Protective Tips for Hiking Poles?

[PaulWorksHard]

Maybe this is a silly question, but do people hike with the protective covers over their hiking pole tips? I saw a LNT video that suggested you should always hike with them on. I've never done this because they add weight to the poles and I figured they would get destroyed pretty quickly. Should I reevaluate this decision? Does anybody hike with the protective covers on their hiking poles?

Thanks

[OCDave]

I do not. I think LNT center actually harms its cause when it makes such suggestions. Making a few obviously dubious suggestions undermines the credibility of the organization.

[lonehiker]

Think of it this way. Your tip may make a hole that some almost extinct plant species' seed ends up in...

[SkeeterPee]

I had them on my poles and for my local day hikes they stayed on for months with no issues. First day of backpacking in rocky PA both were poled off and were not to be found among the rocks and Fall leaves.

I think on some heavily used trails pole tips probably can do damage sans tip covers. I can see how the trail can be torn apart from them in some places. OTOH I don't know that I will use them backpacking unless required.

[Another Kevin]

Itś good that you're asking this question. We've had other threads that have done it to death, but it's so good to see a newbie taking LNT seriously that I'm more than happy to discuss it again.

(A side note: The rubber feet for trekking poles are different from the protective plastic covers that are usually used over the poles in shipping. The shipping covers are strictly for shipping and have no use whatever on the trail. The rubber feet are often sold separately. They're a lot wider at the base than the plastic covers, and look a bit like the rubber feet of walking canes.)

I use the rubber tips for roadwalk sections, because (a) the carbide tips tear up the pavement, and (b) the carbide tips are noisy and the clatter annoys me. I generally do not use them on the trail. When it's muddy, or in soft snow, my poles sink up to the baskets, tips or no tips, and then the mud sucks the tips right off the poles. When it's rocky, the tips aren't sticky enough to grip well, and the scratches the poles leave are not going to be noticed among all the scratches left by the crampons of winter hikers. When it's icy, I NEED the hard tips, if indeed I haven't switched to ice axe, and my microspikes or crampons are surely doing more damage. So just what trail conditions exist that I'm supposed to be sparing the surface by putting the rubber tips in place? I suppose there are still a few places where the Trail crosses a farmer's field or something. But mostly, mud, snow, ice, talus and rock are what the trail has underfoot.

* * * * *

I'm going to preach heresy: in this particular point, the LNT organization has nearly gone off the rails..In focusing on minor stuff like this, they're diluting their message with the important points.

I get the distinct impression that whoever promulgated this rule has never hiked in winter and doesn't recognize crampon marks. (And yes, scratching up the rock by dry tooling with ice axe and crampons is very poor trail etiquette, but here in the East it's all too often the only safe option in winter. I'm sure I've left more than my share of tool marks.)

It would behoove the LNT organization to focus on the important points. Things like: Practice proper cat sanitation. Pack out everything you pack in. Dispose of wastewater at least 200 feet from a trail or watercourse. Likewise, camp at least 200 feet from a trail or watercourse, ¼ mile from a road. Don't tread on alpine vegetation. Don't cut switchbacks. Don't camp in the alpine zone or the krummholz except as specifically authorized by the land manager. Burn only dead or down wood, and only in an approved manner. Walk THROUGH the mud, not AROUND it. Plan ahead so that you don't get into a situation that forces you to break the rules.

When they start getting into, "wear muted colours so that you don't have as great a visual impact on other hikers," "always speak softly" and "use rubber tips on poles so that you don't scratch up the trail surface," they're risking having their important messages ignored because they're preaching so much relatively trivial stuff as well. On the contrary, I'll wear blaze orange if it's hunting season, halloa as loud as I must when I to get someone's attention, and use trekking poles in a way that I feel safe with.

I am sure that the rules are a delicate compromise, because there are people in the broader community who think that the best way to protect the wilderness is to depopulate it entirely - exclude humanity altogether and let bug, bird and beast, grass and flower and tree, bog and stream, fen and boulder, all flourish unmolested. Those with a less romantic view recognize that some rules are more important than others. Some of the rules like, "wear muted colours," come perilously close to advising the hiker to "just stay home," and the more radical supporters of wilderness protection would have us do just that. Other rules, like "dispose of waste in a sanitary manner" are commandments from God. (Deuteronomy 23:13, in particular, commands the use of catholes. Yes, LNT is in the Bible.)

Let me make it clear that this is a difference of opinion, not of principle. All experienced hikers become environmentalists to the extent that we realize that the lands where we hike are precious and fragile (in particular, there always seem to be some that feel the public would be better served by abandoning all protection of the lands, selling them off and "letting the market determine" their fate.) On the whole, I think we run greener than the general public. At the same time, most of us recognize that some trails are our recruiting office. We have to make some sacrifices in protecting them so that people can enjoy them, or in the next generation there will be nobody that sees their importance enough to protect them. There are practical limits to our zeal, else it will backfire.

[The Cleaner]

Read the instructions that come with your poles.I guess many people forget this.I have seen many of the rubber tips laying along the trail.

[RockDoc]

We like the rubber tips because they make the poles almost silent rather than ding, ding, scratch, scratch that you can hear a long way away.
Also, we avoid disturbing the ground by punching unnatural little round holes everywhere, and scratching rock outcrops in an unnatural way that will take decades to heal.
LNT means LNT, not lame excuses like miniscule weight savings or helping seeds to germinate. Geez.

[WingedMonkey]

Not much worried about doing damage, but the click click click without tips can get irritating.

[lonehiker]

We like the rubber tips because they make the poles almost silent rather than ding, ding, scratch, scratch that you can hear a long way away.
Also, we avoid disturbing the ground by punching unnatural little round holes everywhere, and scratching rock outcrops in an unnatural way that will take decades to heal.
LNT means LNT, not lame excuses like miniscule weight savings or helping seeds to germinate. Geez.

