[pct-l] Trekking poles?

[Stephen Adams]

Whether you like trekking poles or find them helpful, useful, or find them bothersome, it is a personal choice.  But there are some rules to using them.  You certainly don't depend on them for balance crossing a log.  Nor do you use them crossing thru rocky sections of trail where they can trip you up or break the tips off.  I bring this up because there is a time when you need to depend on your natural sense of balance and should not be trying to place four points instead of two, just your feet.  If crossing a creek get your hands out of the straps.  I don't use the straps unless climbing slowly and carefully up steep grades.  I usually have my hands on top of the handles, in the palm, with the thumb under the strap.  This will also be advantageous in snow where the pole will be helpful, but problematic if negotiating suncups.  You want to be able to let go.  You can always pick the pole up.  
I've been using poles for over ten years, and they are very helpful with my bad feet and all, and save a lot of stress on my knees, and keep my upper body moving around and my hands don't swell even when I just carry them along, which is about 25% of the time.  I also just put them on my pack for cross country talus and such.  If  you get basic collapsable poles, like Komperdels, get the basic cork grip pole, not rubber handles and NOT anti-shock.  Don't need the extra weight and it's just a gimmick.  Make some wraps of electrical tape on the upper section.  If the twist locks start to slip, which they eventually will, you can wrap the joint with the tape to prevent the slippage.  Some folks just use cheap Ski poles they find on sale which is all right, but I prefer to be able to shorten my poles, especially since I do a lot of cross country, I don't want a long pole sticking out that can hang up on rocks or trees branches over head.  
But using poles, like I said, is a personal choice.  They just seem a natural part of my movement, and I carry them and use them to power up hills and ease myself down the long grades in the Sierra, and since I hike into the night on occasion, I definitely understand the blind man's shuffle.  
So I hope you caught the gist in that poles can be helpful, but also cause serious injury or carnage if used improperly.  That's why I hold them the way I do, because I would rather chance loosing a pole than having it trip me up or slip and cause a fall.  For each his own, HYOH.        
On Jan 14, 2010, at 2:53 PM, <gwschenk at socal.rr.com> wrote:

> ---- sojo hendrix <sojo42 at gmail.com> wrote: 
>> helpful for balance
>> on rocky terrain or stream crossings
> 
> When I watch people cross streams on logs, the ones with trekking poles are the ones that have their balance all out of whack. Their arms are all spread out, and their center of gravity is nowhere close to being over their feet. My experience is the trekking polers tend to have a higher probability of falling in than those without.
> 
> Of course, that's not the fault of the poles.
> 
> Gary
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