Trekking poles; gimmick or gear?

[Mike Islander]

You burn more calories with poles, but they are there to do a specific job and they do it well. Studies on this date back to at least 2011.
Walking in boots and carrying a pack also burns more calories.

 

[ewilliwonka]

Legit gear...helps so much packing out.

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[Jimss]

I've been on many sheep and goat hunts. Lugging hefty, bulky loads without the aid of trekking poles is a challenge....and can be downright dangerous at times. Using trekking poles adds a heck of a lot of stability. I also use them quite often on elk and deer hunts in super rough terrain....especially when hauling out loads. Trekking poles also are a life-saver if you have bad knees...especially hauling hefty loads down steep hills.

With that said, the place I draw the line is when hunting rolling hill country. I really don't see a need or desire to use and haul them around. The other downside to trekking poles is game can hear a hunter coming for miles! Last year a hiker with clanging trekking poles spooked a herd of bighorn rams totally out of the country I was hunting. I heard the clanging poles for around a mile away and was pretty disgusted....nothing either one of us could do. I returned a few days later and harvested a great ram!

I often carry my poles in my pack when closing in on game so I don't spook them. It likely is possible to place quiet material on the tips but the sides of the poles still clang when hitting rocks.

 

[TTSX180]

Game Changes unless your in Kansas.
Go get on the elliptical with the stride handles you burn more calories. My group thought they were sissy sticks until, They tried them. I always have mine because I’m always expecting to be packing mine or theirs.

 

[hikenhunt]

They are essential on every backpack hunt. Even if you don't fill a tag, they save your legs/knees from a lot of pounding coming down the mountain.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Just rattling things off the top of my head that I have personally done or heard first-hand...
Eases the burden of a heavy pack.
Enhances stability due to more points of contact with the ground.
Enhances traction in steep, loose terrain (ex: dirt).
Can use as an improvised shooting rest that gets you above the grass line.
Can use to move thorny brush so your body does not have to.
Can use as a spear (tie knife to the end) when your deer is not quite dead and you left your rifle at the top of the canyon.
Can use for a make-shift sun block when combined with a jacket or shirt.
Can use as a make-shift blind.
Can use as a splint in case of a broken limb.
Can use to move a venomous snake out of the way.
Can use to see how deep that murky water really is.
Can use as a means to support binoculars for glassing.
Can use to see how strong that ice really is.

If you get dropped off to a climate-controlled hunting blind by a very pretty 4x4, then trekking poles are a gimmick. Otherwise they can be a great piece of gear to bring along.

 

[sneaky]

If you wear a watch that logs your steps a set of trekking poles will wreck your step stats lol.

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[JeremySheppard]

I'm a sport scientist, so this thread caught my attention, and perhaps I can provide some insight:

Q: Trekking poles increasing energy expenditure?
Yes, in the purest sense. This likely seems absurd to every hunter who has felt that they spare the body, and spare 'physiological stress'. The nuance is that (as was pointed out in the thread) the increased arm activity of the motion does account for higher ventilation and heart rate (from this you can then estimate caloric expenditure, which is going to be higher).

However, I sifted through 4-5 journal studies comparing conditions, and didn't find one that also showed an increase in a measure we call RPE, which is your perception of exertion. So the feeling of fatigue is not being generally found to be higher despite a calorie increase (which is inferred/calculated from the energy expenditure). In fact, when comparing only incline conditions, I found two well designed studies that observed significantly lower RPE and a trivial reduction in energy expenditure for going up. So in the studies that found increased energy expenditure, actual trekkers didn't report and increase in perception of effort.

What we also must bear in mind that most studies, to provide adequate controls (think reduce noise to hone in on a signal), compare with and without poles on a set pace. So it is not entirely clear whether the additional 'cost' of using your arms is a great tradeoff because hiking at higher speeds (which could negate the acutely increased expenditure because you would be done sooner, and on top glassing or at the truck unpacking).

