Border Control
In the USA you don't need to go through scanners when going through Border Control. At least, not unless the airports I fly into have changed in the past 2-3 years.
If your going on a connecting flight you will need to go through scanners again (and some border control points do have connecting and exiting passengers going through the same doors - thus a need to scan!) and a few airports require you to scan again at every terminal. I seem to think I had to be checked 3 times once in a Texas airport.
I wore some hiking shoes by accident last year when flying to the USA, they had steel support in them (I didn't know) so it set off all the alarms. We did everything short of de-robing at the gates and it finished off with some guy touching me all over. I said ... If a body scanner, chemical swipe test, hand metallic scanner, and walk through metal detector all failed - why should I feel safe... He looked at me with utter confusion, that's what the rubdown is for... I said most people don't get the rubdown - so they could have all sorts of stuff as the scanners are crap right?... He told me to leave the area as there were others waiting to get touched.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
