Hiking Poles: The What, Where, When, Why, and How

Yeah, maybe when I was 19, I wouldn’t have felt it after a few days of icing it and throwing on heat packs.

Do carry trekking poles on your ventures out on the trails, especially in the following cases:

• You expect moderately rugged terrain or inclined trails
• You want to save your knees, hips, ankles, leg muscles, and feet from inury
• You are carrying a pack
• You expect to face climbs or descents
• You want to increase your endurance

Hiking Poles (a.k.a. trekking poles) offer added stability, protection, and endurance during hiking and backpacking. For around the price of good hiking shoes, they are an essential piece of equipment for serious trekkers.

How Do Trekking Poles Work?

When you take hold of two light sturdy hiking poles, you just put two extra players in the game. Although not as powerful as your legs, your arms help substantially in supporting the weight you carry (body, clothes, and pack), and distributing the load evenly.

The Many Benefits of Hiking Poles

1. Climbing Lower your grip on the poles (if your model has grip extensions) or decrease the length a few inches, and you now have added power for tackling ascents.

Using poles also helps your posture on climbs, so that your torso is upright (which conveniently aids in breathing by opening your lungs).

2. Downhill Descents can really be harder than climbs, and if you’ve ever gone downhill on a fairly steep trail for more than an hour, you know what I mean. Your legs, and especially your knees, take a beating on the descent.

Luckily, a pair of hiking poles relieves much of the abuse on your joints, again by distributing the load and shocks through different parts of your body.

Some poles include a shock-absorbing tip, which helps to save your joints even more. (On flat terrain or climbs, you'll want to lock this mechanism, though.)

3. Traversing When going sideways along a slope, or traversing uneven, rocky terrain, your hiking poles will help you keep a sure footing.

Every hiker from time to time slips or stumbles. (That’s part of the fun right?) A pair of poles just might keep you firmly planted.

4. Endurance On long treks, you will find that a set of trekking poles allows you go farther without feeling so much pain and exhaustion.

In reality, you are not putting out less effort. You are spreading that effort out to more of your body, so you feel it less.

What you get in return is a full body workout.

5. Other Benefits Hiking Poles may come in handy in a number of other situations:

• In the very unlikely event you need to defend yourself
• As a support for a tarp shelter
• To carry duct tape for impromptu repairs (wrap a few strips around the shaft)
• To gauge the depth of streams or rivers when crossing
• To push back low-hanging branches or overgrown brush from the trail

What to Look For in Hiking Poles

Most trekking poles on the market today are quite similar in design and can range in price from around $80 to $200 USD.

Leki, Black Diamond, and Komperdell are all very good brands.

Here are a few major components of hiking poles that you should consider when choosing a pair that is right for you:

• Shaft construction The two main types are a high grade aluminum and carbon fiber. Carbon fiber shaves off a few ounces of weight, but can break or splinter under extreme stress. Carbon also tends to be more expensive.

  Aluminum is still quite light, and is unlikely to break, though it may bend. Regardless of material, both shafts are normally built in 3 adjustable sections.

• Pole Size Since poles adjust to a wide range, it’s easy to select the right size. There are basically three sizes: standard, compact (or women’s), and children’s.

• Anti-Shock Tip Trekking poles are available with a shock-absorbing tip. This feature is perfect for people with weak joints, prior sports injuries, and it is best for downhill hiking.

  The tip is lockable so that the pole grabs firmly on uphill climbs and level grades.

  The downsides are: extra weight from the spring mechanism, and added cost. If you are not so worried about your joints, consider a standard hiking pole to save weight and money.


• Tip material Tips are made of a high strength steel or carbide, and will actually scar rock.

  In the name of treading lightly, you can buy a number of rubber tips that are available (each with a slightly different function).

  You will cause less damage to the trail, plant life, and rocks along the way.

• Locking Mechanism This is a key component of the hiking poles, since you don’t want this to fail on you and have the pole collapse.

  There a two main types of closing mechanisms for adjusting the shaft length, with a few variations:

  Screw type: you twist the pole to tighten the adjuster.

  Lever type: there is a small lever that clamps against the pole.

  In my opinion, a hiking pole with a lever type adjustment is better for a couple of reasons:

  1. They are easier to open and close in cold or wet weather or with gloves on.
  2. A clamping lever feels a bit more reliable, since it is possible not to twist the poles to the fully tight position with the screw type.

• Hand Grip The newer poles on the market feature more ergonomic grips than before. Each pole is even labeled for left and right hands.

  Choose a grip material that appeals to you. You will find grips in cork, foam, and rubber.

  Rubber is suited for snow, cold, and wet conditions, while both cork and foam are suited for fair and warm weather hiking, as they absorb sweat and moisture and won’t slip in your bare hands.

• Basket Your stock hiking poles come with a small disc near the tip. This prevents the tip from penetrating deep into the trail surface.

  For other conditions such as mud and snow, you can add a wider specialized basket.

Learn How to Use Trekking Poles Properly

Like any sport, using hiking poles the right way takes a bit of practice. But once you get the hang of it, and learn to use poles to your advantage, you will see instant results.

As a general guide, you should aim to position your poles so that your elbow is at a 90 degree angle. You may need to adjust the length in these circumstances:

• Climbing—Shorten the poles a few inches, since the terrain in front of you is a bit higher than your feet. (If you have grip extensions on your poles, no need to make the adjustment—just drop your hands down a few inches.)
• Downhill—Lengthen your hiking poles a few inches, since the ground in front is lower than your feet.
• Traversing sideways along a slope—In the same way, you will want to adjust one pole so that it is shorter and one longer. The shorter will be above you uphill, and the longer one will stabilize you on the downslope side.

Hiking-Trails-and-Gear.Com Expert Tip:

If you plan to do any trekking with a pair of poles, I highly recommend the dvd, Poles, for Hiking, Trekking and Walking. I know a small handful of hikers, young and old, male and female, who swear by this video. Learn the right way to use poles from the start and get a full body workout from your treks.

Many hikers who watch this video find that they have been using hiking poles the wrong way and not getting all the benefits from this important trekker’s tool.

This is definitely the best how-to guide for using poles, and the presenters know their stuff, with mobility training and medical backgrounds.

You will find out how to save your spine and your joints, increase your hiking performance and endurance, adjust poles efficiently, and get a full body workout.

Training is a must for getting the best performance from your trekking poles.

Of all the books and videos out there, this one definitely gives you the most bang for your buck. Enjoy, and lend it to a friend!

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