I like the older ones better too and still have mine even though I use the
newer ones with the straps . I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy
and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist
when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put
your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put
your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then
grip the pole . If you can make sense of that then your all right . As far
as which is safer for the thumb I'm not sure but it would seem obvious the
older style is , at least to me anyway . I've actually heard of quite a few
people hurting their thumbs with the newer style poles but I don't know if
it's related .


"toller" wrote in message
...
My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months to
heal. The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around
the hand, rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the
future. The wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked
them out of discard piles whenever I see them.

I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you can
hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people have
noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not
available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries.
Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and she is
sure she isn't confused on what he told her.)

So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either way,
but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks.