Hiking Poles

Hiking poles, trekking poles, or simply walking sticks for the old-fashioned, aid tremendously in reducing stress on your knees and ankles and take a little weight from your back as you scramble across rocky terrain on mountain trails. Walking uphill the poles can help keep balance and to distribute a little weight, and downhill it helps to absorb some of the shock on you legs and to give you secure footing. Even though they are light and seem flimsy they do a lot to redistribute the weight to your arms and to relieve your lower legs of the work of maintaining all of the balance. The common perception of long hikes is that they should be very tiring and even painful. However, having a stick or a set of poles along can relieve a lot of the repetitive stress and over a long distance will save a great deal of impact of the legs. Some poles have built-in shock absorbers which can also relieve a lot of work for your muscles. Many hikers know the difference that the poles can make. It is already old wisdom since travelers have carried a wooden staff or a pine branch to aid them along the winding roads of the countryside.

The basic design of the poles is a rubberized handle with a wrist strap for a good grip, then a telescoping rod made of a light composite metal or carbon that can adjust between 2 feet to about 5 feet, and then a metal tip. The end point is often made of a small peg of very tough tungsten carbide metal that practically never wears down and is able to "grab" the rocky spots where you plant it. The tip holds well and almost never slips, so it works well to help your footing across the most rugged trails. Well-constructed poles are relatively light (about one half pound each), so it does not add much extra work to your arms. Using the poles correctly leverages great advantages and the most important technique starts with the handle and wrist strap. By placing your hand through the strap and anchoring it directly at your wrists you will be able to secure the pole and shift your weight onto it without having to grip tightly with your hand. Using the grip correctly you won't wear out your hands but you can shift a great deal of weight onto your arms. However, you may want to wear gloves to reduce some of the friction on your hands.