hiking sticks

i pefer to use ski poles, like the ones you can pick up from second hand shops or on trademe for like $5 a pair. Yes collapsable ones are good but 9/10 times they dont need to collapse that much. The ski poles are lightweight, strong, durable and perfect tools to wack the odd possum too ;)

Great inventions as one who has problems with both knees and at least one hip joint I would suggest starting with a cheap set of poles then change as you get a better idea of your individual requirements. "All sticks are not equal". I prefer 1 leki pole with a rubberised shaft interesting how often i have to grasp the shaft half way up when climbing so for me this works but i can see a time when two poles will be required.

in Spain, I used to hike with a 180cm hazelnut stick. Just wonderful, but not very useful here when it is the odd bush trail.

I have been using 2 Leki poles for the past 4years. They are adjustable, handy for long on downhill and short on uphill. Also they have a sort of shock absorber in them which is great for sudden wieght bearing. The correct height when using them is to have your arm in an L shape. I like them because it takes 20%load off my knees,it gives my arms something to do and they are great for balance in a river or mud bog.

Hmm I've never really understand why people use hiking poles but if it really does take 20% load off your knees that's a big deal! However I usually have my camera out or need my hands free to get it so whilst I'm still young I'll get away with not using a stick for as long as possible.

Strain off your legs and strain onto your arms. So if you have weak legs/knees then they can be worthwhile, but overall they increase strain because arms are less capable of coping with extra work then legs.

A couple of years, a few extra injuries that come back to haunt you, balance not quite what it used to be but the upper body is strong enough to carry extra whieght. Walking poles used by those who understand for centuries. You should all try them some time. Marvelous platform to steady your exhausted body shake while you take that all important photo!

hey, NathanaelB, when I was your age, I said the same :P 5 years later and I look for hiking poles. After 5 hours of painful limping down from Luxmore hut to the control gates, I will try anything not to repeat that experience.

I've always been in two minds about walking sticks. I accept that they work for lots of folk... no argument. And when I was tramping lots in my 20's I did routinely carry a waist length old-style ice-axe that was effectively as a single pole. Yet on the few occasions I've tried using walking sticks in the Tararuas I've found two hopelessly cumbersome, even one awkward. Personally it felt better to slow down and maintain more inner awareness and balance. Some years back I had an interesting experience. Spent the 3 months in the summer chasing a very fast lass up and around the SI ... there were times when we literally ran down 1000's of meters of mountain without the slightest hint of knee or hip problems. By midwinter that year however I had been back in the office for some months and while I was still nicely fit, on a totally trivial daytrip into Butterfly Creek my left knee was a mess within 10min of easy downhill walking. What happened? In retrospect the only thing that changed in that short period was that during the winter months I had been indoors during almost day... and I was missing out on essential Vitamin D. Since then I've read up on research that confirms the vital role VitD has in joint and tendon health. Since that time I've made a point of getting regular sunshine doses all year round... and so far there hasn't been a repeat of that very painful episode. I'm gainsaying the value of walking sticks, but I'd suggest that there are other factors in play worth thinking about too.