Scientists Weigh in on the Great Trekking Pole Debate I’m a fan myself. I was under the false impression though that it was a scientific fact that they’re more efficient.
I have used walking sticks, a pair, when on climbing trips, on ice and snow; they seem to help for balance. These are like collapsible ski poles. I can't really say if they help a great deal during the Spring/Summer months as then normally didn't use them, seem to me to be just more weight, but to each his own. Whatever works for you and makes the trek better.
I use my Red Walking Stick whenever I leave our Apt… I can walk without it but it does provide some help with my balance, since I am now just a Three Toed Person… It also gives me a Weapon, should one of the OLD LADIES that live here decide to attack me, for being male, or some such grievance… Picture by AlaskaChick
Years ago, I heard of these, and made a pair from PVC pipe and added some wrist straps. I never used them for hiking, instead I used them when walking for exercise. After using them a few times I was able to adjust the length to suit me and added some rubber caps. I liked that I could work out my arms while walking (you could really feel the difference) instead of them just swinging around for balance. I used them for a while, but I haven't seen them in years. They are useful for upper body workouts, balance and protection.
I also have a small collection of walking sticks/canes, although I don't really need them for walking (someday I might). I have an Irish Blackthorn walking stick/cane/club that I bought many years ago in Ireland, a sword cane, and a cane/club that I made from an interestingly twisted piece of wood that I found many years ago.
My need for walking assistance varies from time to time. On a trail I prefer a shaft that is a bit taller than I, which have various uses along the way. I prefer a solid shaft going into unknown territory that can take a beating if necessary. However, I have come up with a tool that is of a more universal value. I found a heavy walled aluminum tube about 5' long that I have fashioned several tools to fit the end as well as making a water pump, shovel, weeder, spear point, rake, hoe, 2 prong fork, saw, etc... Obviously, this is a survival tool and not merely a walking stick
I use "Trekking Sticks" which like Bandit99 says, are like shorter ski polls that are adjustable in length! I have used them for the last 40 or so years, same pair in fact, and havn't really had to do anything to them in all this time. Mine have a carbide tip and a small mud/snow basket at the foot to help keep them from sinking in the soft stuff. While mostly for hiking/climbing ( where I actually prefer my old and heavy Austrian Climbing Ax's, ( Which do almost the same thing) I find I use these far more for regular walking, as they give me 4 points of contact and make me more sure footed, even when just walking on cement! I ain't getting any younger, and my body is paying the price of my youth, so I find I need a little more Help now then I did before! I also use these when Fly Fishing, they SURE do make life a lot more safe when chest deep in a river! PRO -TIP, You want carbide tipped sticks, you wouldn't believe how well they grab everything, even slick rock and slime coated stuff!
For years I carried and used my Irish Black Thorn cane. Makes a good shilleleigh if necessary. Nowadays, I use a stout aluminum cane with four feet. It'll stand by itself, and gives me better stability. A bit clumsier as an ersatz weapon, but still useable.
Sticks work just fine for me, free too. My plan is to be up in the North Cascades hiking in a month plus, Hart’s Pass specifically if you want to visit. Lol.
You might like the Washington Pass area if you are in the North Cascades, for hiking… spent two years in that country, 50+ years ago…
The majority of folks from Wa. have never been across HWY 20 nor spent any time in that area. It’s quite remarkable.
I had tendonitis in my foot when I went to outdoor school and trekking poles were a blessing especially on peak ascent days. Except for the time when I was sinking in the mud. I was up to my chest in the mud with my pack on and my friend pulled me out. It was an adventure and I was laughing the whole time.
Made a couple hiking sticks over recent years. They serve as a third point of ground contact while traversing uneven terrain, as well as being a reasonable baton for the occasional stray aggressive canine, when walking in the 'hood. One is from a stout piece of crepe myrtle cut from an old brushy tree in the back yard I grew up in. The other is a good stick of yaupon from some country property I occasionally visit. They were cut to size, rough filed, and sanded to eliminate most of the bumps and some of the skin while still green (nothing fancy though). Then just put aside in the shop ceiling rafters to dry out for about 6 months. Coated each with about four coats of 50/50 linseed oil & Wood Finishing Lacquer. Each coat of that mixture takes about a day to soak into the wood, though still slightly tacky. The final tacky coating can take a couple weeks to dry out smooth. I used some rubberized handgun grip tape for secure wet or dry "handiness" on the gripping surfaces, and rubber crutch tips for the business end where the "rubber meets the road". No doubt there are better and tougher varieties of wood to serve that purpose, but I wanted to make something common and seemingly unimpressive into useful tools with memories from the distant past, and the near term present. They wait by the door for the next adventure outside.
Never used them myself, though I did use a fairly tall ice axe when I went on glaciers. I've had hiking buddies that swore by them, but they never did much for me and just added to the stuff I had to lug around. These days I'm using a cane for outside walks, but that's due to the slowly healing nerve damage in my legs from the jab and recently a foot injury that got infected. All under control and I'm looking forward to getting most of my old balance and agility back.
Norwegian rag wool socks are your friend! I've tried every type/style/technology, but in the end for me the original is the best. At times I've used silk and other liners as well as strategic moleskin in advance if I knew it was going to be miles linger than my usual leisurely enjoy every step pace, but for the most part it's well trimmed toenails, the proper sock, and the proper well fitting broken in boot. I think the thing that most hikers/packers/trekkers I have known tend to miss that I mentioned above is that liesurely pace. Many are in it to check off a box - I did that trail, I summited that peak, etc.. I learned a long time ago that it was about the journey and not the objective. Every step you take will never happen again. The scene you pass through, it's lighting, it's flora and fauna are unique and will never happen exactly that way ever again. So I slowed down and savor each and every step. I take to time to observe with all my senses. If you are walking so fast that you can't hold a conversation with someone else IMO you are wasting the experience. Any time I was part of a group (I mostly hiked an dpacked alone) I would hit the trail long before others. Halfway to wherever we planned a break they would jackrabbit past me. When I reached that mid day break they would still be catching their breath. I'd then pop my pack off for a few minutes, change socks, then take off again munching the lunch I'd prepared that morning, and the process would repeat until the evening camp. I'd arrive a bit later than the rest, but amazingly had the energy to set up my tent and build a fire before the others usually recovered. My memories were of the continuity and not of the few resting spots spent recovering from the exertion that caused me to miss 90% of the total experience. For the same reason to began taking fewer pictures preferring the images that were burned into my memory to those on film. To each his own.
I too both enjoy the journey and taught my kids to do s as well more than getting from point A to point B. Not just in hiking but in all things even work for that matter, there is so much in life we tend to take for granted rather than absorbing the adventure as it happens. Search and Rescue helped a lot getting me to slow down and take it all in, often times tracking a victim helped me get in to their shoes so to speak being lost in a foreign (to them) environment. Day and night I spotted things and critters I might have never seen otherwise. A walking stick gives me the ability to lift brush keeping my distance in rattle snake country, and test the ground on decomposed Granet over a hill side. Sometimes there is no trail so one passes with caution using a long walking stick to view the way ahead. Passing through a stream the long walking staff is great for maintaining a solid footing against a rapid flow you can't afford to fall into.
