[at-l] New Poles test!! etc.

[spur@mac.com (Spur)]

Delita:
> Leki says readjust
>longer on downs and shorter on ups.  Nimblewill says leave the
>adjustment the same all the time.  

Vcat:
"His adjustment would work going up because his poles are shorter than
usual anyway, but I like longer poles if I'm on a long or steep down,
and I'll take the time to readjust. I put the poles out in front of me
to use as a brake and find I can move much faster this way than I could
if the poles came down close to my feet."


I used to adjust Leki length to fit the terrain conscientiously (shorter
for uphill, longer for downhill). Gradually I became disposed to using
them longer, much longer, for both kinds of terrain. I think my upper
arm muscles must have built up over the miles so I could benefit from
the greater leverage of a longer pole, even uphill. Of course really
long poles help on steep downhills, and on flat areas they provide a
greater mechanical advantage as well.

With wrists through the straps there's very little effort used in
gripping the handles. BTW I smoothed the fitted "finger stops" off the
cork handles using a knife and coarse sandpaper, since they seem to hit
my hands in the wrong places. Using the wrist straps makes it easy to
quickly drop the handles without dropping the poles and draw my camera
from my waistpack for elusive shots, and also allows me to slap
pestering gnats between my hands when they get too aggressive (once got
6 in one blow).

Most of the criticism of Leki poles' damage to the trail is resolved by
using the rubber tips. I superglue mine to the poles so they don't get
sucked off by sticky mud (ducttape always failed eventually). I also
trim the rubber tips' footprint slightly which seems to improve traction
on hard ground and rocks without causing greater damage in soft ground.
(This was done initially to get them to fit into next-size-up PVC elbows
in my Nomad tent). Tips generally last 2/3 of a thruhike or so.

No pole, wood pole or metal pole. It's all a personal choice. I abhor
the easily visible trail damage done by carbide tipped poles, but rubber
tips solve the problem for me.

BTW I just measured my poles at normal extension and they are 53" long =
76% of my height. (I stand about 5'10".) I wonder what the normal range
is out there.

Spur