Phil's Gear Guide: Trecking Poles

Any runner knows how exciting it is to purchase new gear!! We all like to talk about it, but it is very disapointing when the gear we purchase isnt what we had hoped it would be.

This is a new segment I am starting where I will share my opinions and thoughts on equipment I have used in my adventures.

Todays review is for Woods, Adventure trecking poles.

Specifications:

Max Extended Length: 135 cm
Compressed Length: 26 Inches
Weight:  1 Lb 6 Oz
Purchase Location:  Canadian Tire, Grande Prairie, Alberta
Purchase Price:  $29.99

I have used these poles for roughly 100 km.  About 20 km was hiking in the mountains, the remainder has been on running trails and hills.

The reason I bought these particular poles was because of the price.  This was my first experience with trecking poles, so I wanted to make sure I liked using them before I invested in a quality pair.

To say the least, I got what I paid for.  I would recommend them to a beginner, but they are heavy.  And at 26" when telescoped closed, they are too long to tie onto the average running hydration pack. However, I am looking forward to using them for sheep hunting as they tie onto my 64 liter moutain pack very nicely.

The twist locks used to set the adjustable useable length works well, even with sweaty hands. I did have one pole slowly start to collapse on me because I failed to tighten the lock all the way.

They came with a rubber foot to cover the hardened steel tip as well as two different size snow baskets (which I removed).  The steel tip sticks to mountain rock very well, and while I havent used them extensivly on rocks, they dont seem to be wearing much at all.

I did removed the baskets, because I didnt want them snagging on grass and bushes beside the trail. But Ive found that the knurled twost locks do tend to snag on grass and bushes.

When using them to climb steep muddy hills, I put EXCESSIVE weight on them to see how they would handle it.  I weigh just over 200 lbs and I would estimate I put well over 100 lbs on them and they held up well.  However, when crossing a mud slide, one pole sank in about a foot, and as I continued to move forward the lower segment bent about 2 inches out of allignment.  I was able to straighten it out fairly well when I got home and it still telescopes closed.

The hand straps are easily adjustable when using gloves and are handy to use in case a pole gets stuck in the mud....they dont get left behind!!

The shock absorbers seem like a good idea and do add a level of comfort when on hard ground or catching yourself from falling. However, they add extra weight and the shock absorbers are noisy.

SUMMARY: 3 out of 5 stars.

Pros:  Inexpensive.
           Hand Straps work well.
           Varying lenth for different height people.
           1 Year replacement warranty at                            Canadian Tire.

Cons: Heavy.
           Locking knurles grab grass and shrubs.
           Poles will collapse of not tightened all                  the way.
           Collapsed length is too long for running              hydration packs.
         

At the end of the day, you are getting what you pay for. I would highly recommend them for hiking or hunting, or the beginner runner. Not recommended when you have to tie onto and remove from small packs or use them long distance.  



Please let me know if you found this review helpful!!!  I value your opinion as well. 😀

If you have something you would like me to test and write a review about, email me at phil.troyer@troyer.ca.

Confessions.....

This weekend was spent in Fort St John.  Relatives from the states came up and it wasnt long before we were all talking running!!!  Any time 5 runners get together there are varying speeds and ideas of where we should run and how far we should run.  Unfortunately, there were more votes for pavement than gravel trails....so I conceeded.

Since I was running with my oldest sister and brother, I knew better than to try to get my way and run strictly on dirt trails.  Even though I was also running with my future sister-inlaw and my favorite aunt, I knew my older siblings would out vote my desire for the more technical trails.  So we struck out on the pavement.....

"These beauties though!!!  They have style, class and amazing looking shirts"

I forgot how boring it was to run on pavement. I had to make up stories and running tips to share with Faith and Aunt Leeann. And since Steve was up ahead running with Megan, he was no help wowing the ladies with our wealth of running knowledge and "tips".

The 9 km of pavement seemed to be never ending.  But as I dozed in and out of a comatose state, we eventually did reach then end and start the trail portion.

The gravel trail was cut into the side hill and went down into a small creek valley. There were numerous muddy spots and I became happy again!!

At the 12 km mark we were back at the truck.  The rest of the crew had reached their target distance, but I still had more to do, and I was looking forward to exploring more trails in the dense woods.

