Trekking Poles

Part of the standard equipment of a mountaineer, trekker or a backpacker are trekking poles. Especially when you are in the hills or the mountains trekking poles are essential.

Benefits of using Trekking Poles

You might wonder why you need them...That is why we have put the benefits here below for you:

• Trekking poles improve your balance and stability, especially on uneven terrain or when carrying heavy loads.
• Trekking poles reduce stress on your lower body by letting your arms take some of the strain. This means that using trekking poles could save you a lot of energy. It has been calculated that during an 8 hour day, a pair of poles can relieve the strain on your knees by 250 tonnes!.
• Trekking poles help you to improve your breathing and walking rhythm, thus helping make better use of energy.

What you need to know before buying Trekking Poles

Most poles are very similar in terms of basic design and features. Some common features are listed here below:

• All trekking poles are lightweight and made of strong aluminium alloy.
• Most of the trekking poles have 3 telescoping sections. This in order for the users to make them customized to their own height and/or different types of terrain. Another advantage is that the trekking poles can be packed down quite short for transportation.
• The trekking poles have a straight ski-pole type grip. These are usually made of durable, grippy, and shock absorbing rubber.
• Look for an adjustable wrist loop. These come in very handy as it will safe you a lot of energy because it transfers the load off your hands onto the wrists.
• All trekking poles have a replaceable tungsten carbide tip, for durability and grip on rock.
• A small basket goes together when you buy your trekking poles. These are designed to stop the pole sinking into soft ground or mud. If these pole baskets wear out - then you can easily buy replacements for them.

Very fancy trekking poles are designed to be anatomic and anti-shock. Anatomic models feature grips that are bent forward by about 15 degrees, reducing stress on the wrist by keeping it in a more neutral position during use. The disadvantage of this design is that it does not pack down as small as the regular trekking poles.

Anti-shock models feature built-in shock absorbers to increase user comfort. These trekking poles are heavier and more expensive.

Below are some examples: