For Heaven’s Sake, Use Trekking Poles

BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 10 months ago

Backpacker.com.

A survey of more than 700 John Muir trail thru-hikers gave researchers insight into what makes a hiker more likely to get injured or ill while backpacking.

[ … ]

The study singles out three factors that were correlated with injury and illness. The first was age, and not in the way you might think: Older hikers reported fewer adverse events on the JMT. One explanation for this might be that they have more years of experience on the trail and are better equipped to identify and avoid risky situations. A study on search and rescue missions in the Polish Tatra mountains also revealed that younger tourists were more likely to need help due to inexperience and lack of equipment.

So to begin with, don’t be stupid on the trail and engage in proper planning and execution.

Given that the majority of reported injuries were to the feet and legs, Spano suggests that because older backpackers tend to use trekking poles—which are correlated with a reduced rate of lower extremity injuries—they might be more protected.

“Hiking pole use is good for preventing strain and reducing injury to lower extremities,” Spano says. “And I don’t know a lot of younger people out there hiking with poles; they just don’t feel they need them.”

I, too, see very few younger hikers or backpackers using trekking poles.  I think that’s very unwise and arrogant.  It takes a mushy brain full of hubris to believe your youth will save you from mechanical injuries.

You can’t control everything in the bush.  But you can minimize the chances of mechanical injury with the use of good trekking poles.

Just go buy some and be diligent about using them.  I do even on days hikes, and miss them if I happen to forget.


Comments

  1. On December 19, 2021 at 9:54 pm, Tom762 said:

    Herschel, when I used to long distance hike I always carried my stick. Made from a good strong piece of century plant stalk, with a steel cup for a foot, leather wrapped grip and lanyard. Walking stick, weapon, tent pole, crutch, and about a hundred other uses, literally. Along with a gun, it was my constant companion when in the backcountry, including the Weminuche!! Twice!! Mine also has a groove in the top, old mountain man trick, or use with your Pennsylvania rifle.

    I wore out the steel, started using copper, did not last as long as steel but stuck to the rocks better.

    Cannot tell how many times it saved my sorry butt. I still have it, I guess that means I should work the dust off of it.

  2. On December 19, 2021 at 10:21 pm, Bradlley A Graham said:

    The first time my 2 girls and I did the Grand Canyon was March 2017. My youngest insisted we get crampons and trekking poles, Well, much to my regret she was outvoted because I thought I was bullet proof.
    I fell on the icy trail less that 1/2 mile from the trail head after taking South Kaibab down to Phantom Ranch and back up Bright Angel. A distance of 19.2 miles.
    Destroyed my rotator cuff and displaced left scapula. $80k surgery and 4 months out of work.
    About 6 months later I found an original all metal MSR ice axe at a yard sale. I stole it for $5.

    Been back to Phantom Ranch twice and Havasupai once and my bright orange ice axe has been my faithful companion. I get some strange looks and comments but I have forgotten how many times it has prevented a repeat of my stupidity and arrogance toward nature’s intolerance of fools.

  3. On December 19, 2021 at 10:22 pm, Fred said:

    7ft length of thick fresh pine branch. Plenty long, heavy duty but still flexes some. Pointed at one end for purchase in both soil and crags in rock. Very versatile in a great many situations and terrain. Seriously handy to have for trail and camp. I liked the weight, substantial. Not real practical if carrying a rifle though. Price; free, but they are God’s so thank Him for it as part of your hiking prayers.

    This started when I came across a bunch of branches, perhaps Hemlock, on a section of a well kept and recently maintained trail at a crossing of the Obed river. Cut the twigs off a stout branch. The flat chainsaw end didn’t work so I whittled the narrower end to a point.

  4. On December 20, 2021 at 12:45 am, BRVTVS said:

    It’s not just for injury prevention, although I’ve saved myself from many potential fall by using a staff. It’s also that many trails are overgrown in sections. Ticks wait for hikers to brush by. A staff to move or whack weeds out of the way should be part of your defense against lyme.

