[kbatku]

I've noticed that a lot of people don't know how to properly use hiking poles. Do you think it would be a violation of HYOH to point this out in a polite manner, or should I just leave them to suffer in their ignorance?

[reststep]

Just out of curiosity what were they doing improperly? I offered use of my hiking poles one time to someone who seemed to be having balance problems on the Lillian Ridge Trail out of Obstruction Point but they were not interested in trying them.

[Randito]

MYOB

[kbatku]

[schifferj]

I see this a lot and just let it go. That said, my son-in-law who is an avid skier and been skiing for 15 years was using his ski poles incorrectly. I DID point this out to him as that was/is a common cause of skiers thumb injury. He was incredulous but when he checked it out he found out he was wrong.

[SKS]

I would kindly ask if I could make a suggestion. If they say "What?" or "Sure", then show them a different way to hold their hiking poles. I think 99% of people would be receptive.

[williswall]

I don’t use straps. 35 years of using poles before “trekking poles” were sold, guess I’m doing it wrong....

[huron]

Using straps in the way you describe prohibits the ability to change your grip height on the pole. My preferred method is to keep a thumb through the strap and hold the pole at the bottom of the grip area. Then, I can palm the top for the low side of trail and drop lower on the shaft for the high side. You should try it. You may not go back to straps.

[HitTheTrail]

When I first started using poles I was gripping them tightly with my hands thru the strap and got tennis elbow (tendonitis) in both elbows. My sports medicine doctor told me to use them more or less as described above and my tennis elbow finally went away. But it took me almost two years. Because of my experience I sometimes offer advice if the people seem friendly and want to know how to better use them.

[RumiDude]

[Malachai Constant]

A friend broke his wrist using straps, since then have not used them. Descending I have the top in my palm uphill I grip the handle lower down if steep. It works for me.

[nordique]

Today was my 45th hike this year--and, as usual, I was cranking away on my trekking poles, uphill and down. As a longtime nordic ski racer, in many states, I used racing poles to post a lot of great results in the U.S. and Canada. For nordic ski racing, I always used the straps. For hiking, never! One of my old nordic touring partners, in the Canadian Rockies, always used her straps for touring--but after several visits with her to ER, many of us stopped using straps downhill. She dislocated her shoulders multiple times and eventually had shoulder surgery. As a telemark slalom racer, I did use the straps--but had the good luck to avoid a shoulder dislocation. I also made a lot of use of trekking poles while hiking downhill, in the decades before my right knee and right ankle replacements (those replacements were not hiking-related, but Vietnam-related). Without poles, I'd have had to stop hiking.

[RumiDude]

[nordique]

Wrist straps, to my mind, on descents, seem to increase the chance of a dislocated shoulder. I don't want to take that chance. It's not that easy, for non-medical personnel, to reduce a shoulder dislocation in the back country.

[Malachai Constant]

He fell