Trekking Poles

This guide is designed to help you find trekking poles that fit your needs best. Different body styles and activities require different poles. We will discuss various benefits and features of different poles in order to help you find yourself the perfect match.

If you're hiking or backpacking experiences are anything like mine, you're used to getting to camp at night with a lot of aches and pains. Whether you ache from too heavy of a pack, rugged and uneven terrain, or you're just plain out of shape, you can reduce the discomforts by using proplerly fitted and activity specific trekking poles.

Trekking poles can be anything from a stick you find out in the woods to a new aluminum, ergonomically engineered, trekking pole from an industry leading manufacturer such as Black Diamond or Leki. The whole purpose behind using a trekking pole is to reduce the pressure and discomforts in your legs and back by distributing the weight of your load throughout your whole body. Trekking poles also increase your endurance and power up steep inclines and provide stability on uneven terrain.

With so many benefits to using trekking poles, it wouldn't make sense to not have them fitted properly in order to maximize your trekking poles' performance. There are a few basics that everyone should know when it comes to fitting your poles.

First, unlock both sections of one of your poles. Extend the bottom section all the way and then lock it. The new Black Diamond poles have what they call the Binary System. It shows a red dot when extended fully and locked in place.

Second, stand straight with your shoulders relaxed. Place the pole about 2-4 inches under your armpit, depending on what feels most comfortable for you, and lock the upper section of the pole.

Finally, place the first pole alongside the second and fit accordingly as to make them identical. This height will be your poles optimal height in releiving your legs of stress and distributing the load throughout your arms and upper body.

Many brands such as Leki and Black Diamond recommend adjusting the poles' length as you travel across various terrains. For example, going uphill you would want to shorten the poles length to accomodate the slope of the mountain and vice versa for downhill. This logically makes sense but, more often than not, is very time consuming and becomes an annoyance. I tend to leave them at their normal lengths unless I'm going across a long traverse. In this case, I recommend shortening the uphill pole and lengthening the downhill pole. The amount you will want change the length depends on the angle of the slope. A good way to do this is by standing sideways, with one foot downhill of the other, and doing the 2-4 inches under the armpit trick again. This will give you a good idea of where you will want to adjust the poles.

A few last things you should look for before buying or using trekking poles is that many poles feature a shock absorber. This is a great feature for hiking and backpacking but for skiing it can actually be a hindrance to your technique and can cause more stress than it relieves for your joints. If you're looking for a universal pole that you can use backpacking in the summers and backcountry skiing in the winters, make sure to buy poles that allow you to lock out the shock absorber. The Leki Classic series poles are an example of poles that have a lockout suspension system.

I hope this guide has been useful to you as you go about exploring the comforts and luxuries of using trekking poles in the backcountry. Remember to take advantage of every little benefit and feature that they have to offer. Check out the full listing of Leki and Black Diamond trekking poles at the gotyourgear e-bay store. Keep on Trekking!


-copyrighted by gotyourgear 2007

Vibram Five Fingers

Clearfield, UT, (July 9, 2007) – gotyourgear.com is adding the unique glove-styled FiveFingers® to its footwear line. Designed by Vibram®, the worldwide leader in high performance footwear soles, FiveFingers is the first and only footwear to offer the exhilarating freedom of going barefoot with the protection and surefooted grip of a Vibram sole. gotyourgear.com is currently carrying the FiveFingers Classic, Sprint and Surge, designed for hiking, climbing, yoga, kayaking, kiteboarding, running, walking, etc.

The first and only footwear to offer the exhilarating freedom of going barefoot with the protection and surefooted grip of a Vibram sole, FiveFingers add a unique sense of feel to any activity, putting the user more in touch with his or her natural surroundings. Wearing FiveFingers can improve balance, agility, and general foot health. And, using FiveFingers as an after sport recovery shoe, can reduce potential injuries by strengthening foot muscles while improving range of motion.

Originally developed as a “barefoot alternative” for sailing, climbing, and light trekking, FiveFingers footwear is quickly gaining popularity among “barefoot” runners, yoga, Pilates and fitness enthusiasts, windsurfers, kite boarders, and kayakers.

“For gotyourgear.com the shoe is a natural fit,” explains Tyler Conlin, gotyourgear.com owner. “Our customers are always looking for new ways to experience the outdoors and FiveFingers is that “one-of-kind” product they will love.”

“FiveFingers has taken on a life of its own, as athletes from a variety of outdoor sports embrace the benefits of barefooting,” explained Tony Post, president, Vibram USA. “Whatever your sport or activity, FiveFingers liberates your body to move in a healthy, more natural way.”

Vibram is offering four colors in the popular FiveFingers Classic: Khaki/Tan/Black and Sand/Dusty Blue/White for men and women, plus Mauve/Sand/Grey for women and Dusty Blue/Sand/Grey for men. The Classic carries a suggested retail of $70.

The new Sprint is similar in style to the FiveFingers Classic but with a more secure fit. It features hook and loop closures across the instep and a redesigned heel fit that provides more customization. This versatile shoe, with a suggested retail of $80, provides an interesting alternative for barefoot runners and is available in three colors: Taupe/Putty/Clay, Blue/Aqua/Grey, and Vapor Grey/Orange/Pearl for both men and women.

The new Surge is available in a charcoal grey neoprene booty with a suggested retail of $100. The Surge offers more thermal protection in cold water and a secure fit via hook and loop closures. The patent-pending FiveFingers platform provides a unique sense of touch and feedback so important in board sports.

Each style features a patent-pending Vibram TC1 non-marking outsole designed to follow the contours and flex points of the foot and toes with razor-siping for a sure grip on wet, slippery surfaces. The inner footbed utilizes the AgION ™ inert antimicrobial application that kills odor-causing microbes without any adverse environmental impact. All three models will be available in men’s sizes 41 to 47 (8 to 14) and women’s sizes 36 to 42 (5 to 11.5).

gotyourgear.com is a web store that has been around for little under a year. It is based out of Clearfield Utah but ships all over the world. It carries only the best name brand products in the outdoor industry when it comes to camping, skiing, snowboarding, and climbing. Vibram Five Fingers have been a great addition to gotyourgear.com and complement the rest of the store nicely.

Vibram® is recognized worldwide as the leader in high performance soles for outdoor, recreational, work and fashion footwear and is relied on by the world’ s greatest climbers and athletes. Vibram® soles have set the standard since Vitale Bramani created mountaineering’s first rubber lugged sole in the late 1930’s. Vibram® soles have gone on to conquer Mt. Everest, K2 and a host of the world’s tallest peaks. Today, the company works with premium brands including Danner, La Sportiva, Lowa, Merrell, Red Wing, Scarpa, The North Face, Timberland, Vasque, Wolverine and many more. For further information, visit http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

gotyourgear.com on Myspace

Hey Gang! gotyourgear.com has a new Myspace page. Check it out at myspace.com/gotyourgear. All of our Myspace friends get extra discounts on products and know about all of our sales and events going on. Check for our special myspace discount code under the DEAL OF THE MONTH.

-The Gear Guru

T-shirt Contest!

T-Shirt Contest

for free gear!

Who would pass up free gear? We know you wouldn't. That's why we're having our first ever gotyourgear.com T-Shirt contest! All you have to do is go to gotyourgear.com and order yourself a gotyourgear.com T-shirt. Then take pictures of you wearing it in the great outdoors and send us the picture. Each month the coolest picture we receive will be sent free gear from gotyourgear.com. We're giving away some good stuff like headlamps, bags, etc. Don't let this pass you up; send us your pics to service@gotyourgear.com now!





-The Gear Guru