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  1. #21

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    Depends on the size of the baskets. Summer use baskets on my BD poles are not very large in diameter but do tend to slow the pole down when it gets into sinking soils. They also help quiet the poles when moving through rocky areas where you can casually bang the poles into the sides of rocks. I usually keep them on and have larger baskets for snow in the winter.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Singto View Post
    I've been trying to find threads about using pole baskets or not using them but with no success. I'd think that having available and using the smaller "mud baskets" from time to time would be a wise choice but maybe this is wrong? I've seen in YouTube some people using them and some not.

    What is the consensus about pole baskets?

    Or is their a link to a similar thread?

    Thanks
    This is a relevant thread for me since on my last 24 day Pisgah trip I lost the mud basket on my hiking pole (I only use one) and as usual I was sinking down a foot or two in places where I didn't want to, i.e. dangerous spots.


    Quote Originally Posted by Puddlefish View Post
    Heard one guy complain about his baskets becoming packed with mud. Maybe the right answer just depends on trail conditions at the moment.
    Packed with mud or packed with ice---either way I just bang the pole tips against a tree a couple times.

    Quote Originally Posted by zelph View Post
    Leave them on. They are worth their weight in gold for when you have to go off trail in woodland situations.
    They are mandatory for me because I rely on my one hiking pole for balance at times and it's no good when the pole tip sinks 2 feet into forest duff periodically.

    Quote Originally Posted by MtDoraDave View Post
    I keep mine on, for both the stack-o-leaves issue, and the sinking in soft ground issue. I have lost a basket before, but I have also found some along the trail. Periodic checking to make sure they are tight has become routine.

    If on the AT, when picking up others' lost baskets, rather than trashing them out, leave them at the next shelter you reach. This way, others who have lost a basket may be able to use it. To some this may be trail magic while to others, it's leaving trash behind. Since I like having baskets on my poles, I try to think of it as trail magic.
    What's odd is that on my Pisgah trip just before I lost my basket I found another one on the trail but I did not pick it up. I should have.

  3. #23

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    I just use one, best of both worlds!

    j/k - I recently broke one clean off and finished my hike like that...

    the one without the basket gets caught on brush much less but I liked having the basket on the downhill side when side-hilling to keep the pole from punching through the thinner earth there.

    anyway, I prefer the smallest basket I can find. it doesn't take much for mud or leaves, etc...

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    I just use one, best of both worlds!

    j/k - I recently broke one clean off and finished my hike like that...

    the one without the basket gets caught on brush much less but I liked having the basket on the downhill side when side-hilling to keep the pole from punching through the thinner earth there.

    anyway, I prefer the smallest basket I can find. it doesn't take much for mud or leaves, etc...
    Yes! It's the sidehilling and punching thru which is risky.

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