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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Good morning, Steve,</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">While I’ve hiked the west over
the last 45 years I only began using hiking poles in ’05.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I hiked all of the Oregon and Washington
PCT without them, and did well.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>That was the correct choice for me at that time.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Now, age has a lot to do with my
choosing to use poles.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not being
quite as agile and flexible as I once was, I find I like the additional
stability.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I use jointed poles, but the
feature is a bit of a waste because the only time I changed the length was when
I fully collapsed them for hitchhiking.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>I’ll probably find a pair of lighter, fixed-length, poles for the
future.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I don’t use the
shock-absorbing feature, and I saved weight by removing it from the poles that I
used on the PCT in ’07.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I think
shock springs are mostly a marketing-driven feature, and I don’t like the
squishy feel.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Besides, the little
shock springs can attenuate force over only approximately 0.5 inch, while the
human upper body structure can attenuate force over 10 to 20 inches.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Some hikers insert their hand
through the hanging strap loop and grasp the pole.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In that way the bight of the loop is
around the bottom of the wrist.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I
don’t like that feel and geometry, so I insert my hand up through the loop and
grasp the two sides of the loop as well as the pole.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In that way the bight of the loop is
above my wrist.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I much prefer the
resulting force distribution and the way the pole can pivot during a stride,
particularly when going down hill.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">While I initially used the wrist
straps, I soon removed them entirely to save weight and improve convenience. I
find the straps are a nuisance when I want to use a hand for something
else.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without the straps I can
instantly shift a pole to the opposite hand when needed.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I’ve never had the least wrist strain
for want of the straps.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I initially
worried that without straps I might loose a pole if I lost balance on slippery
terrain so I made a lite-weight pair of mini-bungee tethers to loosely secure
the poles to my wrists.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They worked
fine, but I didn’t use them on the trail.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">I
use the poles to erect a tarp …. on the rare occasions that I actually did erect
the tarp …. but for many years I got by using whatever sticks or trees were at
hand and suffered only minor inconvenience.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Steel-Eye</SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=hikin_steve@yahoo.com href="mailto:hikin_steve@yahoo.com">Steve
Fosdick</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pct-l@backcountry.net
href="mailto:pct-l@backcountry.net">pct-l</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, December 29, 2007 7:41
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [pct-l] walking poles</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I can
see that opinions on water caches are as wide as an ocean. Thanks for all the
comments.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Now, my
next big dilemma is whether or not to carry walking poles. In a lot of photos
in journals, I see many hikers using them. I rarely use a walking stick of any
kind. Here in Oregon, if I <EM>really</EM> feel the urge to use one, there are
always plenty of tree limbs lying around that will do the job just fine.
However, I find that I soon tire of carrying it, so I toss it far off the side
of the trail as though it had just blown down like all the other tree limbs
lying around. I'm sure there won't be a lot of poles lying around on the So.
California stretches of the PCT, so if I want them, I'll need to bring my own
along.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Will I
be the only hiker on the trail without walking poles? Other than using them to
flick off a rattle snake, hold up a tarp-tent (my tent has its own
poles) or defending myself from a charging bear (yeah, right!), will I
wish that had some on my thru-hike? I'll have an ice ax for the parts of
the trail that have snow. When hikers get out their ice ax, do they put their
walking poles away?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I
understand that ski poles are not the same as hiking poles. And Keen Fit Poles
are NOT hiking poles, according the Keen Fit website! (That was really funny.
I followed the link "Hiking Poles" to the Keen Fit site, and one of the
first things on their video was "These are NOT hiking poles!")</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I hope
this topic is not as controversial as water caches! But I would like to
hear some advice from experts out there.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hikin_steve</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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