How's it going everybody? It is your old pal Bobbocka news here. Welcome back. I hope you're all having a good one here today. So trekking poles. Yes or no? It is such a hotly debated topic and such a hotly debated piece of backpacking and hiking equipment. I thought it would be a great time to put a video out there to weigh the pros and the cons. You know, put that debate out there. So you can make up your own mind on the side whether or not trekking poles are right for you. So settle on in. Grab a cup of coffee. Let's go ahead and get started. Okay, everybody. And before I go ahead and get started, be sure to subscribe down below if you haven't already to make sure you are keeping up to date with all my future videos that I have coming out there for you. And of course at the end of the video, if you did enjoy it, be sure to give me a thumbs up. I always do appreciate it. So back to the topic at hand, the debate that we have here today. Trekking poles. Yes or no? For those of you who already carry a trekking pole tent, obviously this is going to be somewhat of a necessity for you. And in fact, myself, I prefer trekking pole tents over freestanding tents. So once again, trekking poles are somewhat of a necessity for my equipment. However, they go beyond just that simple necessity in order to set up my shelter system. They actually have a really good benefit to my hiking experience. So certainly when it comes to trekking poles, you do have such a variety out there adjusting, not adjusting. And hey, if you're just your prerogative, go ahead, pick up some sticks out of the woods and make your own. But certainly purchasing a good viable pair of trekking poles does have some benefits over picking up a pair of sticks. So let's go ahead start with some pros for trekking poles and see if they're right for you. So first pro number one, of course, is talking about that adjustability of it. These are specifically the leaky, crustallo trekking poles. Some of my favorites, and in fact, leaky is one of my more preferred brands. Now with this particular style of trekking pole, this actually has a dual adjustment. So it actually has two different locking mechanisms on here, allowing me to adjust two different zones of the trekking pole itself. The benefit of that, of course, is you're able to give yourself a little bit more of a customized height in far as far as how you're holding it. The benefit of that as well is for those of you with those nice trekking pole tents, providing that adjustability allows you to raise or lower the height of your tarp, bracing for bad weather, or giving you more ventilation. Certainly with that adjustability, hey, even just the terrain in front of you as well. It's great to where you can adjust the trekking pole on the fly, give you that customized support, and that customized feeling that you have. Really again, just make sure that you're saying safe and giving yourself a really good hiking experience. The second pro to go along with that as well, of course, is going to be the added balance aspect that trekking poles give to you. It's great, especially during stream crossings, when you're trying to walk across rocks or walk across that nice down log across the stream, and especially in snow icy conditions, slippery conditions. It's great having that three or four points of contact for that added balance for especially just the mental aspect of it to give you that extra confidence knowing full well that you have more than just your feet on the ground. I am sure that we have all slipped and taken a tumbler to, especially in the day where we didn't have any trekking poles or walking sticks or anything, and I myself, more than one occasion, that's for sure, have thanked my lucky stars that I actually did have trekking poles and something to balance myself, or if I did slip, something to actually catch myself with. So especially for those of you who are new to hiking or for those of you who just want to be able to walk more confidently through the woods, I know amongst retirees, trekking poles or a really, really great option again, just for that mental confidence that added stability while out on the hiking trail just to help prevent the event that you do slip or take a tumble. Now for me personally, beyond just setting up my shelter and also obviously the adjustability of it, two big reasons that I like trekking poles in particular is the first reason, being able to actually maintain a higher rate of speed and be able to keep my momentum up, especially on short in climbs. Just being able to maintain a steady rate of speed, a steady pace is great to be able to do those extra miles, stay on schedule and hey, even getting to camp a little bit earlier. On short little hills, short little inclines, it's great to where I can dig these into the ground to add that extra momentum to keep me on that steady rate of speed going up a hill. Certainly again, just being able to save a little bit of energy on my legs, just for that added stability that added power, certainly I do notice, I'm just able to move a lot smoother throughout the day. And of course, you know, a big thing in particular while you're hiking all day, it allows me to actually keep my posture a little bit more upright, especially hiking without trekking poles. People have a tendency, I've done it myself, to work throughout the day, they tend to lean forward further and