Hiking poles— do you have to put them in checked baggage?

Checked only.

Thanks! This makes sense of course, but it is our first time considering bringing them so I wanted to check.

They have apparently changed their policy:

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/hiking-poles

Jules, they haven’t really changed their policy. In the fine print it states, ” Sharp-tipped hiking poles are not allowed carry-on items.”.

And it also says:

Please note that even if an item is generally allowed, our officers
make the final decision on whether an item is allowed through the
checkpoint.

The question for me would be whether I'd want to get all the way to security and find out they're not going to let me through with them, and have them taken or need to figure out how to go back and check them somehow. Plenty of prior discussions on this topic, some people have had success in carry on, others not so much.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing/trekking-hiking-poles
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/collapsible-hiking-pole-in-carry-on
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/bringing-walking-poles-to-europe-in-carry-on-luggage

You can also rent them at your location (search the forum, lots of posts on that topic too).

Laura, In the past, hiking poles were not allowed in carry on luggage. Period. Now, they are allowed if they are blunt tipped. So that would be a change. I looked into bringing hiking poles in the past, and there was the red X by carry on. When it was the case that hiking poles were not allowed in carry ons, I brought along a cane.

I think about a year ago, TSA changed the policy and the website stated blunt tipped poles were allowed in carry ons, and then retracted the change a couple days later. I am not sure when it was changed again allowing blunt tipped poles. I wish they were provide dates with the change.

Only blunt tip thru TSA. Mine aren’t. If you are doing any connecting flights in Europe you need to also check their rules. I bought mine last year in Europe and had to pack them in my checked luggage coming home. I might be easier just to rent a pair, there are Intersports all over.

We are now wondering about buying a pair of poles when we get there. Any one know where in Lauterbrunen or Wengen we might buy them?

Another discussion. From my experience sharp-tipped hiking poles are rare.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/hiking-poles-in-carry-on-rule-has-it-changed

I’ll be testing this flying Southwest @MSP (Terminal 2) so it’s a simple matter to run out to the car that dropped me off to pass off the rejected poles, no more tha 40 seconds from TSA to car at curb.

From my experience sharp-tipped hiking poles are rare.

So what does TSA mean by blunt? My hiking poles (and just about all the poles I have seen) have metal tips. I wouldn’t describe them as sharp, but I also wouldn’t describe them as blunt.

To the OP, keep in mind that European security has there own rules so if you are changing planes in Europe you probably need to check. I tried to take hiking poles through Paris CDG some 20+ years ago and got stopped by security. When I asked why they weren’t allowed,the security agent pointed to the metal tip and said they could be used as a weapon. I haven’t tried to carry poles through since then.

I'll find out, but if something cannot cut or pierce, that would be blunt. A flat metal end (most hiking poles) cannot cut or pierce.

they could be used as a weapon

a well-sharpened pencil could be a great weapon, far more than a hiking pole. but not prohibited AFAIK.

“Blunt-tipped hiking poles are allowed in carry-on or checked bags and must be screened like other property. Sharp-tipped hiking poles are not allowed carry-on items. Please note that even if an item is generally allowed, our officers make the final decision on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.” TSA.
I would assume that poles used for dirt with the tungsten carbide tips would be considered sharp versus the rubber capped used for hard surfaces. But again, as stated twice, the final decision is with the TSA officer and I would not want to be in a blunt versus sharp discussion with a TSA officer and lose an expensive set of poles.

The blunt ones are sharp as soon as you pull off the rubber cap yes? Or do they make rubber tipped trekking poles wherein the rubber can't be removed?

Also, advice I've offered a few times - just buy some in Europe. If you shop around just a little you can normally find all flip lock (as opposed to twist lock) versions for 30 euro or less. Worth it to avoid potential problems (loss, over-packing, etc) with checked baggage.

Hank it sounds like they all have ‘removable’ rubber tips so they’re interchangeable for hiking conditions. And again, final decisions are up to the TSA officer. My poles are too expensive to take a chance on getting a difficult officer and losing them especially with what’s starting to happen and an expectation of tighter security again.

Seems crazy that you can just put on that little pull off rubber cap and maybe it's good to fly, but without it's a definite no? Could I bring a Bowie knife if it was in a sheath? Got to cut the airline meal sandwich in half with something!

All of our family hiking poles are ancient and grizzled now Margie. Satisfying to use outdoor products to death. But I wouldn't want to lose them at TSA either - replacement cost is silly expensive for aluminum sticks.

