Black Diamond Trekking Poles - my new best friend

So you all thought trekking poles were used for the obvious reasons:

• Providing better balance and footing.
• On downhill hikes especially, they decrease the amount of stress on your legs and joints.
• On uphill climbs, poles transfer some of your weight to your shoulders, arms and back, which can reduce leg fatigue and add thrust to your ascents.
• They make crossing streams, loose rocks and slippery surfaces such as ice and snow patches easier and safer.
• They help you establish a walking rhythm.
• They can push back overhanging vegetation from the trail and probe soggy terrain for holes and boggy spots

WEll over the last 7 days i have found even more uses for poles. As our team trundled across the outback in 35 degree heat i used the poles for snake detectors. With every step i waved the pole infront of my feet to make sure there were no snakes lurking just ahead of me. Without them i felt so vulnerable. Luckily for us we only saw 2 baby ones in the rainforests but strangely enough as we entered into Cairns, we walked into 3!!

Another fantastic use for them was killing leeches.You watched them start to move from the ground to your shoe and up and onto your body. As they got onto our shoes we squashed them with the pole tip.Making sure there was nothing left of them. The rainforests we were in were honestly covered in them. If you stood still for more than 30 seconds you could see at least 6 of them making there way to you. They still give me the hibby jibbys!

The other brilliant use for the poles and by far the most important as we found out, was to whack away the stinging trees and wag a bietjie vines. It was endless and without then we would have been in much worse condition. At least with poles you could push the vines and trees back and sneak under them without too much trouble. The times that we couldnt we got horribly stung. That is a whole new story and will forever be a living nightmare for me...

The next best thing a pole can be used for is for towing. When you are 4 days into a non stop race and you have only had 4 hrs sleep you start to hallucinate, walk and sleep at the same time and what we call " get attacked by the sleepmonster." It is a horrible situation and there is nothing that can help it but sleep. So when one member in the team gets it, you put them on tow. This way they can walk and sleep at the same time. They hang onto the pole and it helps them to stay in a line so they dont fall off the track.

Now if they aren't reasons enough to go out and buy a pole you never will. Trust me you NEED them.

Over and out

Hobs