Did you know that the Civil Aviation Authority forbids hiking/walking poles to be taken through security at UK airports? No, nor did I until recently! I mention it now in case you caught in the way that I nearly was.
Nearly 3 years since I last boarded an aircraft, I suddenly had 3 return trips in a month recently, 2 of them for work. In the time since I last travelled by air, not only have I got out of the habit of flying but I’ve started carrying a collapsible hiking pole around with me, stuck into a rucksack, ready to be taken out, extended and used when I start to get tired and a bit unsteady.
I’d already carried it on two return trips and, after a 40 minute queue to get to the x-ray machine at Glasgow Airport, I got to the other side of the machine and found that my rucksack had been taken to the side; the security staffer wanted a word.
“You’ll have to go to check-in and check that in as part of hold luggage,” she said, pointing to my hiking pole. “Why?” I asked. “It’s a CAA rule that they’re not allowed in hand luggage,” she replied.
What the hell?! With another 40 minutes to get through security again plus who knows how long at check-in, I’d miss my flight. Of course, I made a (polite, restrained, while showing my MS Society “I need help” card) fuss. “I don’t need this all the time but I do need it when I get tired, like now after standing for 40 minutes”. The young security person – I guess just doing her job – called over her manager who seemed unperturbed by the news that I’d been through the same airport with the same pole twice in the preceding few weeks. The manager did let me through with it but advised that, next time, I use it while walking through security rather than having it in my rucksack.
I failed to find the rule on the CAA’s website, incidentally.
Hi @GlasgowGooner … it seems so incomprehensible that such a distinction would be made between walking through with a walking pole and having the walking pole in your backpack.
I had a similar situation with some prescribed cream just because I hadn’t put it in a clear bag and despite the fact that the prescribed cream had a label on it, I was told I couldn’t take it through security. It was within the 100ml but still ended up in the bin.
Sorry to say that the only way, despite having good days, is to play the game… utter madness.
I flew Easyjet to Spain and back a few weeks ago with two hiking poles and no trouble at all. My hiking poles are not a fashion statement - they are necessary to stop me falling over, as is obvious to anyone who sees me walk, and so I’m certainly always using them when I rock up at Security or anywhere else.
Maybe the moral of the story is - if you need hiking poles make that clear by using them as you go through Security. Otherwise people might think they’re some optional piece of sporting equipment of something, and I suspect this is what happened to you.
I’m glad you got through in the end, but am sorry for the hassle.
Many thanks for the reply. You’re right that the security person didn’t realise the purpose of the stick. Both yours and my experience suggest that things do vary according to quite who’s on duty at the security check and, as you say, it’s best to make the need for a walking pole very clear!
Hiking poles are so good, my husband nagged me for years to use one, but I thought it wouldn’t help me, how wrong I was, they absolutely ground you when your balance is off , Although haven’t taken them abroad yet. As for airport security, I went to Spain a few years ago and I wear a splint on my left leg, well due to the metal fastenings on it it sent the metal detector off, I was in a queue and had to roll up my trousers in front of everyone to show I had a walking aid, I was so embarrassed.
All of the above thread makes me unlikely to ever want to travel outside the UK ever again. I have a walking aid, use a hiking pole, need medication daily. No way im letting some one chuck away my Fultium D3 i take every day.
Im going on a fly cruise in 6 weeks - 1st time for cruising and 1st time going abroad since diagnosed/medicated/gone down hill.
Im apprehensive to say the least!
Im trying to think ahead. Ive asked my nurse for a letter, explaining i need medication/brace/FES/sticks etc but so far nothing has arrived-
so much for getting organised.
I couldn’t agree more. Having said that, I have sailed through airport security with two hiking poles a few times in the past year with no problems beyond the irreducible agg of being in a horrible airport!
To be on the safe side, if you have a pole designed for hiking in the hills, I’d say make sure to use it while queuing for security and going through it. As I noted before, the CAA apparently has a ban on them going in hand luggage, though it seems not to always be enforced in UK airports. Airports elsewhere in Europe seem to be quite relaxed about them.
Avoid Manchester Airport - they are the worst for this sort of nit-picking. I’m lucky enough that I can still use hiking poles for hiking, but I expect the day will come when I need them for stability.
I’ve seen airport staff utterly perplexed at the sight of a walking stick.
And they also feel the need to pick up and pass round my medication - which is 100ml - from one person to the next, in a very public way - because the bottles are too big to go in one of their plastic bags.
Obviously the plastic bag thing is crucial to security…
Seriously though, if you can be bothered, there is a feedback form for Manchester Airport. I’ve used it to complain about the way I saw disabled passengers being treated.
I have a rather more positive experience to report.
I went to Paris for work a couple of weeks ago and I was very pleasantly surprised at Charles de Gaulle airport on the way back. (Sorry – I could’ve spent 10 hours or something each way on trains, but the direct flight between Glasgow and Paris was too tempting!).
I’ve never liked that airport in the past but they’ve re-done the security and departures bit at T2, and the staff – a real shock for Paris! – were very nice. They saw me with my stick (I now have a foldable disabled person’s walking stick rather than using a hiking pole) in the queue at security and ushered me through a fast track. A different person did the same at the non-Schengen passport check. Well done them and many thanks!
That is good to hear. I had a similar experience in Peru, and it feels so nice, doesn’t it? A bit better than the depressingly standard 40 minute stand at Birmingham…
Kudos to you for handling the situation calmly and showing your MS Society card. By the way, have you considered using a collapsible walking stick instead? They’re usually allowed in hand luggage and could serve a similar purpose. Just a thought! Safe travels and thanks again for the info. Oh, and by the way, have you heard of ohholding? They might have some useful travel accessories you could check out!
I need two walking poles with broad ferrules whenever I’m upright. The only airport I’ve been stopped in was Santiago de Compestila where the Camino ends and everyone has poles.
I understand the CAA regulation as without the ferrules they can be an improvised weapon. Although obviously not by us.
Nowadays if travelling I’m on a mobility scooter so it’s not an issue
Recent report from the front line: I’m just home from Venice via Heathrow. My two hiking poles are - to put it mildly - clearly not there to help me scamper up mountains. In both airports I was treated kindly by vigilant staff who - unasked- quietly whisked me past queues. No one questioned my hiking poles.
Of course that doesn’t mean I wasn’t anxious about the ‘what-if?’s. But honestly if you’re obviously hampered, as I am, I think you would be very unlucky to come across a jobsworth who wanted to make life difficult. Even if you’re not yet a white-haired old dear like me.
and welcome.
