Thanks Dave, yes that would be an option, a loan of a pole. Its a bit awkward to plan as we will probably be doing some miles in between the arrival at Birmingham and the activations. Anyway, after a weekend away in South West of NI I returned home to a delivery safely taken in by my son. Its the new travel pole and wow is it compact! I will test it out after the next weekend, by the way the company who supplies them is to be highly recommended, they are UK based and very, very helpful. After I test I will give you more information 
OK Ian, weāll no doubt speak in person about it at Bushvalley. Iād better crack on & get the rally stuff prepped!
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00S9PWT5M/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_6?colid=3F6V8O331TR6I&coliid=ICNFNW3CP0XLJ
This is on my list if I need a compact travel pole. My current pole is a long 10m pole.
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That looks very, very similar to the one I had delivered Anthony and it looks to be the same company, they are great to deal with direct
Yes Dave, looking forward to our small Rally on Sunday, I am also keen to add to our book collection numbers so hope you bring some along
Itās cheaper direct as well.
Bringing full rally stand, Ian. (and your and Estherās awards!)
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As way of update on this topic. We did travel from Belfast to Birmingham and back on the same route. The conditions changed in that we had to book a bag into the hold to carry kit that our daughter requested to be taken over to her at University. So the rucksack and travel pole went into the hold bag and the radio, batteries and GPS went into the cabin bag. We had no problems going out from Belfast and on the return leg the ID51 HT was the only item that needed checking by way of a swab. All in all a great trip, the weekend was great and we got to do one activation in Central England before visiting relatives and new members of their family. The travel pole was a great buy and so easy to transport both in the suitcase and in the ruck sack
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I use a fiberglass pole from sota beams it does the up on for me.
Aha, they also do a 10m model at a reasonable price (no good for cabin baggage, but useful for a wire antenna at the home QTH perhaps) - shame they donāt ship outside of the UKā¦
Iāve used this vendor in the past for homebrew rotating dipoles and other antenna projects over the years. Not quite what most are looking for, but do believe they ship overseas ?? Also, looks like they do not collapse below 46 inches, so will not fit in carry-on luggageā¦Iāve also been using a carbon avalanche probe lately and itās been working quite well. Really small and lightweight. Scored it for a fraction of original cost on a clearance sale.
http://www.tmastco.com/main/page_products_telescopic_poles.html
73, Todd KH2TJ
Hi, it is an old topic, but I am wondering if any of you has latest experience in taking a mast into a cabin?
I am about to fly with KLM from WAW and I wondered if I may encounter any trouble taking a portable mast with me into the security zone and on board (it is about 5m collapsible to 50cm).
Thank you for your feedback.
EDIT: never mind, I got my answer, fishing rods prohibitedā¦: https://www.klm.com/travel/us_en/prepare_for_travel/baggage/restricted_article/index.htm
If they have Amazon lockers in the UK you could buy the pole online and have it shipped to the locker to pick up when you arrive.
In my travels in the US, no hiking poles or fishing poles carried onboard. Doesnāt really matter at the end of the day as all my radio and hiking gear (and pack) go into an old LL Bean duffel bag that gets checked.
Checked luggage is free for me, so it makes traveling easy. Overseas and in other countries may differ.
After years of frequent travelling Iām a fan of hand luggage only.
Mobility, flexibility, time savings win for me. 
Iām flying to the UAE. I think cheapest and easiest would be buying a fishing rod locally just for that.