About 15 years ago, I was heavily into outdoor activities. At the same time I was also about 75 pounds overweight.
frown A friend of mine suggested using a walking stick to help ease the pressure on my knees.

So I went to Lowe's and found 2-1" or 1.5" hardwood dowels about 4 or 5 feet long. Add a rubber crutch tip and a little 550 cord for grip.

Instant walking staff and it could be used for other applications as well, just use your imagination.

I can confirm that they come with a nice rubber tip that covers the carbide point. If you need to use it as a tent pole, just pull the rubber tip off.

Other than that, I have to totally agree with your list. I agree the compass is cheap..but better than nothing and your right, I probably wouldn't use it as my primary source of direction location.

I was surprised that after hiking 19 miles in two days and putting considerable stress on these poles, that I didn't have blisters. I did have a hot spot on my right hand, but it never blistered.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

thanks Alex, got two of them on the way from Lee Valley, also picked up some other cool stuff from them, a small hammer for the bug out bag, and a small 2 AA battery powered fluorescent pocket light -- should be here in a few days

Check out Pete's Pole Page for some usefule tip. Especially the section on Using your poles as proper techniques makes the difference beyween carrying a stick or sticks around vs. have a useful tool to aid in stability and transfer load from your knees to your upper body.

I bought a pair prior to my trip to Philmont in the mountains of New Mexico. I was a skeptic at first but am no a firm beleiver. I have two bad knees and they did not cause me any discomfort during the 10 days on the trail. And they saved me from doing a "face plant," as one of our youth members descibed falling forward on the rocks in full pack, more than one time. I would not do any serious back packing without them.

For short walks on level terrain or well groomedpath, I usually take my basswood staff. I doesn't provide the same load transfer, but that's not needed without the backpack. And it does provide stability and balance, especially when crossing streams over rocks or logs. (I also use it to point out different plants to the Scouts. That's especially useful when the plant is Poison Ivy when I don't want to wave my bare finger around it. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)