Trekking Poles Vs. Canes

Both trekking poles and hiking canes are excellent walking companions, lending invaluable support and decreasing body strain. They are especially helpful for long-distance hikes and in complicated, rugged topography. Choosing a hiking aid might involve some trial-and-error to select one best suited for your individual needs.

Poles and Canes

Canes in the familiar sense refer to a single staff or walking stick, commonly seen as a walking aid for the elderly or infirm but also applicable in hiking situations. Trekking poles are modern spin-offs of the classic walking stick, resembling ski poles and generally telescopically adjustable. Handles range from the rounded crook of a traditional cane to rubberized grips, and many models come with wrist loops.

Benefits and Comparisons

In general, the traverse of rugged country calls for the use of trekking poles rather than hiking canes. Canes, however, can be perfectly suitable for relatively level paths and even leisurely cross-country travel, such as across a desert flat. Ultimately, the choice of one or the other is a personal one, based on individual comfort and preference. Properly using walking aids of any kind can reduce strain on legs and hips and provide extra stability on uneven or unstable ground.

Support

While sometimes used singly, trekking poles are usually sold in pairs, and wielding one in each hand usually exacts the greatest benefit. A hiker with two trekking poles can fall into a walking rhythm not unlike that of cross-country skiing. Of course, using two hiking canes can achieve a similar benefit, although it is important to equalize their lengths. In dangerous situations like stream crossings, having two poles or canes is a great help: They bolster your stability against running water and challenging substrate.

Adjustability

The major difference between a traditional hiking cane and a trekking pole is adjustability. The lengths of most modern poles can be quickly modified by any of a number of locking and unlocking mechanisms. The prime benefit of an adjustable pole is the resulting ability to respond to changing terrain. Hikers ascending or descending a steep slope can decrease or increase, respectively, the height of their trekking poles so that their arms and wrists remain in comfortable positions and the poles impart the maximum support. A traverse across a slope might call for decreasing the length of the up-slope pole and increasing that of the down-slope one. The adjustable poles also can be fully collapsed and strapped to a backpack for trail or cross-country sections where you don’t want them.

Multiple Purposes

Both canes and trekking poles can serve functions other than simply lending support and stability to the hiker’s stride. They might be nosed ahead of the walker during a river ford, testing the water depth and the nature of the stream-bottom; and a pair of them can support an A-frame tarp or tent shelter.

Aesthetics

As slick and technological as modern telescopic trekking poles are, hiking canes have definite aesthetic appeal. Those fashioned from found wood are highly individualized and artistic.

References

• "The Backpacker's Field Manual"; Rick Curtis; 2005 (pgs. 52, 177)
• Ideal Hiking Equipment: Techniques for Using Trekking Poles