I agree with the above, or at least I do not disagree. But, I seem to suffer the fate of "the outlier..."
The cash register line I get on will ALWAYS be the slow line, or run out of paper receipt tape just as I get to the front of the line. The exact payment or transponder toll payment line I get in while driving will ALWAYS have someone in front who decides too late that they need change. If I am on Camino, and there is even one cloud in the sky, it will be magnetically drawn to ME.
All my life, it has never failed... I incarnate the "St. Francis Prayer..." In my sixth decade of life, I have learned to accept those things I cannot change, offer it up, and deal with it, hopefully with grace. I have even learned to find the humor in it.
When I travel by air, the security line I get in will ALWAYS have the persnickety TSA trainee, trying to impress their superiors.
So, as regards taking hiking sticks on a plane, I know better than to even try it. Even so, I always present my Gerber Dime Travel multitool for physical inspection. Even though it has no knife or cutting edge (making it TSA legal), the TSA folks are fascinated by it.
Many security screeners have not seen one of these tiny gems before and all come over to handle it in awe. I find that showing it to them avoids it being confiscated by someone who sees a multitools, assume it has a knife (most all do) and confiscates it, because he or she can do. Just as an FYI, this device replaced a much larger and heavier Swiss Army knife. That saved about 500 grams alone.
So, Portugal and northwest Spain, if you need rain, you are going to get it, for a month, starting 27 April. That is when I start from Lisbon, north towards Santiago de Compostela.
My point is, regarding the flying with sticks issue, is that you read the rules, make an informed decision, and take your chances. Personally, I have learned not to take chances in those things I cannot control.
I hope this helps.
