Hiking poles from USA

[Ginnymb]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

 

[Tincatinker]

You could put your poles in a cardboard tube and check them. You could buy poles in Porto without difficulty. Expensive is too relative a question to answer easily. I’ve always regarded Portugal as an inexpensive country compared to many

 

[henrythedog]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

You can buy hiking poles in Porto and Sarria. Given the USD:Euro exchange rate at the moment they’re virtually free. You might want to bring a couple empty suitcases with you to fill up .

 

[trecile]

As @C clearly said in this post. And the "poles" tag has also been added to this thread.

This post outlines the situation quite succinctly. If you want a few thousand more words on the subject, click on the tag "poles" at the top of this thread, under the title.

 

[Vacajoe]

Decathlon stores are in most larger cities; their poles start at €10-12 and work perfectly fine for the Camino

 

[Ginnymb]

You can buy hiking poles in Porto and Sarria. Given the USD:Euro exchange rate at the moment they’re virtually free. You might want to bring a couple empty suitcases with you to fill up .

Thank you! Very helpful!

You could put your poles in a cardboard tube and check them. You could buy poles in Porto without difficulty. Expensive is too relative a question to answer easily. I’ve always regarded Portugal as an inexpensive country compared to many

Thank you very much for your speedy answer!

Decathlon stores are in most larger cities; their poles start at €10-12 and work perfectly fine for the Camino

Thank you all! Super helpful!

 

[abraxian]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

Bought mine in Porto for about $20.00 at Decathlon store. They have stores all over Spain.

 

[trose]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

I check mine in a shipping tube and if they somehow don’t arrive I will buy some there. Airlines has to pay me back for mine anyway.

 

[Dennis Pack]

I check mine in a shipping tube and if they somehow don’t arrive I will buy some there. Airlines has to pay me back for mine anyway.

Why not buy them there in the first place? Support the locals that make the Camino possible.

 

[trecile]

Why not buy them there in the first place? Support the locals that make the Camino possible.

But why buy new when you already own the poles?

 

[woody66]

Hi! I brought mine here in Porto!
Via Caterina Shopping
Rua de Santa Catarina 312 - 350 Loja 1.10, 4000-443 Porto, Portugal
They were the twist type and very sturdy; saved my bacon loads of times and held up well.
12 Euros i brought 3 sets of tips that lasted a good way to Santiago; then lost the last set must have fell out my pack lid!
Buen Camino
Woody

 

[Abbisamuels]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

Today I just went through two security checks, SFO and Heathrow, with my hiking poles in my backpack carry-on. Waiting for my next flight. Start walking on Thursday i hope!

 

[CarrieJL]

We flew from SFO-LIS & carried on our backpacks. We disassembled each pole into thirds, banded each set up and packed each set so they align with backpack’s internal frames. We figured these are inexpensive poles and if they get confiscated then we’ll buy a new set in Spain.

 

[lt56ny]

Hello Fellow pilgrims,
My hiking poles do no fit in my carry on suitcase and I just found out that US airlines only allow poles in Checked baggage!
We do not want to check our bags after a few lost suitcase misadventures recently. Soooo… can I buy them there? Are they expensive?
I’ll be in Porto a few days before be go to Sarria to start the walk!
Buen Camino!
Ginny

You could put your poles in a cardboard tube and check them. You could buy poles in Porto without difficulty. Expensive is too relative a question to answer easily

I took my poles on my first camino. I had to wait an hour for them and ask lots of people because they did not go to the luggage carousel because of the different shape. They came out in a corner of the baggage area in Barcelona. Big hassle. I agree expensive is relative. You can go to a Decathlon in Porto. There are 3 of them. Or to another outdoor store. You can spend about 20-25 Euro for a pair up to over 100 Euro. I buy the cheapest ones because for my purposes I do not need a better pair and also I donate them at the end of my camino.

 

[tomnorth]

You could put your poles in a cardboard tube and check them. You could buy poles in Porto without difficulty. Expensive is too relative a question to answer easily. I’ve always regarded Portugal as an inexpensive country compared to many

I put my poles and other sharp objects (knife, cork puller) in a shipping tube and checked that. I carried on my pack. This worked out great.

 

[shamanwes]

Decathlon stores are in most larger cities; their poles start at €10-12 and work perfectly fine for the Camino

Yes, that's where we bought ours, at the Decathlon Store in Porto. Excellent place. Very helpful.

 

[Ginnymb]

We flew from SFO-LIS & carried on our backpacks. We disassembled each pole into thirds, banded each set up and packed each set so they align with backpack’s internal frames. We figured these are inexpensive poles and if they get confiscated then we’ll buy a new set in Spain.

Oh wow! Thanks for the additional information! Unfortunately mine do not get short quite enough! Lessons learned for the future! Buen Camino!

 

[lt56ny]

I put my poles and other sharp objects (knife, cork puller) in a shipping tube and checked that. I carried on my pack. This worked out great.

Your experience and mine show again what a crapshoot things like checking poles, which camino to choose, what is a difficult camino or stage, etc. You put your poles and knife in a tube and checked it. I got a tube from FedEx and put my poles and knife in and checked it. You sailed right through and I had to wait an hour after a flight from San Francisco to Barcelona, tired and frustrated and hungry. Glad your experience turned out so much better.

 

[tomnorth]

Your experience and mine show again what a crapshoot things like checking poles, which camino to choose, what is a difficult camino or stage, etc. You put your poles and knife in a tube and checked it. I got a tube from FedEx and put my poles and knife in and checked it. You sailed right through and I had to wait an hour after a flight from San Francisco to Barcelona, tired and frustrated and hungry. Glad your experience turned out so much better.

I guess you got special treatment.