Trekking poles are a common hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 accessory used to assist walkers with their rhythm and provide stability on rough terrain.

Description

When in use, trekking poles resemble ski pole

Ski pole

Ski poles are used by skiers to improve balance and timing. Early ski poles were simply sticks, then bamboo , then steel . In 1958, Ed Scott invented the aluminium ski pole...

s as they have many features in common, such as baskets at the bottom, rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

-padded handles and wrist straps. Unlike ski poles, however, they are often made in two or three sections and can be extended and retracted as necessary for use. One-piece poles are proven to be safer and more durable. Their maximum length is usually 135 cm (54 inches). Some poles come with spring

Spring (device)

A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...

-loaded sections to aid walking under normal conditions and to reduce wrist strain, but such devices may only add unwanted weight and noise to the poles. Trekking poles are usually made from lightweight aluminum or carbon

Carbon

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

 fiber. When fully retracted, they can sometimes be stored in the side pocket of a backpack

Backpack

A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions...

.

Uses

Descendants of the common walking stick

Walking stick

A walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing while walking.Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes, and can be sought by collectors. Some kinds of walking stick may be used by people with disabilities as a crutch...

, trekking poles are usually used by hikers for the same reasons — to provide some rhythm to their walking pace and for added support. On flat, smooth terrain they really aren't necessary although using them can increase the exercise a hiker gets from the trip, as well as the speed. But on less certain terrain, or steep slopes, they provide useful lateral stability, and many turn to them for help with knee

Knee

The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...

 pain. They can also be used as aids when climbing rocks or boulders, to probe the depth of mud or water and facilitate a crossing. When traversing steep slopes for long distances, some hikers make one pole shorter than the other to make those trips feel more as if they were taking place on level ground.

Some backpacking

Backpacking (wilderness)

Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

 tents are designed to use trekking poles as tent

Tent

A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...

 poles. Along the same lines, trekking poles can be used to set up a Bivouac shelter

Bivouac shelter

A bivouac traditionally refers to a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire or such a site where a camp may be built. It is also commonly used to describe a variety of improvised camp sites such as those used in scouting and...

. Hikers who take to snowshoe

Snowshoe

A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation"....

s in winter find trekking poles especially useful.

Impact

Some hikers have complained that pole use leaves a visible impact on the surrounding trail, poking visible holes in the ground and damaging adjacent vegetation. The most common complaint is that the carbide

Carbide

In chemistry, a carbide is a compound composed of carbon and a less electronegative element. Carbides can be generally classified by chemical bonding type as follows: salt-like, covalent compounds, interstitial compounds, and "intermediate" transition metal carbides...

 tips leave visible white scratches on rock, and make scraping sounds. All these detract from the wilderness

Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

 experience they seek.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Appalachian Trail Conservancy

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia...

 (ATC), which estimates that pole usage rates on the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

 vary from 90% among thru-hikers

Thru-hiking

Thru-hiking is the process of hiking a long-distance trail from end to end. The term is most commonly associated with the Appalachian Trail, but is also used for other lengthy trails and long distance hikes, including the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Thru-hiking is also...

 to 10-15% among day hikers, recommends several measures to mitigate the environmental impact

Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...

 of trekking poles in accordance with Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is both a set of principles, and an organization that promotes those principles. The principles are designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they hike, camp, picnic, snowshoe, run, bike, hunt, paddle, ride horses, fish, ski or...

principles of low-impact backcountry recreation. Hikers, it says, should not only be aware of what they put their poles into, they should remove the pole baskets unless hiking in snow and use rubber tips to avoid scratch marks on rocks. On level sections, or in areas where the potential for adverse impact is high, the ATC suggests putting the poles away entirely.

External links

Comprehensive discussion on benefits of using poles for different activities.