{"id":1136,"date":"2012-12-20T21:03:18","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T21:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=1136"},"modified":"2014-11-22T15:22:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T15:22:52","slug":"hiking-poles-versus-sticks-that-are-lying-about-on-the-ground-stalags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2012\/12\/hiking-poles-versus-sticks-that-are-lying-about-on-the-ground-stalags\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiking Poles versus Sticks That Are Lying About On The Ground (STALAGs)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems to me that we have two kinds of hiker.\u00a0 One uses\u00a0manufactured\u00a0Hiking Poles while the other prefers Sticks That Are Lying About On The Ground (or STALAG for short).<\/p>\n

I fall into the second category. \u00a0I’ve\u00a0tried Hiking Poles twice and was disappointed twice.\u00a0 The first time I was wading up-hill through a snow drift when one of the poles buckled and bent itself out of shape, fat lot of use that was.<\/p>\n

The second time almost exactly the same thing happened, this time in thick, gooey mud, and both sticks ended up bent out of shape and later dumped into a rubbish bin near Cromer beach.<\/p>\n

\"My
My hiking stick in the Pyrenees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve not suffered the same disappointment with STALAG poles though.<\/p>\n

When I went hiking in the Pyrenees last summer I spent quite a lot of time\u00a0just sitting about whittling and carving my hiking stick.<\/p>\n

I found my hiking stick in a wood, pulled it out from the undergrowth and broke, and then cut, it down to size.<\/p>\n

I found the effort of working the wood to be very calming\u00a0and\u00a0satisfying, a nice way to spend some time when resting during or after a days walking.<\/p>\n

You can see the stick in the picture on the left.<\/p>\n

There are a number of (probably spurious) reasons why, in my experience, Sticks That Are Lying About On The Ground\u00a0are superior to hiking poles.<\/p>\n

So, what are the pros and cons of STALAGs?<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Quite quick to find,\u00a0usually\u00a0lying about the place waiting to be picked up.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks<\/a>
Sticks That Are Lying About On The Ground (photo by Ednl)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2) Easily to adjust.\u00a0Break the stick down until the correct length is found, use a knife for precision<\/p>\n

3) STALAGs are free!<\/p>\n

4) No extra cost when you want to\u00a0upgrade\u00a0to the next model<\/p>\n

5) Fun and relaxing.\u00a0Spend time whittling and crafting designs on your stick, make it uniquely yours.<\/p>\n

6) Protection from vicious looking dogs and other beasties (and possibly hoodlums). Yes, a hiking pole waved vigorously about might<\/em> just discourage a dog. On the other hand, a thumping great five foot long STALAG will definitely give the mutt cause to think twice before tearing a chunk out of your leg.<\/p>\n

7) \"Aikido\"Great for aspiring Ninjas or Aikido practioners, keep your moves sharp and fluid while hiking down the trail<\/p>\n

8) Eco-friendly:\u00a0100% recyclable, no fossil fuels used<\/p>\n

9) Easily replaceable if lost or broken<\/p>\n

10)\u00a0Can be used for firewood in desperate situations<\/p>\n

11) You don’t look like a lost skier<\/p>\n

\u00a0Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) STALAGS are generally a tiny bit heavier than hiking poles<\/p>\n

2) You could be mistaken for Gandalf<\/p>\n

3) Er\u2026that\u2019s about it<\/p>\n

So there you go, a\u00a0rigorous\u00a0\u00a0scientific\u00a0examination of hiking poles versus Sticks That Are Lying About On The Ground.<\/p>\n

What do you use and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems to me that we have two kinds of hiker.\u00a0 One uses\u00a0manufactured\u00a0Hiking Poles while the other prefers Sticks That…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[32,70,71],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1136"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1154,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions\/1154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}