further throughout the day. What you're doing is you're straining so much of your back, you're not engaging your core properly to support that weight, and as well you're restricting your breathing, you're stricken the airflow, able to get down into your lungs. So by bringing your posture upright, you're then supporting all your weight in your core where you're supposed to be, you're not putting all that extra strain and weight on your back. And as well, because now I'm upright, my chest is open and expanded, I can breathe better. My airflow is not restricted, my endurance then performs better, especially going uphill, I'm able to get my knees up just to again keep my momentum and my rate of speed going up the hill better. So being able to bring my posture upright goes a long, long way to save in some of that back pain, especially for those of you who like to do some long distance. So obviously you have quite a few benefits of having trekking poles or walking sticks, let's go ahead and talk about some of the negatives or the cons that go along with carrying trekking poles. So certainly number one of carrying trekking poles is just having to carry an extra item and carry the added weight. Certainly you're expected to carry them in hand all day long, however there's a lot of times you're going to come across certain sections where you're going to have to strap these to your back back. Guess what, that's an extra item that you're now going to have to carry, that's extra weight that you're going to have to carry as well without having the added benefit of actually using the trekking poles. So certainly if you're someone who likes the trekking poles when you need them but doesn't like the trekking poles when you don't use them, certainly doing your research and going for a really nice ultra light trekking pole set might be a great way to go for you. But still you've got to carry them with you, you've got to account for that added weight. And of course when it comes to the locks, when it comes to things on this, it's going to experience a lot of wear and tear. Things do fail, things do break. So especially with the locking mechanisms, whether you have something like this where it's a flip lock or those classic twist locks, it's moving parts. Eventually those things can wear out, they can fail. So making sure that you maintain your gear properly is something that is essential. Like I said, they are parts that can fail for those. So for those of you who don't want to have to run the risk of repairing parts on it or run the risk of, hey, I'm supposed to set this up. I'm supposed to set my tent up with this pole tonight and all of a sudden a lock broke on me. Obviously you've got to be able to think on your feet. You've got to come up with some good alternative to make sure that you can set up your shelter at night. Probably the most obvious con is the fact that sometimes trekking poles can get a little expensive. You know, certainly is one extra expense that you're going to have to incorporate into your system. That's why I said certainly if it's your prerogative to go pick up some sticks out of the woods and turn them into good hiking sticks. Go for it by all means. That's what you want to do. I'm not going to say yes or no. Again, just from the things that I laid out, just from the adjustability of it. Obviously you do have some nice benefits of actually going with trekking poles over hiking sticks. So as you can see, you know, you certainly do have quite a few nice benefits of actually having trekking poles. And certainly there are some negatives of owning trekking poles as well. It's really for you to decide. Obviously you can see I'm holding these trekking poles here. You obviously understand my mindset and clearly I like having trekking poles. I enjoy having them and being able to keep that posture up, keep my momentum, and of course being able to actually set my shelter up at night. I'll have to do another video on why I prefer trekking pole tents over free standing tents, but stay tuned. I'll have to do the one that one sometime very, very soon here for you. But otherwise, you know what? I've been using trekking poles for quite a few years now. I anticipate that I'm going to keep on using trekking poles for years and years to come. And with new technology coming out, carbon fiber, all this great stuff. They're just getting lighter and lighter and really kind of leaving no excuse as to not having them any longer. So I hope this helped some of you in some way. If you're sitting on the fence, whether or not to get them again, just for that added stability, the added comfort, just for the mental aspect while you're out in the backcountry air, out in the backcountry. Obviously they are a really nice benefit. But that being said, I hope this did all help you in some small way. Certainly if you have any questions regarding my own trekking poles, feel free to leave them in the comments below. I'll be happy to answer them for you. In the meantime, I hope you're all staying safe doing what you can to keep yourself busy and preoccupied during these crazy times. I want to thank you all so, so much again for following along on another fantastic video here today. Be sure to subscribe down below. Give me a thumbs up if you did enjoy my video here for you. Leave me a comment or a question down below as always. Until next time everybody, Boba Ganesh out.