Trekking Poles: How to adjust and use straps
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To use the poles on the pavement, you can remove the baskets and use the rubber paw over the carbide tip. While you can use Nordic walking poles for stability if you prefer their grips, you can’t use trekking poles for the Nordic walking technique.When you are using trekking poles to help with your stability, you need to measure the length so that you are holding them with your elbow bent at 90 degrees while they are touching the ground.
This ensures that you have the most strength and leverage to use them at.Use this to give yourself a pull as you stand up. In the same way, you can use the poles to get better balance as you sit down.
Grip the poles on the shaft with both hands and as you sit, plant them on either side of your body for more stability. Using the Poles to Enhance your Hiking Pace.You will get the best advantages if you make use of your trekking poles effectively.
Figure out how to hold the poles, use the correct arm and leg movement, and change them for going uphill and downhill. With poles, you’ll feel progressively very must confident in walking and hiking a mountain.When getting a hiking or trekking pole for stability, you should get one that you would be able to hold with your elbows at 90 degrees.
This allows you to have leverage whenever you lean on the poles for stability. Most poles have an adjustable length measured in centimeters.Use your poles in pairs to improve the stability Hiking and trekking poles will come in pairs and they are extremely effective when they are used as such. You can decide to use one of them as a walking stick, or a cane, but this is not what they were designed for.For most hiking, keep elbows bent at a 90-degree angle for comfort.
On long uphills, shorten the poles by about 2 to 4 inches (or 5 to 10 centimeters, many poles have centimeters marked on them) so your shoulders are not strained. For downhill sections, lengthen the.One of the biggest benefits that come with using trekking poles, is improved balance.
By using two poles – or even one pole – it helps to keep you stable. On days when I was barely able to hold myself upright, I was still able to use my upper body strength to move around and keep mobile through the use of walking poles.”Trekking with poles is walking with serious attitude,” says Paley, who has sold more than 12,000 copies of her trio of DVDs on using poles for hiking, Nordic walking or basic mobility. As boomers age and remain active, interest is soaring in trekking poles as well as walking canes and sticks.Improperly adjusted trekking poles can cause distress to your arms, shoulders, back and neck.
For general hiking, adjust the length so that when you hold the pole with the tip on the ground near your foot, your arm makes a 90-degree bend at the elbow. This will be the right length for most of your hiking.Poles give you more balance.
Backpacks are heavy and all that extra load on your back can result in bad posture or decrease in stability when walking up or downhill. Hiking poles provide two more points of contact out in front of your body which can act as counter-supports to more easily distribute your load.When hiking uphill, position your poles at roughly a 70-degree angle (in the direction that you’re heading), rather than straight up and down, helping to propel you forward. When hiking back downhill, you can place your hands on top of the grips and reverse the angle, using the poles to provide better stability and relieve pressure on your legs.Using trekking poles when fording rivers and streams is a great way to add stability to your frame within moving current.
Face upstream if the current is strong and maintain a tripod position as you shuffle sideways through the water.Hiking poles can help to stabilize a hiker. They provide extra points of contact with the ground, which makes hiking poles kind of like an extra set of legs.
As such, poles can help ground you while you’re trekking; especially on rugged, steep, or slippery terrains. Support for heavy packs.When you’re carrying around a heavy pack and have a ton of weight on your shoulders trekking poles, allow you to use your upper body strength to help you carry a pack load, remain balanced and give you stability and traction while staying upright.
List of related literature:
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| from Trail Tested: A Thru-Hiker’s Guide to Ultralight Hiking and Backpacking |
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| from Washington Scrambles: Best Nontechnical Ascents |
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| from Awol on the Appalachian Trail |
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| from Wilderness Medicine E-Book: Expert Consult Premium Edition Enhanced Online Features |
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| from Hal Koerner’s Field Guide to Ultrarunning: Training for an Ultramarathon, from 50K to 100 Miles and Beyond |
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| from To the Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de Compostela |
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| from IELTS Superpack |
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| from Introduction to Kinesiology: Studying Physical Activity |
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| from Backpacking in Michigan |
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| from Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine E-Book |
39 comments
I have a pair of trekking poles, but have not gotten to use them yet. Thanks for the strap info, makes sense! I do use a cane sometimes, and the advise on level ground walking is use it to assist your bad leg by holding in the hand of your good side, that way when you step with the bad leg you extend the cane as support for it, as you take the step. Height adjustment for a cane is just as critical as height adjustment for a trekking pole. Thanks for the sound advise!