Moral of story I suppose remains just by a set in Europe, they are all over the place.

I bought poles at an Adventure Gear store in Cork, Ireland that were on sale, and I really needed them for some of the hiking in Ireland that trip. The sale price, less than €40 for the pair, made them really affordable for how much they helped. But rather than trying to carry them onward to London, and then back to the USA, I donated them at a hiking shop in Ennis, which may have given them to a homeless citizen or two. I knew I wouldn’t get them onboard, without checking luggage.

The carbide tips on all our other hiking poles, which I’d never describe as sharp (Hank’s sandwich would never get cut in half with one!), aren’t blunt, either. Uneven, yes; hard, yes, but sharp? No. But hiking on a rocky or damp trail with a rubber tip? Using a fallen branch for a hiking staff would be better, and I don use those.

Looking at renting or buying poles three years ago in Italy (Cinque Terre), I went without poles. No shop rented them, and they were waaaay too expensive for me to buy, use for a few days, then leave there. If poles are a necessity, then check your bag, or invest in short-term poles that you know won’t be bringing home.

On last month’s England/Poland trip, a passenger got onboard a flight (don’t recall which one) with a massive cane that would’ve been a serious weapon in the hands of the wrong person, and no one took it from him during the flight. He didn’t look too frail, so could’ve hurt someone if he’d started swinging it or whacking people, but he wasn’t that kind of person. Still, who at Security could’ve known? Months after 9/11, my husband boarded a flight with crutches. The flight attendants stowed them in a closet during the flight, then gave them back upon deplaning. That all worked, but he didn’t have them at his seat.

Now. crutches (or canes!!!) won’t fit in a carry-on-sized suitcase, backpack, or duffle. Neither will telescoping poles (I’ve tried). I still had to check my bag with those, not primarily because they could be confiscated, but simply because any bag they’d fit in was so big it had to be checked.

There are folding poles that will just barely fit. diagonally, in my carry-on. But I checked that bag, so I wouldn’t lose my poles to a TSA or other Security person having a bad day.

There’s some fairly exhausting wordplay going on here. The definition of blunt is “not sharp.” So therefore all not sharp poles are blunt.

We really need direct experience on confiscation since it’s all that matters. Kind of reminds me of the IDP discussions, lots of conjecture and scolding and shaming even but very little data from experience.

All my cross-country ski poles are sharp, with a literal pointed blade at the tip. They’re way too long to carry onboard, though, and I’d never try. The trekking/hiking poles have a different tip, which would probably scratch a windshield if someone was determined to do that, but wouldn’t slice open most anything.

If someone was willing to bring a pair with them to the airport, I.D. and boarding pass in hand as well, to present them to Security, that would give a better answer. But it would take several times and several trips to get a conclusive answer, and even then, there’s that one additional time where you might get opposite results.

There was a time that even the tiniest scissors were immediately confiscated. Now, small scissors are allowed. Maybe trekking poles will have their day, as well, some day.

It would be helpful if TSA indicated their issue with trekking poles and not leave it to the public to make inferences. Why have poles traditionally been barred from carry-on and their defining difference between trekking poles and mobility aids. Is it that they make a striking weapon, a thrusting weapon with the metal tips, or a potential projectile if not properly secured in flight?

There’s some fairly exhausting wordplay going on here.

Yep.
The first thing I did with a new pair of trekking poles was to pull off the rubber tips and toss them away. After a few hikes the blunt metal tips were nicely abraded to a point. Sharp or blunt it's all about mass, velocity, and energy.

My hiking poles have metal tips. They are great on most surfaces, but if you are somewhere with cobblestone, brick roads, stone like around ruins, concrete including concrete/stone steps, sheet of rock during a hike, rubber tips are so much better and safer. I've also heard that the clicking of poles on ruins is annoying to others?? I think this came up with someone at REI. There are rubber tips that can be purchased to fit at least some poles.

I am a passionate recent convert to hiking poles and will never go back--but I invested in mine and will not risk taking them in a carry on--TSA is too much of a crap-shoot. In places you would need them, they are freely available to rent.

I don't know if there is some confusion about the tips that cover them for protection before purchase and the tips you intentionally add to protect rocks, but the noise would indeed be annoying without them--plus in some places, rubber tips are required (they don't want the rocks or other surface to be damaged). I don't personally see much benefit on dirt paths, but on rocky, vertical climbs, man -- what a revelation!