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I'm a new hiker in Scottsdale. The trails around me are rocky and can be fairly steep at times. Are trekking poles worth getting, if so should I start out with something cheap or is it worth while to get better ones like these? I do have some past knee injuries that I've fully rehabbed, which haven't been a problem so far, but there have been some steep/slippery bits of trails where extra stability would be nice and possibly allow me to move faster.
Aniki fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2016 09:35
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Tsyni posted:Go cheap, imo. Buy a decently reviewed $30 pair from amazon. Poles are great in any situation where there is slippery trail or mud, or steep uphill/downhill. I've been using a pair from amazon for the past year and a half and I did bend them when I fell in some mud, but they still work fine. They are made of aluminum. I had a pair of carbon fibre ones and one broke in a dry stream bed. You won't always use them, but you'll be really happy when you need them. Ok, that sounds reasonable. I agree that flicklocks sound better, I have a bad history with twist locks and telescoping desk legs, so I'd rather have something that works and I don't need to think about. Thanks for you help!
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Dec 31, 2016 20:35
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Shoren posted:Hello thread, I want to hike more in 2017 and I need to get a good pair of hiking boots. I will primarily be hiking in Arizona so I reckon that I want to prioritize a light, breathable boot over a waterproof boot. As much as I'd like to believe I'll hike in various climates this year I know that at least 90% of my hikes will be in the desert. I'm a novice hiker in Arizona too. I ended up getting Oboz hiking shoes, but I prefer lowtops and am only doing short hikes (2-4 hours) for now. I was using cross trainers before and those were killing my feet on the rocky trails, so going to something with a protective plate to protect my feet from the rocks and better grip has been a big improvement. The shoes do have high arches, which I am not sure if I like or not. They also recommended getting shoes half a size bigger than normal, so you don't kill your toes. I picked up some trekking poles and tried them out yesterday. Still figuring them out to be honest, but they seemed to help quite a bit on the tougher (steep incline and really rocky terrain) sections of the trail, but then they seemed kind of in the way and slowed me down in flatter and slight downhill sections of the trails. I know you can use them to help propel you forward, but it will take me some time to get a feel when and how to best use them. Going to try some steeper hikes soon, so that should be a good test for the poles.
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Jan 3, 2017 21:47
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Hiking in the mountains, I find poles to get in the way when things start getting to class 3. You have to keep flipping them out of the way so you can use your hands, and on downhills they get wedged between big rocks when you're trying to lower yourself. I could see that. I did a rougher stretch this summer around Grouse Mountain in Vancouver where poles would have got in the way, but right now my concern is just dealing with quick elevation gains, which are tough on me right now. I'll get better at those over time, just need to get used to pushing myself for sustained periods of time instead of intervals like I'd do with tennis or hockey.
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Jan 5, 2017 22:15
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Verman posted:... If you're new to hiking your feet might need to toughen up a bit. ... I've noticed this. I went crazy the other week hiking on rocky trails in soft cross trainers, which killed my feet. Now that I have proper shoes and gave my feet some time to rest, I was able to move around a lot better when hiking today and even did some light jogging for small stretches. One thing I noticed is that I really need to stretch my calves/ankles before hiking. They tend to be really tight at first but they eventually loosened up and things got a lot easier for me. Ended up not needing the poles today, but I like having them just in case.
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Jan 9, 2017 06:44
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