I was a pole user for many years before my first camino, and have been an advocate for them on this forum. Over the years, similar comments have been made to these by
@wynrich many times.
- I would note that if the strap is worn properly, it will allow the pole to fall away from your hand when released, and you can take photos, pick your nose or whatever else you might want to do. Carrying an umbrella? Well if you don't get one that attaches to your pack harness, that is definitely going to be difficult.
- Getting them through airport security - that only seems to work for those travelling from the US in any case. Most other countries are more strict applying the restrictions on taking poles into the cabin as carry-on.
- Using them without rubber pole tips - this appears to be personal parsimony. Replacement tips are a few euro, and in the scale of the other costs for most people, would be almost insignificant. I carry both the conical and boot shaped walking tip. The latter is brilliant on hard surface like concrete and asphalt. It works better if it is put on correctly aligned, but that is a mere moment's work.
- Leaving them in bars - only the user can be blamed for that. The poles have no active intelligence that helps them evade their owners leaving bars!
Really! The only time poles are available when you need them are when they are in one's hands.
I have seen this claim many times, but never seen anyone able to substantiate it. I wonder,
@CTLawGal, if you have anything that would do that. I ask, because it would indicate that someone weighing say 80 kg is able to exert a downward pressure on their poles of about 20-25 kg. That seems rather high to me.
This is not to say that there isn't reduction in the pressure on one's knees when using poles. There appears to be good evidence for that when poles are used correctly, but whether the magnitude of that reduction is anything like what is being claimed seems debatable.