If you enjoy hiking, you might consider a trip to a far-off destination to hike the most popular trails. Going on a worldwide hiking trip can be challenging, but you will want to bring your gear.
Your hiking poles are some of the most essential equipment you may want to take with you. However, this raises the question of whether you can take hiking poles on a plane.
The answer here is not so simple because, for carry-on baggage, the answer is most likely no. So let’s examine this issue and determine whether and how you can bring your hiking poles on an airplane.
Can I Bring Hiking Poles on a Plane?
There are different scenarios to consider, and it’s essential to know why hiking poles pose a problem in airline travel. Obviously, one reason is the pointy end. Technically speaking, a hiking pole could be used as a weapon on an airplane; therefore, airlines don’t like it when you carry them.
However, the more significant issue is that they are generally hollow. This means you could stash illegal substances or items inside the hiking poles. Airports are strict about what you can and cannot bring on airplanes because they don’t want you smuggling anything illegal. Let’s move on and look at other scenarios.
Hiking Poles and Checked Luggage
The first scenario is carrying your hiking poles in your checked luggage. Mostly, this should be fine. Your checked baggage is stored underneath the passenger cabin of the airplane.
Therefore, your hiking poles should pose no risk to the crew. Moreover, your checked luggage will be scanned to ensure that you aren’t packing any banned or illegal substances. However, you won’t be able to pack one-piece hiking poles because, in all likelihood, they will be too long to put in your suitcase. If you have one-piece poles, you will need a separate case for your hiking poles, which will be checked as another piece of luggage for an additional cost.
On the other hand, collapsible hiking poles should be fine, especially if they can collapse. This will make the poles easy to fit in a suitcase.
Hiking Poles in Your Carry-On Luggage
The second scenario is that you want to bring your hiking poles in your carry-on luggage—something you are not allowed to do. Again, according to the TSA and airline authorities, hiking poles are strictly prohibited in your carry-on luggage.
Once again, this is for two reasons. First, you could always use your hiking poles as a weapon on the plane. However, the more significant concern is that hiking poles are hollow, and you could smuggle an illegal substance in those poles.
Therefore, according to the TSA, you cannot bring hiking poles in your carry-on luggage. That said, there appears to be a bit of leeway. They are prohibited, but it might depend on the TSA screening agent at the security checkpoint.
If you have collapsible hiking poles that can come apart in three pieces so that each of the three pieces is easy to see inside, a TSA agent may be satisfied there is nothing inside them.
However, don’t try bringing hiking poles in your carry-on luggage for the most part. Instead, just collapse your hiking poles and put them in your checked baggage.
Final Thoughts
Your best bet is to get three-piece collapsible hiking poles and put them inside your checked luggage to avoid trouble or inconvenience. This should help prevent your luggage from being flagged and thoroughly inspected. Remember, this has more to do with illegal smuggling than using the hiking poles as weapons on the plane.