After refilling my water pack, changing into my trail shoes, and grabbing my trecking poles, I was headed back into the woods.

As I started my first decent into the valley, it was rather quiet without Steve nattering on about how is road shoes were getting dirty on the muddy trail. I did miss Leeanns previous attempt to sing as she ran....(It seemed to attract more mosquitoes so she didnt sing for long.)

When I reached the first corner at thw bottom of the trail, I met a runner who I knew when we previously lived in Ft St John. We were more aquaintences when we moved, but you knlw how runners are; I turned around and asked if I could join her on her run.

She agreed so we continued down the trail together. I could tell she was much faster than me, but I am stubborn and strongly believe that I can do anything for an hour....  She definitely set the pace going up the hills. Even with the advantage of trecking poles, I began to peter out....

About this point in the run I started to learn a very valuable lesson:  please, spare yourself great pain and discomfort and learn from me.

(Disclaimer:  In this portion of the blog, there will be no pictures and you must "read between the lines".)

In the past 2 yrs, I have done quite a few long runs.  My rule is, if I am running more than 15 km, I use vaseline to prevent chafing.  I am can honestly say, up until this point I have never had a problem with chafing, because vaseline works for me!!!

Well, I forgot to bring my anti-chafe product to Ft St John and I did realize this as I was getting ready for my run.  But in my mind, I thought to myself "I have never had a problem with chafing...I will be ok this time".

You see, the reason I had never had problems with chafing, IS BECAUSE I USED VASELINE!!!  But on this run, school was definitly in session and I was about to get an education!!!

When Linda left me and I was running alone for the last 4 kms, I was somewhat relieved.  This allowed me to adjust my clothes a bit to prevent farther discomfort from the friction...but the damage was already done!!!  My favorite running shorts has seen enough miles....and soon I had some extra ventilation in the afflicted areas.

Back at the truck, the 20 min ride on a hot leather seat seemed to add sand to open wound.  When I got out of the truck, I could tell that a "normal stride" was not going to be possible....even at a walking pace.

When I walked into the house, apparently, everyone could tell there was a certain level of discomfort in my gait, and my favorite aunt seemed concerned about my "injury"....  

I tried to explain to her in the most gentle words the extent of my injury. Really, in an effort to sum it up briefly to her, I explained it as a "pulled groin".  This is a socially exceptable term that has a certain level of heroism to it.....  "I was pushing my body so hard, that the boundaries of my muscles were reached, but I pushed farther, to the point of failure....and pulled my groin".

In the converation that continued, there were various remedies for "pulled groins"...none of which seemed to help my particular type of strain.

In the end, I learned...and two days later, I am still learning with every step:  If something works for you; KEEP DOING IT!!!  Aparently the vaseline was doing its job, and who knew, vaseline could prevent a pulled groin??

McOoze Hill Repeats

It was a special run today. As always, the ladies (and Daryl) were eager to teach me the finer points of being a succesful trail runner.

When we were directed to meet at McOoze for hill repeats I was ecstatic!!!  I had hiked those power lines about 3 years ago when I was training for sheep hunting...then I was hiking, now I was running!!!

This was the type of terrain my hiking poles were designed for!!  I could only imagine how much easier the hills would be with my new poles!!

On the way to the bottom of the hill, Daryl ran with me and gave me pointers on how to use the poles efficiently.

"Sync your breathing with your pole strike" he told me.

It made perfect sense.  If my breathing was in time with my stride, it only made sense that my pole strike would be in sync with my stride as well....not so!!!

When you slide down a muddy hill that is so steep that a beaver would be scared to slide down, you cant sync your breathing to that!! And when you yell angry words at the swarm of mosquitoes that are flying in attack formation beside your left ear, it is impossible keep your poles in stride with that!!!  My stride resembled that of an amputee octopus in a gunnysack race, but I was slowly making my way up the hills.

About this time we were about 3.5 hrs into our 90 minute training program and I realized why they call this McOoze....it is because all the bad things I had ever eaten were oozing out of my forehead. The trail befind me was SLIPPERY because of all the sweat dripping off my nose, eyebrows, lips and chin!!

"Keep your head up, when you are running up hill" Daryl instructed, as a sprinted up the hill past me in his new flip flops.

