Why use trekking poles? Trekking poles can also: Protect knees, especially when walking down steep hills. Improve your power and endurance when walking uphill. Aid balance on uneven trails. Improve posture, making walkers more upright as they walk and in turn this can help breathing. Increase speed, especially going downhill.
Provide extra stability. Reduce fatigue and improve endurance. Burn more calories by providing an upper body work out as well as a legs workout. Strengthen muscles that support the spine. Build muscles in arms, shoulders and neck. Evidence of the benefit of poles My partner G is a walking pole user while I am not. Get the pole length right Most walking pole manufacturers offer guidelines as to the right length for your height. Why the walking pole wrist straps?
What to look for when hiking sticks The price range of poles will suit all budgets. Travelling with your walking poles If you plan to walk abroad or need to use public transport to get to a walk make sure the poles can be shortened or folded up while travelling. Share this:. Walking Via Alpina Zermatt. I think the pair just provides more benefits. I stopped my knee pain completely by simply shifting my weight. Instead of heel striking, I now focus on stepping on my fore and mid-foot.
I think hiking with trekking poles naturally allows people to shift their weight and foot strike forward, which is probably a factor in those reduced strain studies. So if you want to help your knees out, I recommend shifting your weight forward when hiking with trekking poles. I used trekking poles religiously for years. Some people absolutely love hiking with trekking poles all the time. Depends on how significant the climb is, of course.
I recently crossed a narrow trail that had large piles of snow strewn about. Having a pole in hang made it much safer, in my opinion, crossing this because of the slip hazard. The poles gave you a little extra balance so if your foot started to give when moving forward, all was not all lost. I want the balance that it gives me in difficult situations, but I also like having a hand free to do other things, like grab my camera or some trail mix.
The poles worked exceedingly well for cutting across their path and preventing them from getting too close. What if those dogs wanted to be unfriendly with me? In a week of hiking in NH, I can count the miles in which I used my poles on one hand.
I think the poles give you a false sense of security at times. My natural balance has definitely improved since I stopped using them as much. I still carry them though, as a security blanket of sorts. I used to use poles on every hike. Over time, I realized that reliance on them was affecting my natural balance.
My body core, legs, ankles and feet became less responsive to terrain and balance changes. Now, I only use them on longer trips, where I will be carrying a heavier load — primarily to reduce strain on my lower back and knees.
I have become a much stronger hiker by leaving them home for day hikes. Everyone is certainly different! I hike faster and more stably on rocky trails with them than without. I just went over Mount Mansfield on an LT section hike. Pretty sketchy stuff. I had to put the poles away for the scramble and when I got above the bad part I felt almost naked hiking without them. Even though I came to a road walk, then a visitor center parking that saw its share of old men wearing dress shoes, I still took my poles right back out.
They have survived 4 seasons so far, but this last LT section might have been there last. Kevin, You will love the Pacer Poles. I know of one scientific study on trekking poles, and that was pretty strongly in favor of poles. This group demonstrated a reduced loss of strength and a faster recovery immediately after the trek compared to the control group. Self-rated soreness peaked at hours in both groups but was significantly lower in the trekking-pole group, both at this point and at the hour point.
This shows that the muscle damage they were experiencing was negligible. When descending with a full pack, they help me control my rate of descent and help me stabilize my pack, especially when moving at a faster pace. Great overview here. Help you keep your stride or pace you mentioned the walking rhythm 2. Give you a boost on uphills 3. Take shock off your knees on downhills huge benefit for me on steep terrain in the Whites 4.
Great for balance on slippery rocks or uneven terrain 5. Extra points of contact for river crossings 6. Testing a sketchy looking rock before you put weight on it 8. Fending off animals like snakes or small rodents 9. Supports for pitching a tarp whether you plan to sleep in a tarp or need to set one up in an emergency For emergency litter or splint construction. There are definitely cons like you mentioned, but I think the versatility of hiking poles and all of their pros far outweigh any of the drawbacks.
I love my pacerpoles. The stress reduction on downhills is worth it alone for me. I used to hike with poles all the time. Especially when my kids were in their kid packs when they were a few years old. The last thing I wanted was to fall with them in the pack.
Then I started back packing and got out of the habit of carrying them. Then I found myself in a BAD situation. About two weeks ago I had ascended about 4. The only way back was a ft ascent back up the hill.
After temporarily seeing stars from the pain I hobbled back to camp down a steep hill and my rear to keep weight off my foot. The next day I ended up using the poles I had strapped to my pack the day prior and they help save my butt climbing out. In fact, I caught a couple who had left over 20 minutes earlier.
If I can say onething it is this. They may save you should you get hurt. The straps should only be looped over the top of the hand, not around the wrist. Hand up thru the loop takes pressure off wrists and hands.
Easy to escape if needs be. Also the tips should always be behind you and used to push yourself along. Once you get a rhythm going you can really cover ground safely.
I am a huge fan of Section Hiker, but take issue with the construct of this piece. Virtually all the listed cons are in reality issues of technique vs. A hiker with excellent knees and balance may well feel encumbered by poles. For the rest majority of the hiker population they can provide great benefit. Arm motion, or swing, should be occurring even without hiking with poles. It is the application of force to stabilize or propel forward with arms that is cause for additional energy expenditure with poles.
This is not a con however as the typical endurance limiter is muscular fatigue in the legs vs. The redistribution of where the fatigue occurs can be quite beneficial. A great deal of propulsion can be realized if poles are planted in line with the trailing foot vs.
The feel of this is a push almost straight down, engaging the lats and chest muscles. This is beneficial if the legs are fatigued vs. Yes especially carbon, risk is greatly mitigated with aluminum poles or carbon poles with an aluminum lower section which many manufacturers have moved to because of this issue.
Keep you hiking poles away from me. Do you want to have your hands free? Are these really helping you? Your email address will not be published. Pros Reduce strain on knees during descents Improve balance when walking across rough terrain and stream crossings Help establish a walking rhythm Multi-purpose item that can be used to pitch ultralight shelters Cons Arm motion increases amount of energy required Leaning forward on poles reduces biomechanical efficiency of carrying a backpack Improper reliance on straps can lead to injury on falls due to wrist entrapment Poles can catch on trees and brush while hiking on narrow trails or bushwhacking Steel carbide tips can be potentially damaging to rocks and fragile plants Care must be taken when walking across scree fields to prevent poles from snapping Energy Consumption First off, trekking poles require more energy to hike with because they involve your upper body muscles arms and shoulders as well as your lower body muscles.
Hiking Uphill There are also times where trekking poles can be more of a hindrance than a help. Conclusion Trekking poles can be be very advantageous for hikers, paricularly because they reduce the strain and force of gravity on your lower extremities when hiking downhill. Most Popular Searches trekking poles poles Hiker died after tripping on trekking poles. Previous Fly Fishing in Dublin, Ireland. Just real, honest, side-by-side testing and comparison.
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Learn more. Here are our top 10 reasons why trekking poles should be a standard part of your hiking kit: Trekking poles incorporate your arms and shoulders into the hiking motion, allowing you to use more muscle to propel yourself uphill and to control your descent.
The net result is an increase in speed, without an increase in leg soreness. Poles reduce the impact on your legs, knees, ankles, and feet, especially when going downhill. A study reported in The Journal of Sports Medicine described how trekking poles can reduce compressive force on knees by as much as 25 percent.
By allowing the shoulder muscles to absorb some of the force that would otherwise travel through the knees, trekking poles can extend your lifespan as an active, pain-free hiker. Trekking poles can deflect backcountry nuisances, pushing away thorny blackberries and spider webs — which can make your travel more comfortable.
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