Are hiking poles "all that"?

““Plus, if your hiking partner pisses you off, you can whack him/her with one.”


Too Funny”

“Hey, anyone wanna touch my stick?”

“Well thanks for all your input. I think I will look around for hiking poles. I too suffer from Rugby knee and would love to find something that helps with that. I have definately seen more pros than cons so I will weather the many yuppie hiker cracks I am certain to endure and just go with what feels good at the end of the day.”

“I have a question conceerning hiking poles and figured I would add it here instead of starting a new thread.

When shoping for Poles what do I need to look for in one? Or what do you look for when you go to buy trekking poles.

Thanks!”

“I tried poles for a couple seasons. I have bad joints, didn't notice any difference in the wear and tear or my pain. The poles did get in the way when I was trying use my camera, I found myself way too frustrated with them. Now I hike and pack without them. Unless snowshoeing or using a shelter that needs one.”

“I resisted getting a pair for a few years. Then about 5 years ago, I got a pair and still can't figure out how I hiked without them.

As a side note, I took mine to the Leki Repair tent at TrailDays where they cleaned them up, replaced a sleeve and put on new baskets......no charge.”

“In reply to those that questioned the ability to hold something in your hand if you are using poles - you need to learn to use the poles correctly. The straps are there to hold your weight, and not just to prevent you from dropping them. Many people think the later. If adjusted right and used right, you barely hold any of your weight with your fingers. So, you can hold a map with no problem.

When used right, the strap goes across the back of your hand, snugly. Not loosely around your wrist. The strap (where it attaches to the pole) will rest on the fleshy part of your palm that's between your thumb and forefinger. When its done right you can lean all your weight on the straps and let go with your fingers. Your fingers just guide the pole, they don't hold your weight.
last edited: 5/16/05 12:23:41 PM”

“I think hiking with trekking poles just got a new sporty name.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10926800/”

“I feel so cutting edge.
:)”

“Dang 'Old' Yuppies!
last edited: 1/19/06 2:31:27 PM”

“Nordic Walking!! I love it!!”

“Are hiking poles "all that"?

I think so. I use them every time I go hiking.”

“Love how they are now "new". LOL

I wouldn't be caught dead w/o my poles anymore. Haven't twisted my left ankle badly since I started using them.”

“Holy Crap! What next, sacks for your back to put stuff in? Crazy people!!!”

““Holy Crap! What next, sacks for your back to put stuff in? Crazy people!!!”
BackSlacker
3:47:05 PM
1/19/06
ignore this user

I heard someone started doing that only instead of walking on the sidewalk, they did it in the woods.”

“Isn't that dangerous?”

“D O R K S!

:-D”

“Dang kids, you could break a hip!”

“A tree could fall on you!”

“No kidding.”

“Another clueless reporter.”

“You picking on Lizs?”

“Who would walk in the woods? It's dirty their are bug and animals crap everywhere. No people these poles are for mall walking.”

“I don't use them, but sometimes I wish I had at least one on me instead of getting a hand up from my husband when I have to take a large step up over huge rocks or go rock hopping. I think it also takes a lot of stress off your joints going downhill.

Hiking is a sport of sorts and any sport that a person does with repetitive actions, those joints that are used can get worn, so I can see hiking sticks being very useful.”

“In my first 15 years or so of hiking, I hated carrying a staff (or anything). In the next 10 years, I loved & carried a self-made hickory staff & TONS of gear. I ended up making a bunch of these carved sticks for friends. In the next 10 years, I got to like dual trekking poles. I started these with cross country ski's & snowshoes in the woods & they just stuck year round. Kinda like 4 wheel drive. Lets my arms take some of the stress off my knee's especially on the down grades.”

“Going up hill reduce the hight and going down extend it. Try it! Works great. I prefer to have one while hiking.”

“That Story sounds right out of the Onion!”

“I don't know how many times I fell on my thru hike, but it would have been a hell of a lot more if not for hiking sticks. Big help fording some of those rivers in the 100 Mile Wilderness as well.”

“Article on the use of poles. 20% increased calorie burn, whole body workout, etc.

http://robots.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/14/hm.nordic.walking/index.html”

“Seems to me that I saw this article yestereday. It irked me then, so now I'll sound off.

The headline says, "... pick up a pole." That got my interest. But the entire article is about "poles!" So why does this bother me? It must be because I use a hiking pole, a staff or a Bo, when walking, hiking or backpacking. So I know the difference between a "pole" and "poles!" The article does not follow the heading!

It makes me even madder, as I remember the days when my knees were fully functional. I could really move through the crowds on the sidewalks of downtown Chicago, especially along State Street and when leaving the Illinois Central Terminal Building. I was almost a menace, darting in, out and around the groups of slower walkers. Using Nordic walking poles would have hindered me and slowed me down considerably.

Well, all this is because someone, who gets paid, did not place an "s" after the word "pole." It was probably done intentionally. I feel better now, except for my knees.”

“North poles, now how are the knees?”

“Nowslimmer - I feel your pain (even the knees!). It seems like dumb mistakes like that are on the rise. I think some people just rely on auto spell and grammar checks and don't really think through what they are doing.”

“Saw about ten typos in the paper yesterday and I wasn't closely reading it at all ---

And I do like my trekking poles, especially where the footing is tricky. They saved my ass a couple of times two weeks ago!
last edited: 5/15/07 9:58:11 AM”

“i know i'm getting poles now; i want to be backpacking forever.”

“Best purchase you'll make this year Pamela.

Oy, I see this was posted elsewhere on the board. Oh well, better too much than not at all.”

“actually i won't even need to spend the money, my Scout High Adventure Leader is giving me a pair since he recently bought new ones.”

“Even better.”

“I hope you all use the poles better than most of the fat women in that video. They were just dragging the poles behind thmeselves.

Since they were not actually using the poles, it makes a farce out of that video. I don't think that they burned many extra calories by just dragging the poles.”

“newspapers have always been terrible with grammer and punctuation.”

“and, my opinion...

this whole nordic walking thing was dreamed up in the marketing department to sell more poles!

however, if it causes a handful of fatasses to get off the couch thats probably good for society.”