A pair of poles seems to cost $100 more or less.

What has me thinking more seriously about them, odd as it may seem, is that a pair is required to set up some of the ultralight tents I am admiring.

Ray Jardine doesn't use them. Neither does Anson. I'm not sure just what Colin Fletcher says about them, but it seems to me that he got soggy and sentimental about his collection of hiking sticks.

When I asked at my friendly local Summit Hut store, I was told that they sell almost 10 pairs of trekking poles every day! This matches my informal poll on a local trail -- nearly everyone I checked was using trekking poles. When I asked a couple of people what they thought about them, they all said something about "saving the knees". I am going to take advantage of the "borrow a pair for a free test ride" program at the Summit Hut and check these out for myself.

The test ride

My overall conclusion is "not for me at this time". My knees do hurt now and then, and a pole or poles can be a nice help doing a big step down off of a rock (avoiding a big jolt on the way down). I found them handy on the cross country travel more than anything. This was on a steep slope with rocks, pine needles, and debris. Having a pair of poles made it effortless to recover from slips and stumbles that would have at the very least been a lot more effort without them and especially so with fussy knees. On the trail though, I just found them annoying and often just hiked with the pair in my right hand. I prefer the freedom of having my hands free most of the time. When I got thoroughly exhausted on the hike in the first day (racing the sunset to my chosen camp), I found being able to stumble forward aggressively a benefit. But then there is the endless noise: clink, clank, chink - and the distraction of watching where you plant each pole on rocky ground.

I did find the Leki adjustment solid and bombproof. I would say complaints of poles unexpectedly collapsing would be due to user error. Since I used my pair of poles in one length setting the whole time (I have other things to do besides fuss all day long adjusting hiking poles), I would say: why not just have a fixed length pole?

Leki

A pair of thermolites weighs about 15 ounces (one pole weighs 7.5 ounces). 20 percent less than the "regular" versions (which must weigh 19 ounces or so).

Some models have a spring built into the shaft (apparently some people like this "antishock" feature). I think I would prefer a simple rigid shaft.

Black Diamond

Andrew Skurka favors the "Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles" which in 2013 sell for about $160. (a bit pricey, but that is to be expected for Carbon fiber). Mr. Skurka observes that the durability of poles depends more on how they are treated than the materials they are made from.