Choosing: Trekking Poles

The benefits
Trekking poles are now standard equipment for many walkers, trekkers and backpackers, especially those headed into hilly or mountainous terrain. Used as a pair, they work in several ways:

They improve balance and stability, especially on uneven terrain or when carrying heavy loads.
They reduce stress on the lower body by letting your arms take some of the strain (it has been calculated that during an 8 hour day, a pair of poles can relieve the strain on your knees by 250 tonnes!).
They can improve breathing and walking rhythm, helping make better use of energy.
Other uses include using as probes to find solid ground when crossing bogs, supporting tent awnings or washing lines, or even splinting broken legs!

Even used on it's own, a single pole can be a real aid to balance, especially when crossing obstacles like streams or peat bogs, or when descending rocky slopes.

Standard features
Most poles are very similar in terms of basic design and features:

Lightweight but strong aluminium alloy tubing.
3 telescoping sections, so they can be adjusted to suit users of different heights and different types of terrain (typically shorter for going up hill - longer for going down), and can also pack down small for transportation (typically 60 to 70cm).
A straight ski-pole type grip, usually made of durable, grippy, and shock absorbing rubber.
An adjustable wrist loop, which transfers the load off your hands and onto the wrists.
A replaceable tungsten carbide tip, for durability and grip on rock.
A small basket designed to stop the pole sinking into soft ground or mud.

Other designs
In addition to the 'standard' pole design, most manufacturers also make anatomic and anti-shock models. Anatomic models feature grips that are bent forward by about 15 degrees, reducing stress on the wrist by keeping it in a more neutral position during use. Anti-shock models feature built-in shock absorbers to increase user comfort. The only drawback with these designs is that the anatomic models do not pack down as small, and the anti-shock models are heavier and more expensive.

Use in winter - a word of caution
As already stated, poles can be a great benefit in terms of comfort and safety, especially when carrying larger loads (as is often the case for winter walkers or climbers) or walking on soft snow (many manufacturers make optional snow baskets to make poles more effective in soft snow). However, it is vitally important that an ice axe is still used when appropriate on snow covered slopes where the risk of a slip could lead to serious injury or death. Poles are not designed to arrest a fall on snow covered slopes - a vital function of any ice axe. Don't let poles give you a false sense of security - if in any doubt, stow the poles and use an ice axe.

Care and maintenance
The 2 main problems encountered by owners of trekking poles are internal corrosion and breakage. Despite their anodised finish, the internal surfaces of trekking pole tubing can still corrode if left damp for long periods - always ensure that if they have got wet (rain, stream crossing, etc.), that the pole's sections are taken completely apart and allowed to air dry internally before being stored. The tubing used to make trekking poles is very strong for it's weight, but can still easily be broken under certain circumstances, most commonly if the tip gets caught between rocks (for example) and the pole is then subjected to a sideways force (due to stumbling, etc). As such, care should be taken when using poles on very rocky ground. If you do break a section, most pole manufacturers have replacement sections available.

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Last updated January 28, 2005