Importantly, I found two studies that demonstrated meaningful reductions in stresses that are unrelated or not directly related to calories or 'metabolic stress' when using trekking poles. In our field we would call these neuromuscular stresses. One study showed important reductions in lower limb stress (measured by movement at the joint from ground impact...think of it as 'how much did the foot get banged up with each step'?). Another study found that muscle STRENGTH after hiking activity was higher in the with pole condition compared to without. They also reported higher perceived soreness in the non pole condition compared to the with pole condition, and a higher CK level when not using poles (CK is an indicator of muscle damage/muscle stress) .

OK, enough science, my 'anecdotal':

-I go uphill faster with poles. I notice this on scouting missions.

-If I don't use poles with a heavy pack, I end up spending a lot of energy stumbling around. That extra point of contact helps alot.

-I'm way, way less sore in the muscle, but also my old sporting injuries are less flared up, when i use poles.

-Poles have other uses when you hunt: balance your bions on them to increase stability if you don't have a bino pole, enhance your tarp set up or use with a single wall tent or your hammock tarp.

Gear.

 

[Marbles]

Gear. Unless I forget them when hiking with the family, or more commonly my wife forgets hers and then steals mine, I always have them with me. Don't always use them though. They have saved my butt more than once when I bit off more than I could chew and had several miles to make it back to the trail head.

I use an SO Silvertip, so they are also the center pole for my shelter. They work as shooting sticks. Adjustable length is nice, in steep scree I shorten it all the way and put it in my uphill hand for stability, much like a mountaineer uses an ice axe.

I'm thinking about trying out Wiser Precision's tripod set up. It would add 12.8 oz to what I already carry and allow me to drop the 20.9 oz tripod.

 

[Voyageur]

Essential Gear...the heavier the load and the tougher the terrain the more essential they become.

 

[Rokwiia]

I view this subject from the hiking and backpacking world as I am not a hunter. I have a pair of fixed-length poles from Gossamer Gear that were the lightest poles available when I got them.

Like almost everything else in life, there benefits and costs related to their use. I've had two occasions where they saved my patooty. Even considering that, I'm not a fan of them.

Almost all of my hiking is in the mountains. The poles are a significant benefit when crossing a stream or stepping on rocks, or over obstructions, where the poles can help balance you. I think they are also helpful going up the mountain as I think they transfer some percentage of the work from your legs to your arms. I can't prove it but over the course of the day, my legs will likely feel a wee bit fresher with my arms feeling that work.

I consider the use of poles to be almost dangerous when going down the mountain. Where I go, the trek up or down is almost always littered with large rocks you must step on. The rocks are often wet and sometimes slippery. On a steep decline, if you put weight on the pole that is on a rock below you, it can sometimes give way and slip. That can lead to a horrific fall which has almost happened to me once or twice.

I can understand the benefits of using poles and will use them in certain conditions. When I'm going to be doing steep declines, they sit quietly at home. YMMV.

 

[CO-AJ]

Great thread and comments are interesting. For the last few years I have not used them, but bought a set off Amazon that are highly rated to try out this year. Obviously if you are running a light backpacking tent or some tipi's they are gear as they become your support pole. Im excited to try them this year.

 

[GotDraw?]

@wildhorsetrail
First- call me a curmudgeon, going forward you might consider investing 2 minutes of your own time to use the very awesome SEARCH function for topics like "Trekking Poles". Your question and variants of it have been asked/answered in depth many times. Second-- take the time to understand how to actually use trekking poles properly or you're going to underestimate their benefit and not get everything you can from them.

Here is one of my prior posts from this site, cut/pasted for you:

I'll re-post the below from an earlier thread here on this thread since so many folks have questions... hope the links still work-

Opinion or Science? Pick which is important to you. I'll take science, which has also proven over time with my experience...

"A study done in 1999, published in the Journal of Sports Medicine showed that trekking poles are able to reduced pressure on your knees by up to 25 percent."

and an excerpt from another report:

"...When hiking uphill at significant grade, under significant load (approximately 47% grade and +40% bodyweight extra LOAD) trekking poles increase efficiency by approximately 10% and decrease perceived effort by 20%..."


