I had the opportunity to do one particular stretch of the Appalachian Trail twice, and the second time I had a trekking pole with me. It made for a better and safer trip.

The particular part of the trail I'm referring to is in the Shenandoah Valley and the terrain is rocky with most of the stones being, as best as I can describe them, about the size of your average spiral sliced ham lol. A good portion of the rocks are loose and tend to shift when you step on them. Due to the terrain, the first time through I made extremely slow time fearing at every step I'd either twist an ankle or fall.

I had a map and compass, and could have taken another route, but that would have had me walking through neighborhoods on one side or walking through private farmland with No Trespassing signs on the other. Neither option really appealed to me.

On the second trip through, I had a trekking pole, and it helped immensely. I was more confident and I covered the trail in better time, allowing me more time at the destination. When the pole wasn't needed, I could easily attach it to my pack.

Anything can be a fad, useful or not. Either way, I don't care what people think of me for using a trekking pole. And truthfully, I don't care if anyone uses them because they are popular. Those people don't affect me one way or the other.

I also have two 1 liter Sigg Bottles in Neoprene covers strapped to my backpack and a fadtastic Camelbak with a clip on bite-valve to boot. I find these items useful, but I'm sure someone somewhere will have something smarmy to say about them.

But really... Who cares?