Walking stick

[Puppet_Sock]

It's an old thread that has gone quiet for several months. But I have
been away from the group.

Anyway: What I look for in a walking stick is the following.

I only use the stick for balance. I don't put a lot of weight
on it in most circumstances. It's not a crutch, but just a
third point to improve my (not very great) balance. Falling
down is embarrasing and painful. And in some situations
it can be dangerous. Also, when there's mud
or a puddle or stream or like, I use it to test depth. Thinking
a puddle is just a couple inches deep and being very wrong
can be annoying.

There is something to be said for style. Some people like
to have a walking stick in each hand. I like one hand free.
Maybe as I age I will change my mind. Typically, I will
swap hands about once each half hour. Usually I swap
the wrist watch to the non-stick hand at the same time.

I like a stick that is a bit heavier than the typical stick
for sale in outdoors supply stores. The clerk described
the one I chose as "our tank." Indeed, it's not even on
the company web site, so I can't point to it.

I need a strap so that I don't have to grip the stick very hard.
Most of the weight goes on my wrist. That way, you only
need to grip hard enough to put the stick where you want it.

It's two peices, telescoping. I like it so that when I hold it in
front of me with the tip on the ground, my elbow is bent so
that my forearm rises just a bit above my elbow. That seems
to be optimum for my walking style. Your comfort and
mileage may vary.

It came with a snow basket, but it's not big enough to be
useful in powder, so I never put it on. It comes with a
plastic cover over a three inch spike. The spike would
be useful for ice, but I've never used it on ice. The plastic
cover has a cute little animal print on it, though in most
situations this does not show up in the print the stick makes.

For winter hiking I have snowshoe specific poles. These have
quite large snow baskets on them, a different strap, and longer
fatter blunter spikes on the end. Usually I telescope them to
be just a bit longer than the summer pole, because they tend
to sink into the snow a bit. And I use two of them at a time.
Also, in some situations, side hill for example, I will telescope
one longer than the other.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Puppet_Sock:

>It's two peices, telescoping. I like it so that when I hold it in
>front of me with the tip on the ground, my elbow is bent so
>that my forearm rises just a bit above my elbow. That seems
>to be optimum for my walking style. Your comfort and
>mileage may vary.

I'm not in love with the one I wound up buying, but one thing that found
essential - but did not even think was important before using a stick -
was quick, easy, on-the-fly adjustability: Different lengths for flat,
uphill, and downhill. Ludicrously-long length for probing,
ridiculously-short length for less conspicuous carrying around when not
in use.
--
Pete Cresswell

[sgt23]

I thought I was the only one that used a walking stick balance.

[RS Wood]

On 2015-12-03 01:57:12 +0300, sgt23 said:

> I thought I was the only one that used a walking stick balance.

and yet ...

[sgt23]

for balance. sorry