If you are hunting in steep terrain, trekking poles are the bomb, both uphill and downhill.

Anyone that tells you differently either doesn't know how to properly use them or thinks they're for pussies and can't bring themselves to use them because they are too manly. Trekking poles will make you a faster ascender on steep trails, a faster descender on steep declines, they will save your leg muscles and knee joints and stabilize you if you start to lose you balance. The only time I don't use them is if I'm in a lot of underbrush and they are in the way.

If you are leaving the strap dangling and are using your hands to "grip" the handle, then you are using them completely incorrectly and inefficiently. You must use the strap as the handle. Your thumb and forefinger barely grip the top of handle and act as a pivot point as the pole swings out away from you when you move it forward to plant it, the bottom fingers almost never grip the pole.

Here are two links that give somewhat of a perspective on how to use them:

1. Video: How to use trekking poles (Old , poor quality video, but better than nothing. NOTE- her hand straps are kept too long)
2. Article on How to use Trekking Poles (This guy has proper strap length)

Here's are three research reports on it:

1. Trekking Pole Study- North Umbria University
2. Mountain Tactical Research Report
3. Outdoor Gear Lab report

Plays your cards, takes your chances...
I always bring my trekking poles and use them.

Best,

JL

One of the advertised selling points of trekking poles that gives me pause is this statement: Burn 40 percent more calories! From a hunting standpoint how can that be a benefit? But I have heard good things as well. I'd like to hear from those of you who have tried them and liked them as well as those who've ditched them.

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[billoo349]

Does anyone just use walking sticks that you find and cut to size? The reason I ask is that's what I've been doing, but wonder if there is something that makes dedicated trekking poles better? It sure is nice to just ditch the sticks when your done with them and not having to worry about another piece of gear.

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[kcbuckeye22]

I picked one up for $20 last year as a walking aid since I was 3 months out of ALC knee surgery. Yes I thought they was some kind of gimmick or unneeded gear. Holy smokes, those poles are EXCELLENT and my hunting was mostly whitetail hill country/ozark. I use it while scouting without a pack now. It's near as essential as your quiver or your climbing sticks.

 

[Fatcamp]

Half way through a scouting hike today I was regretting not bringing them.

New country with some horrible mud and cattle traffic. It sucked. Found bucks, but that walk was lame and would have been much safer with sticks.

 

[JMDavies]

Can't live without them. Great for packing in and out along with keeping you in cadence when focused on long distances.

 

[GotDraw?]

Here is the obvious point:

Trekking poles allow you climb faster or descend faster (if you want to). They will make your motion more efficient. Scientific studies back this up. However, going faster ,even when more efficient, will at some level take more energy, nothing is "free"-- no matter if you use your legs alone or with trekking poles.

SO- Walking around with a pair of trekking poles in your hands doesn't MAKE you burn more calories any more than carrying them in your backpack does. Climbing a mountain faster because trekking poles allow you to do so by engaging your arms and core and bringing them into the game to help the legs WILL cause you to burn more calories.

The bonus is that scientific studies tell us that trekking poles allow you to climb 10% faster and your perception will be that it is 20% easier to climb.

I promise you that at the end of the day, you will feel overall less tired if you properly use trekking poles in steep terrain. Your legs will thank you.

I also agree with an earlier post that some poles are sometimes a bit noisy on rocky trails. Consider getting rubber tips.

JL

 

[wildhorsetrail]

I'm a bowhunter. How do you deal with poles and a bow? And don't tell me to strap the bow onto my backpack because things happen quick and I haven't seen anyone yet who has successfully harvested an elk with a trekking pole.

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[npm352]

They are nice, especially down hill...but be careful to develop good form as they can be bad on rotator cuffs if you do not keep your shoulder locked in well, especially if you have had prior shoulder issues.