It seems like they’re really useful for inclines and declines and completely useless for flat ground
Oddly enough after 10,000+ miles including 2 AT thru hikes, I’ve never “needed” poles. What’s “needed” is ankle strength, knee strength and proper footwear.
Carrying and pushing off with poles not only requires more overall energy, it creates a significant impact to the trail in many respects.
Excellent tutorial. Informative and straight to the point. Thanks for posting.
I hope people don’t think I’m old when I use the tracking pole
That’s the best explanation of how to use them I have seen. Well done, Sir, and thanks.
yet another numpty, you do not just put your hands through the strap, you put your hands up through the strap and then grip down on it, as well as gripping the pole handle, wish people who know nothing about walking with poles, would NOT make video’s, like I said, another NUMPTY.
Hey bigfoot….is it a good practice to extend both sections the same length? I notice when i extend the thicker top shaft all the way out I get a lot more flex and I assume that’s not good.
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Great video! We are doing our first overnight backpacking trip next weekend and these tips will surely help. Thanks!
I remember hearing that they tire you out quicker than without them. Is that true?
I used Trekking Poles to hit RattleSnakes. I hate those fuckers.
They have saved me from falling into streams several times. I’m not planning to be a trough hiker, but living in NH, I do take advantage of being so close to the Whites often. Ps. Hiking tomorrow… Climbing the flume slide trail up mt flume, then over liberty, to hay stack, lincoln, and then down Lafayette.
Thanks for clearing this up. Always wondered what they were actually for and shamelessly mocked hikers with them….now I feel I’m missing out!
I did an overnight at the Catskills with a 30 lbs pack and did not own poles. After 2 miles, I picked up 2 walking sticks and used it the rest of the trip. Should’ve bought poles in the first place.
Great video, just want to point out that you should put your hand through the straps from under and over, not just through to the handles.
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for a quality review of points. I’ve been reading peer reviewed academic studies on hiking poles and I was getting tired of hearing people say that hiking poles save you energy. Fact is, like you said, it changes what parts of the body are expending energy (and actually increase the amount of energy spent overall) which allows the legs to share the load…and yes, the upper body does get a workout. Because the VO2 increases with the use of hiking poles you use more energy and burn more calories, but in almost every study the perceived energy use was either equal or less than not using poles…and that counts for a lot in the mind of hikers.
Totally wrong don’t make videos until you know what you are talking about, poles at 90 degrees and hands up through the straps
Dangerously incorrect placement of hands and wrists through straps.
Hi Bigfoot, Thanks so much for all of your videos.
Did you ever hear of any issues with hikers putting “too much” weight on their trekking poles?
I’m pretty confident about my poles (BD Ergo Cork) but i already bent a pair on a 4 day trip i took two month ago. Thankfully, Black Diamond went ahead and replaced it for free but i’m left wondering if i should try to relieve the pressure i’m putting on them every day.
I’ve got bad knees, I simply couldn’t do what I do without poles.
Aw, I DON’T NEED FANCY GADGETS TO HIKE, i HAVE USED BAMBOO POLE FOR YEARS!
At one time we used trekking poles, but since our pack weights are a lot lighter now we started leaving them behind 2 1/2 years ago. Maybe someday I’ll use them again. They do have some advantages like you mentioned.
I’m not sure which is more awesome, the trekking poles or the beard. I wish I had the patience to let mine grow that long.
