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Cool invention: Scanner Bag

November 13, 2006

Ira Goldman has done it again. The inventor of the Knee Defender, a clever device that prevents the passenger in front of you from leaning into your personal space, has just released a new product that promises to expedite your trip through a TSA checkpoint.

The Scanner Bag (price: $14.85 to $24.85) looks like a large luggage tag, and it is a fully-functioning tag.

But instead of carrying just a card with your address and phone number, there’s also a fold-out pouch to accommodate your Blackberry, coins, cellphone, iPod, jewelry and keys — in other words, all the items you would otherwise have to place in one of those plastic trays at the checkpoint and feed through the conveyor belt.

As someone who just lost an item at security (a belt clip for my cellphone) I can see lots of practical uses for the Scanner Bag. Not only do you keep your valuable items in one place, but the chances of losing anything are now reduced considerably.

Goldman says there wasn’t an “a-ha!” moment in which the idea for the Scanner Bag came to him. “It was something that evolved as I was thinking about a new luggage concept,” he told me.

But why ask why? The new Scanner Bag is pure genius.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

7 comments

  • John Royse

    Sorry but I have to feel that yet one more bag is a very bad idea. I always keep my small items in an outside pocket on my carryon and have never been asked for a closer examination yet. WHY YET ANOTHER BAG ! especially since airlines are limiting us to one carryon and one small additional bag. What if we are already carrying the limit? Lugging an extra bag for an entire trip just for those few seconds at security just doesn’t seem to make sense.

  • ljg

    I don’t think Mr. Royse read the article! Seems like a pretty handy idea for the things you want to access immediately (wallet, jewelry, phone/blackberry) after clearing the TSA guys.

  • P Roberts

    I agree with Mr. Royse: a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

  • J McGuire

    I like to wear a jacket or vest with zip-up pockets. While waiting to check in, I transfer everything to the vest (doing it at check-in means I automatically check for my pocket knife and can put it in check-in luggage). Then at security, the vest goes on the conveyor, I go through, I pick up the vest and I go.

  • http://BangkokAtoZ.com Mekhong Kurt

    I can see a niche market for this product, though as some other readers have noted, it’s an option, not a must-have.

    For many years I’ve placed all my metallic items that are in my pockets, my mobile phone, and so forth in a small plastic or cloth bag anyway. Not as chic as this double-duty bag, sure, but it serves its purpose just fine. Besides, even a very nice cloth bag is very inexpensive.

  • CloaknDagr

    What a great idea! Put ALL of the things a thief would want to steal from you in one convenient location. That way when you land and go to the bathroom, wait for a taxi, etc. anyone with basic knowledge of buckles or a sharp pocket knife and a little finesse can pick your pocket without going into your pocket! Everything is right there attached to the outside of your carry-on bag for the bad guys to snap up! Brilliant!

  • Mekhong Kurt

    @CloaknDagr, you overlooking people can do as I do.

    I wait until I’m just about to enter the security area, then pull a plastic bag out of my carry-on shoulder bag, sort of a book bag. I put all that — coins, keys, cigarettes, lighter, cellphone, etc. into the plastic bag, which then goes into my shoulder bag. and into security I go, keeping an eye on my shoulder bag as best I can.

    As I carry that stuff in various pockets (or on my belt, in the case of my telephone), the second I clear security, I stop, take out the plastic bag, and put everything back into its proper pocket and belt.

    Yes, for the time it takes me to clear security, everything I’m carrying aboard is in one place, the most valuable of which is my laptop, which is already in the shoulder bag. But I seriously doubt a thief is going to (1.) be there at the same time as me, (2.) have the slightest idea what, if anything, of value might be in my bag — I put a newspaper on top of my laptop so it’s not visible, and, (3.) even if (1.) and (2.) do happen, what thief in his right mind is going to try to make a snatch in *security*???

    I keep plastic bags whenever I get them shopping, and use them for a myriad of purposes, many times for months on end. I rarely actually *need* a ziplock, actual purpose-made trash bag, etc. by doing this — and I cut down on my trash.

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