Knowing that security at CDG confiscated my nose hair scissors with the one inch rounded blades, this doesn't surprise me. It was just before entering the US destination secure area. They claimed it was US rules and took great joy in telling me so. To hide my anger I told the security person that the next time she saw me I'd have dreadlocks coming from my nostrils. I could see from her expression that she was counting the minutes until 1/20/09.

If I were traveling domestically and had a day's warning, I'd overnight a monopod or tripod if I had concerns. I'm able to bill my clients for that kind of stuff. The few times I've put a tripod in checked luggage I've been lucky and it was still there on arrival.