Inconjr,
I've flown many, many times while wearing and have only had a few incidents. Your best way to avoid needing a pat down is to wear a dry diaper that properly fits you and to ensure that you don't have anything in your pockets. If somehow you end up getting selected for a pat down, discretely let them know that you are wearing a diaper. Most likely, the professional pat down will be very prompt and you'll be on your way without any else the wiser.
To avoid having your carry on bag opened and searched always pull out the large electronics and any liquids (including wipes). I pull out the wipes and place my other liquids over the top of them. Avoid taking any powder (or ensure that it is below the acceptable limit for the countries which you will visit) in your carry on. Certain countries have lower limits for power and/or liquids than the United States. Another item to be aware of are neck-warmers. I have one filled with "flax" that I've learned to always remove from my bag because TSA always wants to verify that it isn't explosives.
I've literally gone through security hundreds of times in many countries and have only had a few noteworthy experiences where it didn't go exactly as planned.
- I was flying back home from my corporate offices and awkwardly found myself going through with my boss's boss. I can't remember if I was wearing but I definitely had diapers and wipes in the carry on. I had to discretely pull out the wipes and cover them up with other liquids and there was just enough distance between the two of us that he wasn't able to see it. Unfortunately, I didn't pull out the neck warmer so my bag got flagged for extra security. Fortunately, they were very discrete and opened the bag such that only they could see the contents. After they were done, the boss asked about why I got the extra security and I could honestly state that it was due to the neck warmer.
- On another trip, a colleague of mine and I both ended up in Seoul at the same time. He and I had different destinations but had taken the same international flight. We had to clear Korean security and they had instigated the restriction on powders before the US had so they pulled out my large container of baby powder and threw it away before allowing me to proceed through security. Luckily he and I went through different lanes or I would have been outed.
- I had re-routed through Hawaii on one of my return business trips to Japan. I had a 10 or 12 hour layover so had left the airport and enjoyed myself at the beach. After swimming, I changed into a new diaper and headed back to the airport. The fit didn't feel quite right and I realized that it was the medium sample that Northshore had sent. It looked just like the large that I normally wear. I guess the fit was awkward enough that security flagged me for additional security. Unfortunately, he decided it needed to be thoroughly investigated so I found myself in a private room with two security guards. (See pat down incident). Of all my experiences, this was the only one that was handled ineptly but even so I survived and can look back on it now and laugh.
Please do not let these experiences scare you. If you know what you might face you can plan for it and avoid frustration. Even if somehow you end up with the worst possible luck and have an experience similar to one of the ones listed above, odds are that nobody that you know is going to find out your secret.
-Ieyasu
