Originally Posted by
Low Roller
I was picturing normal hiking boots that could be worn on the plane instead of regular shoes. They might not be the ideal travel shoes but a bit of discomfort would be worth it to ensure they arrived. I agree that this wouldn't work very well if they are similar to large plastic ski-boots
In this case, I guess there is no option but to check them and hope for the best. I guess we got a little off topic. A scruffy bag might attract less attention from would-be thieves...
A guy I work with says if he were a crooked baggage handler, he'd go for the ugly bags, because the posh new ones are too obvious, no one would be dumb enough to put valuables in a high-end bag because that's the expected thing. A scruffy bag can be bad if you're going somewhere outdoors and remote, because good quality camping gear is hard to come by and in demand if there are thieves around.
Around the time we were all in Tanzania, shoes and thermal underwear were in great demand. The same friends that lost the boots for the climb (which they had to bail on before the summit because of the footwear problem) had a pair of really scruffy Tevas stolen out of their bag going back. They were soooo nasty, but they still had a lot of tread and miles of wear.