  5. On December 20, 2021 at 9:07 am, PubliusII said:

    Admittedly under the spell of Complete Walker Colin Fletcher, I cut down a birch sapling about an inch in diameter and five feet long, tipped it with a crutch tip, and it has been my walking stick for 40+ years now.

    A single pole has for me a much rationale than the ditsy trekking poles — sorry!

  6. On December 20, 2021 at 9:50 am, Mike Austin said:

    I spent 14 years of my life solo backpacking the jungles, mountains and grasslands of Central and South America. I walked the Inca Trail, took 11 days to cross the Darien Gap from Panama to Colombia, hiked 14 days across the Peruvian Andes to the ruins of Choquequirao, walked 12 days to the Chachapoyan ruins of Gran Vilaya, descended into the two deepest canyons in the world, both in Peru—Colca and Cotahuasi—spent months in the Andes of Argentina, and twice explored the Chilean island of Navarino.

    All was done with a heavy pack. Never used trekking poles. Never was injured. (Being shipwrecked, shot at, kidnapped, falling into quicksand and being attacked by wild animals doesn’t count.) My last foray was 12 days in 2011 in northern Guatemala. I was 58.

    I’ve done a little solo backpacking here in the US, mainly in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Oregon. Again, no trekking poles.

  7. On December 20, 2021 at 11:12 am, Herschel Smith said:

    @Mike,

    There are always exceptions. Exceptions don’t change the rule.

  8. On December 20, 2021 at 11:31 am, Romeo Foxtrot said:

    I concur 100%..

    I’m not much of a treker, but to stalk trout here in NC/TN/VA, big fly fisherman and though i am very comfortable in the water, ALWAYS use a wading staff to reduce odds of a fall, etc., even on thin/skinny water i have seen guys go down HARD due to carelessness, snot covered rocks, or holes filled in by leaves…

  9. On December 20, 2021 at 12:57 pm, Mike Austin said:

    @Herschel: True enough. I have nothing at all against trekking poles. But I have tempted fate enough—I am 68 after all. I have switched to bikepacking rather than backpacking, and have biked hundreds of miles with Surly bike, tent, stove and Smith & Wesson .40. If I take up backpacking again I will go the ultralight route. No more heavy packs.

  10. On December 20, 2021 at 7:40 pm, C said:

    At my age, I use trekking poles to go to the bathrooom.

  11. On December 20, 2021 at 10:29 pm, Herschel Smith said:

    @C,

    Now that right there’s funny. I laughed.

  12. On December 21, 2021 at 3:14 pm, Levi Garrett said:

    When I was growing up, I would go on walks in the woods with my dad for various reasons. He taught me that one of the first things to always do in the woods was find a good solid, straight stick for walking. It was a multipurpose tool that you could use to push tall vegetation aside when looking for mushrooms on the forest floor, push briars or small limbs and twigs out of your path, generally poke around anything you wouldn’t stick your hand in, and help with balance and footing. I still do that today whenever I take a walk in the woods (and have my hands free). Now that I live in venomous snake country (and don’t wear snake boots), I use walking sticks to probe brush an grass in front of me as I walk in order to give a little bit of advanced warning to well-camouflaged snakes. I probably look a little like Ray Charles. I don’t know if it’s ever worked in that capacity, but it makes me feel better, and I also can use it to flip or bat a snake out of the way quickly if I need to.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "For Heaven’s Sake, Use Trekking Poles", entry #28973 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) Survival and was published December 19th, 2021 by Herschel Smith.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (284)
Animals (297)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (378)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (87)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (29)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (3)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (229)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (190)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,798)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,672)
Guns (2,338)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (5)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (38)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (114)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (68)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (97)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (62)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (73)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (656)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (980)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (495)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (685)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (62)
Survival (201)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (15)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (25)
TSA Ineptitude (14)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (19)
U.S. Sovereignty (24)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (99)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (419)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.