I tried to find enough wind in my wheezing lungs to explain to him that my head was down so the sweat would drip off my eyebrows rather than cascade over my delicate eyelids and pool in my squinty eyes. This would cause temporary vision impairment for sure.... and no one wants to see a blind amputee octopus in gunnysack race.

But leave it to the rest of the team to give me the final solution to all these problems.  As we ran back to the parking lot from the bottom of the hill Shari started to do a survey of who all in the group had taken salt tabs today.  Of course, everyone had been responsible and consumed their little secret pill earlier in the day; except for me!!  But hey, I also forgot my running watch when I left the house.... all the salt tabs in the world wouldnt fix THAT problem. But maybe the salt tabs would fix the cascades of sweat McOozing out my forehead.

Fortunately, next Thursday is another day to run with this awesome group.  I will remember to take my salt tabs, wear something pink, make sure my shirt is right side out, and keep on running even though my feet are turning to blisters.... Oh yes, and I will remember to drink more water on the run too!!

 

"Run" Jasper

We are camping an Jasper for a week, so I though what better opportunity to find some hill trails to run!!  After a quick online search, I discovered the Folding Mountain Trail, a 16 km trail just down the road from our campsite.  The second night we were here, myself and a friend we are camping with decided to go scope out the trail and make sure it was suitable to run.

It didnt take long to realize that the trail reviews were true....the first 2 km we STEEP!!!  In fact, that is as fas as Mike and I made it on our "test hike".  The trail was well worn so I knew I would be able to follow it running and the reviews did state that it leveled off a bit after the first 2 km.

Mike, starting back down the trail after our "test hike".

When Steve, Megan and I started out on the trail 2 days later, I warned them that the trail was STEEP, but we should be able to run most of it after the first 2 km.

At the first break in the thick timber at roughly km 3, it was obvious how high we had climbed and also became apparent how much higher we had to go!!!  There were a couple sections where the incline on the trail was gradual enough that we could run, so we made up some precious time that we lost hiking in the timber.

Steve kept waiting for the "ridge running" section, which he somehow got in his head was part of this trail.  The anticipation of this exhillerating portion of the trail was all that kept him going as we plodded on through the many wildfowers and continued the steep climb.

"A portion of the trail that was ridge running...just for Steve!!!"

When we finally did come to a portion of the trail that was "ridge running" it was unclear if it was the steep grade as the trail went up the ridge, the rocky cliff hundreds of meters down to our left, or the thick tangle of scrubby spruce trees on our right; but for some reason, Steve opted to hike the only portion of the trail that was "ridge running".....

It was only another kilometer or so, when we reached a summit, that we could see the final summit.  The last ascent was through a small saddle (which was runable) then guarded by a large shale rock slide which ended at the top of a rocky cliff which extended to near the bottom of the valley and certain death to any runner, hiker, or ridge runner who was foolish enough to attempt the final summit.

I could see a trail cutting diagonally up the shale slide that required a closer inspection. Maybe the final summit WAS conquerable?!?!?

I left my pack with Steve and Megan; told them I loved them both, and asked them to look after my family if I didnt return then put all fear and common sense aside and started the jog through the saddle to the final ascent!!!

When I reached shale slide it became aparent that the trail was not from other hikers, but from mountain sheep. This was not a very comforting thought, but the fact that there was a trail (sort of) kept me going.

Soon the sheep trail ended in a rocky ridge that jutted straight out from the mountain about 6 feet.  I knew that simply climbed the face that was littered with loose rock, but I still had enough wits about me to determine that the small cliff was well beyond my skill level.  So I turned back to my right and started to traverse the rock slide again, this time making my own trail.

At the top of the slide I could see the summit just a few feet higher.  The wind which had been steadily blowing up the slide was MUCH worse at the top and made it nearly impossible to stand up for fear of being blown off the mountain.

 After some pictures at the top and a quick FB Live video for the run group at home, I started the descent...  Traversing the rock slide going down was MUCH worse than coming up, several times, I did second guess my decision so climb the summit, but the view and feeling of satisfaction made it all worth it.

After joining up with Steve and Megan, we made our way back down the mountain. Running where we could and slidding down where it was too steep to run, we made MUCH better time going down!!

While the 16 km trail was much shorter than the targeted run distance for the day, it wasnt really much of a tun after all, but just an amazing hike!!!