Hiking Poles in Carry On Rule - has it changed?

You might want to bring a printed copy to Security Screening in case the TSA employee you get hasn’t gotten the word about the new rules. When all is said and done, the new rule says what is allowed is up to the official screening your carry on.

Are you sure the rule has changed? Last I heard, they changed the rules to allow hiking poles and then that day or the next, they changed it back.

EDITED TO ADD: I did check the TSA website and it does say blunt tipped are allowed. Not sure when it changed. I'd be happier if there was a date on the page.

You may want to check to see if the security entity that will check your bags for the return to the U.S. also allows the poles. I've had a few instances (Kindergarten rounded scissors confiscated in France) where items allowed per TSA were not allowed in another country.

Still recall the "hack" someone saw. While they may not allow hiking poles, they do allow mobility aids (canes). The teller of the story mentioned how he saw a couple stop well ahead of security, take their poles out, hobble up to security, get through, then pop them back in their bag and on their way.

But really, the sticking point is what defines a blunt tip. Most have a metal tip, covering with a rubber cap does not "fix" or change it.

There are poles that have flat carbide tips, plus ones with different tips to interchange. Mine have a flat tip that is hollow, plus a rubber cap, they also fold up to less than 16". I have not had even a question going through a half dozen security checks, but then I only take one, and use it often as a cane.

I will be trying out this updated rule in August. Under my rubber removable tip is a blunt metal end.

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

Toby, Please report your experience back on this forum. I hope you are successful because that would make things so much easier!

Paul….could you let us know the brand of your flat-tipped poles? I’m having a hard time finding something that does not start out with sharp tips and have added covers.
And I’d like a tall pole/staff not merely a cane.

Thank you.

In case it helps, I have been traveling with one of these Leki poles since 2018. It has been through at least 10 US airports and to airports in Athens, London, Paris, Barcelona, Helsinki, Nuremberg, Amsterdam and more.

There's never any guarantee that my experience will be your experience - and I really do need mine and so I would argue mightily to keep it. But I've never been asked a single question anywhere.

It is a medical device for me - but it's workable as a walking stick. It's not a hiking pole though, I guess, because of the hand grip??

When I pull the replaceable rubber tip off, it has a blunt metal tip. My older one had a pointed metal tip and I had no problems with that one either

I don't walk through security using it - I collapse it and stick it onto the handle on the side of my luggage.

https://www.rei.com/product/217723/leki-super-micro-walking-pole-single

I have these, they are tipped like the Leki ones, flat on the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/TrailBuddy-Trekking-Poles-Lightweight-Accessories/dp/B01MRQCENJ/ref=asc_df_B01MRQCENJ?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80539280413939&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=109085&hvtargid=pla-4584138858089874&psc=1

Although I got them at Target for less than $20.

Toby,
I have those too. Wondering if they are blunt enough for TSA.
Julie