I’ve been reading “Beyond Backpacking” by Ray Jardine and couldn’t help noticing how he is completely down on hiking poles, saying they just create more net stress on a hiker. How can this square with the huge number of hikers using poles out there? If poles were really more of a burden than a help, it seems like the general hiking community would naturally select them out of use. Any thoughts on this?
Tyger
Since you’re carrying more weight (2 poles), it does add more net stress on the body. However, a few extra ounces takes a LOT of stress off the legs and redistributes it to the shoulders. I think I read somewhere that poles can reduce knee stress by 30%. If you’re a 170lbs hiker with a 30lbs pack, that’s 60lbs transferred from your knees! Well worth the extra ounces for a lot of folks.
Not to mention the added stability you get from the poles, especially during stream crossings, rocky areas, and steep climbs/descents. And if you carry a tent instead of a tarp, you have to factor in the weight of the tent poles. If you can substitute the hiking poles for tent poles (like in a tarptent), the hiking poles don’t add much net stress at all. But according to the book, Ray is all about tarps and not tarptents or tents. I carry a hammock and get around both!
Jeff
Jeff
I started my '03 hike w/o poles and after a week I picked up a couple of walking sticks out of the woods. Since then, I’ve never hiked w/o poles. My first thoughts of poles were they looked out of place on a hiker; I had many visions of shoulders worn down, extra weight, and many other negative thoughts. All these opinions changed after I tried them. POLES HAVE A VERY DYNAMIC VALUE. first and foremost was the weight reduction on the knees, then I have to take it to another level. I’ve noticed on flat land my stride is increased 4-6 inches or more. I change my grip and i can use the pole to vault myself forward which means i don’t have to do that off my back leg. I get an upper body workout. The carbide tips will stick to almost any surface( rock, ice, pavement, ect.) there are times I look around and I can use the poles as my guide so I don’t have to pay attention to the trail conditions. when I stop to talk to people I can rest on my poles instead of locking my knees. when I ford I can use them to balance or vault. they can be used for ultra light tarp/tent setups. there are so many reasons I cary poles I could go on and on and on.
As you can see I don’t cary poles for one reason only, I have an expanded use for them. I’ll never go without them again.
magic
I started my AT hike with them and progressively started to hate them more and more as the hike went on. The extra weight for the minimal effort just wasn’t worth it in my opinion. I got rid of them in Waynesboro and was much happier after that. I will say though, that in the snow and ice throughout the Smokies and some other small sections, many falls were probably prevented because of the poles. As for when the trail was muddy and I didn’t have poles, I liked grabbing onto trees and putting my hands on the ground for extra stability. I don’t think I fell a single time in almost 700 miles or so after I got rid of my poles.
Tell it like it is
I have only been able to do days hikes since I got my poles, and feel that they were very helpful for my knees as well, but another thing that I noticed was my fingers / hands did not swell when using the poles. Without poles (my hands generally down my side) my hands noticably swell up and cause minor discomfort especially around my wedding band which I am somewhat concerned about during long distance hiking. Do swelling fingers affect anyone else?
Jim Lipsey
Contrary to Ray’s thinking, poles actually help reduce the concentrations of stress on the hiker’s knees and spread it more evenly across the body. This gets more important as one ages, as eventually with hard use knee cartilage will fail (witness George W had to stop his daily run because of the knees). Enjoy your youth while you have it! Ross is right, Ray is an aberration, there are not many folks as tough as him.
I like my poles, they are useful for balance, my arms get to help out on climbs and decents, they’re wonderful for fording streams and use as a tarptent pole. They’re quiet with rubber tips, (I don’t like clacking either). The only drawback is that they always fall over when I lean them against something!
happy hiking
RockyTrail
Love my hiking poles and will not hike w/o them.
Just remember that books are written by many people, some of who are far from being experts. You can’t believe everything you read in a book, some things yes, but not everything.
Guess we just have to find our own way and what works for us.
See you out there. :cheers
Maintain
Thanks for all the great replies. Have poles, will walk. I’m in complete agreement on the “experts” who write books–I’m a recovering journalist and former editor … don’t believe everything you see in print: it’s just people writing stuff! Double check your comfort zone and hike your own hike, in the end.
Happy trails!:cheers
Tyger
Poles are definitely where it’s at for us over 40 hikers. I bought two poles and a camel back type water bag, and it was the best money I ever spent. The poles make it easy to walk up and down steep slopes, and keep one’s balance on stream crossings, etc. Make sure they’re adjusted right though. I did over 130 miles, and then noticed my triceps hurt. I lowered the poles a bit, around an inch, and it made a huge difference. Buy poles.
Anne Chase
I bought some lekis to XC ski with on the backcountry trails like the A-T is. But they collapse in the winter and then they freeze solid. So I use one of the poles for hiking on the not so graded trails, streams and spiderwebs this summer. And I spear it uphill on the arms and leg 5.4 climbs. But like a road walk or graded section Bank Robber is right, arm swing is more productive.
Greg
Bouncing back to Jim Lipsey’s query above about swollen hands – I think most hikers experience this. I sure do. My solution is to tie short loops of webbing to the rings near the top of my shoulder straps, extending down about to the bottom of my ribs. I hold onto these so-called “thumb-loops” at least 50 percent of the time while I’m walking – probably more. Sometimes they’re “thumb-loops”, sometimes they’re “wrist-loops”, sometimes I just rotate them so that the knots are at the bottom and I just hold onto them. Depends on how I feel. Works great.
Creaky
Based on my experience with double Lekis
Prevents, to a degree, sore knees
Excellent for balance, especial when descending, and snoe
Great for snowshoeing
Awesome in spring in the mud, when you need to balance on logs and stones
Great for giant leaps when fording streams
Adjustable pole for Tarptent, Six Moons, and tarps
Saves your from some falls
You won’t get the trailname: ‘Lekiless’
When scrambling, or ladder/rope climbing, you need your hands
Noise, scares away wild life, hiking buddies
Arms/chest gets tired
Causes you to fall in some instances
Can be improvised first aid devices in an emergency
Jeff T
I started out without them, got severe knee pain. and started taking advil coming down blood mtn towards neels gap. I grabbed a stick and eventually i adjusted my pace so that i didn’t need poles (or advil). I made it the rest of the way with a 30 lb pack. It does scare the wildlife. My opinion, if you can do without them do, if not use them. Like most things on the trail, do what you gotta do baby
homey
I was hesitant to use them on my initial section hike but I wouldn’t hike without them now. Especially when winter hiking the southern AT, they prevented many an icy slip.
Zydecajun