As a ‘newbie’ to trekking pole usage I noticed that you DON’T have your poles adjusted for an ‘approximate 90 degree angle’ to your upper body in your video… Am I reading this incorrectly, but everything I’ve read so far is that the poles should be adjusted for approx. 90 degrees… So far I love my inexpensive poles and want to recommend a set to my 80+ year old uncle for his walks but also want to recommend the correct ‘angle’ to adjust them to for best advantage for his walks… Thanks for such an informative video and safe hiking to you and yours always!!!
!
Great tip, you have saved me a broken thumb!! I’m a newbie �� thanks, hopefully next time the camera shows more the trekking poles! ��
Hand goes through strap from the bottom. If you continue to do it this way a broken foot is the least of your worries. The issue is if you fall you will land with the strap over your thumb and the pole under your thumb. Your looking at a broken, fractured or dislocated thumb while you’re out in the wilderness possibly days from help. It’s not up for debate as other people say. All manufacturers of trekking poles have clearly stated that you insert from the bottom.
I suffer from herniated disc, walking poles help me allot when going uphill/montain, unfortunatly downhill is way trickier… but very usefull gear for a personike myself
kind of annoying that it takes so long for the practical explanations. It really starts at minute 1:27.
I’m starting to train for next year and you’ve sold me on the poles. I can walk flat (here in FL) for 40-50 mi holding my breath, but when it comes to uphill I’ll want some help. I also have a titanium rod through my femur from a break years ago and it still gets sore from impact sometimes, so distributing the weight is a plus. I can also see how just using the poles normally can knock away some nasty briars. As for spider webs… nah, I just move ’em with my face like always. Thanks for this!
DRAT, I could have really used this information before my trip to Antarctica last month. I’ll be better prepared in the future, at least.
I use a single “wizard pole”, About seven feet long, flat rubber foot, stainless steel cap, kevlar tubing top and bottom and made of 1 1/4″ dia. hickory. My original pole like it was made from a hickory tree that was struck by a monster bolt of lighting back in 1976 and blew this huge tree to pieces. A huge interior piece of it landed in my yard and I hung it up to dry straight, I later whittled on it and then a friend with a router table and large rounding over bit made it round for me.
I’ve hiked all over the US with it and over the years it’s been beaten to death and is now about six feet shorter, hence the changes I made to my new one. I retired “Old Lighting”, but no carbon fiber for me. I’m sixty two now and still love to hike. I have a couple kids try to enlighten me on the way of the dual trekking poles but I just smile and tell them, “Thanks.”
Old Lighting never disappointed me or let me down and drove off a couple wild animal attacks, you won’t do that with a damned old trekking pole.
Hi Bigfoot, new follower here. My goal is to begin section hiking the Florida Trail January 2018, probably a week or two per section. The Florida Trail is FLAT! ha ha It is totally flat, and mostly sandy. Would you still recommend trekking poles for it?
great vid!!! im a pole virgin, just got my first pair yesterday. Cant wait to get out on the trail tomorrow and try them out. thanks
I’m on the Camino and just got to hiking poles 2 days ago. Thanks for the tips.
I already decided to use poles when I hike next year. These reasons are some of why I decided to use them. Thanks so much for the tips, another great video!!
Good points all around. I also like attaching a light to mine to make a porch light for whatever shelter im using. But what do you feel about the rising popularity of hiking staffs? Im seeing a couple being made in carbon fiber to further temp us.
This is pretty obvious to thru-hikers (everybody’s a thru-hiker in Georgia), but stuff like resting on your poles or using them to set up tents or fend off or selfie-stick, etc. are not so obvious perhaps to newbies just buying gear. Overall this is a great video. The best hiking poles are from GossamerGear.com at about 3 oz a pair. I managed to break one on a rock trying to swat flies with it (not a good use!).
Incidentally, I found a dog-eared thrown-away paperback makes a great fly-swatter. Once I killed 94 flies with it at a shelter and was surprised to find myself fly-less for the next several days! The flies follow you, so have at them. Isn’t that horrible? At least there aren’t many mosquitos on the AT in Dixie.
Yes she is absolutely doing it wrong. That is not how you are supposed to put your hands in the strap. This is a good way to break your wrist if you fall. This video should be deleted for safety