I'm flying from Cape Town to Gatwick via Dubai (on Emirates), and want to take my trekking pole with me. It won't fit in my suitcase, and I doubt I could carry it on (it has a large blunt spike on the end, covered with a rubber stopper).

So I thought I'd check it in on its own... any recommendations for how to pack it? I suppose they could just stick the tag directly on the pole, but that seems dicey. Maybe a cardboard box, but it'd have to be pretty long... any other ideas?