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Which is used by more people and why, please; walking staffs, or trekking poles. I can see the advantage of using 2 poles but somehow a longer staff seems to me to be sturdier and won't collapse on you if you suddenly put a lot of weight on it. I have expensive sticks which did just that and being taller than the average bear, a longer staff makes more sense. Any information will be appreciated.
I honestly don't see the point in a staff. It only supports one side and cannot be used to support your weight as effectively as hiking poles do
That is only true if you haven't really learned how to walk with one -- it supports weight very effectively indeed, and after you've learned it, you adjust your whole balance when using it so that the staff supports your whole body.
If your current poles have a flick lock, check that it has been adjusted properly, and isn't just a little loose. If a flick lock is relatively easy to apply, it probably isn't tight enough to hold the pole sections together under higher loads.Which is used by more people and why, please; walking staffs, or trekking poles. I can see the advantage of using 2 poles but somehow a longer staff seems to me to be sturdier and won't collapse on you if you suddenly put a lot of weight on it. I have expensive sticks which did just that and being taller than the average bear, a longer staff makes more sense. Any information will be appreciated.
I thought some pilgrims use them to do battle with packs of vicious wild dogs, and charging wild boar?Some people think the staff looks cooler.
I think that's the only advantage.
(Hurriedly running off before the single-staff fans arrive to attack me.)
Sounds like the poles work great for you as well as for a lot of others. i like mine and basically use them cause they have to hold my tent up, lol. But to tell you the truth i still feel rather uncomfortable with them, like it's some kind of prothesis i really don't need. Dunno, will keep using them but i really have a hard time getting into the flow of walking with them.. maybe more miles will help.I fully understand why some people prefer not to use trekking sticks - however you cut it they are an artificial aid. Walking is something we learn to do naturally when we are 1 year old, and we have practised that skill all our lives, without sticks or poles. Using sticks interrupts our natural flow, at least until we integrate the process into our natural rhythm. Some never get that feeling.
Walking with a pack introduces a variable. So does physical injury, age (wear and tear), unusual environmental obstacles. In my case I have no useful vision in one eye, so no depth perception, injured knees and poor natural balance.
I'm not alone, most people my age have accumulated mechanical wear in some part or other of their bodies. And we don't usually carry heavy loads on our backs for hundreds of kilometres. Trekking sticks help to balance my body, give a mechanical advantage and add propulsion, integrate some upper body strength, assist my vision and balance by feel, signal terrain changes underfoot. They have saved me innumerable times from twisting or turning an ankle and from face planting - which I have done quite a few times when walking normally without a pack.
I simply could not walk the distances I do without my trekking sticks.
Can you just buy a pilgrim hiking stick? Like in a store? I wanted to buy a stick, not hiking poles, just a stick. And one of those seashells.
Lots of tourist shops along the way sell them.Can you just buy a pilgrim hiking stick? Like in a store? I wanted to buy a stick, not hiking poles, just a stick. And one of those seashells.
Spoken like a true hiking-poles enthusiast!You often see the wooden sticks abandoned in albergues - ask the hospitalero if you see some lying around if they are spare ones. They are probably abandoned by people who went out and got poles
On the other hand, I've used a single stick/staff for many years when hiking and camping in the mountains. Where I live is surrounded by steep hills and having a single long staff to place down slope when walking on a side slope has stopped numerous tumbles. Also good to beat wet bushes to clear the water as well as as occasionally being the end support on a lean-to shelter.
Different tools for different purposes I suppose...
In reference to the Camino Frances, unless you peel off the main path and saunter through the woods, you won't encounter any snakes not clearly visible. I only saw one snake on the Frances, a small one about 2' long and it was dead, skull trauma no doubt from a pilgrim ahead of me. I don't think it was one of the poisonous vipers native to northern Spain. Nevertheless, I coiled up the now deceased serpent, propped his head up as best I could and left him in the middle of the dirt path, looking like he was still alive and ready to strike.Let us not forget, when walking thru snake country, the extreme usefulness of a single staff. It always proceeds one over/across logs or rocks or other visual barriers, thereby assuring that any suddenly-awakened poisonous reptile will strike the STAFF rather than the leg....
Yours truly,
-- The Voice of Experience
Perhaps you might be interested in what I had to say a couple of months ago in a thread entitled TIPBOT. You can use the search function as I don't know how to link.Sounds
Sounds like the poles work great for you as well as for a lot of others. i like mine and basically use them cause they have to hold my tent up, lol. But to tell you the truth i still feel rather uncomfortable with them, like it's some kind of prothesis i really don't need. Dunno, will keep using them but i really have a hard time getting into the flow of walking with them.. maybe more miles will help.
Yes, I definitely look cooler with my wooden hiking staff.Some people think the staff looks cooler.
I think that's the only advantage.
(Hurriedly running off before the single-staff fans arrive to attack me.)
