Poles

[Alexandra]

Hi

There was some interresting posts about using poles in the UTMB thread, so I thought I would start a thread about them specifically to get everyones take on them.

I bought a pair of TiGoat AGPs: http://www.titaniumgoat.com/poles.html

I took them for a walk on the coast path, but found that the places I really wanted to use them the path was too narrow and I ended up carrying them much of the way!

I then used them again on Dartmoor when it was really horrible, mist and heavy horrizontal rain. I made a navigational error I'm convinced I would not have made had I been carrying my map and compass and not poles! This is my biggest issue with poles, how do you navigated effectively? Sure you can stop and get your map and compass out, but that is going to slow you down. I tend to navigate on the move, looking at the map fairly frequently, but not actually stopping.

James

I use my poles throughout every walk, whatever the terrain, because I think they help my dodgy knees and I am certain they help my dodgy balance. I agree they can be unuseable on narrow paths. Sometimes I find I can use one pole while carrying the other. However, part of the problem is that the baskets catch in vegetation and also in loose stones, and I recently walked with someone who had removed the baskets from his poles, making them much easier to use. Now I want to remove mine, but Leki baskets seem very firmly fixed. Suggstions?

For map reading when walking, I use a map case, and to stop it swinging around I have attached 2 small curtain rings to my waist belt and clip the bottom of the map case to them with mini karabiniers. Yes, the poles do slow down other procedures such as blowing my nose, but the best way is to make sure you buy the poles with ski pole type loops and keep your hands through them. Then the loops can remain on the wrists while the hands are busy.