The Super Uses Of A Walking Pole

A walking pole, or two, can be a fantastic hill walking aid to relieve pressure on legs, knees, feet. Especially with heavily laden packs, on long days, or multi-days.

They can get in the way on certain terrain, or if using a map and compass.

I generally have one strapped to my backpack and have found it invaluable on many occasions; however not in its typical use.

Here is what I love walking poles for!

Soft Crutch:
Bad blister or sore knee - having a pole to use can be the difference between getting off the mountain before nightfall; or being caught in darkness.

Hard Crutch:
For a sprain or proper leg/foot injury a walking pole becomes an invaluable crutch - once it is still alright for yourself, or the casualty, to be standing or walking.

Tricky Ground:
For loose, tricky, steep, rocky ground - self explanatory. Prevention is far better than cure.

Bog Crossing:
Keeping your feet dry and keeping your legs dry for as long as possible is important in our mountains, in our weather. I have seen someone become hypothermic over several hours from a simple case of slipping waist deep into bog and not warming up afterward. A walking pole makes a great ground tester!

Stream Crossing:
Even where a stream is safe to cross - the stream bed, or stepping stones, are often very slippery and I have seen many a person take a simple slip right into a stream. That is them fully wet then for the rest of the day potentially. A walking pole or two can make stream crossing far more stable.

Bivvy Bag Stretcher Handle:
When making a bivy bag stretcher/survival bag stretcher - you can roll a walking pole up into the outer length of the bivy bag, on each side of your improvised stretcher. These become stretcher handles.

Sprain/Fracture Splint:
A walking pole generally separates into two or three shorter sections of pole. Ankle, knee, leg, elbow, arm - all can be splinted using walking pole sections. Pad the pole with a scarf, shirt or bandage to ensure it's not sharp or cold against skin; then tie firmly into place. I used this method last year with a student who dislocated their knee - splinted walking pole sections down either side of the knee, tied into place with triangular bandages.

Some of these points relate to first aid and for this I highly recommend Marie Lyons from www.remotewestfirstaid.com if you are interested in first aid training.

Thank you to Portwest for their poles!

Mountain Tip - Walking Pole

Mountain Tip - Walking Pole:
Carry at least one walking pole (even strapped to your backpack if you do not usually walk with one).

This can be used to work your way through bog and swamp; helps your balance crossing streams; stabilises you in windy conditions; can work as a simple crutch and can be separated into three short lengths to splint a fracture.

Finally; although not encouraged; for a real short distance, two poles can be rolled up into the sides of a bivvy bag/survival bag (one on each side) and a makeshift stretcher made.

Half Of Kerry Mountain Rescue Call-Outs Are Due To Getting Lost

''Alan Wallace with Kerry Mountain Rescue says they’ve noticed almost half of their rescues are used  to locate people who are lost.

He says people need to have the necessary skills, know the terrain and watch the weather to stay safe when they are hill-walking.''