Walking Poles

[Quixoticgeek]

I used to think poles were a gimmick, then after a descent in Austria that reduced me to tears, I went out and bought a pair. I have not regretted this. I use them for pretty much all recreational walking outside of town.

Mine are Mckinley ali poles (What the local shop had in the alps). I've heard good things about some of the Mountain King Poles too.

Note, there are different ways of using poles when walking. I find I use mine in a style not to dissimilar to nordic walking. Others use them in front, like you might think of when talking of using a walking pole. Experiment with what works for you.

One thing I'll say for the single pole users, be careful. Some people find that doing so leads to stressing the spine too much due to the lack of balance. I've seen some people suggest none is better than 1, and 2 is best.

As with everything YMMV.

J

 

[MongooseDownUnder]

Hi guys,
I always used to hate poles but ended up buying some for Oxfam Trailwalker event (100km in 48 hrs) they were brilliant and I did not have to worry about them breaking on steep descents.
Black Diamond Contour Elliptic Shock were the ones I bought they were a little bit heavier than a lot of others but very strong and also they make very good shelter poles due to teir strength.

 

[bigjackbrass]

Alpkit have announced that their Carbon Ultralight poles should be back in stock this month. Worth keeping an eye on this page for stock updates or signing up for their newsletter if you're interested.

 

[Podcast Bob]

Don't forget if you are wanting to use poles for shelter support you may need to link the pair together to create a strong stable tall pole.

Most poles sets come in 2 standard sets - 18mm, 16mm, 14mm (the standard wide pole and Pacers) and 16mm, 14mm 12mm (the slim line type Leki etc)

Now you also have the Flick Lock style, which tend to be the slimmer style too.

I've designed 3 linking sections for all these poles - the 14mm for the 'standard' pole, the 16mm tube for the 'slim line' poles and now the 12mm link for the 'flick lock' poles. Any of these will provide you with the only solid linking section available.

I need to do a new video to help people measure and decided which is which, but it is worth keeping this in mind when making your purchase. Do keep in mind Pacer handles don't like being pressed into the ground and into the tarp material, but otherwise they are no better or worse than any other pole.

Pacers are classed as a Marmite Pole. You either love 'em or hate 'em

 

[Jack Bounder]

One thing I'll say for the single pole users, be careful. Some people find that doing so leads to stressing the spine too much due to the lack of balance. I've seen some people suggest none is better than 1, and 2 is best.

That's interesting as I use the single pole to gain some balance I'm not sure I place too much stock in the stressing the spine theory but, even if I did, for the sort of walking/rambling we do I'm not too concerned. Thanks for the heads up anyway.

 

[tartanferret]

Only a minor Quibble..

Shame they don't have flick locks on them I did think about converting mine at some point but since buying my Komperdells I'd forgotten.

Black Diamond Trail poles are quite popular for this feature. Some of the cheaper brand ones are copying nowadays too.

A little update on this thread

http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/pacer-pole-flicklock-mod.1366/

 

[tartanferret]

And don't go buying those cheap karrimor etc poles to replicate. rubbish quality.

 

[dewi]

I don't mean to hijack, but rather than start a new thread just for the answer to a simple question...

When I got my poles, a friend told me not to use the wrist loops on them because I would hurt myself... I asked him to explain, he said he was told by someone else and didn't know. What puzzles me is if they do cause injury, why would they be on there in the first place but anyway...

Question is, does using the wrist loops cause any sort of injury?

 

[sunndog]

I don't mean to hijack, but rather than start a new thread just for the answer to a simple question...

When I got my poles, a friend told me not to use the wrist loops on them because I would hurt myself... I asked him to explain, he said he was told by someone else and didn't know. What puzzles me is if they do cause injury, why would they be on there in the first place but anyway...

Question is, does using the wrist loops cause any sort of injury?

Maybe if a crocodile was to clamp onto the pole and shake its head, it might give yer wrist a nasty wrench

 

[dewi]

Maybe if a crocodile was to clamp onto the pole and shake its head, it might give yer wrist a nasty wrench

Are there any crocodiles in Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire?

 

[sunndog]

The real question is.......are you willing to risk it

 

[PDA1]

Using the wrist straps correctly means you do not need to grip the handles tightly. This means much less stress on the fore arms, which would be a lot of energy on a long steep climb. I have PAD so suffer from lacticacid build up in my legswhen climbing, so I have to pull a lot of effort via my arms using poles, so straps are essential. Also, if you need a short scramble, you can use your hands and just let the pole dangle from your wrist. Goingdown steep slopes, I lengthen the poles and find I change my grip frequenty, with palms over the top of the grip, sometimes gripping the handleand mostly using the straps. I use flick lock alloy poles (twistlocks ,for me, re less reliable.

 

[JayOram]

Some useful information i put together for using walking poles for Alpkit - https://www.alpkit.com/spotlight/take-a-hike

Jay