothing* in my pockets and at the pat down, the guy went immediately for the diaper zone, nowhere else.  Mercifully, he felt what he needed to feel and dropped it there.

There was a sign near the machine that spoke about bulky or loose clothing.  The machine wasn't like the millimeter wave machine I've seen at US airports - it was more like walking between two whiteboards and standing still for a few seconds.  Australian govt. blurb says they don't use x-ray backscatter though.

[rusty pins]

Bangkok!  Just the word alone makes my dick and balls shudder!  Makes me think somehow I "banged" my "cock" on something!  Painful just thinking about it!

[DiaperedAllTheTime]

I have been to Bangkok.  It really should be spelled Bangcock.

[Alex Bridges]

2 hours ago, MarkSmith said:

You can always change on the plane.  It does suck as it is a tight fit but I have done it many times.

It is very surprising to me that a dry diaper has flagged you before as that has never happened to me despite wearing the thickest disposable diapers on the market and I travel all over the world.  I would honesty bieve that is the exception not the normal.

I’ve gotten flagged numerous times, and most of those it’s been my crotch when I’m not padded. Not sure why. I just take it in stride.

[spark]

13 hours ago, oznl said:

The trouble is that I have a tight transit stop in Singapore to switch to the Bangkok flight:  only 60 minutes.  I'd be wet landing in Singapore and I don't know if I would have the time to change myself before heading to the next gate.  I'm familiar with Singapore Changi airport and their unusual habit of having security scanning happen at the gates but last time it was there, it was just metal detectors/x-ray.  Even if I *did* manage a quick change, there is precedent that millimeter wave scanners will get me anyway.  Sounds like Spark is telling me it's now the dreaded body scanners.  Correct?

 

I don't know if it was just a metal scanner, or something more sensitive.   It looked the same as what I went through in Paris and Doha, which both flagged for a wet diaper.     The difference was that the Singapore check was pinging every single passenger.   In Singapore they had us walk through with our shoes.   I don''t know if the dry but thick diaper would have triggered anything generally.

I think it depends on how early your flight is coming into Singapore.     If you're on time, and able to get off the plane quickly.  You will probably be fine, unless you going from a terminal 1 gate to terminal 3 gate.    I did notice that terminal 3 gates appeared to have bathrooms after security, but they will likely already be boarding the plane by the time you reach your gate anyway.

[DiaperedAllTheTime]

I actually got flagged yeaterday and just asked for the private room right away because I was wearing a onesie and I know that TSA officers generally get frustrated when they can feel my diaper but cannot see it physically.  In this case I was simply was just patted down.  No pants dropping which shocked me.  After leaving the private room I noticed they literally had two other people who were behind me with their arms spread out checking crotches.  One would have to assume they were not wearing diapers so maybe it was just a grope-a-thon day.

[spark]

12 hours ago, MarkSmith said:

I actually got flagged yeaterday and just asked for the private room right away because I was wearing a onesie and I know that TSA officers generally get frustrated when they can feel my diaper but cannot see it physically.  In this case I was simply was just patted down.  No pants dropping which shocked me.  After leaving the private room I noticed they literally had two other people who were behind me with their arms spread out checking crotches.  One would have to assume they were not wearing diapers so maybe it was just a grope-a-thon day.

I wonder how much of the check has to do with TSA agent and/or managers of the security.

I read a story about Kansas City Airport not allowing paper products through security for one weekend before the outcry was so bad that the TSA at the airport stopped the practice.  The official story was that it was a new restriction that was be test marketed and homeland security decided to abandon the practice, but I have my doubts to various parts of that story.  It does appear that it's not as uniform as it should be though.

[oznl]

Found this statement allegedly from the Australian Department of Infrastructure & Transport on the down-undercare.com.au site :

"Any person may be selected for a body scan when travelling internationally from one of the eight Australian international gateway airports. All body scanners deployed at Australian airports are equipped with privacy enhancements. To protect the privacy of the travelling public, the current generation body scanner is equipped with automated threat recognition technology. This technology eliminates the need for a screening officer to review raw images of the person being scanned. Instead, when a scan is conducted, the body scanner automatically analyses the data received from the scan and uses a generic human outline, which does not display gender, size, shape or any distinguishing features, to highlight any area on the body that may require further examination. Individual scans are not able to be stored or transferred to other devices.

Passengers are to be treated with compassion, dignity and respect throughout aviation security screening process. As such, screening officers are trained to ensure that the privacy of passengers is appropriately maintained at all times. The body scanner will alert the screening officer when it detects items, such as ostomy pouches or nappies, under a person’s clothing, however, it is not able to identify the nature of the item. This means that the screening officer is required to investigate to determine that the item is not a prohibited item or weapon. The passenger can always request that this resolution process takes place in a private room. A private room provides the passengers with the opportunity to inform the screening officer of the item in question discreetly. Passengers will not be required to expose ostomy pouches or similar medical items for inspection and the screening officer will never touch the items."

It looks like millimeter wave *does* detect  but in contrast to the USA, the rampant nanny-state of Australia WILL react to a dry diaper.  There is a plan to expand millimeter wave to domestic terminals as well here in Australia so soon I can look forward to a significant new logistical challenge to my business travel if I remain diapered 24/7.

[Alex Bridges]

13 hours ago, oznl said:

looks like millimeter wave *does* detect  but in contrast to the USA, the rampant nanny-state of Australia WILL react to a dry diaper. 

Millimeter wave detectors detect the shape of something, in this case a human. If a person is wearing something that changes their shape enough for the computer to flag it as different from the shape of a human, the person is flagged and pulled aside for screening. It’s got nothing to do with nanny states or whether the diaper is dry or wet. I’ve gotten flagged going through US airports wearing plain underwear and gotten my crotch patted down because that’s where the machine flagged me. 

[oznl]

9 hours ago, Author_Alex said:

Millimeter wave detectors detect the shape of something, in this case a human. If a person is wearing something that changes their shape enough for the computer to flag it as different from the shape of a human, the person is flagged and pulled aside for screening. It’s got nothing to do with nanny states or whether the diaper is dry or wet. I’ve gotten flagged going through US airports wearing plain underwear and gotten my crotch patted down because that’s where the machine flagged me. 

Yep, I do get that.  My "nanny state" comment came more  from how my jurisdiction has decided to manage this technology.  Unlike the USA, we have ZERO rights to "opt out" for alternate screening and unlike the USA, it seems that our scanners are configured to 100% detect diapers (wet or dry) and staff are forced to react.  US experience suggest that diapers MIGHT be detected.  Australian Government advice is that diapers WILL be detected (and investigated).

All of this for a handful of criminally insane clowns fighting for their invisible friend...