Can't you appreciate, or understand, a bit of humor?

[rafe]

I use poles to "push off" on steeps, I doubt any protective tips would last long. In fact I feel it right away when my pole tips start getting dull. The constant clacking on rock surfaces is a bit of a bother, yes, but that can be minimized with practice.

[peakbagger]

I find those tips along the trail on occasion, they end up in the trash when I get home.

[Another Kevin]

We like the rubber tips because they make the poles almost silent rather than ding, ding, scratch, scratch that you can hear a long way away.
Also, we avoid disturbing the ground by punching unnatural little round holes everywhere, and scratching rock outcrops in an unnatural way that will take decades to heal.
LNT means LNT, not lame excuses like miniscule weight savings or helping seeds to germinate. Geez.

The only way to leave absolutely no trace is not to go. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who sometimes suspects that's what the organization is really trying to say: "stay home." Intertwining the trivial issues with the critical ones confuses the entire message.

I presume you would ban winter hiking in steep terrain altogether? Crampon marks are a lot more noticeable than trekking pole scratches, on any steep and rocky trail that I've hiked, and apparently you're willing to dismiss personal safety as a "lame excuse." (And I can see the argument. If you can't comply 100% with all the guidelines in every little detail without compromising safety, you've failed to plan ahead and prepare.)

I suppose that's what it comes down to. I'm not compliant with LNT if I hike in hunting season (it isn't even lawful for me to wear muted colours then), or in winter (where conditions might require crampons), or on slick gneiss (where rubber pole tips won't grip), or in any number of other difficult conditions. My belief is that full LNT compliance, in effect, closes the wilderness to me. ('ve already made - and declared in public - the decision that my very presence in Baxter State Park would be enough of a desecration that I shall most likely never visit. The authorities that manage it have made the point clear, even if they are too polite and hospitable to express it in so many words.

I've had enough experience with the wilderness that I will continue to advocate for it passionately, even if it be closed to me. My daughter, likewise. But I despair for the generation that follows. How will they ever become advocates for what they do not know?

I do continue to hike, because I still have hope that the minimal trace of a respectful human presence can be tolerated. And I continue to take such measures as I believe to be necessary to do so safely. I continue to soul-search, asking questions such as, is it better to visit an area that is less impacted by human presence, and can perhaps recover better from mine, or is it better to confine my trips to areas that are already heavily impacted, and I will do little damage that hasn't already been done?

Leaving no trace is an unachievable ideal. We're basically in agreement, and arguing about the practical limits.

[egilbe]

I used rubber tips on my poles because I hated the scratch sound of the metal tips clanging on rocks. The day my rubber tips slipped on a pile of leaves on a sunny fall hike and I fell smashing my arm on the rocks was the day I remembered why I use poles in the first place: to keep my lanky butt upright. That was the last time I put rubber tips on. I feel that tiny little hole poked in the ground was well worth preventing broken bones.

[rafe]

I feel I'm entitled to safety in the woods. If that means deep lug soles or crampons or hiking poles, so be it.

[mattjv89]

They will get ruined very quickly on a long hike. On my thru I hardly recall seeing any of them much past the Smokies. I try to minimize damage to the rocks by not planting my poles on spots with a bunch of existing scrape marks. If everyone who tried to plant a pole before me left a foot long streak, chances are I won't find traction there either.

[Another Kevin]

I feel I'm entitled to safety in the woods. If that means deep lug soles or crampons or hiking poles, so be it.

Yeah. I think I'm entitled to safety. I think the question is subtler: if I can't achieve the safety without violating some other guideline, is that telling me I shouldn't be there at all? More and more often, that's the message I seem to be hearing.

[cmoulder]

Wow, well do you know why there's no vegetation growing on trails? It's because pressure from boots compacts the soil and kills plant roots.

One could easily argue that hiking pole tips help aerate the soil. Here's a picture of an aerator. Notice all the pointy spikes??

Leave NO Trace? Only one way to do that, lol.

[rafe]

Yeah. I think I'm entitled to safety. I think the question is subtler: if I can't achieve the safety without violating some other guideline, is that telling me I shouldn't be there at all? More and more often, that's the message I seem to be hearing.

It seems you've internalized that message to the point of denying yourself a visit to Baxter Park.

For me it's not subtle at all. If it's a public path, I have a right to go wherever my short stubby legs will take me.

As far as Baxter's concerned, and other places like it -- I'm OK with their restrictions, because I appreciate the need for balance. Some people scrimp, save and plan for trips to Disneyland or Six Flags. So filling out forms and paying a small sum months in advance for a lean-to at Baxter doesn't seem all that bizarre to me.

[egilbe]

Coincidently, my GF left a hiking pole tip somewhere on Hamlin Ridge trail on Katahdin. Oooohhhh...I love it when anecdotes come together like that.

[Slosteppin]

Wow, well do you know why there's no vegetation growing on trails? It's because pressure from boots compacts the soil and kills plant roots.

One could easily argue that hiking pole tips help aerate the soil. Here's a picture of an aerator. Notice all the pointy spikes??

Leave NO Trace? Only one way to do that, lol.

Do you know why there is a trail where you hike? The trail was built to protect the environment. One of the Park Service suggestions for building trails where there is heavy vegetation is to remove the top soil down to mineral soil. This also eliminates most vegetation.
I probably spend as much time planning, building and maintaining trails as I do hiking. If I thought the little holes left by hiking poles did damage to the trail I would never use them. OTOH, I nearly always use hiking poles (with NO rubber tip protectors) when hiking and backpacking - mostly to protect my knees.