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DGUtley
10-31-2020, 10:01 AM
Scientists Weigh in on the Great Trekking Pole Debate - A new review sifts through the evidence for and against hiking with poles..

Partway through a late-summer backpacking trip a few months ago, I realized I had become a trekking pole guy again. I’ve flirted with the concept before: I took a pair of borrowed poles on a 10-day hike in the northern Rockies 15 years ago, and bought a knock-off Leki pole in Kathmandu before a three-week trek in the Himalaya. But I’ve always been lukewarm about them. They feel fine, but I really like having my hands free for snacking, picture-taking, map-reading, scrambling, and so on.

Trekking poles (https://www.outsideonline.com/2408047/black-diamond-alpine-carbon-cork-trekking-poles) elicit mixed feelings. Their boosters (https://www.outsideonline.com/2407523/defense-trekking-poles) certainly love them, and not just in the backcountry. “People will still say, ‘Hey, you forgot your skis!’” an “urban poling” instructor told CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/urban-pole-walking-gaining-popularity-in-alberta-1.2843515) a few years ago. “We’re going to change that. In Europe, they look at you kind of funny if you walk around without poles.” On the other hand, the Switzerland-based International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation sounds a more skeptical tone, suggesting (https://www.theuiaa.org/uiaa/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-hiking-sticks-in-the-mountains/) that using poles too much will sap your balance and coordination, thus raising the risk of accidents in situations like crossing ridges that are too narrow for poles.

There have actually been quite a few studies investigating the pros and cons of pole use, and they’re summarized in a new review article (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32980249/) by Ashley Hawke and Randall Jensen in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. This isn’t a meta-analysis that aggregates the results of a bunch of studies into one big dataset, because the studies all tackle slightly different questions in slightly different contexts. But bringing all the studies together in one place allows us to extract some common themes.

Here are the highlights: https://www.outsideonline.com/2418032/trekking-poles-research?utm_source=pocket-newtab

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carolina73
10-31-2020, 10:26 AM
The folding walking sticks help to take care of that. I had a good friend in Wales that was a hiking enthusiast and he would always bring his walking sticks when he came to the US and lend me a pair when I visited him. For me, they spent more time being in the way, than being an aide. For him, he wouldn't leave home without them and didn't.

Peter1469
10-31-2020, 10:42 AM
One trekking pole is fine for me. It has many uses other than to assist in walking.

For one, when crossing streams on a log for example, you can use it to help another across.

donttread
01-01-2021, 11:10 AM
Scientists Weigh in on the Great Trekking Pole Debate - A new review sifts through the evidence for and against hiking with poles..

Partway through a late-summer backpacking trip a few months ago, I realized I had become a trekking pole guy again. I’ve flirted with the concept before: I took a pair of borrowed poles on a 10-day hike in the northern Rockies 15 years ago, and bought a knock-off Leki pole in Kathmandu before a three-week trek in the Himalaya. But I’ve always been lukewarm about them. They feel fine, but I really like having my hands free for snacking, picture-taking, map-reading, scrambling, and so on.

Trekking poles (https://www.outsideonline.com/2408047/black-diamond-alpine-carbon-cork-trekking-poles) elicit mixed feelings. Their boosters (https://www.outsideonline.com/2407523/defense-trekking-poles) certainly love them, and not just in the backcountry. “People will still say, ‘Hey, you forgot your skis!’” an “urban poling” instructor told CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/urban-pole-walking-gaining-popularity-in-alberta-1.2843515) a few years ago. “We’re going to change that. In Europe, they look at you kind of funny if you walk around without poles.” On the other hand, the Switzerland-based International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation sounds a more skeptical tone, suggesting (https://www.theuiaa.org/uiaa/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-hiking-sticks-in-the-mountains/) that using poles too much will sap your balance and coordination, thus raising the risk of accidents in situations like crossing ridges that are too narrow for poles.

There have actually been quite a few studies investigating the pros and cons of pole use, and they’re summarized in a new review article (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32980249/) by Ashley Hawke and Randall Jensen in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. This isn’t a meta-analysis that aggregates the results of a bunch of studies into one big dataset, because the studies all tackle slightly different questions in slightly different contexts. But bringing all the studies together in one place allows us to extract some common themes.

Here are the highlights: https://www.outsideonline.com/2418032/trekking-poles-research?utm_source=pocket-newtab

32165

3216632167


I like them walking on icy shoulders but really could have used them a few years ago when hiking down fron High Peaks on hard scrabble rock which destroyed what was left of my knees.