I have been hiking on trails in Germany and beyond for several years now. However, only recently did I decide to actually use hiking sticks. And now I learned that they are a great equipment, and I am now wondering why I didn't think of using them earlier.
I was hiking in Bavaria earlier this year. And as I have been slowly but surely increasing my hiking paraphernalia, the new thing I had this year was hiking sticks. I bought them earlier this year, and while I have already been hiking in Brandenburg throughout this season, I thought I would only use it when I knew I would be hiking in terrain that isn't flat. Brandenburg, as we know, is not the hilliest part of Germany, so I didn't think of using them. Oh that was a mistake.
See, I learned of the advantages hiking sticks can give. It essentially converts you to a four-legged creature, which means your weight and pressure is distributed away from your legs. And after tackling 22 kilometres, with relativel steep and slippery ascents and descents, it does make a difference. On flat terrain, one essentially uses it to push the ground backwards, and in turn it propels your body forward. It felt like I was on turbo. And when descending, in particular slippery slopes, it provides extra support and stability.
Jeez, looking back at my trips to Saxony for example, these sticks could have been very useful. I remember having sore knees after every hiking excursion, but this time, it wasn't a sore aftermath at all. I also realised that my arms are just a tad sore, as my knees, after using hiking sticks, but this also means that the exercise and pressure has been distributed to other parts of the body, and not just on my legs.
One thing that I didn't like, was using the hiking sticks on hard surfaces. Sometimes the trails go on roads, and of course, the sticks just bounce back. On earth, the sticks would make a hole in the ground and one would push it backwards. But on asphalt or concrete, obviously that is not the case. Nevertheless, it still is a great piece of equipment, and this should be on every hiker's set.