I have been curious about staffs since I only use one hiking pole anyway, prefering to have one hand free to quickly grab my camera as I take many photos along the way.I have used both and prefer a staff, which I use with a wrist strap. This is personal choice though, I prefer the rhythm of a staff . Technically you would get more benefit from two walking poles, I agree.
One benefit off carrying a staff is you have one hand free to drink your wine while walking!
Davey
Pilgrims use both staffs and walking sticks to fend off all types of Camino beasts!I thought some pilgrims use them to do battle with packs of vicious wild dogs, and charging wild boar?
Now that I for sure would agree a stout, preferably oak, or similar dense wood staff would come in handy. Giving attitude adjustments to biped coyotes.Pilgrims use both staffs and walking sticks to fend off all types of Camino beasts!
I don't like the word 'staff' when applied to sticks. I would feel silly saying it. 'I've just got to get my staff.... has anybody seen my staff?' Can't do it.
In reference to the Camino Frances, unless you peel off the main path and saunter through the woods, you won't encounter any snakes not clearly visible
ha ha...that would be pretty funny. No way could I do it either.I don't like the word 'staff' when applied to sticks. I would feel silly saying it. 'I've just got to get my staff.... has anybody seen my staff?' Can't do it.
@Mark Lee One man did manage to get bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake in a park in Madrid recently. A neat trick considering they are not even native to Spain. Some very odd circumstances to the story:
https://www.thelocal.es/20170306/man-bitten-by-rattlesnake-in-madrid-park
I have to agree that you are very unlikely to see any snakes along the Camino Frances. I think I've seen four or five live ones in three Caminos, plus a few roadkill. And I was looking pretty hard to spot them as I find snakes and lizards fascinating creatures. The worries that people often have about them are way out of proportion to the reality.
Oh yeah, that is a 100% BS story that guy concocted in order to avoid that fine for illegal exotic pet. What's scary is how did someone sneak in a diamondback rattlesnake from the US all the way to Spain?@Mark Lee One man did manage to get bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake in a park in Madrid recently. A neat trick considering they are not even native to Spain. Some very odd circumstances to the story:
https://www.thelocal.es/20170306/man-bitten-by-rattlesnake-in-madrid-park
I have to agree that you are very unlikely to see any snakes along the Camino Frances. I think I've seen four or five live ones in three Caminos, plus a few roadkill. And I was looking pretty hard to spot them as I find snakes and lizards fascinating creatures. The worries that people often have about them are way out of proportion to the reality.
What's scary is how did someone sneak in a diamondback rattlesnake from the US all the way to Spain?
In reference to the Camino Frances, unless you peel off the main path and saunter through the woods, you won't encounter any snakes not clearly visible.
Nevertheless, I coiled up the now deceased serpent, propped his head up as best I could and left him in the middle of the dirt path, looking like he was still alive and ready to strike.
I wonder what the reaction(s) were of the next group that came along?
I don't like the word 'staff' when applied to sticks. I would feel silly saying it. 'I've just got to get my staff.... has anybody seen my staff?' Can't do it.
The male pilgrim appears to be using a huge branch as a staff - enormous thing! No idea why.
Staves need to be stripped, cut to length, and dried before use -- the extra weight of the sap and bark in that sort of green wood, not to mention even if it's the right kind of wood in the first place, will simply fatigue you for very little real benefit.
I think if you look at the photo I posted you will see it is a very old and dry piece of wood. Not one freshly cut. Still looks ludicrously large though.
The male pilgrim appears to be using a huge branch as a staff - enormous thing! No idea why.
Which is used by more people and why, please; walking staffs, or trekking poles. I can see the advantage of using 2 poles but somehow a longer staff seems to me to be sturdier and won't collapse on you if you suddenly put a lot of weight on it. I have expensive sticks which did just that and being taller than the average bear, a longer staff makes more sense. Any information will be appreciated.
@Mark Lee One man did manage to get bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake in a park in Madrid recently. A neat trick considering they are not even native to Spain. Some very odd circumstances to the story:
https://www.thelocal.es/20170306/man-bitten-by-rattlesnake-in-madrid-park
I have to agree that you are very unlikely to see any snakes along the Camino Frances. I think I've seen four or five live ones in three Caminos, plus a few roadkill. And I was looking pretty hard to spot them as I find snakes and lizards fascinating creatures. The worries that people often have about them are way out of proportion to the reality.
I am snake-blind. (Yes, that's a thing - I am testament to it.)
Truly lucky to be alive at this point in my life, really. Ah well. I do use 2 poles. I just have to learn to see the snakes before it's too late, or the poles won't help much in that arena.
Actually, the poles can be tremendously helpful. When you're off the beaten path, especially if you can't really see the ground very well, make sure to plant one of your poles where you're ABOUT to step. Remember, too, that snakes are tuned into vibrations in the ground. Make your pole-plants affirmative rather than hesitant.
And, when you're ON the beaten path, just stay toward the center and away from the snaky-bushes alongside....
..... but then my mind wanders.....
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