Gello, this mi ght be a dumb question, but ti shows how expreinced i am at backpacking. I recieved me trekking poels today and they have a red rubber removable “nipple” at the end. Do i hike with then on or off? also…the straps on the poles, should i cut them off? they look like an annoyance. Thanks
Anthony
Question
Hello, this might be a dumb question, but it shows how experienced I am at backpacking. I received my trekking poles today and they have a red rubber removable “nipple” at the end. Do I hike with then on or off? Also…the straps on the poles, should I cut them off? They look like an annoyance. Thanks
Anthony
I find using the straps with my hand threaded up from the underside, saves wear and tear on my wrists. Also when climbing up boulder type areas, hand over hand, I can just dangle the poles from my wrist so hands are free. Same thing when hauling myself up some steep inclines using tree roots to hang on to. And when those unexpected falls happen, my poles don’t go skittering off some cliff. I don’t know what the red tips are. I’m 55 and need all the help I can get, so I use the straps.
kathy hay
Yes cut off the straps and then put the poles in the fork of a tree and bend them 90 degrees. this will make them shorter for the long steep hills.
Virginian
Got me this time.I thought the straps were where you inserted your feet, to help in crossing creeks.
Bill Harris
Most people cut off the straps for safety reasons. If your pole gets caught under a root or in a hole and you don’t realize it and continue, the strap could pull you off your feet. I had it happen once while skiing fast and my body went straight out like a cartoon and I hit like a sack of something. It is personal preference, others like them for the reasons that Kathy mentioned.
Blue Jay
Straps generally make it possible to use poles without keeping a death grip on the handles.
If in doubt, just try using them for a while without your hands through the straps. See if you like using poles without straps.
Peaks
Easy, what if Anthony is new. I learned how to use the straps from reading hiking sites. I used to think they were for hanging them on a hook at home to organize the clutter. Mine came with no instructions. So, what are the rubber tips for? Mine are black and sit in a drawer at home. It seems like when I go up a muddy slope I need the sharp metal tip, altho’ I know it probably does some environmental damage. Someone said there are no dumb questions, so take it easy on me. I just want to learn.
kathy hay
they are in case you get tired of the constant, tick, scrape, tick, tick all day long. You can buy better tips and epoxy them on. I can’t stand the noise so I keep them on. Again, it’s purely personal preference.
Blue Jay
Anthony, don’t cut the straps off. The way they are intended to be used is to pass your hand thru the strap loop and then grip the handgrip with your fingers. As you hike up/down a slope bear down with the heel of your hand onto the strap so you won’t have to clench the grip so hard with your fingers (only light pressure is needed). Try it, it works. Adjust the strap to the right length for best fit; the idea is to use the fingers to “steer” the pole but use the strap to bear down on. I always keep the rubber tips on the Lekis, I think it gives them a better footing on soft ground otherwise they poke holes in the ground and sink in. I think it keeps the trail in better shape too. Also, adjust the length of the pole so that when you are standing still your forearm is level with the ground.
RockyTrail
I believe the red tips are just a protective plastic cover put on in the factory to both protect the tip until bought and protect other things like the floor of the store. For hiking if the noise bothers you buy some rubber tips. I am torn between the silence of using rubber tips and the extra grip the naked tip gives in some instances. When I was in the 100 mile Wilderness I was talking to some hikers about the Moose I had seen that day and they were telling me that they had not seen any yet. The next day while I was taking a break they passed me. I could hear the clicking of the poles from 100 meters away.
Big B
There was an article in the “Register” ATC magazine about using rubber tips. In a basic experiment, recreation ecologist Jeff Marion found that using rubber tips when hiking in soils lessens soil disruption and eventually soil erosion, especially on ups and downs.
Socially, the rubber tips might limit the noise that myself and others have noticed that are produced by the poles. Most of this noise could be prevented by using rubber tips on rock areas (and would also limit the obvious scratchlines along rocky routes and the puctures along organic stretches). Like Big B, I can here a pole-hiker long before they get to me, or more usually when I get to them. Some WD-40 would help a lot of people out there with sqeaky springs.
Tha Wookie
Thanks for the info. I will go get the rubber tips out of my drawer and put them on my poles. BUT, when solo hiking in the Smoky Mtns. and the Wind River Range, I was purposely smacking my poles on rocks, lest I round a corner and surprise a bear. I feel foolish talking or singing to myself to make them aware of my presence. Now, does anyone know what the little plastic baskets things are that also came with my poles?
kathy hay
The baskets are for snow. They are designed to prevent “post holing” of the poles, which is when they sink deeply into the snow and are difficult to retract. They fit near the bottom end of the pole.
In the same paper I mentioned above, it was noted that baskets should be used carefully in heavily vegetated areas to avoid vegetation impact that is commonly associated with careless swinging of poles.
Tha Wookie
Now I understand my poles much better. You people are the greatest at helping us learn.
kathy hay
C’mon now those poles aren’t hurting the trail. If anything it helps aerate the soil. You environmental wackos need to buy or borrow a clue.
hoss
The instructions that Leki provided with my poles say to never put lubricants on any part of the pole, but I am sure Tha Wookie knows more than the manufacturer.
Lee
It depends on what you mean in “hurting the trail”. If you mean ecologically, then I would halfway agree with you. I disagree with the “aeration theory”, because the trails our not our front lawns which need human maintenence to hold our desired character for them. Besides, the amount of soil compaction probably outweighs any increase in aerated surface area. Don’t fool yourself or others in thinking that you’re doing the trail a favor by punching 1/4" holes along the tread’s width for 2000 miles.
Yet I will agree that this amount of impact is not something that will cause great deal of ecosystem damage. For instance, a study done on 700 miles of the Smokies trail system condition pointed out that the entire disturbed area was not even 1% of the Park area. But the impacts on the trail are still a concern not mostly because of environmental impacts, but because of how visitors percieve those impacts. Social surveys and my own personal experience have suggested that people care greatly about the condition of the trails.
No one is trying to ban poles or condem their use. Like most other aspects of hiking, low-impact skills can help preserve the natural character of the trails.
Tha Wookie
I didn’t suggest that for the pole’s sake, but rather for the other hikers out there who would rather not hear clanging metal springs for five months. Do the Leki instructions say anywhere the correct way to stop the squeaking yourself? Or is that a maintenence job for them? Can you get some sort of maintenence plan? Tell us…
Tha Wookie