Many expected the new rules would take a bite out of the aviation industry as some business travelers swore off travel in favor of teleconferencing while others cursed the TSA and clogged the baggage carousels with suitcases carrying their liquids.

My tack, of course, was to try to poke holes in the TSA rules whenever possible and quote the critics as often as I could. I once froze a bottle full of water and tried to take it through the TSA security checkpoint at McCarran, pointing out to the screener that I hadn't broken any rules with the ice block in my water bottle being in a solid state.

A screener wasn't amused and made me throw it away. Rather than skip my planned trip to Reno, I complied, knowing that I had made my point to those within earshot of the conversation.

Then, there are those entrepreneurs who have made lemonade from the TSA lemons. Their goods on display last week at the 60th annual Travel Goods Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center proved that even a government bureaucracy can't stand in the way of ingenuity.

The show, which draws more than 2,000 travel goods buyers and about 250 exhibitors is a showcase for all things trendy in the travel industry.

Susan Abbey, a spokeswoman for the sponsoring Travel Goods Association, Princeton, N.J., said this year's show was no exception with a number of companies blending fashion with utility and offering stylish and lightweight business products for travelers on the go.

The 2007 show also included a number of exhibitors with products catering to travelers with children and pets. With more people traveling now than prior to 9/11, many companies are developing travel products that promote more efficient packing, make it easier to get through the TSA lines or find solutions to the frustrations generated by the Aug. 10 rules on liquids.

My mission at the show was to find products addressing the rules on liquids. Would it be likely that there would be much, considering it's only been seven months since the rules took effect?

Former Alaska Airlines flight attendant Alisa Driscoll swears she wasn't clairvoyant when she began research for her new product - Pitotubes travel bottles - two years ago and brought them to market in March 2006.

Named after the Pitot tube - a device that helps measure air pressure flow on flying jets as part of its airspeed indicator - Boise, Idaho-based Driscoll's bottles are leak-proof, refillable and compliant with TSA rules.

Anyone who has flown with liquids in containers knows that pressure changes on the plane can wreak havoc on sealed bottles. That sticky puddle of goo in your travel bag could be a mixture of shampoo, lotion and mouthwash that has leaked from their bottles.

The vacuum bottle design of Pitotubes prevents leakage.

Travelers looking for refillable bottles to meet the TSA-mandated maximum amounts may want to invest in some of these, which are available on Driscoll's Web site, www.pitotubes.com. After last week's show, she expects them to be in a larger number of retail outlets, although her site currently lists no locations in Nevada that sell them.

A travel kit of six bottles in three sizes, a personalized label sheet and a metallic mesh bag are available for $52 plus shipping.

"I started working on this well before the TSA put in their rules on liquids," Driscoll said in Las Vegas last week. "For me to have the product available now is a miracle."

Jeannette Rincon of Ontario, Calif.-based La Fresh Inc., meanwhile, has determined that the way around the TSA rules is to sell towelettes with varying purposes in packages easily stowed in a pocket or purse.

Rincon introduced the disposable wipes in December and sells the 12 varieties in bulk packages or in variety packs "for her" or "for him." The boxes range in price and volume from $4 to $18 plus shipping for between six and 100 packets at www.lafreshbeauty.com.

The different "flavors" include makeup and nail polish removers, dental finger mitts, deodorants for men and women, lens-cleaning wipes and styling gel.

Rincon said her products are available at airport concessionaires and in major spas.

Travelon, a suburban Chicago company that manufactures and distributes a wide variety of travel products, showed something that will be available in the next few weeks that takes my frozen water bottle to the next level.

The company is introducing tablets that, when added with small amounts of water, will dissolve into a gel or cream. John Smith, the national sales manager for Travelon, said the company has developed tablets to make tooth gel, mouthwash and a shaving gel.

Each product comes in a plastic container that incorporates a mixing vessel that has fill line for the water. Pour in the water, drop in the tablet and watch it turn into something the TSA wouldn't allow in large quantities.

"This is the hottest thing at this show," Smith said confidently of the tablets, which will go for about $6 for 25 tooth gel or mouthwash tablets or six shaving gel pills.

Of course, Travelon had a few other gadgets on display that have become even more useful now that travel policies have changed.

The newest passports have an imbedded radio frequency identification chip that stores personal information about the owner. But travel experts have warned that identity thieves armed with scanners can steal that information when a person with one of the new passports passes by.

Enter Travelon's RFID blockers, a carrying case that prevents the passage of information from the chip. A wallet-sized blocker goes for $20 while a passport-sized case goes for $40.

The company also offers a kit with various sizes of plastic bottles and jars that come in a clear plastic quart-sized zipper-top pouch far sturdier than any of the plastic sandwich bags most people use when they transport liquids through the TSA checkpoints. Incidentally, the TSA insists on the quart-sized bag. If your bottles are contained in a larger plastic bag, TSA agents will go into Jerry Seinfeld "soup Nazi" mode - "No flight for you!"

Because more travelers are dodging the liquid carry-on rule by checking their stuff into suitcases, luggage is getting heavier and airlines are imposing additional fees for bags over certain weight limits.

Is my suitcase over the weight limit? No problem: Travelon's portable luggage scale attaches to a suitcase handle and assesses the weight with a gauge that can measure up to 75 pounds. Smith said it's one of the company's biggest sellers and is available for $10.

Missed opportunity? The Las Vegas tourism community has to be disappointed with US Airways' announcement that the route the airline intends to file for when the U.S. Department of Transportation begins the process for the next U.S.-China flights will be between Philadelphia and Shanghai.

Philadelphia is US Airways biggest hub and its international gateway to Europe, but some had speculated that the airline might consider a Shanghai route either to Phoenix, where the airline is headquartered, or Las Vegas, which, along with the state, has heavily marketed Chinese tourists with the only American government tourism office in Beijing.

Experts have said the first nonstop flight between Las Vegas and China would be a home run for the airline that flies it, but US Airways countered that Philadelphia is the largest U.S. city without nonstop flights to and from China.

The US Airways bid is expected to have plenty of competition from rival carriers and the airline will have to convince the government that it will be able to deliver on its promise to start service in March 2008, even though the company currently doesn't have a plane with the range capable of making the flight.

Sign on: Another "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign has been lighted in the valley.

The original, near Mandalay Bay on the Strip, was designed by Betty Whitehead Willis and built in 1959. Since then, a similar sign was built to welcome people to downtown Las Vegas and now, the Boulder Strip has its own sign, at Boulder Highway near Harmon Avenue, lighted by local tourism leaders last Tuesday.