MOUNTAINEERING INFORMATION ARTICLES

Trekking Poles Buying Guide - How to Buy Trekking Poles

Part of the standard equipment of a Mountaineer, trekker, or a backpacker are Trekking Poles. They are essential especially when you are in the hills or mountains. This Trekking Poles Buying Guide will help you find the one which will benefit you the most according to your particular Climbing needs.

Benefits of using Trekking Poles

Here are the benefits that you can get in using Trekking Poles:

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.
Trekking Poles help you to improve your breathing and walking rhythm, thus helping make better use of energy.

It is very important that you still use an Ice Axe in winter conditions since they are appropriate on snow covered slopes where the risk of a slip could lead to serious injury or death. Trekking Poles cannot replace the function of an Ice Axe like arresting your fall on snow covered slopes. Don't let poles give you a false sense of security. Always stow the poles and use an Ice Axe.

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 below:

All Trekking Poles are lightweight and made of strong aluminum alloy.
Most of the Trekking Poles have 3 telescoping sections. This is 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 save 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 from 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.

There are a lot of different Trekking Poles in the market today. But we hope that with the health of this Trekking Pole Buying Guide, you would be able to choose among them. After having made one, we highly recommend that you go to our Trekking Poles Shop. In there, you will find find a wide array of Trekking Poles to choose from. Having read this section would make choosing easier this time. Happy shopping!

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