I wonder if hiking poles is necessary for the AT thru hike ?
Bcoz it is hard for me to try and imagine myself walking with 2 poles are attached to my hands the whole trail…
What da ya think ?
Roee Dotan
Does hiking poles are necessary?
system
#3
Hike on your favorite trail, in full pack with a set of poles. After about 5 miles, put the poles away and see how your legs feel.
I always feel a definite change in my knees and ankles when I put my poles down.
I’d say yeah.
Thunder
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#4
That is the key word. Clearly no, hundreds if not thousands of thrus have made it to the big K without them prior to the huge marketing effort. Do people like them? Clearly yes, most hikers use them. They are extremely cool and fashionable. They allow you to go too fast too long too soon and to believe that pain in your knees and medication are facts of hiking life. They are good for protection against dogs and crossing streams.
Blue Jay
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#6
I have hiked the AT one and a half times and don’t use poles. My opinion is that they cause more problems then they correct. They are a trip hazard. They tie up your hands in a fall. Unless you have bad knees they won’t help you support the load. They won’t help you up a hill. If they won’t prevent wear and tear on your body and they won’t limit your level of exhaustion at the end of the day you carry an extra pound for no good reason. You are a Bi-ped. Embrace your humanity. A million years ago Humans evolved a better system than our knuckle dragging ancestors and traded stability for speed. However, if you want to make a fashionable appearance for the photo on the cover of Backpacker Magazine you will need a set of $400 high tech poles.
Francis
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#7
Hiking Poles are not Necessary i have done three AT thru’s ( 96 Flip-Flop & GA-ME 06 & GA-ME 2012 ) and i never used treking poles on either one of my hikes never felt the need to use them, to me they just get in the way, and i plan to do the PCT in 2015 and i will be going without poles.
RED-DOG
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#8
I have done sections both with and without hiking poles. Uphill, I prefer having them on uphill sections as it allows some of the lifting to be done by a different set of muscles. As an alternate, you can always look for a stick right before an uphill section then dump the stick once at the top. I also like having them on some, but not all, downhill sections as it allows you to take some weight off the down hill step and it allows for additional balance and protection against a slip and fall. On flat sections they are extra weight. I bought a set of carbon fiber fixed length Black Diamond poles just to keep the weight to a minimum. Worth it? Hard to say but I think I prefer them to not having them. Admittedly I don’t hike as much as Red Dog so that may influence our preferences and yours.
While Francis is correct in us being bi-peds, our bi-ped motion was developed on the flat plains of Africa, not the mountains of Georgia!
Good luck with your hike and I hope to see you out there!
Bob
Bob Martin
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#9
I’ve hiked the AT two and a half times and always use hiking poles. They improve balance on uneven trails and water crossings, increase traction up and down hill by providing additional points of contact with the ground during each phase of the forward stride, reduce pressure on joints once your learn how to use them correctly, act in the same manner as a cane in the event of leg pain or other injury, double as tent and tarp supports in camp thus eliminating the need to carry dedicated tent poles, give the upper body a bit of much-needed exercise to stave off becoming a T-Rex body type, improve circulation to the arms and hands which is naturally restricted while wearing a backpack with arms below the heart, AND poles also give you something to do (eg, stab the ground while diverting your gaze) while you’re enduring another long-winded speal of zealotry from the likes of those pesky trail angels that like to hit you up at road crossings and on top of the mountain.
hoch
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#10
Are hiking poles (trekking poles) necessary? No. I hiked for ten years without them. Then my wife surprised me one Christmas with a set of Lekis. Now I am a convert for three reasons. 1) They allow your arms to provide assistance to your legs on the uphill sections. This uses muscles not normally exercised when hiking. It took three weeks (hiking once a week) for my triceps soreness to dissipate. A bonus was much better definition in my un-body builder like pectoral muscles. 2) They provide excellent stability on downhill portions by giving you a third point of support. On steeper trails this is a much appreciated feature, especially with a pack on your back. 3) The constant grasping and squeezing of the grips totally eliminated issues I had with fluid causing my hands and fingers to swell. This was an unexpected bonus feature. So they are not necessary but they do make my hiking much more enjoyable.
George Bondor