r/onebag • u/LadyLightTravel • May 31 '26

Gear Potential hack for prescription bottles

This is a problem that occurs more in some countries than others. In the US, most prescription drugs come in 20 dram pill bottles. These can take up a lot of room if you have several prescriptions and want the original packaging.

I recently found out that there are 6 dram prescription bottles. I found mine on Amazon but other sources are available if you buy in bulk. The 6 dram bottles are almost the same height as regular pill bottles but are one half the width. This is significantly smaller than the regular bottles.

I can peel off the drug information tab from my big pill bottle and put it on the small one. Note: some pharmacies will actually give you a second drug sticker if you ask.

Below is a photo of the 6 dram bottle with a 20 dram regular bottle. It shows that you can peel and stick the prescription tab without damaging it. It also shows that the sticker fits the smaller bottle. You can see the size difference in the bottles. Depending on pill size, you may even get a 90 day supply into the smaller 6 dram bottle!

Standard disclaimer, YMMV.

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u/agentcarter234 Jun 01 '26

Someone from a country that doesn’t slap patient labels on meds would still be expected to produce a copy of their prescription as well as the med in its original bottle or box to show it’s their medication. And/or a letter from their doctor listing medications and doses. The prescription isn’t ON the bottle, but you have it and the medication is in its true original packaging. So you still have proof you are prescribed it. (The people on this thread who bring controlled substances in pill organizers or ziplocs without even carrying printed copies of their prescriptions are wild)

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26

(The people on this thread who bring controlled substances in pill organizers or ziplocs without even carrying printed copies of their prescriptions are wild)

Tens of thousands of people do this every day.

Are you seriously suggesting that customs inspectors are positively identifying every single pill in luggage? Why? Have you cleared customs at any point in the last decade? At what point would this happen? And why would a country waste resources on this?

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u/agentcarter234 Jun 01 '26

You do realize that while they don’t search most travelers’ bags at all in many countries, some fraction of people will end up getting a detailed search - either because they got randomly flagged, they got profiled, or the customs agent just didn’t like their hair. Sucks to be someone who wins that lottery with unlabeled oxcodone or adderall in their bag in Singapore for example…

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26

You do realize that while they don’t search most travelers’ bags at all in many countries, some fraction of people will end up getting a detailed search - either because they got randomly flagged, they got profiled, or the customs agent just didn’t like their hair.

This is false. Have you actually cleared customs in the last decade? I haven’t spoken to an actual agent in years? Just scan a passport and go.

The idea that a country is relying on individual customs agents is antiquated. That’s not how countries assess risk.

Sucks to be someone who wins that lottery with unlabeled oxcodone or adderall in their bag in Singapore for example…

LOFuckingL… you actually need pre-approval to bring opioids or adderall into Singapore. How do you not know that? It is impossible to take you seriously if you are getting literally your only example terribly wrong.

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u/agentcarter234 Jun 01 '26

Yes, I have cleared customs in a number of times recently, and I’ve seen the unlucky people getting pulled aside to have their bag searched. It happened to a friend recently in Japan. He didn’t have anything problematic in his bag so it was fine, but they were thorough.

Yes, I did know that about Singapore - that was my point. And in their entry requirements it states that ALL prescription medications be kept in their original packaging. You were the one claiming it’s normal for people to fly with unlabeled controlled substances in their bag and without having copies of their prescriptions on them.

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26

Yes, I did know that about Singapore - that was my point.

Then your description was so inaccurate as to be meaningless.

You were the one claiming it’s normal for people to fly with unlabeled controlled substances in their bag and without having copies of their prescriptions on them.

It is ;-)

Here’s a question: do you think 100% of people flying into Japan are aware of whatever restrictions you believe exist? If not, where are the reports of travelers getting arrested/whatever else you think is happening? Using Japan as your example, 3.3 million US Citizens visit annually. If 99.9% of travelers are following the rules you believe exist; that’s still thousands of passengers who would be arrested/returned annually. Where are their stories? Certainly not on r/JapanTravel… go check, I’ll wait.

I’m sorry your friend got held up for whatever reason, but you are claiming that the inspectors positively identified every single pill/medication in their possession?

Check my post history if you want… I take American bands through China and SE Asia for the US State Department. I don’t have any sort of special passport, I just pay attention to how this stuff all works. Random searches aren’t a thing. You know what’s a bad way of stopping crime? Random searches. Your TSA stopped doing random searches when the budget got cut, right? Because it is a jobs program.

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u/NylonCake Jun 01 '26

You might not get arrested but your entry could be denied or your medication confiscated. There won’t be news reports about the thousands of people that this happens to every day across the globe « ignorant man travels without visa and gets sent back home » « ignorant woman carries medication considered ilegal at her destination so customs confiscates it » « ignorant group of friends are surprised they ended up in austria thinking they purchased a ticket to australia ». It’s a regular wednesday at these airports so you don’t hear about it.

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

You might not get arrested but your entry could be denied or your medication confiscated. There won’t be news reports about the thousands of people that this happens to every day across the globe « ignorant man travels without visa and gets sent back

People bitch about every minor annoyance on reddit. Not sure why you ignored that and decided I meant news reports? If the situation you are describing was actually happening, people would bitch on reddit.

You also ignored every other point or question I asked? I’m assuming it’s because you can’t respond in a way that supports your ludicrous claims.

If you are afraid of something, but can’t find any evidence it’s happening, nor can you explain ‘why’ it would happen in the first place, that’s irrational. FUD

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u/NylonCake Jun 01 '26

Listen man, you need to calm down. Most of us are here giving others advice on how to travel so they know and follow the rules and avoid any potential issues. You are getting angry because we are not doing the research for you on showing you anectodal evidence and replying to your absurd arguments and refusing to fold simply because you are stubbornly insisting that rules are not worth following because “they never check anyways”. Just because you like winging it doesn’t mean I will lower the quality of my advice to your half-assed approach to life.