If I want to keep hunting the northern pa mountains I need the best walking stick I can buy. Mostly for the decent!!!

So what do you recommend.


Keith

I took a hickory rake handle cut it to size put a steel tip in it reinforced that end for about a foot with fiberglass mesh.

A bit heavy but very strong it has been on many back packing trips and has saved me many times from nasty falls.

I like the length just under my arm pit.

Hickory

Most people these days are using a pair of walking sticks, like ski poles.
I haven't used any yet but I know people that do use them.

Oops, forgot the important part. Collapsible for on my back pack!

Just google trekking poles and decide which ones you want.

I've used the holy hell out of them for decades now and they are the perfect thing for my ever aging knees.

I did a backpack bighorn hunt in Wyoming last year and added a desert sheep hunt for my son and the "sticks" are the only things that keep me going with the younger guys nowadays!

You'll LOVE them!
Zeke

In Arizona, we use "Moses sticks" made of the dried stalks of sotol plants. They are lightweight, strong and cost almost nothing. (The only cost is for an optional rubber cap that we place on the skinny end of the stalk.)

Sotols grow grow wild in southern Arizona's Coues deer country.

I cut mine so that the top is level with my eyes when I am standing. This allows me to use it as a monopod for glassing with my binocular.

I've also used it to steady my rifle for offhand shooting.

Bill Quimby

I got the trekking poles with the spring loaded shock absorbers built it....they are wonderful and worth every penny. Way better than ANY wooded stick you could ever get. Get a pair as using two works way better than just using one. Mine are Mountainsmith Pinnacle Anti-Shock poles, they are collapsible/adjustable and I think I paid like 30 bucks for the pair on sierratradingpost.com

You can also use bamboo, which is very light and very strong. That is what I used before I got these trekking poles.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulcinea:
Oops, forgot the important part. Collapsible for on my back pack!

Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles

They cost a little more but are worth every penny. Light weight and collapsable with cam locks (NEVER get twist lock).

I respectfully disagree with Woodrow S on the shock absorbers. When you slip on uneven ground you want those poles to bite and help you not lose balance.

Our Alpine Carbons have saved me and Joyce from certain injury packing meat off mountains more than once.

Cheers
Jim

PS, I've seen them on sale from time to time at REI as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulcinea:
Oops, forgot the important part. Collapsible for on my back pack!

Up to that point, I was going to say get an osage orange pole from one of the Kansans...

I have an 80% tear in my left and a 20% tear in my right Patellar tendons. I have tried everything under the sun to relieve the pain that this condition causes going down steep mountains especially with a load of meat or a heavy pack.

This year I had PRP (Plasma Rich Platelets) injections into both tendons and hit PT pretty hard in September...add in some good petelar straps and these trekking poles and I had no pain this past fall in the Rockies.

These are the exact Leki Micro Vario Ti trekking poles that I use. They open up in seconds to fit my 6' 2" frame and collapse to around 15". They are of the highest quality and the Leki name and warranty are top shelf.

quote:

These are the exact Leki Micro Vario Ti trekking poles that I use.

They look like a nice pole

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I have an 80% tear in my left and a 20% tear in my right Patellar tendons. I have tried everything under the sun to relieve the pain that this condition causes going down steep mountains especially with a load of meat or a heavy pack.

This year I had PRP (Plasma Rich Platelets) injections into both tendons and hit PT pretty hard in September...add in some good petelar straps and these trekking poles and I had no pain this past fall in the Rockies.

These are the exact Leki Micro Vario Ti trekking poles that I use. They open up in seconds to fit my 6' 2" frame and collapse to around 15". They are of the highest quality and the Leki name and warranty are top shelf.

Leki makes hi quality poles. The type you show, are they height adjustable. I prefer adjustable ones with the cam locks so when side hilling I can quickly adjust the up hill pole shorter than the down hill pole.

I also make my poles longer for descents vs. climbing.

Cheers
Jim

Addendum: I see the single length adjusting cam at the bottom of the handle and the specs say adjustable from 43 - 51 inches.

AR is the BEST resource you could ever ask for. Thanks a million, especially Ted and Jim. Guess what Santa is bringing.

Keith

Jim,

They have 8" of adjustment with this single flicklock.

The flicklock also has a tension adjustment that doesn't require any tools.

The straps also adjust easily with a flicklock.

Keith,

I have to point out.....the straps are not there as an
anti-drop feature but are the foundation of the support. When adjusted properly they will lock you're wrist into place and use you're forarm as part of the pole making grip strength less important.

I also wrap black tape around each pole.....several yards worth towards the bottom section...

One never knows when you might need some tape

Living in South-East Missouri I'm surprised I dont have several yards of bailing wire wrapped on there...lol

Look up how to correctly use trekking poles on YouTube and Google.

Had a trek pole I bought at Bass Pro used it one year lost rubber tip. I started looking around and called Leki and asked the woman in cust service what I needed for hunting and packing meat out and she recommended the Kumara said they are little heavier and would be hard to break. I used them in NM and CO this year and packed meat once. No complaints. IMO opinion the weight you will tolerate and durability are the consideration.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulcinea:
AR is the BEST resource you could ever ask for. Thanks a million, especially Ted and Jim. Guess what Santa is bringing.

Keith

York eh?

Joyce is from New Cumberland and I've done a lot of backpacking back there. Loved the Loyalsock Trail.

Cheers
Jim

I am having a hip replaced in a week and during the pre-op appointment I asked my doctor about the best thing to use once the walker is retired after the first week and he said a pair of good carbon fiber trekking poles. On the way home I headed to REI and grabbed a pair. I am fairly short at 5'5" and the shorter women's poles would have been great but I went with the longer men's poles so I can loop the wrist strap around them and use them for shooting sticks. I used a set of shooting sticks on my revolver antelope hunt for the first time and they are worth their weight in gold. These poles collapse into themselves with locking levers and will tuck right in a back pack and they weigh less than a handful of cartridges.

Ted,
I understand the strap being the foundation for support, that is why I asked the question here. have seen and borrowed Stony Points only to practically ruin them by using the strps for support.
My current stick is a cut down canoe paddle with webbing straps that can support my full weight. Light and strong but not very compact.

Jim,

York, yep. You and I have talked by phone. Back in 2007 or 08.
The Loyalsock Trail area had 11 inches of rain in five hours the end of November. Lots of damage in that area.

Keith

Those factory walking walking sticks can't suck enough. Go to a beaver flowage and get one of the already debarked sticks that's about 1 1/4 " to 1 1/2" in diameter and 5 feet or so long. One of those will serve you for years. Just be sure to smooth over the top end so that the point left by Mr Beaver doesn't cut you.

Back in my skiing days I had a very nice set of ski poles - but the baskets came apart. They were well made so I kept them realizing they would make great hiking poles. They do ! Strong , light steel tubing , sized for me, with carbide tip!

Recently I came across a S&W video about hunting grizzlies with hand guns . One obvious thing in the video, walking across streams with no support was crazy to me !! One slip and you can ruin your whole day. My strong light poles would be just the thing.