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I need a new pair ... suggestions?

CannondaleKid wrote:To remove them I use a crescent wrench

SAE or Metric?

If you learn to hold the poles using the strap in the same manner as for cross country skiing, it will keep your hands from getting tired, since you barely have to grip the pole at all. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fuz00lfUQI

te_wa wrote:SAE or Metric?

Your choice... but for most people it's likely SAE.
Personally my collection of crescents take in both SAE & Metric in various sizes... 3", 6", 200mm, 9", 250mm , 12" and even a rusty, ancient 18" monster.

@azbackpacker I kinda figured anyone who bought poles with straps would know how to make use of them, but then I guess some folks might have thought the straps were to hang the poles when not in use.

te_wa wrote:SAE or Metric?

Mine's both. I must have bought the deluxe version!

CannondaleKid wrote:I kinda figured anyone who bought poles with straps would know how to make use of them, but then I guess some folks might have thought the straps were to hang the poles when not in use.

I see more people using the straps incorrectly than not. Another problem with not using the straps correctly is that the odds of breaking a thumb in a fall is actually quite high.

Huh. And here I've been using poles to prevent me from falling altogether!

I didn't know how to use the wrist straps when I got my first pair. Still don't care to use them knowing how. Nor do I adjust the poles to the recommended height for that matter.

Trekking poles are all for aesthetics though, right? I usually carry mine in one hand until I hear someone coming up on the trail, then hurry up and clank them around a lot for show.

(In all seriousness, thanks for the youtube link @azbackpackr. Never really 'got' the straps thing.)

@joebartels
@jacobemerick
I don't even think I have even ever put my wrist through the straps lol I got hiking poles 100 miles into CT and have not looked back, so I have found tremendous merit in the poles, but I have always found the straps trivial and I have never experienced any fatigue in the wrist either, but alas I do recognize that may come with age and time...

I dropped a pole into the Canyon once cuz I wasn't using the strap. .. I normally do.

@cactuscat
The same reason I use the straps... to keep from losing the poles, particularly when going through thick brush. When cutting my way out of a thicket I can't hold the pole and clipper at the same time, which is when the strap comes in to play.

I occasionally may take an old Tracks monopod with me and I recently acquired a UTEBIT swivel mount that I can attach to my Tracks and utilize with my cameras. Compact and works quite well.