Walking Poles

@ Lisa: Without a well attached basket on the pole all you have is a thin pointy stick... completely useless in deep mud as I found out on the Dusky track as it just sinks up to its handle!

Have had one pole for several years. Great as a third leg when crossing rivers. Use pole to "feel" current Pole(s) can be a pain on steep uphill so shorten the pole but down hill in vegetated areas are a recipe to fall. In between great. good luck. See ya in the bush, Brian

I have been using the "pistol grip" shorter pole for quite a few years now. I chose this type as it was a progression from using ice axes. I've noticed that the usual longer pole users often hold the pole in their hand when grabbing vegetation, rocks etc. which means they have a lousy hold. With my shorter pole, I just let them go and they dangle from my wrist and don't get in the way. I've often observed the long pole users really slowing down when they have to hold their poles in their hands and grab other things. I don't know why so few people use the shorter poles. I assume it's because it's never crossed their minds.

Christened my pole last week. Found it very handy when I got tired and a bit over lifting my feet over rocks and roots for 8 hours. Gave me that extra balance and somehow got in a rythm to keep plodding. Also seemed to take some weight off my back ... I tend to lean slightly forward when my pack is heavy to unconscienciously balance myself howver I didnt seem to do this while using the pole.

I trust you gave it a name for the christening? Glad to hear that you have discovered the secret of walking with poles. Now do you wonder why you ever walked without them. I do. As for backbending..........it's something we probably all know only too well, unfortunately!!!!

haha why yes, his name is Wally! (Cecil came a close 2nd tho). My friend called her's Antonio (he was made in Italy) :D

from what I heard, trekking poles can take up to 15% of your bodyweight from your knees (especially when you are going downhill) if used properly. and they also help improving balance while walking on more difficult terrain. I use poles for a couple of years now and I couldn't imagine tramping without them anymore.

Regarding the use of walking poles to assist in river crossings, I would be a bit cautious about that. They are really quite flimsy if a lot of weight is put on them.

I heard poles help take the strain off your legs but places the strain onto the arms. The legs are much more powerful then the arms so the lungs have to work handle to compensate for the extra load the arms are receiving. Because I have asthma and get puffed easily I have never given poles serious consideration.

From what I've seen, many people find them fantastic in rivers simply because it's an extra point of contact to balance on. I suppose you'd want to know your stick, though, be confident enough that it won't snap at a bad time and ensure that it won't get tangled on things. I don't use poles myself so have limited experience in this. That comment (militaris) reminds me of something I read in one of the books by Hans Willems' (based in Hawkes Bay I think) titled Tramping Smarter, which was published a few years ago. It's basically an opinionated but quite good and detailed dummies guide to getting started tramping in New Zealand, dated in places though mostly only when he gets into details of manufacturers and distributors (some now dissolved) through post office boxes. Kind of a shame given it's only 6 years old. Anyway, he was generally accepting of walking poles, but also had this to say on page 54: "I once read a report that stated the amount of weight trekking poles to take off one's ankle, knee and hip joints over the period of a one kilometre tramp as one and a half to two metric tonnes. On the face of it this sounds pretty good and if you convert that to less wear and tear on the joints, then they certainly have a use. "However, if I remember my high school physics right you'd have to exert a pressure of equal magnitude on the poles -- two tonnes. This would not only negate the two tonnes of relieve but will add two tonnes of pressure which is being absorbed by the hands, wrist, elbow and shoulders and chest. "If you then add the weight of the poles to what you already carry, the fact they only relieve pressure when you push down on them and that on level ground they interfere with your natural gait, you wonder where all this gain is to be had." I'm not sure I completely understand what he means by implying that the 2 tonnes of force gets doubled (first the negation of what's taken off the legs, then the pressure on hands and wrists if I understand what he's said, which I thought *was* all part of the negation force), but I guess it's food for thought all the same regarding how that diverted force is still going somewhere... On the other hand, I know numerous people who use poles, and frequently have good things to say about them.