[pct-l] walking poles

[Marion Davison]

Steve Fosdick wrote:
> I can see that opinions on water caches are as wide as an ocean. Thanks 
> for all the comments.
>  

> Will I be the only hiker on the trail without walking poles? Other than 
> using them to flick off a rattle snake, hold up a tarp-tent (my tent has 
> its own poles) or defending myself from a charging bear (yeah, right!), 
> will I wish that had some on my thru-hike? I'll have an ice ax for the 
> parts of the trail that have snow. When hikers get out their ice ax, do 
> they put their walking poles away?

I have hiked with poles consistently since I first tried 
them in 1993.  This is what they do for me.
1.  Prevent many falls from tripping.  Maybe I am clutzier 
than the average, but before I had poles I would fall a lot.
2.  Allow me to travel faster at all times, uphill, downhill 
and on flat ground.  With poles I have a longer stride on 
flat and downhill, better balance downhill and far less knee 
pain, and more strength going uphill since I can use my arms 
to help me get uphill.
3.  Prevent me from drowning on big stream crossings.
4.  Prevent my hands from swelling.  When I walk without 
poles my hands dangle down and my fingers swell during the 
day.  When I am gripping poles my hands don't swell and they 
aren't dangling.
5.  They are also useful for flicking small debris off 
trails, fending off mean dogs and snakes, and holding up 
your tarp.
I use ski poles from the thrift store.  I put Leki tips on 
them and replace them when they break.  I do this because I 
hike with llamas and they will occasionally step on a pole 
and bend it.  If they broke a $100 Leki pole I would be 
really pissed!  I have always been able to bend my $5 ski 
pole back to shape and finish the trip.
My advice is to get some old ski poles from the thrift store 
and try them on a training hike that includes some rough 
terrain, uphill and downhill and stream crossings, and see 
if they improve your performance and your safety.
Consider that most thru hikers hike alone, much of the time, 
and have a desire to have the best possible performance in 
order to finish, so anything that can enhance your safety 
and your performance is worth considering.
You might consider the telescoping poles, which can be made 
quite short for carrying on your pack when using an ice axe, 
or be easy to ship home if you got sick of carrying them.  I 
have never used them because I figure a llama would break 
these for sure!  But perhaps someone else on the list can 
recommend a brand of this type that will hold up to 
thru-hiker abuse.
I think poles with wrist straps (like cross-country ski 
poles ) would be handy because they could dangle from your 
wrists while you are doing something with your hands.
Marion