Hiking poles are a bit like e-bikes. People love to hate them… until they try them out for themselves!
But if you’ve never had the chance to test them out, then you might still be wondering what all the hype is about.
Are hiking poles worth it?
Do trekking poles really help all that much?
Your legs have got you this far, haven’t they? Why change?
Look, we get it. Once upon a time we were asking ourselves the very same questions.
But then everything changed.
Yep. We actually tried them, and now it’s safe to say that we’re proud hiking pole converts.
So in today’s blog, we’re going to share the main reasons that got us across the line and turned us into big-time trekking pole fans.
Make sure to read until the end, because we were surprised by some of these reasons – and we bet you will be, too!
1. Hiking poles improve your balance. A LOT.
Did you know that the leading cause of injury while hiking is slips, trips and falls? Well now you do.
And it makes sense, right? Hiking often involves walking over steep, uneven or loose terrain where you can easily lose your balance.
The more weight you’re carrying, the worse things can get. A heavy pack affects your centre of gravity, which means that you expend a lot more energy trying to restabilse with every step.
And besides, not everyone’s balance is the same. As well as normal individual differences, factors like ageing, injury, medical conditions and even certain medications can impact your proprioception, coordination and balance.
That’s why having better balance isn’t just a minor benefit; it’s a massive advantage.
By giving you two extra points of contact with the ground, hiking poles help you stabilise yourself and assist with foot placement. This can reduce your chances of getting injured from having a slip, trip or fall.
In fact, studies have found that even just one trekking pole can make a significant difference to your balance if you’re hiking with a light load. For heavy loads or hiking through tricky sections, such as river crossings or steep descents, using two hiking poles is recommended.
2. Hiking poles boost your speed and power.
One of the lesser known benefits of trekking poles is that they can actually make you walk faster.
Hiking with trekking poles helps you maintain a more upright body position as you move. This in turn allows you to take longer, more powerful strides, resulting in a faster pace overall.
Another factor in this is balance. When you feel off-balance, you will naturally slow down as you try to place every step carefully to avoid falling.
So by providing extra stability, trekking poles make it easier to navigate difficult sections of the trail, which may result in a faster time overall.
Now, we should clarify that the difference hiking poles make to your walking speed probably won’t be huge…
If you’re someone who usually walks at a leisurely pace, then you won’t miraculously become an elite-level speed hiker just by walking with hiking poles. But, after a bit of practice, you may find you’re able to maintain a (slightly) faster pace on the trail.
3. Hiking poles make uphill feel easier.
You might have heard some people say that hiking poles let you ‘save energy’ when you’re going uphill because they use your arms as well.
This is sort of true… and sort of not…
You see, although hiking poles do activate your arms, they do not reduce your total energy expenditure.
In fact, the amount of calories burnt during a hike will be slightly higher if you use hiking poles.
So what’s really going on here?
Well, when you use your hiking poles correctly on a steep incline, you’re actively transferring some of the effort from your legs into your arms and core.
This isn’t ‘saving energy’ as much as spreading the distribution of effort.
Simply put, with hiking poles, your entire body is helping to push you uphill – not just your legs.
And the steeper the incline, the greater this effect becomes.
But this is where things get interesting. You see, researchers have found that using hiking poles may alter your mental perception of the effort so that it feels less intense.
Yep, that’s right; hiking poles can make a steep uphill section of trail feel easier, even though you’re actually burning more calories overall. If that doesn't convince you that hiking poles are awesome, nothing will.
4. Hiking poles make downhill WAY less painful.
Most hikers agree that downhill is worse than uphill.
Because downhill hurts.
Not just the temporary “my muscles are burning”, but the “my knees are never going to be the same” kind of hurt.
With each step you take, your leg muscles are fighting against gravity to decelerate you. And the steeper the decline and the more weight you’re carrying, the harder your legs will have to work in order to compensate.
That’s why in some cases, hiking downhill can contribute to joint pain and inflammation, strained muscles and even stress fractures. Yikes!
If you experience pain when walking downhill, then we’ve got two words for you:
Hiking Poles.
As well as recruiting your upper body and core, hiking poles help you to decelerate and reduce some of the impact and stress on your legs, especially on your knees, shins and ankles.
You might have heard that hiking poles reduce the impact on your knees by as much as 25%. In reality, there isn’t a clear consensus on this figure - so take that with a grain of salt. Whatever the exact number is, what is clear is that hiking poles make a massive difference for a lot of people.
5. Hiking poles come in handy in ways you’d never expect.
Since we started using hiking poles, we’ve been absolutely blown away by how often they come in handy – for other people.
For real. There have been a number of times now when someone else needed our hiking poles more than we did.
Like the time we lent one to someone who was getting really nervous about slipping on some loose gravel on the way back down from a summit.
Or that other time when we were hiking with a friend who twisted their ankle (not badly, don’t worry), so they borrowed our hiking poles for the rest of the trip. Guess what? They are now the proud owners of their own Carbon Hiking Pole Set and bring them along on every adventure.
And then there have been all the times we’ve handed over one pole for a friend to try… and don’t get it back for the rest of the hike because they like it so much.
So yeah, using hiking poles is great.
And occasionally being able to help someone else is even better.
So, what do you think; are hiking poles worth it?
Look, we never thought we’d be the type to get all worked up about a pair of sticks… but here we are.
But seriously, who doesn’t want to perform better, be able to go further, and experience less pain while they do it?
If you’re interested in trying hiking poles for yourself, listen up.
Right now, you can get our Carbon Fibre Hiking Pole Set and an Ultralight Daypack for FREE as a part of our 2024 Black Friday promotion. You can check out all the offer details here.
So what are you waiting for? Grab yourself some hiking poles today – your knees will thank you.
