I was told in Europe recently that it is illegal to take a fishing rod in carry-on luggage or into the passenger cabin of a plane going to the US. I was outbound. I'd flown Seattle to New York to Brussels and when I went through security check in Brussels to go on to Africa, they went a little beserk over the telescoping cheap pack rod in my carry on bag. (That was my only luggage as I gave my checked luggage limit to a medical team that was short of space, then learned I was limited to 7 kilos for carry-on... So I added a day pack book bag as my personal item.)
They let me continue with the fishing rod because I was not heading to the US. They were surprised that US air security had allowed me on the plane with it. On my return I played dumb, carried it on in the same way, and nobody challenged me.
Errata: I watched two baggage handlers at JFK deliberately dropping luggage from as high as they could lift onto a concrete floor, and a few bags they threw as far as they could onto concrete. Maybe if we PAID them to lift luggage higher than needed and made throwing luggage part of the job...
