getting ready to fly and wonder if anyone has boarded w/ gear in their carry on. i spoke to the airline and was told my tent poles and stove are ok, but wonder if anyone has taken a tent thru security in their carry on. some personal experience would definitely soothe my worries, do not want to be surprised and have to ditch poles at security.

I know a guy who took his trekking poles in carry-on. He disassembled them first. But that doen't mean they won't stop you or me if we try it. I don't know if tent poles would be a problem, but pegs might be. I'd think it might depend on where you are flying out of. If you are carrying a tent and stove, are you carrying a knife?

Buz Groshong wrote:I know a guy who took his trekking poles in carry-on. He disassembled them first. But that doen't mean they won't stop you or me if we try it. I don't know if tent poles would be a problem, but pegs might be. I'd think it might depend on where you are flying out of. If you are carrying a tent and stove, are you carrying a knife?

i was sure the tent stakes will be a no go, confirmed by alaska airlines, so those are staying behind. as well as the knife. guess i will find out for sure on the poles, she said they were ok. i will have access to gear at my brothers as well so what i lack i'll acquire there. just really want to take my own tent. i like my tent. its cool. and comfy.

I mailed my knives to myself... Priority mail, the knives got there a day after I did. If I'd thought about it sooner, I could have mailed ahead, and they would have even beat me there. Better than checking a bag for a shoebox worth of stuff.

You mailing the stuff to yourself is my amazing discovery of the day! Why have I never thought of doing that, lol? I've always just put anything questionable in my checked luggage anyway though. Which on most trips probably looks very....pointy...going through the scanner.

The thing about the TSA is that they are notorisly inconsitent. I have a friend who was allowed to carry his crampons on board, but not the small wrench used to adjust them. Had another friend who was not allowed to carry on his rope. My question is, other than the cost of checked baggage, why chance it and just check everything? The checked baggage fees may seem high, but compared to everything else it is a rather small expenditure. If you are worried about theft, use an army/navy surplus olive drab duffle. Nothing says 'expensive stuff in here' like the brighly colored TNF bags with big logos. The army/navy duffels are cheap, durable, aobut the right size, and inconspicous

The thing about the TSA is that they are notorisly inconsitent.

This says it all which creates the real problem, you just can't know.

Living where I live we are always traveling and we check a bag every time just to bring my Swiss Army knife. Granted we don't pay to check bags and because we're at a hub airport we almost never have to use connecting flights within the US. Checking a bag these days is not that bad and usually pretty quick as far as I'm concerned. I'm tempted to buy the new shock-cord style trekking poles and see if they'll fly, no pun intended.

I did the Rim to Rim last summer and ran into some people that had mailed clean clothes to the North rim. I thought that was a little overkill.