Along with hockey sticks, canoe paddles should be included in the Transportation Security Administration’s list of approved carry-on items on flights, local paddlers argue.

"It would be great if TSA would allow us to carry them on board again to get around having to pay the (checked baggage) fee," said Leimomi Dierks, a 33-year paddler who is head coach this year of Lanikai Canoe Club. "I know the TSA, flight attendants and airlines are worried that paddles can be used as a weapon, but personally, I don’t think that’s quite an issue. We’re not an aggressive group. We’re a fun, gregarious group of people in a friendly, competitive sport."

On Tuesday, the TSA announced it would start allowing some previously prohibited items in carry-on bags beginning April 25. On the list are small pocket knives with nonlocking blades shorter than 2.36 inches and less than a half-inch wide, novelty and toy bats no longer than 24 inches or heavier than 24 ounces, ski poles, hockey and lacrosse sticks, billiard cues and up to two golf clubs.

Full-size baseball, softball and cricket bats will still be prohibited.

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez confirmed that canoe paddles will also still be prohibited, but did not provide details about how the administration selected which items would be allowed in carry-on bags or why canoe paddles weren’t included.

"The decision to permit these items as carry-on was made as part of TSA’s overall Risk-Based Security approach and aligns TSA with international standards," Melendez wrote in an email to the Star-Advertiser.

The state Department of Transportation said it hadn’t received any complaints, inquiries or concerns about canoe paddles not being on the list since the announcement.

Dierks acknowledged that the federal government may have overlooked inclusion of canoe paddles because paddling isn’t a popular sport on the mainland.

"It could have just been an oversight because paddles aren’t a common thing," she said. "They’re not something people travel with all across the country. There are some clubs on the East and West Coasts, but they don’t travel as much as we do when we go from island to island, especially during the long-distance season.

"If it’s coming from the federal level, I just doubt it was something that even crossed their minds."

She said many in the local paddling community have grown accustomed to the prohibition of paddles in carry-on bags, but said some will "be more vocal about it as word gets out" because it could be looked at as an issue of fairness.

"Paddles are very comparable (to the other sporting equipment) and we don’t have any paddles made of iron," she said. "Unlike golf clubs, they’re mostly made of wood. Some are made of carbon fiber or fiberglass, but not of metal. And I believe some hockey and lacrosse sticks are longer than a paddle."

She also estimates an average paddle weighs about 22 ounces — 2 ounces below the weight threshold for novelty and toy bats.

Brian Curll, president of Puuwai Outrigger Canoe Club on Kauai, said it would be nice if he could take his paddle on board, but it’s not much of a concern to him.

"We’re just in such a good mood when we go to a race that we don’t really care about that," he said, "We’re concerned with paddling and having fun. Little things like that just aren’t that irritating."

He added that even if federal guidelines eventually stopped prohibiting paddles from carry-on bags, it would still be up to individual airlines to allow odd-shaped items, like paddles, on board.

"The feds could say, ‘You can bring an elephant on the plane,’ but the airlines might say, ‘No elephants,’" he said. "And with the newer planes, overhead compartments are smaller and the partitions don’t seem to have as much space between them.

"If I could take my paddle, that would be good, but then that’s one more thing to fit in the overhead."