do you wear boots on the plane? and is there a new app?

[cloud86]

Hey everyone,

I havent been online in a few days and noticed the site has been updated, I cant log into the app, is there a new one? Also for the past pilgrims that have hiked the camino do you wear your boots on the plane? Im also taking converse in my down time and was planning on wearing them and put my boots in my temporary cabin luggage!

Plus is it ok to take a pen knife to france? it will be in my backpack which is going in as normal luggage and how does everyone protect there pack so it doesnt get thrown around? I was planning covering it with the rain cover it comes with and then a bin bag tied around with a normal backage strap!

after this Im all done and two days to go!

 

[BlackDog]

You can deal with the loss of most things but not your boots! Wear them on the plane unless everything is cabin baggage. You just never know when that lightening is going to strike and leave your bag elsewhere.

 

[ivar]

Hey everyone,

I havent been online in a few days and noticed the site has been updated, I cant log into the app, is there a new one?

The new (and updated) app has been sent to Apple for approval, should be available for download in the next few days...

 

[NicoZ]

Outside the risk of losing your boots the fact is boots are heavy. They don't weigh your feet but they might weigh your baggage. Wear all your heavy stuff

 

[supersullivan]

Always wear my hiking boots and a full set of hiking clothes on flights including my fleece, if just travelling with your backpack as cabin bagage then you make your bag smaller and lighter, the better to cope with the vagaries of airlines cabin baggage restrictions, if travelling with check in baggage then you're guaranteed to arrive with enough to get away on your 1st days walking.

 

[whariwharangi]

The risk of losing boots must be weighed against the discomfort (if any) of wearing them on a long flight.

I wear my light shoes on long flights. Most airlines cram you in like sardines so anything to increase comfort on a long flight ...

 

[Whalleyranger]

I always wore my boots just because of the amount of space they would take up in my baggage. It can get annoying if you have to remove them to get through security at the airport but that's not as annoying as possibly losing them when your baggage gets left behind.

 

[Maggie97520]

Buen Camino cloud86. Wear your boots, bury your penknife in your pack and put your pack in a trash compactor bag. Should be good to go. Cheers, Maggie

 

[dougfitz]

I wear my boots and pack my pocket knife in my checked bag, which exceeds the cabin baggage limits. The only place I have had problems with a pocket knife is in the UK, where even an Opinal is classed as an lock knife, and confiscated - normally as one is departing

 

[julie]

I wear my boots and take my backpack on as cabin baggage. My poles, knife and safety pins (used as pegs) go in a postal tube and are checked in. Coming home it doesn't matter so much but I wouldn't want to run the risk of my backpack going astray on the way over because most of things in it have been altered, either to fit me better or to make them lighter in weight.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Well it seems we have very varied thoughts - each to his own! If you wear boots on board, you'll probably have to take them off to go through security: and they'll be hot on a long flight. I wear sandals and the boots go in my back-pack.
The knife may or may not be a problem. I have had the blade on mine measured, and have then been allowed to take it on board. A pair of paper scissors with a 4" blade were confiscated.
Good luck whatever happens!

 

[Cejanus]

On my long flights from Australia I wear my boots on board and then take them off. Hiking poles and sharps go into checked luggage thus avoiding hassles getting away. In April I had to undo every pack in my back pack as I had two tubes of Silic 15 cream (in my backpack which I took on board ) . They were within the legal requirements. It was not a pleasant way to start my Camino even before I left my own country.

 

[november_moon]

I am planning to wear my boots on board and then just take them off during the flight. I always take my shoes off during long fights anyway.

 

[Tincatinker]

I wear my boots. Airport security always requires their removal, but I've had to remove sandals on more than one occasion. Airport security is designed to ensure the maximum support for the "war on terror". If it wasn't for those terrorists i wouldn't have to strip half naked and have my toothpaste confiscated...

I carry an Opinel with a two and a quarter inch blade in my checked luggage (except on Eurostar, blessings upon them, who accept such items in your baggage (not your pockets!)) Dougfitz you should note that it is illegal to carry any knife in public in the UK, unless you can show just reason. There was a few years ago the, locally, famous case of a barrister driving through central London arrested for having a penknife in a locked briefcase in the locked boot of his car. One can only assume he was unable to show just reason. Last time I bought a cook's knife I didn't take it out of its packaging till I got home.

 

[tpmchugh]

Wore my boots on the plane even coming home, mud and all lol. For my rucksack I used a bag protector specially designed for the purpose. I found the online link on this forum so it should not be too difficult to find. Its bright red, really tough and once you get there you can use it as a bag liner. Reasonably priced too

 

[annakappa]

I wear my boots on to the plane, then take them off for the long journey. Collapsible poles go in the backpack, which we carry on board and we buy a knife once we arrive in Spain and then give it away as we leave. Anne

 

[scruffy1]

Go through security with your boots on then take them off and don't put them back on again until Spain. Long hours sitting on a plane seat wearing boots will not do anything positive for your feet and especially your ankles. You might arrive with six month pregnant swollen appendages! Let them ride overhead.

 

[StuartM]

I like to take the smallest bag I can when I go anywhere and boots are a pretty inefficient use of space and weight. I wear them on the plane although I'll take them off on long flights. Clean socks on the way out are your friend On the way back you won't care how much you smell. I also found that after walking everyday my boots were about the only thing that were comfortable to wear on the way home.

As for knives... In France, Spain and Italy it's sometimes hard finding a shop that doesn't sell them, particularly Opinel knives (which are about the best folding knife I've ever owned) or Laguiole (beautiful but not much good on anything stiffer than a baguette). You can get them in petrol stations, truckstops, newspaper shops, supermarkets... I've even seen them on sale in train stations and airports (I'm pretty sure the magazine kiosk on the platform at Santiago station sold knives). How we've managed to develop such a poor knife culture in the UK I don't know. I do field archery as a hobby and a good knife is pretty much an essential for getting arrows out of trees. I remember once getting funny looks in my local supermarket one evening until I remembered I had a quiver of arrows, a Gerber multitool and a six inch hunting knife hanging off my belt. If I did that now I'd probably be in a jail cell.