Poles are a technique, not an accessory

Everything here earned its place by changing an outcome. Nothing about walking poles is included to round the number up.

Length changes with gradient

On flat ground the elbow should sit at roughly ninety degrees with the tip planted. Shorten for ascent so you are not reaching upward, and lengthen for descent so you are not stooping. People who set a length once and never change it get a fraction of the benefit.

Traversing is the case people forget, where the uphill pole wants shortening and the downhill one lengthening, and adjusting both on a long sidehill section does more for balance than anything else available.

Straps do the work

The hand goes up through the strap from below and rests on it, so weight is transferred through the wrist rather than by gripping. Gripping tightly all day produces forearm fatigue and reduces the load transfer that poles exist for. This is the single most commonly misunderstood detail.

In practice, there is one place to leave the straps off, which is any ground where a slip or a slide is plausible, because a wrist held in a strap cannot let go and a pole caught in rocks or in moving snow becomes a lever on the arm.

Where the benefit is measurable

Studies have found meaningful reductions in knee loading on descent, and reduced perceived exertion on ascent. The effect increases with pack weight and with gradient, which is exactly where it is needed. On flat easy ground the benefit is small and mainly rhythmic.

The trade is that the arms are now working, so poles raise the energy cost of a given distance slightly while lowering the load on the legs, which is an excellent exchange on a long descent with a pack and a poor one on the flat when you are already tired.

Balance on awkward ground

Two additional points of contact transform stability on river crossings, boulder fields, snow and steep loose descents. This is a safety benefit rather than a comfort one and is why many walkers who dislike poles still carry them. Poles also probe soft ground and hidden holes, which matters on bog and snow.

On the ground, the tip decides how much of that is real, since a carbide point bites into rock, ice and frozen ground while a rubber ferrule slides on wet stone, so the rubber tips fitted for pavements are the wrong ones for exactly the ground where balance matters most.

When to put them away

On scrambling ground hands are needed, and poles stowed on the pack are safer than poles dangling from wrists. In high wind a pole can act as a lever and unbalance you.

Baskets matter on soft ground and snow and are frequently left off. How they are stowed matters too, because poles strapped across the back of a pack catch branches, rock and the person behind you, whereas carried vertically on the side with the tips down they stay out of everybody's way.

The exception is usually weather, which overrides most planning.

Locks, materials and how poles fail

Twist locks rely on friction inside a tube that fills with grit and water, and they slip when cold, worn or contaminated, which is why external lever locks have largely replaced them for winter and heavy use. Aluminium bends under an overload and can usually be straightened enough to walk out on, while carbon is lighter and stiffer and fails suddenly and completely, generally at a point that was scratched or crushed on an earlier trip. That difference matters most where a pole is loaded sideways — wedged between boulders, or leant on hard during a river crossing — which is precisely the moment when losing one without warning is worst.

In practice, poles put away wet and assembled corrode and seize, so pulling the sections apart and drying them after a wet trip is the one maintenance habit that decides how many seasons they last.

Everything above, in order of what to do first

1. Length changes with gradient. On flat ground the elbow should sit at roughly ninety degrees with the tip planted.
2. Straps do the work. The hand goes up through the strap from below and rests on it, so weight is transferred through the wrist rather than by gripping.
3. Where the benefit is measurable. Studies have found meaningful reductions in knee loading on descent, and reduced perceived exertion on ascent.
4. Balance on awkward ground. Two additional points of contact transform stability on river crossings, boulder fields, snow and steep loose descents.
5. When to put them away. On scrambling ground hands are needed, and poles stowed on the pack are safer than poles dangling from wrists.
6. Locks, materials and how poles fail. Twist locks rely on friction inside a tube that fills with grit and water, and they slip when cold, worn or contaminated, which is why external lever locks have largely replaced them for winter and heavy use.

The takeaway

Rest your weight on the straps, change the length on gradients, and stow them for scrambling.

Go slowly enough to notice, and most of this stops being advice and starts being obvious.