Trekking Poles

[Lone Wolf]

Actually I've used wooden poles many times when crossing the Kennebec. *** is a canoe?

[peter2003]

I know there are some traditional hikers out there that don't use them, however, during my my 2003 thru hike over 90% of the hikers I saw had poles and all my friends used them. I would get the anti-shock type poles.

VTPete03

[bailcor]

I hiked without them in the 70's and now hike with them. I do not have knee problems and find their greater use to be taking weight off of the legs while you are going up hill. The arms are just dangling there not pulling their weight and out there I think every part of you should be working. You can get into some awful situations sometimes when all you need is a pole to give you that extra stability.
You can also brace them against a tree to spear a charging lion.

[Smooth03]

I had never used poles in my many years of hiking before my SOBO thru-hike but I would recommend them to everyone. They save a lot of strain on your knees and ankles. Strain that over a weeklong hike doesn't effect you, but over 6 months starts to add up. Also with poles you can wear "trail-runner" boots instead of traditional boots. Again I highly recommend poles specifically any style made by Leki. They are very good in replacing broken parts for thru-hikers.