Trekking poles are popular with some hikers and mountaineers. Should they be popular with preppers? After all, many of us do have a big backpack of stuff we might need to carry. Bugging out on foot may or may not be part of our plans (Salty and I would rather bike if we can’t drive), but it may be necessary.
I put some serious hiking miles in lately. Trekking poles were part of my equipment on some of those hikes, so I could experiment and share some results. Here’s the scoop:
What are trekking poles?
Trekking poles are related to ski poles. They’re lightweight but very strong, with good grips including hand loops (so they don’t descend the mountain without you if you let go) on one end and a rubberized but spiky tip on the other end that does a good job of providing traction on many natural surfaces
This is a standard kind of trekking pole
Most models (all of them worth considering) have a mechanism to let their height adjust. This makes them short enough to not be too annoying strapped to a pack when you’re not using them, and lets you adjust height to match user and need. Make sure the mechanism that locks them into a height is dead solid. Nothing good ever comes from a surprise shortening.
Couldn’t you just find a couple of sturdy sticks that would do the same job? Maybe, but the light weight is a big hairy deal when you need to make a lot of miles. Swinging out heavy things with each step is an energy suck you don’t need.
What do trekking poles do for you?
The poles give you extra contact points with the ground. This can help you recover from a slipped foot. This ability is especially valuable when you’re carrying a lot of weight. A little foot slip that you’d recover without thought normally will slam you down with surprising speed if you’re wearing a heavy pack; or maybe tear up your other leg as you try to use it to recover.
The poles also let you shift a little load off the legs and onto your arms. Park speed-walkers using trekking poles might brag about the upper-body workout it gives them. More relevant is what this weight shift does when you’re stepping down a steep slope.
The way you have to tension the first knee down to take the weight and slow you and pack until the uphill foot can make it down gets Really Old after the first few miles of climbing down. Even sound knees get really cranky about this strain and start complaining. Loudly. Using the poles to cushion that weight shift helps a lot.
Here’s a podcast that we produced on this subject:
For getting down this hill, knees would appreciate trekking poles.
What do trekking poles do against you?
Like any bug-out bag prep, you have to carry the things whether you need them or not. On the long hauls, weight matters a lot, even if you are Big Strong Man. Never add weight without serious consideration, including these.
When using the poles, you have to swing them in front of you with every step. Since our arms are much weaker than our legs, making arms work harder makes us feel tired much faster than the calories burned would suggest. Don’t believe me? Go for a vigorous canoe trip and see what your fitness tracker tells you about calorie burn. (It’s disappointing, seriously.) When walking for big miles, something that makes you feel tired faster is Not Your Friend.
Are trekking poles worth carrying?
I took some trekking poles on a twenty mile hike in the mountains. The footing was usually ok but not great (packed earth, big rocks, and not-too-rolly smaller stones). There were some steep up- and down-slopes, plus a few miles of flat. My knees are in decent shape, but get cranky when used hard.
My verdict: I’ve left them home ever since. The poles were a nuisance on the flat and not particularly helpful when going up. They were nice to have on the bigger step-downs. I don’t think that paid for their weight. If my knees or balance were worse, I’d probably carry them more often.
I saw one man on the trails with an artificial lower leg who was using his trekking poles essentially like crutches. He was getting along better than some others on the trail.
If you do choose to use trekking poles…
The best way to use them (according to my hiking partner, much more experienced than I) is to set the poles so the handgrips are a bit above your waist level when you’re on the flat, and about waist level when they’re down the next step below you. Rest your hands on the tops of the poles. Set both poles on the down step and put some of your weight on them as your lead foot lands.
I like to keep my hands free to carry my rifle. If I’m bugging out on foot, then I will most certainly my rifle in my hands!
I prefer a traditional wooden staff myself, trekking poles tend to be noisy in use where a staff makes no noise.
Just a couple thoughts popped into my head. One, they could come in very handy if you or someone in your group gets injured and needs the assistance when walking. Two, I suppose they could double as “tent poles” for some sort of improvised shelter if you are the wise type who carries a plastic sheet/tarp in your pack. That said, Lonewolf does have a point. If needed, one can always fashion a walking stick…or a “Y-shaped” crutch using only saplings and a knife.
I have several pair. The best have cork on the handles. they are soft, and absorbe sweat unlike the plastic handle cheap ones. I used them to swish through the grass in snake season or to poke into places i don;t want my hands to go. I always use them whenever possible.
I believe your not using them correctly. I use them all the time, wouldn’t walk any distance without them. I hike 7 miles each morning. They can get your upper body involved and aid in walking at a greater pace than without them. I am a cross country skier and use the same technique for walking. Using them without the wrist strap is useless. The wrist strap allows you spread the force across the back of your hand and reduce the strain on your hand. Allows you to use a loose grip keeping your palm from sweating. Absolutely fantastic in aiding up hill as well as downhill hiking. Do some research on cross country ski pole technique and try them again.
I use them hiking, day hiking short miles, as my hands get edematous when I carry a pack. Most likely the weight, is actually only a meal and water, is not that much but impinges on my shoulders enough to slow the blood flow to my hands. When my hands are a bit higher than on the perpendicular, they are less swollen!