Pacer Poles

[John Hussey]

Because of problems I have just recently developed with my knees on a prior hike, I have decided to forego my trusty single staff and go the two-pole route. I have found these interesting ones:

http://www.pacerpole.com/index.html

and wondered if anyone had any experience with them, good or bad. They are radical in design from the more common Leki ones but I have decided I do not want any anti-shock feature.

[Douglas]

Interesting link - I've not seen Pacerpoles. I have weak knees (too much rugby as a lad) and use two poles when hill-walking at home in Scotland. I took two poles on the Camino but was walking from home in Scotland and lost one somewhere in England. I didn't much miss it.

I mainly need the poles on steep descents and there isn't too much of this on the Camino, although there is some. I'd reconsider the anti-shock - I think it allows you to place the poles more securely (they're less prone to skipping when placed on a hard surface) and it helps a lot on those steep descents when you might accidentally lunge your weight on to a pole - it will absorb it without skipping or jerking out of your hand.

[John Hussey]

I suffer the same fate on steep descents, whereas on steep ascents or level ground, there is no knee pain. It has been building up gradually and a couple of months ago, on an 8 mile descent in the Appalachians, the left one hurt so much I was hobbling in pain at the end and could barely walk at all. So, I am taking a serious look at the double pole system as so many seem to think it just may solve some of the problem.

I once tried a single Leki pole with anti-shock some years ago but did not like it as it made so much noise each time it hit the ground and i am assuming that they still make the same noise. Then again, most of Leki's poles do have anti-shock, so a great deal of stock is put into that feature. But not all. Read the opinion of Chris Townsend, your compatriot and a backpacking guru, on the subject:

http://www.pacerpole.com/reviews.html

I am finding that, with pole selection, it is tough to make an informed decision while being so uninformed. It approaches the divergent opinions on footwear selection

[Douglas]

I have heard some criticism in Scotland of the noise made by walking poles, being an unwelcome interruption of the serene silence of the high places. I think old people should be allowed out walking too, though.

If you are embarassed by the noise you can improvise some sort of cover for the hard tip to muffle this.

More concerning is their tendency to hum in the vicinity of electrical storms. I believe the advice in that situation is to drop the poles and leave them behind. Given how common storms are across the Camino, especially at this time of year, perhaps the best idea is cheap poles that you don't mind losing!

[John Hussey]

I do prefer the silence in high places but it was not the tip striking the ground making the noise as much as the noise of the anti-shock mechanism bottoming out when weight was applied to the pole. I don't believe I could take that for long. My single staff now has a rubber foot and is silent. Lightning is the biggest killer at altitude but the bigger grounding point in the event of a mega-amperage strike would be through the soles of one's feet. Thunderstorms can be scary when one is among the very few of the highest things around but I dont feel those points along the Camino are overly dangerous.