[at-l] hiking sticks: another difference

[thornel@attglobal.net (W F Thorneloe)]

Usually, one would use Leki's as splints for a bad sprain or fracture, and 
a large stick for balance or 2 sticks to rig up a stretcher for someone 
unable to walk unassisted.

One might be able to rig the splint with one Leki and use the other to 
assist balance on walking, but these (and hiking staffs) are definitely not 
designed to support as a crutch on uneven ground. Attempting to do that 
sounds like an attempt to turn a bad situation into a disaster. The injury 
from a pole end jabbing your underarm would be very nasty.

I also suspect that we are comparing apples to pomegranates in equating 
trekking poles to white canes.

OrangeBug

At 09:53 AM 2/27/2002 -0600, Shane Steinkamp wrote:
>... While they aren't as strong as a wooden pole, I have
>never had a collapse or failure, and they're in excellent shape.  They will
>take considerable weight, but they will not function as a crutch if you
>sprain an ankle like a wooden pole will.  Are Leki's, etc, capable of that
>function or not?  (Never having used them for any great length of time, I
>don't know.)