I use poles or a staff, but the beads are used off trail; in dead reckoning in featurless terrain or thicker bushwhacks until you can reach a catching feature like a trail, power lines, river etc. at that time I've tucked the poles away for the most part. I've used them on trail at times and just reach with pole in hand to slide a bead. I love GPS, but i don't rely on GPS, period.