[at-l] Hiking Poles

[bullard@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Jim Bullard)]

At 11:38 PM 4/12/2003 -0400, Snowbiker16@aol.com wrote:
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>Iv never used poles, and am now considering if that should be on my b-day
>wishlist ...a ways away...but still something to think about......my biggest
>thing is that some days i might feel like using poles, and others not.....do
>most poles collapse?...so that you can store them easily?...also is the only
>purpose of hte poles for balance then?
>
>--Sven

As Weary has frequently pointed out, any old pole will suffice. To discover
whether you like using a pole a 'found' one may be best however a
collapsible one is handy for longer jaunts where you may wish to use it
sometimes and sometimes not.