Actually, the first thing is that you need two - it follows naturally from how you use them and how they are supposed to work. So my first act was to buy a second one.
How to use walking poles
The first thing is to adjust them to the correct length. This is fairly easy to identify: it is the height which allows you to hold the pole around the handle with your forearms horizontal. At first you think it will be a problem to remember what length each of the sections of the pole should be but in practice you quickly remember and anyway the poles become marked at the relevant point from repeated use.
There is a view that poles should be adjusted in length while you are out walking - shorter for uphill and longer for downhill. I suppose this makes sense if you doing a sustained climb or descent, but for everyday use simply changing the angle of the poles seems to work perfectly well - slightly behind for uphill and slightly ahead for downhill.
Much more problematic is how to hold them correctly - and I have seen lots of walkers not doing so. The idea is that you put your weight on the straps not on the top of the poles, as you might with a conventional walking stick. You then take a light grip with your fingers rather than a tight one.
To get the right grip you put your hand upwards through the strap, then bring it down to grasp the handle so that the strap is across your palm and under your thumb.
The idea then is to place the poles level with the opposite feet as you walk: so you start off by putting your right foot forward and your left pole. At first, I thought this would take some getting use to, but it quickly becomes completely natural. In fact you can quickly stop thinking about it and allow your hands to swing taking the poles into the correct place without conscious effort. Occasionally surface hazards will mean you lose you rhythm, and here at first I found it necessary to consciously restart in the right relationship of foot and pole, but after a while readjustment becomes natural too.
So what are the benefits?
Perhaps the major benefit is a reduced load on your knees and hence reduced wear and tear and discomfort. Various studies are quoted as demonstrating a reduction of 20-25%. I have a bit of arthritis in both knees and I can vouch for these benefits. Peter Clinch points out that one should also take preventative measures to strengthen the muscles around the knees, and this is clearly very sensible advice.
Secondly, you get much more power when climbing and on steady evenly surfaced slopes you can get a strong sense of being driven along. Our recent climb up Dunkery Beacon in Somerset was a good example.
Conversely, on downward slopes the poles provide a bit of extra stability.
Used in the way just described, another important benefit is that you use your upper body when walking as well as your lower body, so you get more of a whole-body impact. The generally under-used triceps muscles are brought into play for example. Critics point out that the effect might be to increase the overall energy output required for waking - and I suppose it depends on your point of view as whether this is to be seen as a good or a bad thing.
Are there any drawbacks?
Well yes. They are a bit of a clatt. You have to put them down to do simple things like blow your nose or have a swig of water, or take a photo. And you can't in fact carry your camera in a accessible over-the-shoulder position because it gets in the way of the movement of your arms. One could add following directions, map-reading and using binoculars or a compass as other things that the poles get right in the way of.
They don't feel right on the occasional sections of tarmac that walk routes some times require. You can get plastic covers to go over the pointed tips, but that is another palaver to put on and take off.
It can also be trying - or impossible - to use poles when the path is narrow because of fences or undergrowth. They appreciably increase the width required for comfort.
And although poles are great going uphill, some slopes are just too steep or rocky and then the poles can become a hazard by occupying your hands and making it hard to take the correct forward-leaning posture.
Conclusions
I have been delighted with my poles, but I only use them when two conditions are met:
- Either I know the way or I am walking with someone who is navigating.
- When the route is known to be hilly - on the flat, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
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