walking sticks > Reviews > The walking stick

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Easy
Durability	Long
Safety	Safe
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Can take wieght of feet, easier to climb hills
Disadvantages:	General annoyance to carry around when finished using

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I'd never used a walking stick before because I had never generally needed to, but I had an expedition coming up so I decided to give them a go. I had my walking stick, I had my route ahead of me and so I set off. I decided to test out the walking stick on a variety of different terrains - Tarmac, a dirt path, grass and a hill.

As I walked along each of these, with and without the walking stick I noticed that the walking stick really only made a difference after a while on Tarmac and the dirt path, it let you rest most of your weight into it instead of putting it all into your feet, which is a good feature. The problem with it is that until you need to take the weight off your feet you're stuck with carrying a 3-5 foot long stick, which you may not use for a while.

Grass was a different story, while walking through thick, long grass I found it difficult to walk through it at a steady pace and remain in a good position for my back without the walking stick, whereas with the walking stick I could retain a good position for my back, balance and walk at a comfortable pace through the grass without fear of falling over face first, I could grab onto the stick for balance.

I mainly wanted to test out walking up hills with the stick, out of all the other tests. My usual tact was to lean forward and walk for a while then rest to regain some strength. With the walking stick I was able to keep in a better position for my back (for I still leaned a little bit forward) and walk much further with the stick than I could have done without it.

My overall review is that if you are only buying it for tarmac or dirt path, it will make a small difference, but it only really comes into light after a few hours of walking. Chances are you may not need it. If you want to walk in tall grass I'd suggest getting it as it's good to balance with. And I'd greatly recommend buying it if you're going hill climbing, it greatly helps.