Sticks

[Rhino-lfl]

Why do you use sticks/poles/canes/whatever when hikeing? Aren't they a pain in the ass to carry and stuff, or do you only use them if you have a bum leg and still want to hike?

[cornflake]

Poles will shift some of the exertion from your legs and hips to your upper body during climbs, and relieve knee stress on downhills.

[Pennsylvania Rose]

If I forget mine, I'm bound to twist an ankle.

[superman]

I didn't use sticks when I was young but I wouldn't hike without them now. It's like having four wheel drive vs two wheel drive.

[Ender]

Not a pain to use at all, and for me they help to prevent some pain. I usually just carry them on flat trail, and going up hill they help a little to get up, but where they really help me is going down hill, where they really do help to take stress of my knees.

[rafe]

I hiked for 20+ years without them. Now I use them. They're not 100% necessary, but they do help. My legs and knees are fine -- it's not a matter of working around an injury. It's a matter of helping your balance and footing on rough ground, with a load on your back that you wouldn't be dealing with in the "real world."

[icemanat95]

I carry a hiking staff these days rather than a hiking pole. Stout wood with a carbide tip Simple reason really, tough and capable of delivering a hard strike in a pinch as well as lessening the strain on my joints.

[Lilred]

poles save my knees. they also help get me in a good rhythm. Kinda like cross country skiing.

[moxie]

They have saved me from a few bad falls. Two legs are better than 4 for balance. If you feel that way don't use them but also don't run down people that do. We are all different, have different styles and tastes.

[The General]

If your poles become a pain in the ass. You are most likly carrying them wrong. try using your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[D'Artagnan]

If your poles become a pain in the ass. You are most likly carrying them wrong. try using your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


F'ing HILLARIOUS!!!!! Thanks for that! :D:D:D

[Ender]

If your poles become a pain in the ass. You are most likly carrying them wrong. try using your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:banana Nice!!! :D

[littlelaurel59]

If your poles become a pain in the ass. You are most likly carrying them wrong. try using your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OUCH!!!

Proper uses of hiking poles:
1. Pulling up steep grades.
2. Braking down steep grades.
3. Balance when crossing narrow ledges, fast moving water, or irregular terrain.
4. Depth probe when crossing deep streams so you don't go down in a hole.
5. Supporting one's lightweight tarptent.

I must be carrying them OK...they haven't caused any pain.

[Bloodroot]

Never hiked with them before my thru. Won't go without them now. Like others have mentioned, they are great for:

1. Stabalization (especially on the down hills). When my feet were at their worse, those baby's made great semi-crutches.
2. For me, setting up tarptent.
3. Hanging up wet clothes.
4. To keep the rythm.
5. Most importantly, warding off enemies and survival. I used those babies to take down 5 black bears, 2 whitetail deer and countless number of squirrels with my advanced hiking pole throwing accuracy. After the kill I used them to cook the game over campfire.:D

[rafe]

They're particularly useful for stream crossings, eg. when you the footpath is a log or plank just a few inches wide and there's muck (or worse) on either side. Also useful for PA rocks. I'll sometimes fold them up and stash 'em on those (rare) occasions when the trail is straight, level, and smooth, or when the trail is so steep that I'll be wanting hand-holds into the mountain.

[white rabbit]

I can really power up hills using them! They have saved my ankles a few times too.

[moxie]

If your poles become a pain in the ass. You are most likly carrying them wrong. try using your hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anti shock poles act like a rocking chair if you sit on one when carried in the ass. When walkin they do drag behind. The hands are better.....LOL:D

[Jester2000]

I did start using them when I had an injury (broken foot) but I continued using them because I found them to be helpful for all of the above mentioned reasons. Big help when fording as well.

Plus, you can't really enter the Leki Throwing Contest at the Billville Hiker feed without one.

[saimyoji]

Plus, you can't really enter the Leki Throwing Contest at the Billville Hiker feed without one.


Haven't heard of this before. Is cheese involved? If it doesn't exist, how about a swiss cheese making with Leki throwing combined event?

[Lone Wolf]

Why do you use sticks/poles/canes/whatever when hikeing? Aren't they a pain in the ass to carry and stuff, or do you only use them if you have a bum leg and still want to hike?

i use none of the above. i'm a real hiker. a hiking god

[nitewalker]

Why do you use sticks/poles/canes/whatever when hikeing? Aren't they a pain in the ass to carry and stuff, or do you only use them if you have a bum leg and still want to hike?



use the poles and you will not develop a bum leg, belive me!!!:D

[Lone Wolf]

i've had a bum leg for 29 years

[Gray Blazer]

They are a pain in the a$$ when you accidentally leave them at the last place you took a rest and now you have to turn around and hike back to retieve them.

[Bare Bear]

I used them because after five knee operations (no cartilege left now in either knee) I felt they would take some strain off my knees and they did. I extended them an inch more than the supposed 'optimum' length. I also damaged both shoulders and have been suggested to have surgery to fix them by two doctors. You can't win, go enjoy. Go slow and it won't matter as much if you have sticks or not.

[snowhoe]

I never used them until I went on the A.T. I got them at springer. There was a ridgerunner handing them out there. I also got a bandana and a pack of matches and was told that if I turned in the matches in neels gap I would get another bandana. Which I did.

[zoidfu]

They help a lot in ice and snow too.